Chapter XI: Part 11

“The enemy was very near and fierce upon them, especially on that
side of the city where the church stood; and had planted their
great guns mischievously against the church; with which constantly
in prayer’s time, they would not fail to make their hellish
disturbance by shooting against and battering the church; insomuch
that sometimes a cannon bullet has come in at the windows and
bounced about from pillar to pillar (even like some furious fiend
or evil spirit) backwards and forwards and all manner of sideways,
as it has happened to meet with square or round opposition amongst
the pillars.”

On February 2, 1829, Jonathan Martin, brother of the painter, John Martin, hid himself behind the tomb of Archbishop Greenfield, in the north transept during evening service; and after the church had been closed, set fire to the choir. The stalls, organ, and vault were destroyed and much of the stone-work was damaged. Restorations were started in 1832. Another fire occurred in 1840 in the south-west tower, occasioned by some workmen who were repairing the clock in the south-west tower. The wooden vault of the nave and the tower and bells were damaged. In 1871 some of the side walls were rebuilt.

Every one is familiar with the =West Front= of York; but the traveller who looks upon it for the first time is, nevertheless, overwhelmed.

“The West Front is more architecturally perfect as a composition in
its details than that of any other English Cathedral, and is
unquestionably the best cathedral façade in this country. The lower
part, with the entrances and lower windows, belongs to the Early
Decorated period. Above the windows the work is Late Decorated and
the towers above the roof Perpendicular. Numerous niches cover the
surface. It is doubtful whether they ever contained statues. The
principal entrance is divided by a clustered pier, and above it is
a circle filled with cusped tracery. Over the whole doorway is a
deeply-recessed arch, and over that a gable with niches, one of
which contains the statue of an archbishop, supposed to be John le
Romeyn, who began the nave in 1291, and other niches have figures
of a Percy and a Vavasour, who gave the wood and stone for the
building. The favourite ballflower ornament of the Decorated style
is seen on the gable, and the mouldings in the arches have figures
representing the history of Adam and Eve. Above the entrance is a
large eight-light window, pronounced by many to be too large even
for York Minster, containing very elaborate and beautiful tracery,
and over it is a pointed gable. On each side of the west window are
buttresses covered with panelling and niches. The noble towers
rising on each side of the west front, have buttresses similarly
adorned, and each three windows, and over the second an open
battlement forms a walk along the whole front. The towers have
battlements and pinnacles. The south-west tower (1433-1457) was
injured by fire in 1840; and the north tower (1470-1474) has the
largest bell in the kingdom, Great Peter, which cost £2,000 in 1845
and weighs ten tons.”--(P. H. D.)

The twin-towers rise to a height of two hundred feet and are ornamented with windows, battlements, and pinnacles.

The =Central Tower= at the crossing of the transepts, built in 1410-1433, Perpendicular, is also two hundred feet high. It is the largest in England, and is considered not only one of the triumphs of Fifteenth Century architects, but one of the finest towers in the world. Much of it is supposed to be the work of Walter Skirlawe, Bishop of Durham, and its resemblance to the central tower of Durham Cathedral justifies the assumption. It has never been finished.

“The central tower rises a single story above the ridge of the roof
and is open inside to the top. But for small gables on the
buttresses, it is quite plain up to the level of the roof ridge.
Above this it contains two long and narrow Perpendicular windows on
each side, of three lights each, with a transom. These windows are
ornamented ogee gables, and between them are three niches, one
above the other, with canopies. The external buttresses are split
up with vertical mouldings and ornamented with niches and
panelling. The tower is crowned with a battlement. Horizontal
string-courses with gargoyles divide the buttresses at intervals.
There are no pinnacles on these buttresses, and they appear never
to have been finished. It is possible that it was intended to set
another story on the top of the present one, but this is merely
conjecture.

“The English architects of the Fifteenth Century, if they were
inferior to earlier builders in invention and vigour, were at any
rate supreme in the management of towers. Their wonderful sense of
proportion, their habitual use of vertical lines, and the character
of their windows helped them to build what are perhaps the finest
towers in Europe, and the central tower of York Minster

is one of the finest of all. Even the absence of pinnacles, if it
is an accident, seems to be a lucky accident, and gives this tower
an unrivalled dignity and an air of restraint suitable to the
character of the whole cathedral.”--(A. C.-B.)

We enter the Cathedral by the south door of the =South Transept= and are introduced to what is considered one of the most superb architectural views in the world. The enormous width of the church and length of the transepts and the tremendous lantern produce almost the effect of St. Paul’s or St. Peter’s. Neither the east nor the west end is visible, for we are looking right across the arms of the crossing straight to the north end of the transept, where the =Five Sisters= display their jewels.

The =Lantern= is very lofty--180 feet from the floor--each transept is four bays long--223 feet from north to south--and 93 feet wide. To the top of the roof they measure 99 feet.

“The transepts, therefore, are unusually prominent, even for an
English cathedral, and they have many other unusual features. Taken
in conjunction with the lantern, they produce an effect to be found
in no other Gothic church in the world. In England there are none
so wide and so lofty. In France there are interiors even loftier,
but in France the transepts are seldom a prominent feature of the
design. Often they do not project beyond the outer wall of the
aisles of the nave, and oftener still there is no central tower
large enough to allow of a lantern at all. It is a great piece of
good fortune, also, that the five vast lancets of the north
transept end, known as the Five Sisters, still keep their beautiful
original glass. If we look at these windows and consider how
utterly ineffective they would be if they were glazed with plain
glass, we can understand how little remains of the original beauty
of the interior of Salisbury.

“The Five Sisters are, no doubt, the largest lancet windows in
England, and it was a bold idea to fill almost the whole of that
great front with them, but the boldness was entirely justified by
the result.

“The glass in the Five Sisters is Early English of the simplest and
most beautiful design. The colour, an almost uniform scheme of
greyish green, is a curious contrast to the vivid blues and yellows
of the period which preceded it, and examples of which may be seen
in the choir of Canterbury. The pattern is an elaborate but
restrained arrangement of the foliage of the _Planta Benedicta_
(herb benet). The plain border surrounding the Early English glass
was inserted in 1715. At the foot of the central light is a panel
of Norman glass, the subject of which is either the dream of Jacob,
or Daniel in the lions’ den.”--(A. C.-B.)

The glass in the lancets above the Five Sisters is modern.

In the eastern aisle of the south transept (Early English) the =Tomb of Walter de Grey= (died 1255), shows an effigy in full canonicals. The right hand is raised in blessing, the left grasps a crozier, and the feet crush a dragon. The columns at the sides are ornamented with leaves at equal distances. On either side of the gable over the Archbishop’s head an angel stands. The canopy is supported by nine pillars. In the eastern aisle of the north transept we stop to look at the tomb of =Archbishop Greenfield= (died 1315). This is decorated with an ornamented canopy.

A rich and elaborate =Rood Screen= separates the choir from the crossing. It dates from 1475-1505 and is composed of a central doorway and fifteen canopied niches containing statues of English kings from William the Conqueror to Henry VI. The latter is the only modern one. Above these are angels by Bernasconi. The central arch is surmounted with an ogee moulding decorated with foliage and a niche, on either side of which is an angel with a censer. The capitals of the shafts are carved; and rosettes and rows of foliage appear between the shafts. The canopies are very ornate. It is interesting to compare this screen with the one at Exeter.

The =Choir=, including the retro-choir, consists of nine bays--the largest and loftiest choir in England and one of the most beautiful. It was begun in 1361 at the east end and completed in 1405. It has been described as an “interesting example of a Perpendicular building carried out on the lines of an earlier Decorated design.”

“The choir itself is like an enormous college chapel. The aisles
exist, but play no part in the design, which still culminates in
the splendid blaze of glass from the eastern transepts and the
great east window, and once culminated on the still more splendid
blaze of the altar.

“The retro-choir, far too short and wide to be judged as an avenue
of stone, is still more dependent for its effect on its glass. As
most of that glass luckily remains, it is a miracle of airy
splendour; one may see from it what were the objects, and how great
the success of the much-maligned Perpendicular architects at their
best.

“To sum up, then, this choir has not the delicate and spiritual
beauty of the choirs of Lincoln or Ely. That is never found even in
the finest work of Perpendicular architects; but for stateliness
and magnificence it has not a rival in England. These qualities may
be best appreciated standing midway between the two transepts and
in front of the altar. From that point glittering screens of glass
and soaring shafts of stone are to be seen on all sides; the whole
effect is one of triumphant light and space and colour, not to be
surpassed by the splendours even of Moorish or Italian
architecture.”--(A. C.-B.)

The magnificent Perpendicular stalls perished in the fire of 1829, so did the Perpendicular altar-screen. The present stalls and screen are reproductions of these. The reredos of terra-cotta and wood is modern.

The vault of the choir is of wood, an imitation of the vault destroyed by fire in 1829. The windows of the clerestory are Perpendicular and contain five lights.

“The glass in the choir is almost wholly Perpendicular. As in the
nave, it is very fragmentary and disordered. The change in the
character of the design will be easily noticed. The Perpendicular
glass is not so clear and delicate in colour, and the architectural
and other patterns are less pronounced. This glass, regarded simply
as decorative, is perhaps superior to that in the nave.

“Mr. Winston has pointed out that the earliest Perpendicular glass
in the choir is contained in the third window from the east in the
south aisle; in the third and fourth windows from the east in the
north clerestory; and in the fourth clerestory window from the east
on the opposite side. These windows date from the close of the
Fourteenth Century. There is also an early Perpendicular Jesse in
the third window from the west in the south aisle of the choir. The
other windows of the choir aisles east of the small eastern
transepts, as well as the glass in the lancet windows on the east
side of the great western transepts, appears, he says, to be of the
time of Henry IV.; the rest of the glass in the choir is of the
reigns of Henry V. and VI., chiefly of the latter. He notices also,
that the white glass in the windows is generally less green in tint
than usual, and that he has learnt from Mr. Browne that it is all
of English manufacture.”--(A. C.-B.)

We now come to the smaller transepts situated between the four eastern and four western bays of the choir. They are practically one bay of the choir with the triforium and clerestory removed. At each end are immense windows. Each is 73 feet long by 16 feet wide. Both have been restored; but the glass is original and very splendid. The north window contains scenes from the life of =St.= =William=; the south window depicts the history of =St. Cuthbert=, and is thought to date from about 1437. In it are members of the house of Lancaster.

The east end of the choir is almost entirely filled with the great =East Window=.

The space behind the altar is sometimes called the =Lady-Chapel=. This occupies four bays. It was built in 1361-1405, and is Perpendicular in style. The Altar of the Virgin stood under the great east window and here also was a chantry founded by the Percys.

“The great east window was glazed by John Thornton of Coventry. The
terms of the contract for this work, dated 1405, are extant. They
provide that Thornton shall ‘portray the said window with his own
hands, and the histories, images, and other things to be painted on
it.’ It was to be finished within three years. Glass, lead and
workmen were to be provided at the expense of the chapter, and
Thornton was to receive 4s. a week, £5 a year and £10 at completion
for his trouble.

“The window is 78 feet high and 32 feet wide, and contains nine
lights. It is entirely filled with old glass, except for certain
pitches of modern glass, rather crude in colour, and inserted, it
is said, after the fire of 1829. It contains 200 panels of figures.
The subjects in the upper part are from the Old Testament, reaching
from the creation of the world to the death of Absalom. The lower
part contains illustrations from the Book of Revelations. In the
loftiest row of all are representations of kings and archbishops.

“In the top lights are figures of prophets, saints and kings. At
the apex of the window is a representation of the Saviour in
Judgment.

“This window is probably the finest example of Perpendicular glass
in England.

“The great east window, like the windows of the transepts, has a
double plane of tracery reaching to about half the height of the
whole. Between the two planes a passage runs at the base of the
window, between two doors which lead to staircases in the turrets
on each side of the windows. These staircases, in their turn, lead
to a gallery across the window on the top of the inner plane of
tracery. The view from this gallery is very fine.”--(A. C.-B.)

Of the numerous tombs and monuments in the east end below the windows in the retro-choir and choir-aisles, we note only two. That of =Archbishop Bowet= (died 1423), in the retro-choir (south side), is one of the finest Perpendicular monuments in existence, much mutilated, it is true; but still exhibiting its clusters of tabernacles and pinnacles joined to the arch beneath with fan-tracery. Bowet was still alive when this monument was erected in 1415. The other is =William of Hatfield= (died 1344), second son of Edward III., aged eight. The Plantagenista ornaments the canopy. Unfortunately the effigy of the little prince is much damaged.

The =Nave= is also superb and all the decoration most elaborate.

“The first impression on viewing this nave is a sense of its
magnitude. Archbishop Romeyn and his builders determined to build a
vast church which would eclipse all other rivals. They would have
large windows, high, towering piers, a huge, vaulted roof, and
everything that was grand and impressive. Edward I. was then
fighting with the Scots and made York his chief city. It was
immensely prosperous and the ecclesiastical treasury was replete
with the offerings of knights and nobles, kings and pilgrims.
Nowhere should there be so mighty a church as York Minster. In
order to have space for large windows they made the triforium
unusually small, which is formed only by a continuation of the
arches of the clerestory windows. The design for the stone vaulted
roof was never carried out. The builders feared that the great
weight of a roof with so large a span would be too much for the
walls, so a wooden vault was substituted. The piers have octagonal
bases and consist of various sized shafts closely connected. The
capitals are beautifully enriched with foliage of oak and thorn,
and sometimes a figure is seen amidst the foliage. We notice
thirty-two sculptured busts at the intersection of the
hood-moulding with the vaulting shafts. Coats-of-arms of the
benefactors of York appear on each side of the main arches. The
clerestory windows have each five lights. The old roof was
destroyed by fire in 1840. The present one has a vast number of
bosses representing the Annunciation, Nativity, Magi, Resurrection,
besides a quantity of smaller ones.”--(P. H. D.)

Looking up at the west end of the nave we have a double study in the splendid =West Window= (only surpassed by the famous window of Carlisle Cathedral); for the tracery of the Curvilinear, or flowing Decorated style has been carefully restored, and the window, which measures 56 × 25 feet, is almost entirely filled with the original glass given by Archbishop Melton in 1338.

“This is remarkable not only for the purity and boldness of its
scheme of colours, but for the admirable way in which the design of
the glass fits the elaborate pattern of the tracery. It will be
noticed that both the figures and the architectural ornaments are
in bolder relief than in the earlier glass of the Five Sisters, or
the later of the choir. Some of the faces of the figures have been
restored by Peckett, but not so as to interfere with the decorative
effect of the whole. The window contains three rows of figures, the
lowest a row of eight archbishops, the next a row of eight saints,
including St. Peter, St. Paul, St. James and St. Katharine, and
above this a row of smaller figures unidentified.

“The window contains eight lights. These lights are coupled in
pairs by four arches with a quatrefoil in the head of each, and
again formed in groups of four by an ogee arch above the other
arches. The flowing curves of these ogee arches are most
ingeniously and beautifully worked into the pattern of the upper
part of the window, which contains five main divisions of
stonework, each like the skeleton of a leaf in shape and in the
delicacy of its pattern. Of these five divisions the top one is
made by splitting up the central mullion; two diverge from it at
the top of the lower lights; and two others curve inwards from the
outside arch. The central mullion runs up almost to the top of the
arch. The mullions are alike in moulding and size. Below the window
is the west door, the head of which is filled with ancient stained
glass. There is a gable above it, running up to the bottom of the
window and containing three niches. There are kneeling figures on
each side of the gable, so that the top of it may have held a
figure of Christ. All that portion of the west end not occupied by
the window and the porch is filled with stories of niches and
arcading.”--(A. C.-B.)

The windows of the aisles of the nave are Decorated.

The =Nave= contains eight bays. Each bay consists of two main divisions: the upper half containing the triforium and clerestory; and the lower half, the main arches. A slender moulding runs between the two divisions. The piers consist of a group of separate shafts and the capitals are very delicate in design. The triforium is little more than an extension of the clerestory window-lights; but a band of stone ornamented with quatrefoils separates triforium and clerestory. The clerestory windows are geometrical Decorated. The design is much admired.

“It consists of five lights, the two outer of which are grouped in
a single arch, with a quatrefoil piercing in its head. Between
these two arches and on the top of the arch of the central light is
a circle fitting into the arch of the window, and ornamented with
four quatrefoils, four trefoil piercings, and other smaller lights.
There are capitals to the outside shafts of the windows, and to the
main shafts of the two inner mullions. All these mullions are very
delicately moulded.

“The first window from the west end is plain. The glass in the
other windows is rather finer and less fragmentary than in the
north aisle.

“The second window appears to have been largely restored. The
tabernacle work is very crude in colour. It contains figures of St.
Laurence, St. Christopher, another saint, and three coats-of-arms
below. The top lights are fine, and perhaps of Perpendicular date.

“The third window is one of the richest in colour in the minster,
with its gorgeous arrangement of crimsons, greens and blues. There
are inscriptions by Peckett, with the date at the bottom, 1789. His
deep blues on the top lights are particularly unfortunate.

“The sixth window is also very bright. It probably contains Norman
fragments. All the windows except the fifth contain insertions by
Peckett.

“The clerestory window contains fragments and coats-of-arms.

“In the westernmost light of the second window from the west, on
the north side, are portions of an Early English Jesse window. The
wheel of this window, and those of the next five, also contain
fragments of Early English glass. And in the lower lights of the
fifth and seventh windows from the west are remains of the same
date.

“The wheels in the clerestory windows on the south side of the nave
all contain Early English glass, except the third from the west.
There is also some Early English glass in their lower lights.

“The aisles of the nave are bolder in design and altogether more
satisfactory than the nave itself. Like the nave they are unusually
wide and lofty. In the two farthest bays to the west, above which
are the western towers, the rough wooden roof, which has never been
covered with a vault, may be seen. The vault of the aisles is of
stone, with only structural ribs, finely moulded and with carved
bosses. The aisle windows are, like those of the clerestory, of the
geometrical Decorated Style, but of an earlier and simpler, uniform
design. They each contain three lights. Above the three lights are
three quatrefoils, pyramidally arranged.”--(A. C.-B.)

The second window from the east in the north aisle of the nave is said to have been given by a guild of bell-founders, or by Richard Tunnoc (died 1330), Lord Mayor of York. Tunnoc appears in the design kneeling before the Archbishop and around the picture of the casting of a bell is the legend “_Richard Tunnoc me fist_.” Above Tunnoc is a window. Bells appear in the border of the glass.

The window at the west end of the north-aisle of the nave is also very fine. It represents the Virgin and Child and St. Catherine with her wheel. In the west window of the south-aisle of the nave the subject is the Crucifixion. The head of Christ is supposed to be of the Eighteenth Century.

The choir-aisles are very similar to those of the nave. They have stone vaults and their windows are very beautiful. They have been described as representing “a design of which the tracery is arrested half-way in its process of stiffening from the curved lines of the Decorated style to the straight of the Perpendicular.” Each window is divided into three lights, each ending in an obtuse arch. Above these are three other arches and above them again two quatrefoils, and above them a sexfoiled opening.

For a description of the glass in these aisles we turn to A. Clutton-Brock:

“In the north aisle the east window is also very fine. It contains
a representation of the Crucifixion, with St. John, St. James and
the Virgin.

“The first window from the east is very fragmentary. The windows in
the south aisle are rather fragmentary. In the first two from the
west the top lights are empty.

“The second window is remarkable for the delicate modelling and
drawing of the heads. The head of the Virgin reminds one of one of
Lippo Lippi’s Madonnas. That of an old man with a beard in the
central light is German in character. If these are compared with
the crude

and simple design of the heads in the other windows, it will be
obvious that they are of a different origin. Nothing, however, is
known of their history.

“The third window has borders by Peckett. It contains the Jesse
noted before.

“The fourth window is very fragmentary. It contains a beautiful
figure of a saint in one of the top lights; the other top lights
are by Peckett. In the central division, at the bottom, is the name
of Archbishop Lamplugh, with a coat-of-arms. (Lamplugh’s tomb is
close to this window.)

“The last of those windows contains painted glass given by Lord
Carlisle in 1804, and bought from a church at Rouen. It is a
representation of the Visitation, Mr. Winton says, taken from a
picture by Baroccio, and dates from the end of the Sixteenth
Century. The upper lights contain the original glass.

“The east window of this aisle is very fine in colouring, and
fairly coherent in design. The subject is not clear.”

In the westernmost bay of the north-choir-aisle the eight-year-old son of Edward III.--=William of Hatfield=--was buried (see page 274). West of the tomb of =Archbishop Sterne= (died 1683), which has been called “an example of almost everything that a monument should not be,” we find the tomb of =Archbishop Scrope=, beheaded by Henry IV. (see page 265), interesting because it was a place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages.

From the north-choir-aisle we enter the =Crypt=. This was discovered after the fire of 1829. Here we find Norman work and some authorities go so far as to say some portions of the wall are of the Saxon church, built by Edwin in the Seventh Century. The capitals of the pillars (time of Roger Pont l’Évêque) are varied and very interesting.

“Entering the vestibule we notice the exact place where the Early
English builders finished their work and the Decorated style
begins. The difference between the styles in the Chapter-House and
vestibule shows that the former was erected first. It has a wall
arcade, and above are windows of curious tracery, filled with
beautiful old glass. The shafts of the arcade support trefoiled
arches, with a cinquefoil ornamented with a sculptured boss. Each
boss and capital is beautifully carved with foliage, amidst which
the heads of men and dragons appear. The glass is Early Decorated,
and contains representations of Royal personages.

“The Chapter-House is one of the most beautiful in England. The
entrance is an arch, divided into two arches by a canopied pier,
which bears a mutilated statue of the Virgin and Child. Clustered
shafts, with capitals, are on each side of the doors, which have
remarkably good scrolled iron-work. The chamber itself is very
magnificent. It is octagonal and in each bay there are six canopied
stalls under a five-light window. The window tracery is superb.
Clustered shafts support the vaulted roof. Everywhere we see richly
carved stone-work, the finest in any cathedral, the foliage of
maple, oak, vine and other trees. Here are pigs and squirrels
feeding on acorns, men gathering grapes, birds, and coiled dragons
and reptiles. The grotesques are most curious and interesting. In
1845, unfortunately, the building was restored and the painted
figures of kings and bishops were destroyed, a poor tiled floor
laid down; but, in spite of all, it can still maintain its proud
boast:

‘_Ut Rosa flos florum_
_Sic est Domus ista Domorum._’

[‘As the Rose is the flower of flowers, so is this House the chief
of Houses.’]”

The date of this building is generally given as 1320.

A curious doorway at the north-east end of the north transept opens into the vestibule that takes us into the Chapter-House. This is a narrow passage running north for three bays, then turning at right angles and running east for two bays. It is Decorated in style. Traces of ancient painting may be observed, and the windows display their original glass, chiefly Decorated. In the upper lights there are some fragments of Norman and Early English glass.

The =Chapter-House= differs from most chapter-houses in having no central pillar. It is octagonal and is divided into eight bays. An acutely-arched window, with geometrical Decorated tracery, fills each of the seven bays. The space over the entrance is occupied with blank tracery like that of the windows. The windows contain five lights, each light terminating in a trefoiled arch. The glass, chiefly medallions and shields, dates from the time of Edward II. and Edward III. The one modern window declares itself.

Passing to the =East Front= we find that it is square, and, like the West Front, it is almost entirely filled with an enormous window. The great =East Window= contains nine lights, beautifully divided by mullions and crossed by three transoms. The arch of the head is filled with a great number of small divisions. Over the window is an ogee gable, surmounted by a pinnacle. Panelling forms a kind of background for it. Buttresses, tall and narrow, and containing six tiers of niches, flank the window on either side. Each is finished with a spire. The two aisle windows also have ogee gables, surmounted with finials. Above them runs a band of panelling. At each corner rises a tall buttress, finished with a lofty spire.

“The Choir and Lady-Chapel are Perpendicular work. The four eastern
bays constituting the Lady-Chapel, are earlier than the later ones
of the choir and vary in detail. The triforium passage in the
former is outside the building, and the windows are recessed.
Strange gargoyles, with figures of apes and demons, adorn the
buttresses. The east end is mainly filled with the huge window,
the largest in England, which does not leave much space for
architectural detail. Above it is the figure of Archbishop
Thoresby, the builder of this part of the Cathedral. Panelling
covers the surface of the stone, and below the window is a row of
seventeen busts, representing our Lord and his Apostles, Edward
III. and Archbishop Thoresby. There are two aisle windows;
buttresses adorned with niches separate the aisles from the central
portion, and others, capped with spires, stand on the north and
south of this front.”--(P. H. D.)

From the south-east we gain a very satisfactory view of the central tower and the ornate and elegant =South Transept= (Early English), dating from 1216-1241. The gable, with its large rose-window, cusped lights, turrets, buttresses, and lancet windows, all make a harmonious architectural picture. The south porch is considered rather small and has been much restored. Dog-tooth moulding is plentiful along the arches. It also occurs on the windows and gable.

Pinnacles and weird gargoyles decorate the =Nave=, divided into seven bays by tall buttresses.

The north side of the Minster is far less ornate than the south. Of course, the chief features here are the =Chapter-House=, with its curious roof and lovely windows, and the =North Transept=, very fine Early English of 1241-1260. Here we have the famous group of lancets, the Five Sisters (see page 270), and seven beautifully arranged lancets in the gable above--a very fine contrast to the gable of the south transept, with its rose-window. A vestibule leads from the North Transept to the Chapter-House, that splendid octagonal building, perhaps the finest example of Early Decorated in existence. Buttresses, topped with pinnacles, project at each of the eight corners. The strange pyramidal roof is surrounded by a battlement and curious gargoyles; among them bears peer out into space.

LINCOLN

DEDICATION: ST. MARY. A CHURCH SERVED BY SECULAR CANONS.

SPECIAL FEATURES: ST. HUGH’S CHOIR; ANGEL CHOIR; EAST WINDOW;
CENTRAL TOWER.

Lincoln Cathedral possesses a commanding site and three splendid towers that form a beautiful picture. Distance lends enchantment to the view at all times of the day and seasons of the year.

“Throughout a vast district around the city, the one great feature
of the landscape is the mighty minster, which, almost like that of
Laon, crowns the edge of the ridge, rising, with a steepness
well-nigh unknown in the streets of English towns, above the lower
city and the plain at its feet. Next in importance to the minster
is the castle, which, marred as it is by modern changes, still
crowns the height as no unworthy yoke-fellow of its ecclesiastical
neighbour. The proud polygonal keep of the fortress still groups
well with the soaring towers, the sharp-pointed gables, the long
continuous line of roof, of the church of Remigius and Saint
Hugh.”--(E. A. F.)

Lincoln Cathedral is also a landmark in the history of architecture, for here was developed the first complete and pure form of the third great form of architecture--the architecture of the Pointed Arch.

“The best informed French antiquaries acknowledge that they have
nothing like it in France for thirty years afterwards; they thought
it was copied from Notre-Dame at Dijon, to which there is a
considerable resemblance, but that church was not consecrated till
1230, so that the Dijon architect might have copied from the
Lincoln one, but the Lincoln could not have copied from
Dijon.”--(J. H. P.)

To the historian, as well as to the student of architecture, Lincoln makes a strong appeal for many visits. Those whose time is limited will be impatient to inspect St. Hugh’s Choir, and the more beautiful Angel Choir beyond it. We must, however, pause a moment to recapitulate its history before we begin our walk through the Cathedral.

“The surface or exterior of Lincoln Cathedral presents at least
four perfect specimens of the succeeding styles of the first four
orders of Gothic architecture. The greater part of the front may be
as old as the time of its founder, Bishop Remigius, at the end of
the Eleventh Century; but even here may be traced invasions and
intermixtures, up to the Fifteenth Century. The large indented
windows are of this latter period, and exhibit a frightful heresy.
The western towers carry you to the end of the Twelfth Century;
then succeeds a wonderful extent of the Early English, or the
pointed arch. The transepts begin with the Thirteenth, and come
down to the middle of the Fourteenth Century; and the interior,
especially the choir and the side aisles, abounds with the most
exquisitely varied specimens of that period. Fruits, flowers,
vegetables, insects, _capriccios_ of every description, encircle
the arches or shafts, and sparkle upon the capitals of pillars.
Even down to the reign of Henry VIII. there are two private
chapels, to the left of the smaller south porch, on entrance, which
are perfect gems of art.”--(T. F. D.)

In the Seventh Century, Paulinus, Bishop of York, made converts in the Roman hill-town of Lincoln, and several churches were founded. The “bishop’s stool” was at Sidnacester and Dorchester-on-Thames before it was fixed at Lincoln.

“The king” (William the Conqueror) “had given Remigius, who had
been a monk at Fescamp, the bishopric of Dorchester which is
situated on the Thames. This bishopric, being larger than all
others in England, stretching from the Thames to the Humber, the
bishop thought it troublesome to have his episcopal See at the
extreme limit of his diocese. He was also displeased with the
smallness of the town, the most illustrious city appearing far more
worthy to be the See of a bishop. He therefore bought certain lands
on the highest parts of the city, near the castle standing aloft
with its strong towers, and built a church, strong as the place was
strong, and fair as the place was fair, dedicated to the Virgin of
Virgins, which should both be a joy to the servants of God, and as
befitted the time unconquerable by enemies.”

Such is Henry of Huntingdon’s account of the transference of the See, which took place between 1072 and 1075.

The church built by Remigius, on the site of an earlier church, was completed in twenty years. Remigius died three days before the date appointed for the consecration, May 9, 1092, and was buried before the Altar of the Holy Cross in front of the rood-screen. This first church was 300 feet long. It was severely plain; but so strong that Stephen used it as a fortress in 1141, when the castle opposite was held by his enemies.

The next great builder was Alexander the Magnificent (1123-1148), nephew of Roger, Bishop of Salisbury. A fire destroying the roof in 1141 necessitated repairs. Alexander remodeled parts of the church. He added the elaborate doorways in the west front in 1146; the Norman arcade along the west front; and built the western towers.

“Part of the west front of Lincoln was built by Bishop Remi, or
Remigius, 1085-1092: the small portion which remains of this work
is a very valuable specimen of early Norman, the more so that the
insertion of later and richer Norman doorways by Bishop Alexander,
about fifty years afterwards, enables us to compare early and late
Norman work, while the jointing of the masonry leaves no doubt of
the fact that these doorways are insertions and, therefore,
confirms the early date of the three lofty arches under which they
are inserted. A comparison of the capitals and details of these two
periods, thus placed in juxtaposition, is extremely interesting.
The wide-jointing of the masonry and the shallowness of the carving
distinguish the old work from the new. Several capitals of the
later period are inserted in the older work, as is shewn on careful
examination by the jointing of the masonry, and by the form of the
capitals themselves: the earlier capitals are short, and have
volutes at the angles, forming a sort of rude Ionic; the later
capitals are more elongated, and have a sort of rude Corinthian, or
Composite foliage.”--(J. H. P.)

In 1185 an earthquake injured the Cathedral; and so, when Hugh of Avalon became Bishop of Lincoln in 1186, he began to collect money for repairs and rebuilding. The eastern end of the original Cathedral was removed, and in 1192 Bishop Hugh laid the foundations of his very original Choir. The architect was Geoffrey de Noyers. J. H. Parker, who studied Lincoln Cathedral for thirty years, considers this work of St. Hugh (A.D. 1192-1200) pure Early English Gothic and the earliest building of that style in the world.

“Canterbury was completed in 1184 and in 1185 St. Hugh of Grenoble,
also called St. Hugh of Burgundy, was appointed Bishop of Lincoln,
and immediately began to rebuild his cathedral. It is therefore
plain that this portion of the building was completed before 1200,
and a careful examination enables us to distinguish clearly the
work completed in the time of Bishop Hugh, which comprises his
choir and the eastern transepts with its chapels. The present
vaults of St. Hugh’s Choir, and of both the transepts, were
introduced subsequent to the fall of the tower, which occurred in
1240.

“The architecture in the north of Lincolnshire and the south of
Yorkshire appears to have been a little in advance of any other in
Europe at that period. St. Hugh’s Choir at Lincoln is the earliest
building of the pure Gothic style free from any mixture of the
Romanesque that has been hitherto found in Europe, or in the world.
The Oriental styles are not Gothic, though they helped to lead to
it. The French Gothic has a strong mixture of the Romanesque with
it down to a later period than the Choir of Lincoln. St. Hugh of
Lincoln certainly did not bring the Gothic style with him from his
own country Dauphiny, or from the Grande Chartreuse where he was
educated, for nothing of the kind existed there at that period.
Grenoble (the place from which St. Hugh was brought to England) and
its neighbourhood was quite half-a-century behind England in the
character of its buildings, in the time of Henry II. of England and
of Anjou, in whose time this style was developed.

“Nothing can well exceed the freedom, delicacy and beauty of this
work; the original arcade of the time of St. Hugh is of the same
free and beautiful style as the additions of his successors. The
crockets, arranged vertically one over the other behind the
detached marble shafts of the pillars, are a remarkable and not a
common feature, which seems to have been in use for a few years
only; it occurs also in the west front of Wells Cathedral, the work
of Bishop Jocelin, a few years after this at Lincoln; or perhaps
under him, of Hugh de Wells.”--(J. H. P.)

The eight years during which Hugh carried on the work

“were busy ones at Lincoln. Contemporary records enable us to
picture him encouraging the workmen by his presence and example,
even shewing his zeal by carrying the stones on his own shoulders.
He did not live to see his work completed, as Remigius had done.
But he had set the example and given the pattern, and the work was
continued by his successors until the building was again entire.
Hugh had already finished the apse, the eastern transept, the
choir, and part of the western transept (i.e., the whole eastern
portion of the church) when he fell ill. Finding

his death approaching, he sent for his architect Geoffrey de
Noyers, and enjoined him to hasten the completion of the altar of
St. John the Baptist, his patron. He then gave directions for his
funeral, and instructions that he was to be buried in the
mother-church of his diocese dedicated to the Mother of God, near
the altar of St. John the Baptist. The personality of the great
bishop comes vividly before us when we read that he also wished his
tomb to be placed near the wall, in a convenient place, lest it
should be a stumbling-block to those approaching. On the 16th of
November, 1200, Hugh breathed his last, lying, as he had wished, on
the bare ground, on a cross of consecrated ashes. His instructions
regarding the funeral were carried out; but such a light as Hugh’s
could not be hid, and within a century we find his remains enclosed
in a costly golden shrine, borne on the shoulders of kings and
bishops, and placed at last in a structure erected specially for
their reception, ‘one of the loveliest of human works,’ the
celebrated Angel Choir. The original place of Hugh’s burial has
been somewhat disputed. The _Magna Vita_ tells us that he was
buried near the altar he had named, _a boreali ipsius aedis
regione_. On the east side of the eastern transept, Hugh had placed
four apsidal chapels, two north and two south of the central apse.
From the words above quoted, it has been considered that the
northern-most of these chapels was the site of his tomb.”--(A. F.
K.)

The western transept and the nave were next finished (Thirteenth Century), and a central tower was built to replace the one that fell in 1237-1239. To this period belongs Bishop Hugh de Wells, brother of Jocelin (see page 108), who contributed largely to the funds for building and roofing.

He was succeeded by Roger Bacon’s friend, Robert Grosseteste (1235-1253). In his time the new nave was completed. The large screen of the west front, the central gable and the octagonal turrets at the corners, belong to this period; also the lower part of the central tower, the Canon’s Vestry at the eastern transept, and the Galilee Porch at the western transept. The trellis ornament always marks Grosseteste’s work. He made many changes in the windows.

To the treasurer, John de Welburne (died 1380), the Cathedral is indebted for its splendid choir-stalls.

The Russell and Longland chantries, the upper parts of the tower, and many windows date from the Perpendicular period.

John Evelyn, visiting Lincoln in 1654, gives us an idea how the Cathedral suffered in the Civil Wars:

“Lincoln is an old confused town, very long, uneven, steep and
ragged, formerly full of good houses, especially churches and
abbeys. The minster almost comparable to that of York itself,
abounding with marble pillars, and having a fair front (here was
interred Queen Eleanora, the loyal and loving wife who sucked the
poison out of her husband’s wound); the abbot founder, with rare
carving in the stone; the great bell, or Tom, as they call it. I
went up the steeple, from whence is a goodly prospect all over the
country. The soldiers had lately knocked off most of the brasses
from the gravestones, so as few inscriptions were left; they told
us that these men went in with axes and hammers, and shut
themselves in, till they had rent and torn off some bargeloads of
metal, not sparing even the monuments of the dead; so hellish an
avarice possessed them: besides which, they exceedingly ruined the
city.”

We are now able to analyze the =West Front=, knowing the periods of the great screen wall, with its Gothic arcading and the octagonal stair turrets capped by tall pyramids that terminate the ends; the two tall square towers, Norman below, Perpendicular above; the three great recesses pierced with windows and doors; the gable above the recess with seven arches (two pierced with windows and two containing statues) in a row and one above with angels.

We must note that upon the southern turret stands a statue of St. Hugh; and The Swineherd of Stow, who contributed a peck of silver pennies towards building the Cathedral, ornaments the northern one. It is a copy of the original, now in the Cloisters.

The tracery of the windows in the three recesses is supposed to date from the end of the Fourteenth Century. The big west window and the cinquefoil window above were placed there in Grosseteste’s rule (1235-1253).

The central door and those on either side of it, date from the Twelfth Century, and give the best possible idea of the Romanesque period just before it merged into Gothic.

Above the central door are eleven kings, from William the Conqueror to Edward III. These statues date from 1350 and were originally coloured and gilt.

The two western towers (Norman) were built in the Twelfth Century. The arcading (which is not the same in both) shows where they ended and where the Perpendicular stories were added, carrying them two hundred feet higher. Like the central tower, they were originally crowned with tall wooden spires, covered with lead. These spires became unsafe and were removed in 1807. In the northern, or =St. Mary’s=, hung “Great Tom of Lincoln” and its successor until 1834. The southern tower, called =St. Hugh’s=, has a ring of eight bells. Under St. Hugh’s the =Ringers’ Chapel= is naturally situated; and there is a corresponding chapel under =St. Mary’s Tower=.

Beneath =St. Mary’s Tower= we find the =Northwest Chapel=; under =St. Hugh’s=, the =Ringers’ Chapel=. Both chapels are vaulted with stone and date from the first half of the Thirteenth Century.

The =Nave=, a very characteristic example of the first half of the Thirteenth Century,

“exhibits an Early English style in its highest stage of
development: massive without heaviness, rich in detail without
exuberance, its parts symmetrically proportioned and carefully
studied throughout, the foliated carving bold and effective, there
seems no deficiency in any way to deteriorate from its
merits.”--(G. G. S.)

There are seven bays. The first bay was converted into a sort of vestibule by arches constructed in the Eighteenth Century to add strength to the western towers. The big arch, separating the vestibule from the nave, dates from about 1730. The vaulting under the western towers dates from the Fourteenth Century; also the tracery covering the walls of these compartments.

“Each pier is surrounded by round shafts of Purbeck marble. The
arch mouldings, like those of St. Hugh’s choir, were considered
‘beautiful specimens’ by Rickman. They are deeply cut, and throw
good, bold shadows. In the triforium each bay contains two arches,
supported by clustered columns with foliaged capitals. The
spandrels are decorated with sunk trefoils or quatrefoils. In most
cases the arches are each divided into three sub-arches with
clustered shafts, the tympanum being pierced with quatrefoils. A
difference is noticeable, however, in the easternmost arch and the
two westernmost bays (five arches altogether) on both sides. Here
the sub-arches are only two in number. The narrowness of the two
western bays accounts for the variation at that end. The clerestory
is the same throughout its length, having three tall narrow windows
in each bay, with slender banded shafts. In the nave we have,
according to Fergusson, ‘a type of the first perfected form of
English vaulting.’ He calls it ‘very simple and beautiful.’ At the
junctions of the ribs are elaborate bosses of foliage. The
compartments are covered with plaster, once decorated in colours
and gold. In the second bay from the east is the name: W. L.
PARIS:--evidently intended as a record of some repairs to the
vault. The springers rest on clusters of three long slender
vaulting-shafts, rising from foliaged corbels just above the
capitals of the nave piers.

“In the aisles, each bay has two lancet windows, except the
easternmost bay on the south side, which has only one. In the jambs
are slender Purbeck shafts, twice banded. Just beneath these
windows, an arcade of trefoiled arches runs along the whole length
of the nave, being continued on the screen walls to the western
chapels. The arches are deep, with bold mouldings, and are
supported by clustered columns. There are five arches in each bay,
but they are not placed in the same manner on both sides of the
nave. On the south, the arches are arranged in groups of five, with
blank spaces of wall between, in front of which pass the
vaulting-shafts. On the north, the arcade is continuous, and is so
arranged that each cluster of shafts supporting the vault passes in
front of an arch. The work on the south side is more elaborate;
tooth ornament is used, a string-course runs along at the height of
the capitals, and foliaged bosses are found in the lower corners of
the spandrels. In addition to the clustered vaulting-shafts already
mentioned, there is a single vaulting-shaft in the centre of each
bay, between the windows, rising from a corbel above the
wall-arcade. On the north side these corbels merely have plain
mouldings, but on the south side they are foliated. The arrangement
of the vaulting-ribs is different in the north and south aisles;
and in the latter it will be noticed that some of the bosses have
figure-subjects, besides the foliage met with on the north side.
The _Agnus Dei_ carved on the boss in the fourth bay from the west
should be noticed. To such minor differences, continually found in
the corresponding parts of a Gothic edifice, the style undoubtedly
owes a peculiar charm.”--(A. F. K.)

The great =West Window= was inserted, as we have seen, in Bishop Grosseteste’s time (1235-1253). Its tracery, however, dates from the end of the Fourteenth Century and is Early Perpendicular. The upper lights are filled with fragments of Fourteenth Century glass; but the glass in the lower lights is modern. The cinquefoil above, of the same date, contains modern glass also. The central figure represents Remigius, with his bishop’s staff in one hand and the church in the other. The rest of the glass in the nave is also modern.

Under the last arch on the north side of the nave we come to a slab supposed to mark the original burial-place of Remigius. This slab was discovered in the cloisters and is supposed to date from the time of that worthy prelate.

The neighbouring =Pulpit= is probably of the Eighteenth Century. On the other side of the nave stands the black basalt Norman =Font=, reminding us of the font in Winchester. Around the sides of the square basin a row of grotesque monsters is carved in low relief.

Now we come to the =Central Tower=. Four massive piers carry the four arches from which it rises. Foliage decorates the top of each arch. The spandrels are ornamented by two rows of arcading with slender-clustered shafts. The vaulting is of the Fourteenth Century. The iron rings on the piers were placed there for the purpose of fastening the bell-ropes of the “Lady Bells” that once hung in this tower.

A beautiful stone =Rood-Screen=, Decorated in style and dating from the end of the Thirteenth Century, fills the eastern tower arch, and marks the boundary of St. Hugh’s Choir. Traces of colour and gilding reveal themselves to an earnest scrutiny.