Chapter XIV: Part 14

“The nave on the south side can be seen well either from the upper
or lower Close, and can be better examined in detail from the
interior of the cloisters. Its elevation consists of fourteen bays
divided by flat Norman buttresses. In height it is composed of
what, at first sight, appears a bewildering confusion of arches,
arcades and windows. Over the aisle windows, hidden by the north
walk of cloisters, comes a Norman wall arcading; and over this the
Norman triforium windows blocked up, and again, above the later
Perpendicular triforium, superimposed on the old, and finished with
a battlemented parapet. Behind this come the triforium roof, and
then beyond the original Norman clerestory, each bay with a triple
arch formation, the centre arch pierced for a window. And then
above all, the lead roof over the nave vault.

“The radical changes that have taken place since the nave was built
by Bishop Eborard (1121-45) consist of the insertion in the aisles
of later ‘Decorated’ traceried windows in place of the original
Norman ones, and of the superimposition, before referred to, at
triforium level, of a whole range of ‘Perpendicular’ windows over
the old Norman work, which were blocked up at this period. The
battlementing, too, over the clerestory to the nave is later work,
to correspond with battlementing over the triforium windows. It
will be noticed that the two bays next the transept in the
triforium are higher than the others, in order to throw additional
light into the choir.

“Also on this same south side, in the seventh and eighth bays from
the west end, two very late windows occur, inserted in the Norman
arcading under the original triforium windows; these were inserted
by Bishop Nykke to light the chapel he built in two bays of the
south aisle of the nave.

“The curious raking of the lead rolls to the nave roof is
noticeable; the mediæval builders did this with a view of
counteracting the ‘crawl’ of the lead.”--(C. H. B. Q.)

Norwich Cathedral is famous for its magnificent interior. A noble view is obtained on entering, for the great =Nave= reaches 200 feet to the choir-screen; and if the organ on the latter were removed, the view would be longer, for the extreme length of the Cathedral is 407 feet. The perspective is splendid, as it is, and very largely is it so because of the lierne vault of Perpendicular days, which relieves the severity of the Norman work below.

The nave consists of seven double bays (fourteen compartments) from the west end to the transepts. The main piers are, of course, large, and the arcade arches are ornamented with the billet. The triforium arches are decorated with a chevron or zigzag. Over it is the typical Norman clerestory and above all spreads the handsome lierne vault (Perpendicular). This splendid vault (72 feet), built by Bishop Lyhart (1446-1472), after the Norman roof had been destroyed by fire in 1463, is of great value to the student. There are 328 carved bosses at the intersection of the ribs, the subjects of which are taken from Biblical history.

“The vault is of Perpendicular design, and known as _lierne_; such
vaults may be distinguished by the fact that between the main ribs,
springing from the vaulting shafts, are placed cross ribs forming a
pattern, as it were, and bracing the main ribs, but not in any
great measure structural. This vault at Norwich may be taken as
typical of the last legitimate development of the stone roof; it
was the precursor of the later fan-vaulting, such as we find in
Henry VII.’s chapel at Westminster, where legitimate construction
was replaced by ostentatious ingenuity and the accumulation of
needless ornament and detail.

“To all those who take an interest in early stone-cutting, this
vault of Norwich is a store of inexhaustible treasure; the bosses,
rudely cut as they are, tell their own tales with singular truth
and directness. Their sculpture may not display the anatomical
knowledge of the work of the Renaissance; yet it has a distinct
decorative value that has been seldom equalled in the later
decadent period. The fourteen large central bosses on the main
longitudinal ribs present in themselves an epitome not only of
Bible history, but of the connecting incidents forming the theme of
Christian teaching. In the tenth bay, on the longitudinal rib,
there is, in place of a boss, a circular hole through the vault.
It is supposed to have been formed to allow a thurible to be
suspended therefrom into the church below. Harrod, quoting from
Lambard’s ‘Topographical Dictionary,’ says: ‘I myself, being a
child, once saw in Poule’s Church at London, at a feast of
Whitsontide, wheare the comyng down of the Holy Gost was set forth
by a white pigeon that was let to fly _out of a hole that is yet to
be seen in the mydst of the roof of the great ile_, and by a long
censer which, descending out of the same place almost to the very
ground, was swinged up and down at such a length that it reached at
one swepe _almost to the west gate of the church, and with the
other to the queer [quire] stairs of the same_, breathing out over
the whole church and companie a most pleasant perfume of such sweet
things as burned therein.’

“It is probable that the hole in the nave vault at Norwich was used
for a similar purpose; and its position would seem to agree with
such use, situated as it is about midway between the west end and
where the front of the mediæval rood loft occurred.”--(C. H. B. Q.)

In the aisles we find Decorated windows, and in the triforium, Perpendicular windows.

The =Choir-Screen= was erected by Bishop Lyhart in 1446-1472, but only the lower part survived the fury of the Puritan mob. The organ was placed in its present position in 1833. Immediately under the organ loft is a single compartment, blocked off from the north and south aisles by screens that originally belonged to one old screen (Perpendicular). This =ante-chapel= was formerly the chapel of Our Lady of Pity.

The =Choir= extends a little into the nave, and, therefore, beyond the tower and transepts. There are sixty splendid =Choir-stalls= of the Fifteenth Century, with ornate _misereres_. The Bishop’s Throne and Pulpit are modern. The old Pelican Lectern, in the Decorated style, should be noticed.

The =Presbytery= is the earliest part of the cathedral. It consists of four compartments, or bays, and terminates in a semicircular apse of five compartments. We find here Perpendicular arches, a lofty Norman triforium, and clerestory windows of the transitional period from Decorated to Perpendicular. The whole effect is Norman and noble. Unfortunately the old glass of the windows has perished.

The aisles of the presbytery are also called the =Processional Path=, and consist of four bays, and five around the apse. A door in the north aisle opens into the gardens of the Bishop’s Palace; and in this aisle, at the fourth bay east of the tower, there is a very peculiar bridge-chapel that spans the aisle. Critics say that it formed the ante-chapel to the reliquary chapel projecting northward from the outer wall of the Cathedral, and that it was probably built as a bridge for exhibiting relics as the processions passed along underneath.

On the south side of the presbytery (third bay) is the =Chapel of St. Mary the Less=, or =Bauchon Chapel= (Fourteenth Century). It projects beyond the wall. The vault is Fifteenth Century, and the bosses represent the Life, Death and Assumption of the Virgin. This is now the Consistory Court.

The =north transept= is without aisles or triforium. Arcading decorates the wall up to the clerestory. Above is a lierne vault of later date, of course, than the transept. The old apsidal chapel on the east (dedicated to St. Anne) is now used as a storeroom.

A staircase in the east wall of the north transept leads to the tower-galleries and walks, very interesting in themselves and affording glimpses through their openings into the nave, presbytery and transepts below.

Between the south aisle of the presbytery and the =south transept= a beautiful screen of late Perpendicular tracery fills the Norman arch. The roof, like that of the north transept, originally of wood, was destroyed by fire in 1509, and a new vault added in Perpendicular times.

Of the three chapels grouped around the presbytery the =Jesus Chapel= on the north and the chapel on the south, =St. Luke’s=, remain. The =Lady-Chapel=, at the extreme east, has perished.

The Norman Lady-Chapel was partly destroyed by the fire of 1169, and was succeeded by an Early English chapel of the Thirteenth Century. This was destroyed in the Sixteenth Century; but the finely proportioned entrance arches still remain. They are ornamented with the dog-tooth.

It is not often that ancient altar-pieces are found in the English cathedrals; but Norwich possesses a =Retable=, supposed to be the work of an Italian painter of the Fourteenth Century. It is in five panels--The Scourging, Bearing the Cross, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. It was formerly in the Jesus Chapel.

The =Cloisters= are in their usual position--on the south. Originally these were Norman, and perished by fire in 1272. The present ones were 133 years in building, and so they reveal the developments of architecture during 1297-1430. The cloister garth is about 145 feet square.

“The arches are filled with open tracery carried by two mullions.

“On the east side it is geometrical in character, the work being
transitional between Early English and Decorated; on the south
side the tracery is more flowing and has advanced to Decorated; on
the west side again, we get the transitional style between
Decorated and Perpendicular, with some _flamboyant_ or flame-like
detail; while on the north and latest side it is frankly
Perpendicular.”--(C. H. B. Q.)

They are entered from the south side of the nave, of course. The =Monk’s Door=, opening into the East Walk, is an ornate specimen of Perpendicular; and the =Prior’s Door=, opening into the West Walk, a fine specimen of Early Decorated.

ST. ALBANS

DEDICATION: ST. ALBAN. CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE MONASTERY.

When Sir Gilbert Scott began to restore and repair the old abbey church of St. Albans, in 1870, he found it in a very dilapidated condition. Among other base uses to which various parts of the Cathedral had been put, the Lady-Chapel had been converted into a grammar-school, and a thoroughfare had been made through the retro-choir. After Scott’s death, in 1878, Lord Grimthorpe, who had been diligent and liberal for years regarding restorations, succeeded in getting control of the entire work. He made various changes and additions, and inserted windows at his own pleasure, not always with judgment, nor in the best taste. The consequence is that St. Albans is open to much criticism. Yet it remains an interesting old pile in many respects.

St. Albans did not become a cathedral until 1877. It was a famous old abbey church, dating back to the days of Offa II., King of the Mercians, who founded a Benedictine monastery here about 793. From this time until the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII., the Abbey of St. Albans was of the greatest importance. Its Abbot had a seat in the House of Lords, and took precedence of all the abbots in the kingdom. Naturally, therefore, the list of abbots is notable. Some of them were related to the royal family. Among those especially distinguished were: Paul of Caen, John de Cella, William of Trumpington, John of Hertford, Roger of Norton, Hugh of Eversden, Richard of Wallingford, Thomas de la Mare, John de la Moote, John of Wheathampstead, and Thomas Wolsey, the great cardinal.

Royalty was entertained in the Abbey on many occasions as both guest and prisoner. When the Abbey was consecrated in 1115 by the Archbishop of Rouen, Henry I. and his queen, Matilda, with their courtiers, were entertained from December 27 until January 6; Richard II. stayed here for eight days after Wat Tyler’s rebellion had subsided; and here the conspiracy against him was planned, when the Duke of Gloucester and the Prior of Westminster were dining with the abbot, John de la Moote. In 1399 John of Gaunt’s body rested here; and Richard II., and Henry, Duke of Lancaster (Henry IV.) were here in the same year. During the Wars of the Roses the Abbey of St. Albans was frequently used as a prison. In the first battle of St. Albans (May 23, 1455), when the White Roses were victorious, Henry was confined in the monastery; but in the second battle (February 17, 1461), the king, having been captured, was set at liberty by his brave wife, Margaret of Anjou, who marched from Wakefield with 18,000 men. The royal party went to the Abbey, where the monks chanted thanksgiving and in every way received them with delight. The undisciplined horde of soldiers unfortunately ran wild in the town and plundered the Abbey. Their behaviour was such that Abbot John Stokes changed his politics, and became an ardent Yorkist.

Among the celebrated monks of St. Albans Matthew Paris takes the lead, the great historian whose book begins with the creation and continues to 1259.

St. Albans for a long period received “Peter’s Pence.” This was first levied by the King of the West Saxons in 727, and was a tax of one penny on each family owning lands. The receipt amounted to thirty pence a year and went to the support of a Saxon College at Rome; and because it was collected on August 1 (the day of St. Peter ad Vincula) it was called “Peter’s Pence.” Offa induced the Pope to give it to the Abbey of St. Albans.

The monastic buildings have all perished, and the only remnant of the Abbey is the =Great Gate=, built in the days of Thomas de la Mare, about 1365. Over the archway there is a large room in which sessions used to be held, and below the road the curious may inspect the dungeons. This Gateway was a law-court and prison; and, as the Abbot of St. Albans had civil jurisdiction over all the town, as well as his monastery, many offenders were tried and condemned here. In the days of Wat Tyler’s rebellion John Ball and his seventeen companions were tried here and spent their last days in the dungeons. Another scene that we can picture is that of the monks bringing out ale and wine to quell the fury of the mob that stormed the Gatehouse before the news of Wat Tyler’s death arrived.

St. Albans was a favorite place of pilgrimage, for it sheltered the remains of the first Christian martyr in Britain. Alban, or Albans, was a young soldier, who, during the persecution of the Christians in the Fourth Century, befriended a deacon named Amphibalus by receiving him in his house. Amphibalus converted him. Alban exchanged clothing with him so that he might escape. Amphibalus was captured, however, and executed near Verulamium. Alban was also beheaded; and a few years after his death a church was built over the spot where his blood had been shed. The north transept of the existing church is said to cover this place.

Matthew Paris states that the body of St. Alban was, during an invasion, removed from the church for safety, and afterward placed in its original grave. Offa II. found the coffin containing the remains of the martyr and laid them in a splendid reliquary, taking care first to place a golden band around the head with the inscription “_Hoc est caput Sancti Albani_.” Offa also had the martyr canonized. With a miracle-working shrine, the richly-endowed monastery continued to flourish.

The Abbey Church was deemed quite large enough until Paul of Caen (1077-1093) was appointed abbot by William the Conqueror. In about eleven years only (1077-1088) he rebuilt St. Albans, using many of the Roman bricks from the ruins of the neighbouring Verulamium and timber already collected. His was an enormous Norman edifice (460 feet), longer even than Canterbury (290 feet).

After a hundred years or so, Abbot John de Cella (1195-1214) made various changes. Money was raised in various ways for the purpose, and among them the abbot persuaded his monks to do without wine for fifteen years and contribute the savings to the fund for building.

After him came William of Trumpington (1214-1235), who continued the work of building. He also constructed the cloister. Let us see exactly in what their work consisted:

“Abbot John de Cella (1195-1214) pulled down the west front and
began to build a new one in its place. He laid the foundation of
the whole front, but then went on with the north side first. The
north porch was nearly finished in his time; the central porch was
carried up as far as the spring of the arch; the southern porch was
carried hardly any way up from the foundations. The porches are
described by those who saw them before Lord Grimthorpe swept away
the whole west front as some of the choicest specimens of
Thirteenth Century work in England. The mouldings were of great
delicacy, and were enriched with dog-tooth ornament. It is said
that Abbot John was not a good man of business, and that he was
sorely robbed and cheated by his builders, and so had not money
enough to finish the work that he had planned. To his successor,
William of Trumpington, it therefore fell to carry on the work. He
was a man of a more practical character, though not equal to his
predecessor in matters of taste. He finished the main part of the
western front. Oddly enough no dog-tooth ornament was used in the
central and southern porches, and the character of the carved
foliage differs also from that of the north porch. In Abbot John’s
undoubted work the curling leaves overlap, and have strongly
defined stems resembling the foliage of Lincoln choir, while that
of Abbot William’s time had the ordinary character of the Early
English style. There is evidence to show that he intended to vault
the church with a stone roof; this may be seen from the marble
vaulting-shafts on the north side of the nave between the arches of
the main arcade, which, however, are not carried higher than the
string-course below the triforium. The idea of a stone vault was,
however, abandoned before the two eastern Early English bays on the
south side were built, for no preparation for vaulting shafts
exists there.

“Abbot John de Cella had begun to build afresh the western towers,
or, according to some authorities, to build the first western
towers that the church ever had; we have no record of their
completion, and it is said that Abbot William abandoned the idea.
We have only the foundations by which we can determine their size.
William of Trumpington transformed the windows of the aisles into
Early English ones. He also added a wooden lantern to the tower,
somewhat in the style of the wooden octagon on the central tower of
Ely.”--(T. P.)

The next changes were made in the east end. These were begun in the last half of the Thirteenth Century. The walls of the presbytery were raised; the Saint’s Chapel built; then the retro-choir; and then the Lady-Chapel (1326).

Then Hugh of Eversden (1308-1326) became abbot and had to rebuild the part of the nave that fell in 1323. His work was continued by Richard of Wallingford (1326-1335) and completed by Michael of Mentmore in 1345.

John de Wheathampstead, who was twice abbot (1420-1440, and 1451-1464), rebuilt the upper part of the west front, made changes in the roofs, inserted Perpendicular windows in the ends of the transept, and also converted the Norman triforium arches into windows by filling them with Perpendicular tracery. His chantry was built after his death. William of Wallingford (1476-1484) contributed the gorgeous screen.

The exterior has no interest for the student of architecture. The enormous church is plain, and Lord Grimthorpe has been at work everywhere. The only feature that has any real beauty is the fine Norman tower.

“It is 144 feet high and is not quite square in plan, measuring 47
feet from east to west, and two feet less from north to south. The
walls are about seven feet thick; in the thickness, however,
passages are cut. It has three stages above the ridges of the roof.
The lower stage has plain windows in each face, lighting the church
below; the next stage, or ringing room, has two pairs of double
windows; and the upper or belfry stage, two double windows of large
size, furnished with louvre boards. The parapet is battlemented,
and of course of later work than the tower itself. The tower is
flanked by pilaster buttresses, which merge into cylindrical
turrets in the upper story. For simple dignity the tower stands
unrivalled in this country. It must have been splendidly built to
have stood as it has done so many centuries without accident.
Winchester tower fell not long after its building, Peterborough
tower has been rebuilt in modern days; but Paul of Caen did not
scamp his work as the monks of Peterborough did, and no evil-living
king was buried below the tower, as was the case at Winchester,
thus, according to the beliefs of the time, leading to its
downfall. Tewkesbury tower alone can vie with that of St. Albans,
and the Seventeenth Century pinnacles on that tower spoil the
general effect, so that the foremost place among central Norman
towers as we see them to-day may safely be claimed for that at St.
Albans. Few more beautiful architectural objects can be seen than
this tower of Roman brick, especially when the warmth of its colour
is accentuated by the ruddy flush thrown over it by the rays of a
setting sun.”--(T. P.)

The pilgrims to St. Alban’s shrine used to enter by the =North Door of the Transept=, carrying the candles that they had bought at the Waxhouse Gate. This Norman doorway, with a Norman window on each side (modern glass), still exists. The upper part of the north wall with the wheel window was rebuilt by Lord Grimthorpe.

The nave is immensely long--about a tenth of a mile. It is Norman, grim, and cold, but impressive.

“As we stand just inside the west door of the church we are struck
by the length of ritual nave, about 200 feet, the flatness of the
roofs, and the massiveness of the arcading dividing the nave from
the aisles; for, though the four western bays on the north side and
five on the south are Early English in date, there is none of that
lightness and grace that we are accustomed to associate with work
of this period, no detached shafts of Purbeck marble such as we see
at Salisbury, no exquisitely carved capitals such

as we meet with at Wells. William of Trumpington seems to have
aimed at making his work harmonize with the Norman work that he
left untouched; and when the rest of the main arcade on the south
side was rebuilt in the next century, it was made to differ but
little in general appearance and dimensions from Abbot William’s.

“On entering by the west door a peculiarity will at once be
noticed. About fifteen feet from the inner side of the west wall
there is a rise of five steps which stretch right across the church
from north to south. The floor to the east of these steps slopes
imperceptibly upwards for eight bays, when a rise of three more
steps is met with. On this higher level stands the altar, which is
backed up by the rood screen. There is another step to be ascended
to the level of the choir, and another to reach the space below the
tower. Five steps lead from this into the presbytery; there is
another step at the high altar rails, and four more lead up to the
platform on which the high altar will stand. From the space below
the tower one step leads up into the north aisle and two more into
the north arm of the transept. From the level of the south choir
aisle and south transept two steps lead up into the south aisle of
the presbytery; from this aisle there is a rise of four steps into
the aisle south of the Saint’s Chapel, and from this into the
chapel itself a rise of four more. So that the floor of this chapel
is, with the exception of the high altar platform, which is one
step higher, the highest in the whole church, or nineteen steps
above the floor just inside the west door. From the aisle of the
Saint’s Chapel one step leads into the retro-choir, and two more
into the Lady-Chapel; hence the floor of the Lady-Chapel is one
step lower than that of the Saint’s Chapel. If we take seven inches
as the average height of a step, it would appear that the floor of
the Lady-Chapel is about ten feet higher than the floor at the west
end of the nave.”--(T. P.)

The nave is blocked behind the altar with a =Rood screen=, of Fourteenth Century work, much restored. It is pierced by two doors (also Fourteenth Century), through which processions passed into the choir. Upon it the organ is placed.

The eastern part of the nave was rebuilt after the calamity that happened on St. Paulinus’s Day (October 10), 1323. Mass had just been celebrated, and the church was still crowded with men, women and children, when two of the great piers of the main arcade on the south side fell outwards, crushing the south wall of the aisle and cloisters. Soon the wooden roof of the nave also fell. Strange to relate nobody was injured; and although the shrine of St. Amphibalus was damaged, still the chest that contained his relics suffered no harm.

All this part of the church had to be rebuilt; and, of course, the south arcade differs from the northern one.

A massive pier, either the original Norman or one rebuilt in the Norman style, divides the five Early English bays on the west from the Decorated ones on the east. West we find the characteristic tooth ornament; and east, the characteristic ball-flower.

When the pestilence was raging in London (only twenty miles away) in 1543, 1589, and 1593, courts of justice were held in this nave. On the north side a pier bears an inscription to the memory of Sir John Mandeville, the famous traveller, who was born at St. Albans in the Fourteenth Century and educated in the monastery school.

The massive piers were coated with plaster and then painted. Each has traces of the same picture of the Crucifixion, with a second subject below it. This subject differs on every column. The soffits of the arches were also bright with colour, so that the severity and plainness that we now feel were originally missing.

“Although in the four western bays of the main arcade the Early
English work is very plain, yet the triforium is ornate. The
arcading consists of two pointed arches in each bay, each
comprising two sub-arches; the supporting columns are slender and
enriched with dog-tooth mouldings, with which also the
string-course below the triforium is decorated. The shafts, which
probably were intended to support a stone vault over the nave,
should be noticed.

“The triforium over the Norman main arcade consists of large,
wide-splayed, round-headed openings, in which the tracery and
glazing introduced in the Fifteenth Century, when the aisle roof
was lowered in pitch so as to expose the north side of the
triforium to the sky, still remains. One of the triforium arches,
namely, the third from the tower, was simply walled up at this
time, and so retains its original form. The clerestory in this part
of the church consists of plain, round-headed openings. Between
each bay the outer southern face of each Norman pier is continued
in the form of the flat pilaster buttress up to the roof.”--(T. P.)

The piers of the choir, like those of the nave, were originally painted. So was the ceiling. Wall-paintings were likewise discovered between the clerestory windows in 1875. The choir-stalls and Bishop’s Throne are modern. In the south-choir-aisle the tomb of =Roger and Sigar=, two local hermits, was once a place of pious pilgrimage.

The arches of the =Tower= are fifty-five feet high. The four inside faces of the lantern contain windows above the arcade, and the ceiling of the lantern (102 feet from the floor) is painted with the red and white roses of Lancaster and York, and various coats-of-arms. The effect of the tower is impressive. The peal consists of eight bells, cast in London in 1699. Some of the bells have been recast.

Beneath the =Presbytery= notable abbots, monks and laymen were given burial. The presbytery is divided from the aisles by solid walls, broken by the Ramryge and Wheathampstead chantries, and two doorways: it is closed in on the east side by a magnificent screen, constructed during William of Wallingford’s rule (1476-1484), and generally known as the =Wallingford Screen=. It is hard to realize that the lace-like canopies, of which it is composed, are made of stone. The material is clunch, a hard stone from the lower chalk formation. This great reredos has been restored of late years and filled with statues. There are no records to describe or even name the original figures; but those now occupying the niches, by Mr. H. Hems, of Exeter, are, beginning on the left and reading downwards: (1) St. Titus, St. Timothy, St. Barnabas, Angel Gabriel; (2) King Edmund, St. Cuthbert, St. Augustine; (3) St. Oswyn, St. Giles, St. Cecilia, St. Boniface, St. Katherine, St. David; (4) King Offa, St. Helen, oak door; (5) St. Ethelbert, St. Leonard, St. Agnes, St. Nicholas, St. Frideswide, St. Chad; (6) Edward the Confessor, St. Benedict, St. Alban; (7) Angel, Angel, Angel; (8) Angel, Blessed Virgin Mary; (9) Crucifix; (10) Angel, St. John; (11) Angel, Angel, Angel; (12) St. Hugh of Lincoln, St. Patrick, St. Amphibalus; (13) Edward King of West Saxons, St. Lawrence, St. Lucy, St. Wolfstan, St. Osyth, St. Alphege; (14) Pope Adrian IV., St. Etheldreda, oak door; (15) St. George, St. Benedict, Biscop, St. Ethelberga, St. Richard; (17) The Venerable Bede, St. Germain, St. Erkenwald, St. Margaret, St. Ælfric; (18) St. Paul, St. Luke, St. Mark, St. Mary the Virgin. Below the Crucifix stands a row of smaller statues representing Christ and the Twelve Apostles. On Christ’s right: St. James Minor, St. Philip, St. John, St. James Major, St. Andrew, St. Peter; and on his left: St. Thomas, St. Bartholomew, St. Matthew, St. Simon, St. Matthias and St. Jude.

On the right and left of the altar are chantries. The south one is that of =John of Wheathampstead=, who was twice Abbot (1420-1440, and 1451-1464). His effigy is robed in full vestments, carries a pastoral staff and wears a mitre. His rebus--three ears of wheat--and his motto--_Valles habundabunt_--appear in various places.

On the other side of the steps the handsomer =Ramryge Chantry= commemorates Abbot Thomas Ramryge, who also has a rebus--a ram wearing a collar with the letters R. Y. G. E. upon it. He entered office in 1492, and, strange to relate, no details of his rule are known. The date of his death is also a blank. Yet here is his fine monument in the Perpendicular style.

Behind the Wallingford Screen lies the =Saint’s Chapel=, with the =Shrine of St. Alban= in the centre.

“The bones of St. Alban were of course counted as the chief
treasure of the Abbey, in some respects the most valuable relics in
the kingdom, since they were the bones of the first Christian
martyr in the island. It was meet and fitting, then, that the most
splendid resting-place should be chosen for them. The bones
themselves were enclosed in an outer and an inner case; the inner
was the work of the sixteenth Abbot, Geoffrey of Gorham
(1119-1149), and the outer of the nineteenth Abbot, Symeon
(1167-1183). These coffers were of special metal encrusted with
rich gems. It is recorded that the reliquary was so heavy that it
required four men to carry it, which they probably did by two
poles, each passing through two rings on either side of the coffer.
It is said to have been placed in a lofty position by Abbot Symeon;
but the pedestal of which we see the reconstruction to-day was
erected during the early part of the Fourteenth Century, in the
time of the twenty-sixth Abbot, John de Marinis (1302-1308). This
was built of Purbeck marble and consists of a basement 2 feet 6
inches high, 8 feet 6 inches long, and 3 feet 2 inches wide, above
which were four canopied niches at each side and one at each end;
these were richly painted and probably contained other relics; in
the spandrels were carved figures, at the corners angels censing.
At the west end was a representation of St. Alban’s martyrdom; on
the south side in the centre was, and still is, a figure of King
Offa holding the model of a church; in the next spandrel to the
east the figure of another king; on the east side a representation
of the scourging of St. Alban, and on the north other figures, of
which the only one remaining is that of a bishop or mitred abbot.
In the pediments or gables were carvings of foliage, and round the
top of the pedestal ran a richly-carved cornice; round the base
stood fourteen detached shafts, on which perhaps the movable canopy
rested, and outside three other shafts of twisted pattern on each
side, which carried six huge candles, probably kept burning day and
night, certainly during the night, to light the chamber holding the
shrine. On this lofty pedestal, 8 feet 3 inches high, the glorious
shrine rested. It was rendered still more ornate than it was in
Abbot Symeon’s time by the addition of a silver-gilt turret, on the
lower part of which was a representation of the Resurrection with
two angels and four knights (suggested by the guard of Roman
soldiers) keeping the tomb. A silver-gilt eagle of cunning
craftsmanship stood on the shrine. All these additions were given
by Abbot Thomas de la Mare (1349-1396). A certain monk also gave
two representations of the sun in solid gold, surrounded by rays of
silver tipped with precious stones. Over all was a canopy which,
like many modern font-covers, was probably suspended by a rope
running over a pulley in the roof, by which it might be raised.
There is a mark in the roof remaining, possibly caused by the
fastening of the pulley. An altar, dedicated to St. Alban, stood at
the west end of the pedestal.

“Such a precious thing as this jewelled shrine and the still more
precious bones within it could not be left for a moment unguarded
and unwatched, for stealing relics, when a favourable opportunity
arose, was a temptation too great to be resisted by any monks,
however holy. So on the south side of the shrine was erected a
watching loft; the one that remains was constructed probably during
the reign of Richard II., and his badge appears on it, but, no
doubt, from the first there was some such place provided for the
purpose of keeping guard. The chamber had two stories: the lower
contained cupboards, in which vestments and relics were kept, these
are now filled with various antiquarian curiosities, Roman pottery
from Verulamium, architectural fragments, etc. An oaken staircase
leads up into the chamber where the ‘custos feretri’ sat watching
the shrine day and night, guard of course being changed at
intervals. It must have been trying work watching there during the
night-time in frosty weather, but monks were accustomed to bear
cold. The watching chamber was built of oak and was richly carved.
On the south side of the cornice are angels, the hart--badge of
Richard II., the martyrdom of St. Alban, Time the reaper, and the
seasons; on the north the months of the year are represented.”--(T.
P.)

On the south side is buried =Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester=, son of Henry IV., brother of Henry V., and uncle of Henry VI. He died in 1447. The handsome tomb was probably erected by the Abbot Wheathampstead, who was a great friend of Duke Humphrey’s.

In the north aisle of the Saint’s Chapel we come to the pedestal of the =Shrine of St. Amphibalus= (see page 362). It stood in the centre of the retro-choir until Lord Grimthorpe removed it to its present position.

An oak screen separates the Saint’s Chapel from the =Retro-Choir=. This is Lord Grimthorpe’s work, and through it we pass. The Retro-Choir dates from the end of the Thirteenth Century, and has been greatly restored. In the centre once stood the shrine of St. Amphibalus (now removed to the north aisle of the Saint’s Chapel), and there were several altars: to Our Lady of the Four Tapers; to St. Michael; to St. Edmund, King and Martyr; to St. Peter; and to St. Amphibalus.

The =Lady-Chapel=, greatly restored, dates from the latter part of the Thirteenth and early part of the Fourteenth Centuries. Several changes of style may be noted. The side windows are fine examples of the Decorated, and the statuettes ornamenting the jambs and mullions still remain. The eastern window of five lights is a strange combination of tracery and tabernacle work. Originally the Lady-Chapel was separated from the retro-choir by a screen. The glass in the windows is modern, and the stone vaulting is also modern. Historical associations are numerous.

Beneath the floor lie the hated Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, grandson of John of Gaunt; Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, son of the famous Hotspur; and Thomas, Lord Clifford: whose bodies were found lying dead in the streets of St. Albans, after the first battle in 1455, in which they fell fighting for the Red Rose party.

Beyond the eastern bay on the south side was built the =Chapel of the Transfiguration=, dedicated in 1430. Of late years this addition was rebuilt for a vestry. The walls were made lower than the original ones, so as to show the fine window above that consists of a traceried arch within a curvilinear triangle, beneath which is a row of niches. Beneath these is a very fine row of _sedilia_ and _piscinœ_. The carving in the new chapel is very naturalistic, and represents the poppy, buttercup, primrose, gooseberry, rose, blackberry, pansy, ivy, maple, and convolvulus and other local flowers and leaves.

OXFORD

DEDICATION: THE HOLY TRINITY, ST. MARY AND ST. FRIDESWIDE.

SPECIAL FEATURES: CEILING IN CHOIR; WINDOWS; SHRINE OF ST.
FRIDESWIDE.

This Cathedral is peculiar in being almost hidden from sight in a series of college buildings, gardens and quadrangles. It is the chapel of Christ Church, as well as a cathedral; and to enter it we have to pass through the gateway of the famous =Tom Tower=, and across the great quadrangle, familiarly known as =Tom Quad=.

The big bell =Tom= gives its name to the tower and quadrangle, is seven feet one inch in diameter, and weighs 17,000 tons. It was brought from Oseney Abbey with the other bells, the “merry Christ Church bells,” that now hang in the bell-tower above the =hall staircase=. Tom was recast in 1680.

The lower story of Tom Tower was built by Cardinal Wolsey. The cupola was added by Sir Christopher Wren. Three sides of the quadrangle were built by Wolsey, and the north side by Bishop Fell. As we pass through Tom Tower we note that a statue of Cardinal Wolsey faces St. Aldgate’s, and a statue of Queen Anne faces the quadrangle.

=Christ Church= is the largest college in the University of Oxford, and stands on the site of the ancient priory of St. Frideswide.

In 1524 Cardinal Wolsey obtained authority from Henry VIII. and Clement VIII. to suppress a number of religious houses in various parts of England, and to appropriate their revenues to the building and endowing of a College. After he had made considerable progress in the building of Christ Church he fell into disgrace with the King, who seized the property and distributed it among his courtiers. At a later period Henry VIII. refounded the establishment, and added to it the Abbey of Oseney, which was then the Cathedral of the See of Oxford. Christ Church (the present Cathedral) was at that time called the College of Henry VIII., and was a Collegiate Church. In 1546, on the suppression of Oseney Abbey, St. Frideswide became the Cathedral Church of Oxford. Oseney is depicted in the King window (see page 391).

The foundation was converted into one of secular canons in the Eighth or Ninth Century; and these were in turn succeeded by the regular canons, who built their chapter-house, dormitory, refectory and cloisters. In 1158 they began the present Cathedral, which was completed in 1180, having swept away the Saxon church rebuilt by King Ethelred in 1004, according to some critics, while other antiquaries think that much of the present Cathedral is St. Ethelred’s. The church was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, St. Mary, and St. Frideswide, and was somewhat peculiar for the Twelfth Century, in being more elegant than was usual at that time. Cramped for room the south transept was cut off for the sake of the cloisters; and aisles were given to the north transept. There was no room for a Lady-Chapel at the east end; and, consequently, an additional aisle north of the north aisle of the choir was built. The same arrangement occurs at Ripon; the Elder Lady Chapel at Bristol holds a similar position.

“St. Frideswide Church, now Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, is a
fine example of late Norman and transitional work of early
character. It was consecrated in 1180, and was probably building
for about twenty years previously: the confirmation, by Pope
Hadrian IV. (Breakspeare, the only English Pope), of the charters
granting the Saxon monastery of St. Frideswide to the Norman monks
was not obtained until 1158, and it is not probable that they began
to rebuild their church until their property was secured. The Prior
at this period was Robert of Cricklade, called Canutus, a man of
considerable eminence, some of whose writings were in existence in
the time of Leland. Under his superintendence the church was
entirely rebuilt from the foundations, and without doubt on a
larger scale than before, as the Saxon church does not appear to
have been destroyed until this period.

“The design of the present structure is very remarkable; the lofty
arched recesses, which are carried up over the actual arches and
the triforium, giving the idea of a subsequent work carried over
the older work; but an examination of the construction shows that
this is not the case, that it was all built at one time, and that
none of it is earlier than about 1160. In this church the central
tower is not square, the nave and choir being wider than the
transepts, and consequently the east and west arches are
round-headed, while the north and south are pointed: this would not
in itself be any proof of transition, but the whole character of
the work is late, though very rich and good, and the clerestory
windows of the nave are pointed without any necessity for it, which
is then a mark of transition.”--(J. H. P.)

St. Frideswide (Bond of Peace), or “the Lady,” as she was called in Oxford, lived early in the Eighth Century, when Ethelbald was king of Mercia. Her father, Didan, was a prince who lived in the city of Oxford about 727, where Frideswide was born. Of her early piety, her refusal of marriage, her foundation of this nunnery at Oxford, her miracles of healing and her “glorious death,” there are many pretty stories.

St. Frideswide’s Church was burned in 1002, when Ethelred the Unready ordained the Massacre of the Danes.

Ethelred afterwards made a vow that he would rebuild St. Frideswide’s Church; and in 1004 he began the splendid edifice, of unusual magnificence for the period.

Robert of Cricklade, prior from 1141 to 1180, seems to have restored Ethelred’s church; and in that year the relics of St. Frideswide were translated to a more conspicuous place in the church.

Many distinguished noblemen and prelates were present:

“After they were meet, and injoyned fasting and prayers were past,
as also those ceremonies that are used at such times was with all
decency performed, then those bishops that were appointed,
accompanied with Alexio, the pope’s legat for Scotland, went to the
place where she was buried, and opening the sepulchre, took out
with great devotion the remainder of her body that was left after
it had rested there 480 yeares, and with all the sweet odours and
spices imaginable to the great rejoycing of the multitude then
present mingled them amongst her bones and laid them up in a rich
gilt coffer made and consecrated for that purpose, and placed it on
the north side of the quire, somewhat distant from the ground, and
inclosed it with a partition from the sight hereafter of the
vulgar.”--(A.-à-W.)

In 1289 these relics were again translated and placed in the position of the old shrine, probably in the north-choir-aisle, where the marble base recently discovered now stands (see page 385).

“In the Lancet period (1190-1245) the works went on apace. An upper
stage was added to the tower and on that the spire was built--the
first large stone spire in England. It is a Broach spire, i.e., the
cardinal sides of the spire are built right out to the eaves, so
that there is no parapet. On the other hand, instead of having
broaches at the angle it has pinnacles. Moreover, to bring down the
thrusts more vertically, heavy dormer windows are inserted at the
foot of each of the cardinal sides of the spire,--altogether a very
logical and scientific piece of engineering, much more common in
the early spires of Northern France than in England.”--(F. B.)

About the Thirteenth Century the monks built the Chapter-House now standing; then the Lady-Chapel; altered the Norman windows to Decorated; and in the Fifteenth Century made many changes in the new Perpendicular style.

Wolsey destroyed half of the nave in order to build Tom Quad. His idea was to erect a magnificent church on a large scale; but in the meantime his fall occurred. In 1546 St. Frideswide’s was made, as already noted, the Cathedral Church of Oxford.

In the Seventeenth Century the tracery of many windows was altered for the sake of glass by the Dutchman Abraham Van Ling, for which old windows depicting scenes from St. Frideswide’s life and ancient arms were sacrificed. In later times some of Van Ling’s windows suffered the same fate, for modern work. One of his windows, however, remains (see page 382). Some of the windows were smashed during the Puritan wars; but on the whole the Cathedral escaped damage.

Christ Church being a royal college, during the Civil War a University regiment of Cavaliers was drilled in Tom Quad; and when Charles I. occupied Oxford, after Edgehill, he held court in Christ Church.

The Cathedral went through the fate of all English cathedrals in the Nineteenth Century; and finally, in 1870, a thorough restoration was undertaken by Dean Liddell and Sir Gilbert Scott, whose conservative alterations and restorations of windows, etc., have brought all the parts of the Cathedral into harmony. The windows of Burne-Jones are a great addition to the charm of the interior.

“The whole church is exceedingly interesting. It fills a niche in
the history of English architecture all by itself. It is not the
early and rude Traditional work of the Cistercians. On the other
hand, it has not yet the lightness and grace of Ripon; still less
the charm of the Canterbury choir, Chichester presbytery, Wells and
Abbey Dore--Gothic in all but name. In spite of a pointed arch here
and there, it is a Romanesque design.

“The work commenced, as usual, at the east, as is shown by the
gradual improvement westward in the designs of the capitals. The
evidence of the vaulting, too, points in the same direction. In the
choir-aisle the ribs are massive and heavy; in the western aisle of
the north transept they are lighted; in the south aisle of the nave
they are pointed and filleted.”--(F. B.)

Owing to its secluded position it is almost impossible to get a view of the Cathedral; but the tower and spire can be seen from the cloisters.

The =Cloisters= line three sides of the square only, for the west side was destroyed by Wolsey for the hall staircase, which is surmounted by the =Bell Tower=, in which the bells from the Abbey of Oseney hang.

“From the same position at the west of the cloister one can enjoy
the best view of the tower and spire of the church. One is close
enough to see all the detail and yet from this angle nothing is
lost of the general effect. On a moonlit evening the effect is
particularly solemn and beautiful. From this point also should be
noticed the difference in the masonry of the south transept. The
lower story is entirely rubble, while the upper story is partly of
good ashlar work.

“On the south side of the cloister is the Old Library, as it is now
called, which was formerly the refectory of the monastery, and is
all that now remains of the conventual buildings. Its large
Perpendicular windows, rising like a clerestory above it, look on
to the cloister, but they were spoilt on the inside by a staircase,
when the building was turned into undergraduates’ rooms. On the
other side, facing the meadow buildings, there is a curious little
oriel window, its lights now walled up, that once contained the
pulpit whence the lessons were read during meals.”--(P. D.)

We may remember, as we stand here, that Cranmer was unfrocked in this quadrangle.

Entering through the porch in Tom Quad, cut through one of the canonical houses, we come into a sort of ante-chapel with the organ screen before us. Passing under the screen we have an unbroken view of the =Nave=, the Choir with its wonderful ceiling and the handsome wheel-window rising above the arcade and two round-headed windows at the east end.

“Christ Church is the smallest of our cathedrals; for even with the
new ante-chapel it measures about 175 feet in length. Instead of
being of the usual cruciform plan, it is now almost square,--in
fact, the length from the reredos to the organ-screen is 132 feet,
while the breadth across from the Latin Chapel to St. Lucy’s Chapel
is 108 feet. The church is made up of the shortened nave with its
two aisles, and ante-chapel, the central tower, the north transept
with its one aisle, the south transept, and the eastern half of the
church, which itself contains no less than six divisions,--the
choir, with its two aisles, the Lady-Chapel on the north, and the
Latin Chapel (or St. Catherine’s) on the north again of that, while
on the south is the small chapel of St. Lucy.

“If the unusual appearance of the cathedral is partly due to
Wolsey’s destruction, it is partly due also to its being used as a
college chapel, and partly to the fact that in general plan, and to
some extent in detail, it is Ethelred’s design, commenced seventy
years before the great developments of Norman architecture
began.”--(P. D.)

We stop at the west end of the north aisle of the nave to examine the one remaining window designed by Van Ling.

“There are various opinions about this window, which represents
Jonah sitting under his gourd, and the town of Nineveh in the
distance. We must confess to a great admiration for it; the foliage
is fine and rich, and if it is a little over-strong in its green,
that only makes it more characteristic of its age. And, however
that may be, there cannot be two opinions as to beauty of the town
in the background, which reminds one irresistibly of Dürer; and,
with its rich brown houses, bluish roofs, touches of greenery, and
fair purple hills beyond, makes the right-hand light of the window
a picture of which one never wearies. The whole is leaded in
rectangular panes, like Bishop King’s window.”--(P. D.)

We now cross to the west end of the south aisle of the nave to see Burne-Jones’s =Faith, Hope and Charity= window, a memorial to Edward Denison (died 1870), son of the Bishop of Salisbury, and a pioneer worker in the East End of London.

“The figure of Hope has a greyish-blue drapery, varied in tint and
diapered with the pattern of a flower in stain. The scarf floating
round the figure is sky-blue in tone and lighter than the dress.
The figure of Charity has a ruby over-mantle, with a white dress
underneath; while the figure of Faith has a blue dress beautifully
and richly diapered, the upper portion with a sumptuous Venetian
design familiar on the brocades of the Sixteenth Century, and the
lower portion with a sprig of foliage. The tone of the backgrounds
is a rich, warm green, and is very carefully painted with foliage,
and the contrast yielded by