Chapter III: Part 3

Before the magnificent shrine of the Virgin lies Henry VII.’s minister, =Cardinal Morton=, whose tomb is enriched with the crown and roses of York and Lancaster, the Cardinal’s hat, the Tudor portcullis and a passing allusion to his name--Mort (hawk) and Ton or Tun (a barrel). He assisted in building Bell Harry (or the Angel) Tower.

Another famous tomb in the Crypt is that of =Isabel, Countess of Atholl=, granddaughter of King John and sister-in-law of John Balliol, King of Scotland. She owned the castle of Chilham near Canterbury and died in 1292. Her tomb stands at the entrance to the =Chapel of St. Gabriel=. The latter is extremely dark, but shows, when lighted up, some remarkable frescoes of the Twelfth Century, representing the _Nativity of Christ_ and of _John the Baptist_.

“Further beyond the Duchess of Atholl’s tomb the crypt is much
loftier and becomes almost a church in itself. This is the part
beyond the apse of the original Cathedral, the place of Becket’s
first burial, where Henry II. did penance, passing the night in
fasting and in the morning baring his back and receiving three
lashes from each of the monks. Here the miracles began to be
wrought and the Tumba, even after its contents were removed, was
still reckoned a holy place. The present lofty crypt was built over
and round the Tumba after the great fire of 1174; and, some forty
years after its completion and that of the Trinity Chapel above it,
the remains of Becket were translated by Stephen Langton, with
great pomp, to the shrine prepared for them in the sanctuary
above.”--(W. H. F.)

The Crypt is largely the work of Ernulf; and the diaper pattern and marble shaft by the door that leads from the S. E. corner of the Martyrdom, occur again in Rochester, where Ernulf became bishop (See page 34). A statue of Ernulf, intended for the west front of the Cathedral, is now in his Crypt.

The lower part of the Crypt ends towards the east in a semi-circular sweep of pillars. The end of the Crypt was built by Ernulf in 1096.

The old Benedictine Convent of Christ’s Church that St. Augustine established grew to be of the utmost importance. Portions of the massive wall by which they were surrounded still remain. The monastic buildings were numerous and extensive. The Prior, who had the right of wearing the mitre and carrying the episcopal staff, lived in great dignity. In a set of state chambers, known as the Meist’ Omers and belonging to the Prior, pilgrims of high rank were lodged. Somewhere in the vicinity of the Infirmary and its chapel was the miraculous =Well of St. Thomas=, which appeared in the Fourteenth Century. A passage and the =Dark Entry=, haunted by the ghost of Nell Cook of the _Ingoldsby Legends_, takes us into the =Priors’=, or =Green Court=, planted with linden trees, or limes, as the English call them. Here we find remains of the great Dormitory, the Guest House, built by Prior Goldstone, the Norman Almonry Gate and the =Norman Staircase=, the only construction of its kind existing. The Hall above was built in 1855.

The beautiful =Cloisters=, the work of Prior Chillenden (about 1400), are decorated on the roof with the arms of Kentish families. In the northwest corner is the doorway through which Becket passed to his doom.

“The cloister occupies the same space as the Norman cloister built
by Lanfranc, but of the Norman work only a doorway remains at the
north-east corner; there is some Early English arcading on the
north side, but the present tracery and fan-worked roof belong to
the end of the Fourteenth Century, when Archbishops Sudbury,
Arundell and Courtenay, and Prior Chillenden (1390-1411) rebuilt
the nave, the cloister and the chapter-house. The latter work cuts
across the older in the most unceremonious way, as is seen
especially in the square doorway by which we shall presently enter
the Martyrdom, which cuts into a far more beautiful portal of the
Decorated period. If we take our stand at the north-west corner of
the cloister, from which a very fine view is gained of the
Cathedral, especially about sunset, we may picture to ourselves the
life of the monks. Above the north-eastern side of the cloister are
the old Norman arches of their dormitory, now taken in to the new
library; on the eastern side is the chapter-house, with its fine
geometrical ceiling, where they transacted their business; on the
south the great church, the services of which occupied so many
hours of the day.”--(W. H. F.)

ROCHESTER

DEDICATION: ST. ANDREW. FORMERLY THE CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE
MONASTERY.

SPECIAL FEATURES: DOOR OF CHAPTER-HOUSE; WEST DOORWAY; CRYPT.

After landing in 567, St. Augustine preached in Rochester, where Ethelbert soon founded the church of St. Andrew for secular canons. In 604, a bishop was appointed,--St. Augustine’s companion, Justus. Justus became Archbishop of Canterbury in 624, and was succeeded in Rochester by Paulinus; and he, in his turn, by the first English bishop, St. Ythamar (644-655). Rochester’s three chief saints in early days were, therefore, Justus, Paulinus and Ythamar.

Gundulf, a monk of Bec in Normandy, was appointed to Rochester in 1076. He immediately turned it into a Benedictine monastery and built a church for his monks. Gundulf was one of the greatest architects of his day: he also built the great Keep of Rochester Castle, portions of the Tower of London and the Castle of Dover. The Saxon Cathedral had suffered from the ravages of the Danes and upon the ruins, Gundulf, with assistance from Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury, completed a larger cathedral between 1080 and 1089. The plan was peculiar: it was neither English nor Norman.

“All this work of Gundulf’s is now gone except portions of the
crypt, the keep and the nave. Of Gundulf’s nave there remain on the
south side five arches, together with the lower parts of the walls
of both aisles. It is very doubtful whether he built any part of
the triforium or clerestory. At present his work can only be seen
in its original condition from the side of the aisles. The
pierarches had originally two square orders, which remain unaltered
on the side of the aisle (cf. Winchester transept). Gundulf’s
masonry was in rough tufa.”--(F. B.)

Gundulf placed the relics of St. Paulinus in a silver shrine at the eastern end of his new cathedral.

Ernulf, Prior of Canterbury, began the second Norman church about 1120. This was continued by his successor, John of Canterbury.

“Subsequently the choir was re-arranged and the nave partly
rebuilt, partly re-faced, added to, and finished with the west
front, which, to a great extent, still remains. This later Norman
work was carried out from east to west during the episcopate of
Ernulf (1115-24) and John of Canterbury (1125-37). The upper part
of the west front and some of the carving may not have been
completed within even that period. What seems certain is, that we
are indebted to later Norman builders for the re-casing of the
piers of the nave arcade, the greater richness of their capitals,
the outer decorated order of the arches, the triforium with its
richly diapered tympana, and the west front. Assigning most of
these works to the time of Bishop John, as seems best, we can point
to others that testify to Ernulf’s architectural skill. He is
recorded to have built the refectory, dormitory and chapter-house.
Portions of these still remain, and one feature, in the
ornamentation of the chapter-house, especially, marks it as his
work. This is a peculiar lattice-like diaper, which occurs
elsewhere at Rochester--in fragments that belonged probably to a
beginning by him of the renovation of the choir--but has only been
noticed at one other place: by the entrance to the crypt at
Canterbury, where also it is due to him.”--(G. H. P.)

The Cathedral was dedicated in 1130; but while King Henry I., the Archbishop of Canterbury and many of the nobility were still in the city a fire broke out “without any regard to the majesty of the King, grandeur of the church or solemnity of the occasion,” as an old chronicle quaintly observes, and greatly damaged the new church.

Two other fires occurred in the same century, and in 1179 the monks set to work to rebuild the whole cathedral.

“As usual they arranged their building operations so as to avoid
interfering with the services in the choir as long as possible.
First they rebuilt the north aisle of the choir, but not so high as
it is at present. The aisle remained narrow because Gundulf’s tower
was in the way. But the south aisle of the choir they doubled in
width. Next they set to work at the east end, planning it, as at
Hereford, as an eastern transept with an eastern aisle and
projecting eastward an oblong sanctuary (cf. Southwell). The new
transept was lofty and broad; and it is quite possible that it was
built over the top of Gundulf’s east end without disturbing daily
services within it. Then when all was finished Gundulf’s east end
was pulled down. Unlike the Worcester monks they preserved the
level of the Eleventh Century choir, and consequently had to
continue Gundulf’s crypt eastward. In the new presbytery is seen
the same curious mixture of quadripartite and sexpartite vaulting
as in St. Hugh’s eastern transept at Lincoln. All this work was
finished in 1227.”--(G. H. P.)

The monks were enabled to undertake rebuilding on this large scale because in 1201 they acquired a new saint. A baker of Perth, named William, famed for his piety, started to the Holy Land. He got as far as the road to Canterbury, where his servant killed him for his money. The monks found the body and buried it in the choir of St. Andrew’s. St. William soon began to work miracles and attracted many of the pilgrims on their way to the Shrine of St. Thomas at Canterbury. The choir, rebuilt by means of the offerings, was first used for service in 1227.

“The choir and transepts of Rochester Cathedral are a very
beautiful and remarkable example of Early English. The architect
was William de Hoo, first sacristan, then prior, and there is some
reason to believe that he is the same person as William the young
Englishman, who assisted William of Sens after his fall from the
scaffold at Canterbury, and completed the work there. A young man
at Canterbury in 1185, able to carry on and complete such a work,
may very well have become the architect on his own account of the
daughter church of Rochester in 1201-1227, and there is great
resemblance in style between Rochester and the later work at
Canterbury.”--(J. H. P.)

About this time the monks resolved to have a central tower and to rebuild the nave. While all this work was going on, the church was desecrated by the troops of Simon de Montfort. A chronicler relates that

“They entered the church of St. Andrew on the day on which the Lord
hung on the cross for sinners. Armed knights on their horses,
coursing around the altars, dragged away with impious hands some
who fled for refuge thither, the gold and silver and other precious
things being with violence carried off thence. The buildings were
turned into horses’ stables, and everywhere filled with the dung of
animals and the defilement of dead bodies.”

In 1343 the central tower was completed by Bishop Hamo de Hythe, who hung in its wooden spire four bells, named Dunstan, Paulinus, Ythamar and Lanfranc. Bishop Hamo is said to have reconstructed in alabaster and marble the shrines of Paulinus and Ythamar. To the middle of the Fourteenth Century belongs also the beautiful doorway leading into the Chapter-House and Library.

In the Fifteenth Century, the clerestory and vaulting of the north-choir-aisle were finished and Perpendicular windows were placed in the nave aisles. The great west window was inserted about 1470, and the whole of the Norman clerestory was taken off and a new clerestory and a new wooden roof were put up. The northern pinnacle of the west gable was also rebuilt. About 1490, the Lady-Chapel was erected in the corner between the south transept and the nave.

In 1540 the Cathedral surrendered to the King; and became known as the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1558 the body of Cardinal Pole rested here one night on its way to Canterbury. An eyewitness speaks of

“the funeral pompe which trulie was great and answerable both to
his birth and calling, with store of burning torches and mourning
weedes. At what time his coffin, being brought into the church, was
covered with a cloth of black velvet, with a great cross of white
satten over all the length and bredth of the same, in the midst of
which cross his Cardinal’s hat was placed.”

The church suffered from the Puritans in 1642.

Samuel Pepys speaks of repairs in 1661. More were made in 1742-43. In 1749, the steeple was rebuilt. A new organ was acquired in 1791; and at the close of the Eighteenth Century the upper part of Gundulf’s tower was taken down.

Throughout the Nineteenth Century repairs and restorations were constantly made. The glass chiefly consists of memorials to heroes of the wars of the Nineteenth Century.

The best approach is from the High Street through the =College Gate=, which marks the entrance to the Precincts, or Green Church Haw. This is also known as Chertseys, or Cemetery Gate, which lovers of Dickens remember as Jasper’s Gateway; for Cloisterham of _Edwin Drood_ is Rochester. The =Deanery Gate= dating from the reign of Edward III. was formerly the Sacristy Gate. The =Priors’ Gate= dates from the Fourteenth Century.

The north side of the nave shows two-lighted Perpendicular windows with irregular quatrefoils in their heads; the north transept (Early English) a high gable with three circular windows and pinnacles. And on the north side of the choir =Gundulf’s Tower= to which there are two entrances,--one through an opening in the north wall, the other through a doorway in the south-west corner. In the angle between the south aisle and transept we note the Lady-Chapel (Perpendicular) with three-lighted windows three bays long from east to west and well-buttressed; the south side of the choir contains three lancet windows and a fine doorway that used to open into the cloisters. The south transept (Early Decorated) is well buttressed and its gable adorned with pinnacles and gargoyles. The lowest row of windows belongs to the crypt.

=The West Front= has been restored. The great central window, and the flat gable above, are Perpendicular (restored), but all the rest is either original Norman work, or as accurate a reproduction of this as possible.

The great =West Doorway= (late Norman) dates from the first half of the Twelfth Century.

“It is formed by five receding arches and every stone of each of
these is carved with varying ornamental designs. Between the second
and third of them runs a line of cable moulding, an ornament which
occurs also inside the door. Each arch has its own shaft and the
groups of five on each side are elaborately banded. The shafts have
richly sculptured capitals, and in those on the south side, as well
as in the tympanum, the signs of the Evangelists appear. The shafts
second from the door on either side are carved with statues, two of
the oldest in England. These are much mutilated, but they were
thought worthy of great praise by Flaxman. That on the spectator’s
left is said to represent King Henry I. and the other his wife, the
‘good Queen Maud.’ This attribution is probably correct, as these
sovereigns were both great benefactors to the Cathedral and were
living when the front was being built. The figure of the Queen has
suffered the more; it is recorded to have been especially ill-used
by the Parliamentarians in the days of the great Civil War. The
tympanum contains a figure of Our Lord, seated in Glory, within an
aureole supported by two angels. His right hand is raised in
benediction and his left hand holds a book. Outside the aureole are
the symbols of the four Evangelists: the Angel of St. Matthew and
the Eagle of St. John, one on each side above the Winged Lion of
St. Mark and the Ox of St. Luke similarly placed below. A straight
band of masonry crosses beneath the lunette, and has carved on it
twelve figures, now much mutilated, but supposed to have
represented the twelve Apostles. All the sculptured work of the
portal has suffered greatly from age and exposure and from the hand
of man. In the recent restoration the coping has been renewed, the
shafts have been given separate bases once more and many of the
most worn stones have been replaced by new ones carved in
facsimile.”--(G. H. P.)

This doorway resembles those on the Continent and shows the influence of the East. Freeman says: “The superb western portal at Rochester Cathedral is by far the finest example of this kind, if not the finest of all Norman doorways.”

The Mayor and Corporation of Rochester still have the right of entry in their robes by this door, through which we now pass. Immediately we descend four steps into the =Nave=:

“The nave, 150 feet long to the cross of the lantern, is Norman, as
far as the last two bays eastward. If, as is most probable, it is a
part of Gundulf’s work, it was, no doubt, a copy of the Norman nave
at Canterbury; and we are thus enabled to judge fairly what the
appearance of the metropolitan cathedral was in this part of it.
Its architecture is plainer than that of the contemporary examples
in France, though owing to its having been always destined for a
wooden roof, the piers and the design generally are lighter than
where preparation was made for a stone vault. The triforium is
richly ornamented; and the arches open to the space above the
side-aisles as well as to the nave, a peculiarity which both
Rochester and Canterbury may have received from the church of St.
Stephen’s at Caen, where the same arrangement may still be seen.
Lanfranc, the builder of the Norman church at Canterbury, had been
Abbot of St. Stephen’s. The clerestory windows above, like those of
the aisles, are Perpendicular; and the roof seems to have been
raised at the time of their insertion. This is of timber and quite
plain.

“In passing beyond the Norman portion of the nave to the Early
English, of which nearly all the rest of the Cathedral consists,
the strong influence of Canterbury is at once apparent. The double
transepts, the numberless shafts of Petworth marble, and perhaps
the flights of stairs ascending from either side of the crypt,
recall immediately the works of the two Williams in the
metropolitan church, which always maintained the closest connection
with Rochester, her earliest daughter.”--(R. J. K.)

At the end of the northern aisle we note the early Fourteenth Century doorway for the use of the parishioners of St. Nicholas’s altar. The lower end of the southern aisle terminates in a blind arcade of three arches. Each aisle end has also a round-headed Norman window. The great =West Window= is divided into eight lights separated into

two rows by a horizontal mullion. The glass commemorates the officers and men of the Royal Engineers who fell in the South African and Afghan campaigns. The subjects are Biblical scenes and heroes.

In the south-west corner of the Nave, a charming little Norman doorway opens into the tower. A fine embattled moulding runs round the arch.

The crossing is noticeable for the finely clustered shafts of the tower-piers.

The =North Transept= (Early English) dates from about 1235. The =South Transept= (Early Decorated) is later. The north transept is the richer of the two. The corbels of monastic heads of great excellence deserve notice.

In the east wall, opposite the entrance to the Perpendicular Lady-Chapel, two bays were included under one arch to form a recess for the altar of the Virgin Mary, about 1320.

The south transept underwent some alteration when the Lady-Chapel was built. On the wall under the central window a monument to Richard Watts was erected in 1736. Watts, a member of Queen Elizabeth’s second Parliament, entertained her at “Satis House” in 1573. He also left provisions in his will for the poor and founded in 1579 the “House of the Six Poor Travellers,” where nightly six poor wayfarers are provided with supper, bed and breakfast and presented with fourpence when they leave.

Near the Watts monument a brass tablet to Charles Dickens, who made the House of the Six Poor Travellers famous, connects “his memory with the scenes in which his earliest and latest years were passed and with the associations of Rochester Cathedral and its neighbourhood, which extended over all his life.”

The =Choir=, reached by a flight of ten steps, is higher than the nave. It is entered through iron gates in the central doorway of the screen, which represent St. Andrew, King Ethelbert, St. Justus, St. Paulinus, Bishop Gundulf, William de Hoo, Bishop Walter de Merton and Cardinal John Fisher, designed by Mr. John Pearson.

The organ is on the screen beneath the choir-arch. The Choir, remodelled in 1825-1830,

“is entered by a flight of steps rendered necessary, as at
Canterbury, by the height of the crypt below. It was completed
sufficiently for use in 1127. It is thoroughly developed Early
English, although much has evidently been borrowed, even in detail,
from the Canterbury transition work. It is narrow and somewhat
heavy; defects not lightened by the woodwork of the stalls, which
is indifferent, or by the use of colour,--a single line of which,
however, is carried along the ribs of the vaulting with very good
effect.

“The brackets of Early English foliage, from which the blind
wall-arches spring, should be noticed. Two large ones especially,
at the angles of the eastern transept, are excellent specimens of
this period, before the naturalism of the Decorated had begun to
develop itself. A fragment of mural painting, apparently of the
same date as the choir itself, remains on the wall, close above the
pulpit. The painting, when entire, is said to have represented a
subject not uncommon in early churches--the Wheel of Fortune with
various figures--king, priest, husbandman and others--climbing
it.”--(R. J. K.)

This painting (5 feet 10 inches high and 2 feet 2 inches wide) dates from the Thirteenth Century. Fortune dressed as a queen, and in yellow, moves the wheel with her right hand.

Passing into the =North-choir-transept=, still Early English and a part of William de Hoo’s work, the first point of interest is =St. William’s Tomb=, at the north-east corner, of Purbeck marble, with a floriated cross.

Towards the centre of the transept is a flat stone marked with six crosses, upon which =St. William’s Shrine= is said to have rested. The steps which descend into the north aisle of the Choir are, as at Canterbury, deeply worn by the constant ascent of pilgrims.

West of the Saint’s tomb lies =Walter de Merton=, founder of Merton College, Oxford, and Bishop of Rochester from 1274 to 1277. His tomb is a very beautiful example of Early Decorated.

The present arrangement of the east end is the work of Sir G. Scott. The =Choir-stalls= were designed by Sir G. Scott, who incorporated as much of the old work as possible.

Just behind the =Altar=, above which is a picture of _The Angels appearing to the Shepherds_, by Benjamin West (placed there in 1788), is a fine =Piscina=. Opposite three stone =Sedilia= (late Perpendicular) deserve notice.

In the railed-off transept aisle, known as =St. John the Baptist’s Chapel=, or =Warner Chapel=, because of the monuments to members of the Warner family (“Palladian” in style, 1666-1698), there is an old weather-worn =statue= which tradition says is a portrait of =Gundulf=.

In the eastern aisle of the north-east transept is the =Tomb of Bishop John De Sheppy= (1353-1360). It is

“probably the most perfect specimen of ancient colour-work now
existing in England. It had been bricked up within the arch where
it still remains, and was discovered during the repairs in 1825.
The colours and monuments deserve the most careful attention, as
well for their own beauty as for their great value as authorities.
In the maniple held over the left arm, some of the crystals with
which it was studded still remain. Remark the couchant dogs at the
feet. About their necks are scarlet collars, hung with bells. An
inscription with the Bishop’s name surrounds the effigy.”--(R. J.
K.)

The short =sacrarium=, or chancel, east of the transepts, probably formed part of William de Hoo’s work. The beautiful =windows= at the east end are Decorated. In the south side of the sacrarium, next the altar, a tomb of plain marble is thought to be that of =Gundulf=.

In the east wall of the south-choir-transept we come to one of the finest pieces of English Decorated in existence,--the =Chapter-House Doorway=. It dates from the middle of the Fourteenth Century.

“The full-length figures, one on each side of the door, symbolising
the Church and the Synagogue, were both headless when Mr.
Cottingham restored the doorway, between 1825 and 1830. Much fault
has been found with him for turning the first, which is thought to
have been like the other, a female figure, into a mitred, bearded
bishop holding a cross in his right hand and the model of a church
in his left. The blindfolded ‘Synagogue,’ by her broken staff and
the tables of the law held reversed in her right hand, typifies the
overthrow of the Mosaic dispensation. Above are figures, two on
each side, seated at book-desks under canopies. These are supposed
to be the four great Doctors of the Church: Saints Augustine,
Gregory, Jerome and Ambrose. Quite at the head of the arch, under a
lofty pyramidal canopy, we see a tiny nude figure which represents,
probably, a pure soul just released from Purgatory. If this is so,
it would account for the flames from which the angels, on each
side, bearing scrolls, seem to be rising. It has been suggested
likewise that the distorted heads, which alternate with squares of
foliage in the wider inside moulding of the doorway, typify the
sufferings of the soul in its passage. The outside moulding is also
interesting, being a wide hollow in the bottom of which circular
holes are cut at intervals. Through these can be seen the broad
stem from which spring the leaves that ornament the intervening
spaces. The arch-head is ogee-shaped outside, with large external
and smaller, but not less rich, internal crockets. The square back
to it, and the spaces beneath the corbels, on which the Church and
Synagogue figures stand, are filled with noteworthy diapers. The
first is divided diagonally into sunken squares, each containing a
flower; and the others have lion masks in quatrefoils, with
five-petalled roses in the alternate spaces.”--(G. H. P.)

A steep flight of stairs leads from this Transept to =St. Edmund’s Chapel=, south of the Choir. From this we enter the =Crypt=,

“which extends under the whole of the choir and is one of the best
specimens of its class to be found in England. The west and east
parts are evidently of a much earlier date than the central, which
is Early English, and of the same period as the choir above. In
building this, the ancient crypt was probably broken through, and
in part reconstructed. The earlier portions are distinguished by
very massive piers and circular arches. Between the piers are small
pillars, with plain broad capitals. It is not impossible that this
part of the crypt may date from before the Conquest. At all events,
it is the earliest portion of the existing cathedral, and cannot be
later than the work of Bishop Gundulf.”--(R. J. K.)

WINCHESTER

DEDICATION: THE HOLY AND INDIVISIBLE TRINITY. FORMERLY THE CHURCH
OF A BENEDICTINE MONASTERY.

SPECIAL FEATURES: NORMAN NAVE; TOWER; WEST WINDOW; CHOIR-STALLS;
FONT; REREDOS.

Winchester is the largest cathedral in England and affords good examples of every style from pure Norman to early Renaissance. It is the fifth cathedral that has occupied this site, for tradition says that a British church was founded here by Lucius, King of the Britons.

This first church was destroyed in 266 and the clergy martyred during the persecutions of the Christians by Diocletian. The second church, erected under Constantine, was in 515 transformed by Cerdic, founder of the Kingdom of Wessex, into a Temple of Dagon, in which he was crowned in 519 and buried in 534. Cerdic’s great grandson, Kynegils, converted by St. Birinus, the first of Saxon bishops, began the third church which his son, Kenwalk, completed in 648. Kenwalk’s buildings were, in their turn, enlarged and repaired by Swithun, a prior of the Benedictine monastery established here. Swithun, who became Bishop of Winchester and tutor to King Alfred and Ethelwold, was, according to the chroniclers, “a diligent builder of churches in places where there were none before, and a repairer of those that had been destroyed or ruined.” When he died in 862, he was buried, according to his own desire, in the churchyard of Winchester, where “passersby might tread on his grave, and where the rain from the eaves might fall on it.”

When this third church was destroyed by the Danes in 867, portions were restored by Alfred the Great, St. Ethelwold and St. Alphege. St. Ethelwold removed the body of St. Swithun to the golden shrine within the cathedral, now dedicated to St. Swithun, St. Peter and St. Paul; but the Translation being delayed by rain, gave the saint reputation as a weather prophet. Hence the weather on the anniversary (July 15) is foretold by the old rhyme:

“St. Swithun’s Day, if thou dost rain,
For forty days it will remain;
St. Swithun’s Day, if thou be fair,
Forty days ’twill rain na mair.”

One of the features of St. Ethelwold’s cathedral was a magnificent “pair of organs,” of tremendous size and power, with twelve bellows above and fourteen below and seventy strong men as blowers to fill the four hundred pipes. Below, at two keyboards, sat two brethren in “unity of spirit.”

Ethelwold was buried in the southern crypt.

This Saxon church was succeeded by the present cathedral, begun in 1079, by Walkelyn, the first Norman bishop.

Walkelyn was of noble birth and related to William Rufus, who granted him license to search for stone in the Isle of Wight and as much wood from the forest of Hanepinges (on the Alresford road) as his carpenters could take in four days and nights. The wily Bishop collected a large force of men and within the assigned time cut down the whole forest. The King was furious. The new Cathedral was finished in 1093, having been rebuilt by Walkelyn, from the west front to the great tower, including the transepts. He also removed, and with great pomp, St. Swithun’s shrine from the old altar to the new one. Walkelyn died in 1098 and was buried in the nave.

Bishop Lucy, Bishop William of Edington and William of Wykeham are the next three great architects of Winchester.

“It was Bishop Edington who commenced the alteration of Winchester
Cathedral into the Perpendicular style; he died in 1366, and the
work was continued by William of Wykeham, who mentions in his will
that Edington had finished the west end, with two windows on the
north side and one on the south: the change in the character of the
work is very distinctly marked. Bishop Edington’s work at
Winchester was executed at a later period than that at Edington,
and, as might be expected, the new idea is more fully developed;
but on a comparison between the west window of Winchester and the
east window of Edington, it will at once be seen that the principle
of construction is the same; there is a central division carried up
to the head of the window, and sub-arches springing from each side:
it may be observed that whenever this arrangement of the sub-arches
occurs in Decorated work, it is a sign that the work is late in the
style. Before the death of Bishop Edington the great principles of
the Perpendicular Style were fully established. These chiefly
consist of the Perpendicular lines through the head of the window,
and in covering the surface of the wall with panelling of the same
kind. These features are as distinctly marked at Winchester as in
any subsequent building, or as they well could be.”--(J. H. P.)

In the eastern part of the Crypt there is ancient masonry undoubtedly belonging to the time of St. Ethelwold; then we find above it the massive Norman work of Bishop Walkelyn; then, to the east, the graceful Early English of Bishop Lucy; along the nave, the Perpendicular columns of Bishop Edington and William of Wykeham, on which rests the exquisite groined roof. Above this roof the great rough-hewn beams cut from the King’s forest by Walkelyn more than eight hundred years ago can still be seen and in a perfect state of soundness.

“In this great church many stirring scenes of English history have
been enacted. The early kings made Winchester their home and the
Cathedral their chapel. Here it was that Egbert, after being
crowned _in regem totius Britanniæ_, with assent of all parties,
issued an edict in 828, ordering that the island should thereafter
be always styled England and its people Englishmen. Here King
Alfred was crowned and lived and died. Here, in 1035, Cnut’s body
lay in state before the high altar, over which was hung henceforth
for many a year, a most precious relic, the great Norseman’s crown.
Here William the Conqueror often came, and wore his crown at the
Easter Gemôt; here, too, clustered many of the national legends:
St. Swithun here did his mighty works, and here were the forty
dismal days of rain; hard by is the scene of the great fight
between Colbrand the Dane and Guy of Warwick; in the nave of the
church Queen Emma trod triumphant on the red-hot plough-shares as
on a bed of roses; hither came Earl Godwin’s body after his
marvellous and terrible death, one of the well-known group of
malignant Norman tales. It was in Winchester Cathedral that Henry
Beauclerk took to wife his queen, Matilda, to the great joy of all
English-speaking folk. Here Stephen of Blois was crowned King; and
here, on the other hand, the Empress Maud was welcomed by city and
people with high rejoicings; here, too, was drawn up and issued the
final compact, in 1153, which closed the civil war of that weary
reign and secured the crown to the young Prince Henry. He in his
turn often sojourned in Winchester, and befriended in his strong
way the growing city. The Cathedral witnessed another compact in
the dark days of King John: the King was here reconciled to the
English Church in the person of Stephen Langton; Henry III. and
his Queen Eleanor, were here in 1242; and on May-day of that year
‘came the Queen into the Chapter-house to receive society.’ In 1275
Edward I., with his Queen, was welcomed with great honour by the
prior and brethren of St. Swithun, and attended service in the
church. The christening of Arthur, Prince of Wales, elder brother
of Henry VIII., was here; and here Henry VIII. met his astute
rival, the Emperor Charles V. It was in Winchester Cathedral that
the marriage of Philip and Mary took place, and the chair in which
she sat is still to be seen in the church. The Stuart Kings loved
the place. Here in the great rebellion was enacted that strange
scene when, after the capture of the city, the mob rushed into the
Cathedral, wild for booty and mischief, and finding in the chests
nothing but bones, amused themselves by throwing them at the
stained windows of the choir. It was at this time that Colonel
Nathaniel Fiennes, a Parliamentary officer and an old Wykehamist,
stood with drawn sword at the door of Wykeham’s chantry to protect
it from violence. Since the days of the Merry Monarch, who was
often at Winchester, and loved it so well that he built his palace
here, no striking historical events have been enacted within its
walls. The church by degrees recovered from the ruin of the
Commonwealth time, and has had a quiet, happy life from that time
onward, a tranquil grey building sleeping amidst its trees, in the
heart of the most charming of all south English cities.”--(G. W.
K.)

The best view of Winchester Cathedral is from the top of St. Catherine’s hill, where the great mass rises solemnly over the distant city. Its enormous length is broken by the bold transepts, which extend three bays beyond the aisles. People are, as a rule, disappointed with their first view of the exterior, because of its lack of decoration and the lowness of the heavy Norman tower in the centre. The bright-green turf of the Precincts and the trees, however, make with the grey walls an impressive picture. A short avenue of trees leads through the Close to the western door.

The =West Front= was originally the work of Edington (1345-1366). It is 118 feet in breadth and composed of a panelled gable of Perpendicular style with hexagonal turrets. Immediately under the window in a gallery over the entrance, the bishop used to give his benediction to the people. The figure of William of Wykeham stands in the gable, replacing an ancient bishop removed in 1860. No one seems to know whether it represented William of Wykeham, Bishop Edington, or St. Swithun. Very probably it was the latter, as its companions on the gable were St. Peter and St. Paul, the three patron saints of the Saxon Cathedral.

The great =West Window= is divided by cross mullions into three perpendicular and six horizontal compartments. It is said to be filled with glass, collected from different parts of the building, after the general smashing by the Parliamentary soldiers in 1646. Winston says these pieces are very early Perpendicular glass, and may have been placed together in the window, as we now see them, in Bishop Edington’s time.

“Before entering, the visitor should remark the grand view of the
interior obtained through the open central door. The length of
Winchester (520 feet from this entrance to the extreme eastern
buttresses) exceeds that of any other cathedral on this side of the
Alps, with the exception of Ely (560 feet) and of Canterbury, which
is about five feet longer than Winchester. A certain coldness,
arising from want of colour, is perhaps felt at first; but the eye
soon learns to dwell contentedly on the magnificent forest of
piers, and on all the graceful details above and around them. The
string-course of corbel-heads and the light balustrade of the
triforium in the nave should here be noticed as remarkably aiding
the general effect.”--(R. J. K.)

The ground-plan shows a nave of eleven bays, a transept of three, a choir of five, a presbytery of three and a Lady-Chapel at the east end of three. All are furnished with side aisles.

Winchester is the longest cathedral in England, and the =Nave= is one of the longest in the world. Fergusson says it is “perhaps the most beautiful nave in England or elsewhere.” The view is overwhelmingly grand and noble and the groining of the roof is striking in the extreme.

The triforium was sacrificed and the old Norman piers, recased, were left to carry the lofty Perpendicular arches and exquisitely vaulted roof. The Perpendicular lining and panelling disguise the fact that the interior is really Norman.

“The nave gains a special grandeur by the vaulting shafts rising
from the very floor so that the eye follows them upwards tardily,
as if they were more lofty than they actually are, to the capitals
whence the groined roof springs. The aisle windows have a beauty
worthy of careful notice.

“A striking yet beautiful peculiarity is that Winchester nave,
setting an example followed generally in Perpendicular churches,
has no proper triforium--a balcony close above the nave arches
taking its place. Owing to the thickness of the Norman masonry this
arrangement was unavoidable.

“The seven westerly piers on the south side retain the Norman
stone-work faced with new mouldings. Norman arches remain behind
the triforium wall; Norman shafts may be seen above the vaulting;
and Norman flat buttresses are traceable outside between the
southerly clerestory windows.”--(G. W. K.)

The Nave of Winchester, therefore, presents one of the most curious examples of transformation from one style of architecture to another; for here we have a perfect specimen of the Fourteenth and

Fifteenth Centuries, yet it is from the ground to the roof the original Norman building begun by Walkelyn. The extreme western part was rebuilt by Edington, who began the transformation of the Nave from the Norman to the Perpendicular, and continued by his successor William of Wykeham (1366-1404).

At Wykeham’s death in 1404 the south side of the Nave was finished and the north begun. The work was continued and finished by his successors, Cardinal Beaufort and Bishop Waynflete (1404-1486). The arms on the bosses of the vault of the nave are those of Wykeham, Cardinal Beaufort and John of Gaunt (the latter’s father); the chained white hart is the device of Richard II. and the lily that of Bishop Waynflete.

Students may compare the Nave of Winchester with the Choir of Gloucester, which is also Norman in plan, “overlaid with a veneer of masonry in the Pointed Style.” The Gloucester Choir is, however, of later date, and instead of showing an amalgamation of the two styles, as at Winchester, the Pointed is added to the Round-arched style.

The curious black basaltic stone =Font= was probably the gift of Bishop Henry de Blois (1129-71), and some antiquarians think that it was brought from Constantinople during the Second Crusade. The carvings represent St. Nicholas of Myra, the patron saint of children, and much honoured by the Normans.

“Within the walls the most striking object of interest is
undoubtedly the famous Norman font of black basaltic stone, which
was probably placed in the church in the days of Walkelyn; it
portrays in bold if rude relief the life and miracles of St.
Nicholas of Myra. Next after the font may perhaps be noted the
fine carved spandrels, Fourteenth Century work, of the
choir-stalls, with the quaint _misereres_ of the seats; then Prior
Silkstede’s richly carved pulpit of the Fifteenth Century, and the
very interesting and valuable Renaissance panels of the pews, put
in by William Kingsmill, last prior and first dean, in 1540. The
chantries and tombs in this church are of unusual beauty and
interest.”--(G. W. K.)

At the west end of the north aisle a square stone gallery called the tribune is part of Edington’s work. It was used as a =Minstrels’ Gallery= on great occasions.

The nave =Pulpit= was a gift from New College, Oxford, in 1885.

In the north aisle there is a monumental brass in memory of =Jane Austen=, the authoress, and near the south-west door are fixed the flags of the 97th Regiment and memorials of the Crimean War. The west window of the south aisle is filled with stained glass to their memory.

On the south side of the Nave and in the second bay from the Choir is =Bishop Edington’s Chantry=. It was somewhat altered when the piers against which it stands were transformed from Norman to Perpendicular. This is the first of a number of very fine chantries, the most interesting of which is that of =William of Wykeham=, which occupies the entire space between two piers of the Nave on the south side in the fifth bay from the west end.

This chapel was built by Wykeham on the site of an altar dedicated to the Virgin, where he used to worship when a boy.

“The design of William’s chantry is very beautiful; and it is one
of the best remaining specimens of a Fourteenth Century monumental
chapel. The foundation of the altar is still visible. The Bishop’s
effigy, the comeliness of which, it has been suggested, may have
induced Anthony Wood to describe him as having been of ‘a courtly
presence,’ reposes on an altar-tomb in the centre, arrayed in cope
and mitre. The pillow at the head is supported by two angels. At
the feet three monks are represented offering up prayers for the
repose of the departed soul. They are said, but questionably, to
represent Wykeham’s three assistants in the cathedral
works--William Wynford, his architect; Simon de Membury, his
surveyor of the works; and John Wayte, controller.”--(R. J. K.)

The =Choir= is entered through a screen of stonework, by Garbett, decorated with figures of James I. and Charles I., taken from an older screen by Inigo Jones. The figure of Charles I. was much injured by the Parliamentary troops who stabled their horses in the cathedral. It was made by Hubert Le Seur, a pupil of John of Bologna and much employed by Charles I.

The Choir consists of the old choir of the monks under the tower and of the presbytery beyond it. This portion of the cathedral is of various dates: the tower is late Norman; the piers, arches and clerestory of the presbytery are Decorated (about 1350); the screen enclosing it is Perpendicular (the work of Bishop Fox about 1524); the vaulting of the presbytery (also the work of Bishop Fox); and the ceiling under the tower, dates from 1634.

The visitor is struck by the enormous piers of the =Tower=, rebuilt after 1107 when Walkelyn’s tower, under which William Rufus was buried, fell. Many thought “that the fall of the tower was a judgment for his sins.”

“Early in the Twelfth Century occurred the fall of the tower of
this Cathedral, celebrated from the peculiar circumstances with
which it was accompanied, which are thus described by William of
Malmsbury, who was living at the time:--‘A few country men conveyed
the body [of the King, William Rufus], placed on a cart, to the
cathedral of Winchester, the blood dripping all the way. Here it
was committed to the ground _within the tower_, attended by many of
the nobility, but lamented by few. The next year (1097) the tower
fell; though I forbear to mention the different opinions on this
subject, lest I should seem to assent too readily to unsupported
trifles; most especially that the building might have fallen
_through imperfect construction_, even though he had never been
buried there.’ That this was really the case, the building itself
affords us abundant evidence, and proves that even the Normans at
this period were still bad masons and very imperfectly acquainted
with the principles of construction. The tower which was rebuilt
soon after the fall is still standing, and the enormous masses of
masonry which were piled together to support it, and prevent it
from falling again, show such an amazing waste of labour and
material as clearly to prove that it was the work of very unskilful
builders.”--(J. H. P.)

The tower was originally intended to serve as a lantern; but was ceiled over in the reign of Charles I. In the centre is a medallion of the Holy Family, the date 1634, and medallions of Charles I. and Henrietta Maria.

The very narrow arches opening to the transepts should be noticed.

The =Choir Stalls= are magnificent.

“The stalls which extend from the eastern tower-piers to the first
pier of the nave, are of oak, as black as ebony, and probably
exhibit the very finest woodwork of their date and style (which is
the best) in the Kingdom. They are early Decorated (Geometrical)
work and their canopies and gables bear considerable resemblance to
those of the tomb of Edmund Crouchback in Westminster Abbey. This
would place their date about 1296. The beauty and variety of the
carvings are wonderful. There is no repetition; and the grace and
elegance, as well as the fidelity, with which the foliage is
represented, are nowhere to be surpassed. The human heads are full
of expression; and the monkeys and other animals sporting among the
branches have all the same exquisite finish. The mode in which the
cusps of the circles in the canopies are terminated, is worthy of
attention; and in short, at this period of the revival of
wood-carving, no better examples could be found for study and
imitation. The _misereres_ below are of early character and
interesting. Their date is rather later than those (Early English)
in Exeter Cathedral--the most ancient in the Kingdom. The desks and
stools in front of the upper range bear the initials of Henry
VIII., Bishop Stephen Gardiner, and Dean Kingsmill and the date
1540. The rich pulpit on the north side bears the name of its donor
‘Thomas Silkstede, prior’ on different parts of it.”--(R. J. K.)

The =Presbytery= is Early English, the work of Bishop Lucy (1189-1204). It has a central alley of three bays. The arcading is very graceful. The presbytery is closed at the sides by screens of stone tracery, most of them erected by Bishop Fox, and bear his motto, _Est Deo Gratia_. Upon these screens stand six mortuary chests (also the work of Bishop Fox) containing the bones of the West Saxon Kings and bishops removed from the crypt of the old Saxon cathedral into Walkelyn’s church by Bishop Henry de Blois and placed in leaden sarcophagi. The chests are of wood, carved, painted and gilded in the Renaissance Style, which was being introduced into England in Fox’s time.

“The vaulting of the presbytery (of wood) is the work of Bishop Fox
(1500-1520), and displays on its bosses, a mass of heraldry besides
(at the east end) the various emblems of the Passion together with
a number of faces representing Pilate and his wife, Herod, Annas
and Caiaphas, Judas, Malchus with the sword of Peter dividing his
ear, Peter himself and many others. All are curious and are best
seen from the gallery below the east window.

“The east window of the choir is filled with Perpendicular glass, a
little earlier than 1525, the work of Bishop Fox, whose arms
impaled with those of the sees he held (Exeter, Bath and Wells,
Durham and Winchester) and his motto _Est Deo Gratia_ are
introduced in it.”--(R. J. K.)

Winston thinks that the only part of the glass in its original position consists of the two figures occupying the two southernmost of the lower lights and all the tracery lights except the top central one and the three immediately below it.

“The top central light is filled principally with some glass of
Wykeham’s time and all the rest of the window with glass of Fox’s
time, removed from other windows. In point of execution it is as
nearly as perfect as painted glass can be. In it the shadows have
attained their proper limit. It was at this period that glass
painting attained its highest perfection as an art.”--(C. W.)

Beyond the tower-piers in the presbytery a plain tomb of Purbeck marble was once the resting-place of =William Rufus=, killed in the New Forest in 1100 and first buried, as we have seen, under the Tower. His bones were removed in the Twelfth Century by his nephew Bishop Henry de Blois and are now mingled with those of Canute, Queen Emma and two Saxon bishops in one of the mortuary chests on the screen of the Presbytery.

The piers and arches of the Presbytery are Decorated, dating from 1320 and 1350.

At the High Altar of the Choir Queen Mary was married to Philip of Spain in July, 1554, by Bishop Gardiner. In Philip’s train were Alva, the future scourge of the Low Countries, and Egmont, his famous victim. The chair in which the bride sat is preserved in the Chapel of the Guardian Angels.

At the back of the altar rises the magnificent =Reredos=, dating from the latter end of the Fifteenth Century. In 1899 the final restoration of the screen was completed by filling a niche that had been vacant for three centuries. The altar-rails are of the time of Charles I. A representation of the _Incarnation_ hangs over the altar placed there in 1899, when Benjamin West’s _Raising of Lazarus_ was removed to the South Transept.

“The Reredos is said to have been commenced by Cardinal Beaufort
and completed by Bishop Fox and Prior Silkstede. It is an excellent
specimen of Perpendicular work, executed in a fine, white soft
stone; its elaborately canopied niches, pierced and crocketted
pinnacles, pilaster buttresses, and centre projecting canopy, are
surmounted at a height reaching nearly to the corbels, with a
triple frieze of running leaves, Tudor flowers and quatrefoils.
This Reredos is of the same type as those at Christ Church Priory
and St. Alban’s, but its dimensions are greater and better
proportioned. Its restoration is carried out with remarkable
fidelity to the original work. The back is closely panelled in the
upper part, and the lower part is richly decorated. No description
could do justice to the beauty and effect of the whole work. Milner
describes its exquisite workmanship as being as magnificent as this
or any other nation can exhibit. The central part was restored as a
memorial to the late Archdeacon Jacob.”--(G. W. K.)

On either side of the altar a door opens to the space behind the Reredos, which in early days was the =Feretory=, a place for the =feretra=, or shrines of the patron saints.