Chapter VII: Part 7

“There are two windows toward the east, the soffetes of which are
ornamented with a gigantic ball-flower; and the peculiar foliage on
some of the capitals should be remarked. Under each of the windows
was an altar, the steps and piscinæ of which remain. The altars
were separated by a screen, the marks of which were visible in the
old pavement. Between the chapel and the aisle the wall is pierced
by the peculiar arch of Abbot Knowle; and under it, in the
thickness of the wall, is an altar-tomb much ornamented and
containing five shields charged with the coats of the Berkeley,
Ferrers and De Quincey families. The tomb in its present state is
no doubt that of Thomas, Lord Berkeley (died 1321), whose wives
were of those families; but the lower part, with its very fine
foliage, is of Early English date, and may possibly have been
removed from another part of the church.”--(R. J. K.)

The =Lady-Chapel= is of the same date as the Choir. The east end was rebuilt about 1280 and a window with geometrical tracery, consisting of foliated circles, was inserted. Until 1895 it was used as a chancel. It is 42 feet long and 32 feet broad and consists of two bays. It is lighted by five windows. The central one is a Jesse window, and each of the four side windows has a transom with rich tracery below. This rich tracery we noticed from the street. In a good light relics of the ancient painting on the walls, representing angels, each with a golden nimbus, can be seen.

The =Reredos= of the Lady-Chapel is partly Abbot Knowle’s work and partly Perpendicular. On the first bay of the south side are the =Sedilia=, restorations of the original cut away to make room for an Elizabethan tomb of =Sir John Young= and his family. They are in four divisions with rich canopies of leafage supported by shafts of red serpentine.

The various recesses contain tombs and effigies of dignitaries of the Cathedral, and, while the general lines of these recesses are similar, there is much variety in the treatment of details.

The splendid =East Window= is pure Decorated and of great beauty in tracery and design. Most of the glass is old, which adds another charm to the lovely effect of the tracery. There is much beautiful silvery white glass from which the brilliant colours sparkle with great effect, and we have no difficulty in tracing the _Tree of Jesse_:

“The lower lights are separated by vine tendrils into oval panels,
twenty-one in all. In the lowest tier in the centre is Jesse with
David on the right and Solomon on the left hand. To the left of the
latter are the prophets Micah, Haggai, Malachi; to the right of
David are Jeremiah, Daniel and Amos. In the next tier the central
figure is the Virgin and Child with Hezekiah on the left and Ahaz
on the right, the four kings, David, Solomon, Hezekiah and Ahaz,
representing the descent of the promise. To the left of Hezekiah
are the prophets Jonah, Habakkuk, Zechariah; and to the right of
Ahaz are Isaiah, Ezekiel and Hosea. Above these two rows of regular
panels are three panels, containing four subjects--the central one
giving us the Crucifixion, with our Lord in glory in the upper part
of the light. In the right hand light is the Virgin Mary, in that
on the left is St. John.

“In the head of this window there are now seventeen blazons of
arms. In the quatrefoil at the top--the arms of England as used
before the time of Edward III., viz., the three lions; in the two
trefoils immediately below are Berkeley of Stoke Gifford (L),
Berkeley of Berkeley Castle (R).

“Most of the glass in this upper part is original and is supposed
by Mr. Winston to date between 1312-1322, as the arms of Gaveston,
who was murdered in 1312, are not in the window, while the arms of
De Bohun, who was slain in open rebellion in 1322, are clearly
here. The glass, then, is of Knowle’s time, and being contemporary
with the masonry, affords a rich example of the harmony of form and
colour about which one hears so much but which one so seldom sees.
It is probable that the tracery of the window may have been
designed for Abbot Knowle by the builder of the window at Carlisle,
also an Augustinian house. There is a strong resemblance in the two
windows, both of which are excellent work.”--(H. J. L. J. M.)

The four side windows contain rich and interesting glass of the same date. The one bearing the arms of Mortimer, Earl of March, has a picture of the _Martyrdom of St. Edmund_, the last of the native kings of East Anglia, who taken prisoner by the Danes in 870 refused to abjure his faith. He was put to death. Here we find, according to legend, the grey wolf watching over the severed head. The costume of the soldiers gives us 1320 as the date of this magnificent window. Beneath St. Edmund are an archbishop and two knights, bearing the arms of the Berkeleys.

The tracery of the large north window was inserted in 1704.

The =South Transept= contains the tomb of Bishop Butler, more famed as the author of the _Analogy of Religion_ than as Bishop of Bristol (1738-1750). The epitaph is by Southey.

The =Cloisters=, on the south side of the cathedral, are entered from the south transept. From them the =Chapter-House= is entered.

The entrance, or vestibule, of the Chapter-House shows a very early example of what may be called a pointed arch. The mouldings and members are quite of the circular style and character. From north to south the arches are round-headed, but east and west they are pointed. This Transitional Norman work--dating from Fitzhardinge’s time--is of special interest.

“The chapter-house is one of the oldest parts of the earlier fabric
of the cathedral, and as Britton truly says, ‘in its original state
must have been one of the most interesting of the kind in the
kingdom and perhaps in Europe.’ In spite of what it has undergone
at the hands of architects, restorers and rioters, it is most
interesting still, a regular parallelogram in shape, measuring 42
feet in length by 25 in breadth and 25 feet in height, divided into
two bays.

“The eastern wall, which dates from 1831, has three windows, and
the west wall has also three round-headed arches, the central one
being the main door, while the side ones serve as windows, each
being subdivided by a small pier. Each of these main openings has a
label of cable-moulding. Above this cable-moulding is an arcade of
interlacing arches, borne by thirteen tall piers, alternately
plain and twisted; and above this is a semicircular space, also
filled with rounded-headed intersecting arches, so arranged as to
fill the semicircular space. The north and south walls have a plain
round-headed arcading below, with a bold round moulding, while
above is an elaborate arcading, similar to the lower tier on the
west wall, but with much richer capitals. Above this is interlaced
lattice-work, and above this in one bay a space covered with zigzag
mouldings. The shafts of the arcading on the walls are alternately
richly carved or almost plain. The clustered shafts, from which the
main arch of the vaulting springs, are peculiarly rich in
ornamentation.”--(H. J. L. J. M.)

In the Chapter-House there is preserved a fine piece of archaic sculpture, which was found under the floor in 1831 after the destructive fire of that date, in use as a slab covering an ancient coffin. It represents the descent of the Saviour into Hell and the delivery of Adam, and is probably of the same date as the slabs in Chichester.

The famous =Great Gateway=, the arcading of which is much in the style of the Chapter-House, is supposed to stand on the site of the principal entrance to Fitzhardinge’s monastery. Though Norman in style and probably containing a lot of Norman masonry, critics believe that it is a Perpendicular restoration of the old work.

This archway is composed of four recessed orders enriched with chevron and other mouldings and ornaments. This must not be confused with the less elaborate =Gateway in Lower College Green=, probably of Fitzhardinge’s time and strengthened by Abbot Newland. The latter was the gateway to the abbot’s dwelling and afterwards to the Bishop’s Palace.

GLOUCESTER

DEDICATION: ST. PETER: FORMERLY THE CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE ABBEY.

SPECIAL FEATURES: CENTRAL TOWER; CHOIR; LADY-CHAPEL; EAST WINDOW;
CLOISTERS.

Gloucester presents a fine view from all points of approach.

“As a rule, visitors see it first from the south side, and the
south-west general view is one of the best, equalled, but not
surpassed, by that from the north-west. The north view from the
Great Western Railway, with the school playing-fields in the
foreground, makes a striking picture, but it is more sombre than
the picture formed by the south front. Viewed from the north-west
corner of the cloister-garth, the pile is seen perhaps at its best.
From this point it is easy to study so much the varied architecture
of the whole, and with little effort to transport the mind back for
a space of four hundred years. The eye first rests upon the turf of
the garth now tastefully laid out after many years of comparative
neglect. Flanking the garth on every side are the exquisite windows
of the Cloister--a cloister which no other can surpass. Above the
Cloister will be seen on the eastern side the sober, impressive
Norman work of the Chapter-house in which so much of our English
history has been made. To the south of this is the Library, built
close against the walls of the north transept, which tower above,
and lead the eye upward to the great tower which, ‘in the middest
of the church,’ crowns the whole.

“Placed where it is, almost in the centre of the long line of the
nave, continued in the choir and Lady-chapel, at the point where
the transept line intersects it, it is the chief feature of the
massive pile. All else seems to be grouped with a view to the
enhancing of the effect of the central position of the tower. The
other members of the building seem merely to be steps, by means of
which approach can be made to it. It is the grandest and most
impressive feature of the outside. No matter from whence one looks
at it, the charm is there. Seen from the gardens in the side
streets close by when the pear-trees are in bloom, or in the full
blaze of a hot summer day, or again later in the autumn when the
leaves are beginning to turn, or, better still, in snow time, it is
always full of beauty. On a bright hot day the pinnacles seem so
far off in the haze as to suggest a dream fairyland. On a wet day,
after a shower, the tower has the appearance of being so close at
hand that it almost seems to speak. Viewed by moonlight, the tower
has an unearthly look, which cannot well be described. The tower is
225 feet high to the top of the pinnacles, and the effect of it is
extremely fine. From the main cornice upwards, the whole of the
stone-work is open, and composed of what at a distance appears to
be delicate tracery, and mullions and crocketed pinnacles.”--(H. J.
L. J. M.)

In it hang the venerable _bells_ that escaped the king’s commissioners at the Dissolution of the monasteries in 1553.

Gloucester is notable for its examples of the Transition from Decorated to Perpendicular, which probably originated in this Cathedral.

The abbey of Gloucester was founded by Osric, viceroy of King Edward, in 681. It was dedicated to St. Peter. Osric’s sister, Kyneburga, who died in 710, was the first Abbess of this double foundation for monks and nuns. Osric and Kyneburga were buried in the Abbey church in front of the altar of St. Petronilla. In 823, secular priests were placed here by the King of Mercia; and in 1022 they were expelled by Canute for Benedictine monks. When the monastery was burned to the ground, Aldred, Bishop of Worcester, re-established the monks in 1058, and began the building of a new church also to St. Peter,--“a little further from the place where it had first stood, and nearer to the side of the city.”

The monastery failed to flourish; Aldred was translated to York in 1060; and when Serlo, who had been William the Conqueror’s chaplain, succeeded to Wilstan, or Wulstan, Aldred’s successor, he had under him only two monks and eight novices. After fifteen years of energetic rule (1072-1103), Serlo rebuilt the Cathedral.

In August, 1089, an earthquake damaged the then existing building. Eleven years later (1100), in the last year of the reign of William Rufus, “the church,” as Florence of Worcester wrote, “which Abbot Serlo, of revered memory, had built from the foundations at Gloucester, was dedicated (on Sunday, July 15th) with great pomp by Samson, Bishop of Worcester; Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester; Gerard, Bishop of Hereford; and Herveas, Bishop of Bangor.” It is thought that part of the church was finished for the dedication, such as the presbytery, choir, the transepts, the Abbot’s cloister, the chapter-house, and the greater part of the nave.

The Saxon Chronicle tells us that in 1122, while the monks were singing mass, fire burst out from the upper part of the steeple, and burnt the whole monastery. Between 1164 and 1179 one of the western towers fell down.

Repairs were consequently necessary.

Offerings at the Tomb of Edward II. were a great aid in providing funds.

“Instead of going on with Abbot Morwent’s rebuilding of the nave,
the monks now turned their attention to the central tower. The
tower was of no use as a lantern, for the lierne vault of the choir
had been carried beneath it. So it long remained unaltered. But in
the days of Abbot Seabroke (1460-1482), it was rebuilt under the
superintendence of a monk named Tully, to be in character with the
new exterior of choir and transepts. A very imposing tower it is;
fully able, from its massiveness as well as from its height, to
gather together the masses of the building--all the more so because
the transepts are so short. It succeeds where the central towers of
Worcester and Hereford fail; in fact, it is as effective in its way
as Salisbury spire. The pinnacles, again, bear witness to the love
of these later artists for harmony and unity; each pinnacle, with
its two ranges of windows, is a repeat of the two stages of the
tower below.

“Then--after the tower had been erected--it was decided to rebuild
the Lady-chapel. So an immense detached building was constructed to
the east of the great window of the presbytery; without aisles, but
with little transepts; almost one continuous sheet of glass, and
with a superb vault. This Lady-chapel had to be joined up to the
presbytery, but the great east window was in the way. However, the
difficulty was got over by a series of ingenious shifts and dodges,
which must be seen to be appreciated (1457-1499).

“And so ended this great building-period at Gloucester (1330-1499),
which turned the course of English architecture; so that the
Curvilinear style of 1315 to 1360 did not find its natural
development in Flamboyant, as on the Continent, but was switched
off to Perpendicular and Tudor design.”--(F. B.)

Let us see what the “shifts and dodges” referred to above consisted of.

“The method of joining the Lady-chapel to the choir is best noticed
from the outside. It is a piece of exceedingly clever and graceful
construction, and there is the minimum of obstruction to the light
passing through to the east window, and the maximum of support to
the elliptical east window. Viewing the Lady-chapel from the north
side, the play of light through the windows on the south side has a
very grand effect. Under the east end of the Lady-chapel is a
passage which has given rise to much speculation in bygone times.
The Lady-chapel, at

the time of its erection, was carried out to the farthest limit of
the land possessed by the Abbey. As the east wall of the chapel was
actually on the western boundary wall the passage was made to give
access from the north to the south of the grounds, without the need
of going right round the precincts by the west front.”--(H. J. L.
J. M.)

During the reign of Henry VIII., the Abbey which had

“existed for more than eight centuries under different forms, in
poverty and in wealth, in meanness and in magnificence, in
misfortune and success, finally succumbed to the royal will. The
day came, and that a drear winter day, when its last Mass was sung,
its last censer waved, its last congregation bent in rapt and lowly
adoration before the altar there; and, doubtless, as the last tones
of that day’s evensong died away in the vaulted roof, there were
not wanting those who lingered in the solemn stillness of the old
massive pile, and who, as the lights disappeared one by one, felt
that there was a void which could never be filled, because their
old abbey, with its beautiful services, its frequent means of
grace, its hospitality to strangers, and its loving care for God’s
poor, had passed away like a morning dream, and was gone for
ever.”--(W. H. H.)

Gloucester has suffered from the hands of restorers. In 1847, Mr. F. S. Waller made extensive repairs. At this time the gardens were added.

The exterior presents a great variety of battlements and pinnacles and another interesting feature in the exterior is the construction of the two passages which make up the greater part of the so-called Whispering Gallery. This connects the north and south triforium of the choir.

The =West Front= of Gloucester, restored in 1874, is comparatively uninteresting. The buttresses of the great window are pieced, as are also the parapets. Plain transoms cross the lights of the great west window, the tracery of which is very elaborate when looked at from within. The old towers have disappeared.

The =South Porch= is the principal entrance. It is the work of Morwent (1421-1437). Over the doorway stand St. Peter and St. Paul and the four Evangelists, and below them are King Osric and Abbot Serlo, the founders of the Abbey church. In the niches of the buttress stand St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine and St. Gregory. The windows of this porch have been formed by piercing the tracery of the inside. Over the porch is an unfinished parvis. The doors date from the Fifteenth Century.

We now enter the =Nave=.

“The first impression of the nave changes all earlier thoughts of
the age of the building. It is unmistakably Norman, grand beyond
expression, but cold, severe and deathly white. The stained glass
(mostly modern) of the Norman and Decorated windows fails to supply
the evident lack of colour.

“There was a time when lines of blue and scarlet and gold relieved
the white vaulted roof, when altars agleam with colour and pale
flickering lights gave light and brightness to the chill whiteness
of this vast and mighty colonnade. On Sunday evenings, when the
nave is filled with worshippers and the bright searching daylight
is replaced by the yellow gleam of the little tongues of fire above
the great and massive arches, the want of colour is little felt,
and the noble and severe beauty of the matchless Norman work in the
great nave strikes the beholder. The nave of Gloucester, to be
loved and admired as it deserves, and as it appeared to men in the
days of the Plantagenet Kings, must be seen in one of the many
crowded evening services.

“Save that the altars with their wealth of colour and light are
gone, and the lines of colouring and the glint of gold of the
Norman wooden ceiling no longer are visible on the stone-vaulted
roof above and the south aisle Norman windows are replaced with
exquisite Decorated work of the time of the second Edward, there is
no great structural change since the day at the close of the
Eleventh Century when Abbot Fulda from Shrewsbury preached his
famous sermon to the Gloucester folk, the sermon in which he
foretold the death of the imperious and cruel Rufus in words so
plain, so unmistakable, that Abbot Serlo of Gloucester, who loved
the great wicked King, in spite of his many sins, was alarmed and
at once sent to warn his master, but in vain. Rufus disregarded the
Gloucester note of alarm, and a few hours later the news of the
King of England’s bloody death, in the leafy glades of the New
Forest, rang through Normandy and England.

“Yes, it is the same nave, only colder and whiter, on which Anselm,
the saintly archbishop, and Rufus gazed; the same avenue of massy
pillars--then scarcely finished--through which Maud the Empress
often went to her prayers with her chivalrous half-brother, Earl
Robert. Beauclerc, her father, too, and some grey-haired survivors
of Hastings must have looked on these huge columns crowned with
their round arches which excite our wonder to-day. They were a
curious fancy of the architect of Serlo; or was it not probably a
design of a yet older artist of Edward the Confessor? These
enormous round shafts, which are the peculiar feature of the nave
of our storied abbey, have only once been repeated, probably by the
same architect, in the neighbouring abbey of Tewkesbury, a few
years later. There is nothing like them on either side of the
silver streak of sea. The Tewkesbury copies are slightly smaller;
otherwise they are exact reproductions of Gloucester.”--(S.)

The Nave differs from other Norman naves like those of Peterborough, Ely and Norwich.

“The unique features here are the great height of the massive
circular columns, fourteen in number, and the consequently dwarfed
triforium or gallery running over the main arches. There are traces
to be seen of the original Norman clerestory under the
Perpendicular windows, and, judging from this, the height of the
clerestory, as originally constructed, must have been but little
less than that of the piers in the nave.

“This Norman clerestory was altered at the same time that the roof
of the nave was vaulted--viz. in 1242, in the time of Henry Foliot.
This work was done by the monks themselves, who thought, as
Professor Willis suggests, that they could do it better than common
workmen. Their work is made of a light and porous kind of stone,
treated with plaster on the under-side, and it was rendered
necessary by the previous roof, which was of wood, having been
destroyed by fire in 1190. Of this fire the piers certainly show
the traces to this day, all having become reddened and slightly
calcined. To make the new clerestory the whole of the original
Norman work over the arcade of the triforium was removed, with the
exception of the jambs of the side-lights (which extended beyond
the arches of the triforium) and the wall between them.”--(H. J. L.
J. M.)

All the stone-work was originally painted.

“The painting may be thus generally described. The hollow of the
abacus of the capitals was red, the lower member of the same,
green; the whole of the bell red, the leaves alternately green and
yellow, with the stalks, running down, of the same colours, into
the red bell of the capital. The vertical mouldings between the
marble shafts were red and blue alternately; the lower shafts green
and blue, with red in the hollows, and the foliage on these also is
green and yellow. Some of the horizontal mouldings are partly
coloured also. The bosses in the groining are yellow and green, as
in the capitals. All the colouring, which was very rich, was
effected with water colours; in one instance only has any gold been
discerned, and that was upon one of the bosses in the roof.”--(F.
S. W.)

Abbot Morwent pulled down the west end of the Nave in 1421-1437 and reconstructed it in the Perpendicular style. It is supposed that the original =west front= was like that of the Abbey at Tewkesbury.

The west window contains nine lights, filled with modern glass.

The =South aisle=, originally Norman, was remodelled about 1318. The tracery of the windows is unusual. The ball-flower is seen in great profusion in this part of the Cathedral.

In this aisle there is a monument to Dr. Jenner of vaccination fame, to whom the five-light west window here is also a memorial.

The tracery of the windows of the clerestory is attributed to Abbot Morwent.

The =North aisle= retains its original Norman vaulting, and the Norman piers, which correspond to the piers in the Nave, are divided into several members. Some of their capitals are richly carved. In each bay there is some Perpendicular tracing. A stone bench along the wall is also Perpendicular.

The door into the Cloister at the west end of the aisle is very fine, and the side niches and canopy work over it deserve study.

The door at the eastern end of the aisle leading to the Cloisters is also Perpendicular. Both doors have fan-vaulted recesses, like the great west door of the Nave.

The west end of the aisle is the work of Abbot Morwent (1421-1437).

A heavy stone screen, dating from 1820, closes the east end of the nave. We pass through a small arch in this screen, and beneath the broad platform on which the great organ stands.

This was originally built in 1663-1665 by Thomas Harris, and was painted and gilded in 1666. The oak case is in the Renaissance Style.

Little idea of the beauty of the =Choir= can be obtained from the Nave. We enter from the north aisle. It is 140 feet long; 33 feet 7 inches broad; and 86 feet high.

“Looking upwards, the visitor will note the beauty of the vaulting
and the bosses placed at the intersection of the ribs. These bosses
at the east end of the choir chiefly represent a choir of angels
playing on various kinds of musical instruments, and a figure of
Our Lord in the attitude of blessing. All the roof was originally
probably painted and decorated, but the existing colour and gilding
is recent work, having been done by Clayton & Bell. At first sight
the groining of the roof looks most complicated, but, if analysed
and dotted down on paper, it will be seen to be in reality a simple
geometrical pattern. The bosses will repay careful examination with
a glass.

“Viewed from the door in the screen, the choir looks in very truth
a piece of Perpendicular work, as the Norman substructure is then
for the most part concealed. A closer examination, however, will
prove that the Norman work is all there--that it has been veiled
over with tracery from the floor level to the vaulting with open
screen-work, fixed on to the Norman masonry, which was pared down
to receive it.”--(H. J. L. J. M.)

The general impression is striking:

“The choir on which you are now looking is very long--not too long,
however, for its great height--for the fretted roof, a delicate
mosaic of tender colours set in pale gold, soars high above the
vaulting of the nave. The proportions are simply admirable. From
the lofty traceried roof down to the elaborately tiled floor, the
walls are covered with richly carved panelled work, broken here and
there with delicate screens of stone. The eastern end, hard by the
high altar, is the home of several shrines. There is happily no
lack of colour in this part of our cathedral. The western end is
furnished with sixty richly-carved canopied stalls of dark oak,
mostly the handiwork of the Fourteenth Century. The curiously and
elaborately fretted work of the roof we have already spoken of as
a rich mosaic of gold and colours. The floor, if one dare breathe
a criticism in this charmed building, is too bright and glistening,
but it is in its way varied and beautiful. The carving of the
reredos, a work of our own day, is, to the writer’s mind, open to
criticism, but is still very fair, telling in every detail of
loving work and true reverence.”--(S.)

The =High Altar= occupies the same site as the ancient one. The sixty =Choir-stalls= have been restored in part; the sub-stalls date from Sir Gilbert Scott’s restoration (1873). On the south side of the High Altar there are four =Sedilia= also restored. Redfern’s figures in the niches are Abbot Edric, Bishop Wulstan, and Abbots Aldred, Serlo, Foliot, Thokey, Wygmore, Horton, Froucester, Morwent, Seabroke and Hanley. The three angels over the canopies, playing on a tambour and trumpets, deserve notice.

On the north side of the =Presbytery= we pause to look at the chantry =Tomb of Abbot Parker=, where the carving of vine and grapes on the stone screen is fine. The curious cross in the form of a growing tree at the foot of the tomb is also striking. Parker, who died in 1539, was buried elsewhere. Then we pass to the more famous =Tomb of Edward II.=, erected by Edward III. The alabaster figure is probably the earliest of its kind in England. The tomb was opened in 1855 to satisfy curiosity as to whether the king was really buried there after his murder in Berkeley Castle nearby.

“Though it awakens our recollection of a feeble-minded king, and
his barbarously brutal murder, it also compels our admiration at
the beauty of the work. It has been restored, renovated or
re-edified, but in spite of that, appeals to us from the wealth of
very highly ornate tabernacle work, the richness, and at the same
time the lightness and elegance of the whole. The details too are
well worth careful examination. It may be, judging from the
expression of the face, that there has been some attempt at
portraiture, but repair and restoration have practically made it
impossible to settle what would otherwise be an interesting
question. The superb canopy has suffered much at the hands of
restorers--e.g. in 1737, 1789, 1798 and in 1876.”--(H. J. L. J. M.)

The next monument is to =King Osric=, erected in “late dayes,” _i.e._ in the time of Abbot Parker, whose arms are in the spandrels of the canopy (1514-1539).

The Norman piers, cut away to receive the tomb, are decorated on their capitals with the white hart chained and gorged, with a ducal coronet, the device of Richard II. Osric is represented as clad in tunic, laced mantle and a fur hood or collar, bearing the model of a church in his left hand.

The next tomb westwards is, as Leland says, that of “=King Edward of Caernarvon= (who) lyeth under a fayre tombe, in an arch at the head of King Osric tombe.”

The transepts and ambulatory of the choir are usually entered through the iron gateway in the south aisle of the nave.

These =Ambulatories=, or aisles, have nothing uncommon in their form or arrangement below, but above occurs the great peculiarity of this church. The upper range of chapels surrounding the Choir is perhaps not to be met with in any other church in Europe.

Another peculiarity of the Choir is its six-light west window. This was rendered necessary by the difference in height of the Nave and Choir; for the vaulting of the choir is about twenty feet higher than that of the Nave. The glass consists chiefly of patchwork from other windows in the Cathedral. It represents a figure of our Lord, with angels on either side. Below angels play musical instruments.

The =Triforium= of the Choir is considered by some critics the finest in existence.

“It occupies the space over the ground floors of the aisles or
ambulatory of the choir, and originally extended of a like width
round the east end of the Norman Church, but at the time when the
Fourteenth-Century work of the present choir was executed, the
whole of the east end of the old Norman choir, with the
corresponding part of the triforium, was removed in order to make
room for the existing large window, the small east chapel being
allowed to remain.”--(F. S. W.)

The =Triforium= is reached by the staircases in the western turrets of the two transepts and by arcaded passages passing under the great windows of the transepts.

“The first chapel in the triforium contains two brackets with rich
canopies, and there is a very well preserved double piscina.
Ball-flowers in two rows will be found in the mouldings of the east
window. Remains of two canopies in the jambs of the windows are
also to be traced.

“The massive Norman piers should be carefully studied, as the way
in which the later casing work has been applied can be more easily
seen in the triforium than elsewhere.

“The picture on the west side of this part of the triforium was
discovered in 1718, against the then eastern end of the nave,
underneath the panelled wainscot at the back of the seats occupied
by the clergy when the nave was used for service.”--(H. J. L. J.
M.)

This painting of _The Last Judgment_ is supposed to date from the reign of Henry VIII., or Edward VI. It was suggested by the great altar-piece at Dantzig (1467).

As an entrance to the east chapel of the triforium, the narrow gallery, called the =Whispering Gallery=, was made. It is a passage of Norman work, very much altered and re-used. It is 74 feet long, 3 feet wide, 6⅛ feet high, and is carried on segmental arches from the east end of the south triforium to the west wall of the Lady Chapel, and thence in the same way to the north triforium.

On the way towards the Whispering Gallery, the flying-buttresses inserted in 1347-1350 to support the walls of the clerestory, which were weakened by the insertion of the great east window of the Choir, should be noticed.

Visitors are always interested in the Whispering Gallery, where the lightest whisper can be easily and distinctly heard at the other end of the gallery. It inspired the following lines, by Maurice Wheeler (head-master of the King’s School, 1684-1712):

“Doubt not but God, who sits on high,
Thy secret prayers can hear,
When a dead wall thus cunningly
Conveys soft whispers to the ear.”

The =East Window= is larger than the East Window of York Minster. It measures 78 × 38 feet; that at York is 78 × 33.

Though it has suffered much mutilation, restorers have done little harm, and it is possible to get some idea of its original splendour.

“It is worthy of remark that the tracery, heads and cusps, as seen
from the inside of this window, are not repeated on the outside, a
plain transom only crossing the lights. This peculiarity is
repeated in the great west

window and in many other windows in the cathedral.”--(F. S. W.)

The stone-work of the window was restored in 1862 and the glass cleaned and re-leaded. The window consists of fourteen lights--six on the centre with four on either side. The subjects are the Coronation of the Virgin Mary with Christ and the Apostles, saints and kings. The heraldic shields fix the date of the glass between 1347 and 1350. The canopies and nearly all the figures are of white glass enriched with yellow. The tones of red and blue are particularly rich. The drawing of the figures has been much criticised.

“The whole of this, the loveliest choir in England, is lit by a
mighty wall of jewelled glass behind the great golden reredos.

“This vast east window which floods the choir of Gloucester,
beautiful as a dream with its soft, silvery light faintly coloured
with jewelled shafts of the richest blue and red, and here and
there a vein of pale gold--this vast window could not have been
seen out of England, or, at least, one of the grey and misty
northern countries, where gleams of light or shafts of sunshine are
exceedingly precious. In south or central Europe the effect of such
a mighty window would be simply dazzling to the eye, would be
painful from its excess of light.

“This great east window is the largest painted window in
England--the largest, the writer believes, in Europe. Its stonework
exceeds in size the magnificent east window of York, which stands
next to it. The respective measurements are Gloucester, seventy-two
feet high by thirty-eight wide; York, seventy-eight by thirty-three
feet. The lower parts of the centre compartments at Gloucester are
not completely glazed, owing to the opening into the Lady-chapel.
The glass of Gloucester is, on the whole, light-coloured, the
designers being evidently anxious that the beautiful stone panels
and screen-work should be seen in all their exquisite details. The
glass has suffered marvellously little from the ravages of weather
and the fanaticism of revolutionary times; the busy restorer, too,
has dealt gently with it. There are forty-nine figures, and of
these thirty-seven are pronounced by our lynx-eyed experts to be
absolutely genuine. Of the eighteen armorial shields in the lower
lights thirteen are certainly the identical shields inserted by the
survivors of Cressy. The whole of the gorgeous canopy-work has been
untouched. The subject of the paintings is the _Coronation of the
Virgin_ and the figures consist of winged angels, apostles, saints,
kings and abbots. The coats-of-arms are those borne by King Edward
III., the Black Prince, and their knightly companions, such as the
Lords of Berkeley, Arundel, Pembroke, Warwick, Northampton, Talbot
and others who took part in the famous campaign in which occurred
the battle of Cressy, and who in some degree were connected with
Gloucestershire. The window was, in fact, a memorial of the great
English victory, and may fairly be termed the Cressy window.”--(S.)

The =Vestibule= to the Lady-Chapel is a beautiful work. The lower portions of the west wall, parts of the old Norman apsidal chapel, are pierced by the opening for the door and by two perpendicular windows.

The lierne vaulting is very delicate (the ribs are run differently in the four quarters of the roof), and the pendants form a cross. Over the vestibule is the small chapel which is entered from the Whispering Gallery.

The beautiful =Lady-Chapel= was built between 1457 and 1499 on the site of a smaller one.

The Lady-Chapel, 91 feet 6 inches long, 25 feet 6 inches high, and 46 feet 6 inches high, consists of four bays, which, as the wall of the chapel is so low, are chiefly composed of fine tracery and glass.

“All the wall below the windows is arcaded with foiled arches, with
quatrefoils above them. The wall between the windows is panelled
with delicate tracery like that in the windows, and in its three
chief tiers contains brackets for figures, with richly carved
canopies overhead. Many of these canopies (like the walls) show
traces of colour.

“Vaulting shafts of great beauty support one of the grandest
Perpendicular roofs that has ever been made. Each boss in the roof
is worth minute inspection, and since the restoration (1896) it is
possible to see the bosses in practically the same condition as
they were when they left the masons’ hands in the Fifteenth
Century. With three exceptions they are all representations of
foliage.

“It has been said above that the chapel is cruciform. The arms of
the cross are represented by the two side chapels, like diminutive
transepts on the north and south sides, with oratories above them,
to which access is given by small staircases in the angles of the
wall. Both these side chapels contain some exquisite fan-tracery
vaulting, which is supported upon flying arches, fashioned in
imitation of the graceful flying arches in the choir.

“On the north side the chapel contains a full-length effigy of
Bishop Goldsborough (who died in 1604) robed in his white rochet,
black chimere, with lawn sleeves, scarf, ruff and skull-cap.

“The east window in this chapel is in memory of Lieut. Arthur John
Lawford (1885), and is dedicated to St. Martin.

“The chapel above has a vaulted roof with bosses of foliage, and
there are small portions of ancient glass.

“The Lady-chapel is one of the largest in the kingdom, and is said,
at the time of the Dissolution, to have been one of the richest. A
great part of it is said to have been gilded and gloriously
ornamented. Traces of the colour can be seen in the mouldings of
the panellings and in the carving upon the walls.”--(H. J. L. J.
M.)

The =Reredos= still retains traces of its gorgeous colours. It is very richly ornamented.

The =East Window=, consisting of nine lights, dates from 1472-1479. The monuments are not especially remarkable. The tiles of the floor and the sedilia are notable.

On our right, as we leave the Lady Chapel, we come to =Abbot Boteler’s Chapel= (1437-1450). It contains a fine ancient reredos, interesting tiles and a curious wooden =effigy of Robert, Duke of Normandy=, son of William the Conqueror. Critics think it nearly contemporary with the Duke himself. The figure rests on a Fifteenth Century chest.

Next we come to =St. Paul’s Chapel= (north-west) entered by a doorway. The reredos here is very fine. It was repaired in 1870. St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Luke, by Redfern, ornament the niches.

An ancient stone reading-desk, from which pilgrims to the shrine of Edward II. were addressed, attracts our attention near the door leading into the =North Transept=. This is originally Norman, cased over with Perpendicular panelling, more developed, however, than that in the south transept. The work here was done in 1368-1373. Angular mouldings are used in the place of round mouldings and the mullions run right up to the roof, which is much richer than that in the south transept. The vaulting of the north transept somewhat resembles the fan-tracery of the cloisters. This transept is 8 feet lower than that on the south side and it is 2 feet shorter.

Beneath the north window is a greatly admired piece of Early English (1240), supposed to have been a =Reliquary=. The middle of the three divisions is a doorway. Beautifully carved foliage and Purbeck marble shafts are the chief ornamentation.

Opposite, between the tower-piers, is a small chapel, said to have been dedicated to St. Anthony. It is used as the Dean’s vestry.

The =South Transept= (=St. Andrew’s Aisle=) was transformed from the Norman in 1329-1337. The vaulting is lierne with short ribs. The walls are panelled.

On the north side of the south transept, we find the =Seabroke Chapel=.

“The alabaster effigy represents the Abbot in his alb, stole,
tunic, dalmatic, chasuble, amice and mitre, with his pastoral staff
on his right side. The chapel has been partially restored. Traces
of colour are to be seen in the reredos and the roof over it.

“Almost opposite to this, but nearer to the iron gate, is a
recessed tomb to a knight in mixed armour of mail and plate, and by
his side his lady, with kirtle, mantle and flowing hair. Both wear
SS. collars, and this helps to give the age of the monument, by
narrowing the date down to a year not earlier than 1399.”--(H. J.
L. J. M.)

On the east side the =Chapel of St. Andrew= occupies a corresponding position to that of =St. Paul= in the north transept. This chapel has been restored. Some of the best glass in the Cathedral is contained in the east window over St. Andrew’s Chapel. It dates from about 1330 and consists of the head of a white scroll-work of vine leaves, etc., on a fine ruby-coloured ground, and below plain quarries with very simple borders.

Opposite Boteler’s Chapel we find =St. Philip’s Chapel= (south-east), restored in 1864. There is some dog-tooth moulding near the piscina. A fine Perpendicular arch, supporting the triforium above, attracts attention before the Lady-Chapel is entered.

The =Crypt= is entered from the eastern door in the south transept. It is one of the five great eastern crypts erected before 1085[5] and consists of an apse, three small apsidal chapels and two chapels underneath the eastern chapels of the north and south transepts.

“Great alterations have from time to time been made in the crypt.
The large semicircular columns against the walls, though of great
antiquity, are not parts of the original structure, but are casings
built round, and enclosing the former smaller piers, and the ribs
springing from their capitals are built _under_, with a view to
support the vaulting.”--(F. S. W.)

Through a door in the organ screen in the north aisle of the nave we enter the =Cloisters=, which are among the most perfect and beautiful in England. They form a quadrangle and each walk is divided into ten compartments. Fan-tracery is thought to have originated here in the vaulting. They were begun by Abbot Horton (1351-1377) and completed by Abbot Froucester (1381-1412).

“The view looking down either of the walks is very fine, mainly
owing to the richness of the groined roof, which is the earliest
example of the fan-vault. This style of vaulting is entirely
peculiar to England; and Professor Willis has suggested that the
school of masons who were employed in this cathedral may have
originated it. The wall sides of the cloisters are panelled; and
the windows, divided by a transom, have rich Perpendicular tracery.
The lights above the transom were glazed. Each walk is divided into
ten compartments. In the south walk are the Carrels--places for
writing or study, twenty in number, formed by a series of arches,
running below the main windows. In each carrel is a small and
graceful window of two lights.[6] The very fine view at the angle
of the south and west walks should especially be noticed. In the
north walk are the lavatories, projecting into the cloister garth;
these are very perfect. Under the windows is a long trough or
basin into which the water flowed. The roof is groined. Opposite in
the wall of the cloister, is the recess for towels, or
_manutergia_. The windows of the east walk are filled with memorial
glass by Hardman (the eighth is by Ballantyne, as is one window in
the west walk).”--(R. J. K.)

A small cloister, or slype, opens from the east walk between the cathedral and the chapter-house. This is also called the =Abbot’s Cloister=. This is Norman in its western portion and Perpendicular beyond.[7] Above this is situated the Chapter Library, a long, dark Perpendicular room with a roof of dark oak, a large Perpendicular window east and a row of small windows on the north side.

Though the cloisters are quadrangular, the length of the four walks is not quite the same. The width (12½ feet) and height (18½ feet) are alike.

In the =North Alley=, the Monks’ Lavatory is

“one of the most perfect of its date. It projects 8 feet into the
garth, and is entered from the cloister alley by eight tall arches
with glazed traceried openings above. Internally it is 47 feet long
and 6½ feet wide, and is lighted by eight two-light windows
towards the garth and by a similar window at each end. One light of
the east window has a small square opening below, perhaps for the
admission of the supply pipes, for which there seems to be no other
entrance either in the fan vault or the side walls. Half the width
of the lavatory is taken up by a broad, flat ledge or platform
against the wall, on which stood a lead cistern or laver, with a
row of taps, and in front a hollow trough, originally lined with
lead, at which the monks washed their hands and faces. From this
the waste water ran away into a recently discovered (1889) tank in
the garth.”--(H.)

From the =West Alley= the monks entered their great dining-hall; and at the south-west corner a vaulted passage called the =Slype= lies under part of the old lodging of the Abbots, now the Deanery. In this passage, a sort of outer parlour, the monks held conversation with strangers. In the =South Alley= the monks studied after dinner until evensong. It has ten windows of six lights and twenty recesses, or “carrels,” below the transoms.

The roof of the =East Alley= is a perfectly plain barrel vault without ribs. In the south-west corner we find a hollowed bracket, or cresset stone, in which a wick, floating in tallow, was kept to light the passage.

Opposite the fifth bay a doorway, containing some good Norman work, slightly restored, leads into the =Chapter-House=.

Originally consisting of three Norman bays, it probably, like the chapter-houses at Norwich, Reading, and Durham, terminated in a semi-circular apse. The present east end is Late Perpendicular, and makes a fourth bay. The vaulting of the later part is well groined, and the window is good. The roof of the three Norman bays is a lofty barrel vault supported by three slightly pointed arches springing from the capitals of the columns, which are curiously set back, and separate the bays.

Norman arcading of twelve arches--_i.e._ four to each bay--runs along the three westernmost bays on the north and south walls.

“The west end is arranged in the usual Benedictine fashion, with a
central door, flanked originally by two large unglazed window
openings, with three large windows above. Only one of the windows
flanking the doorway can now be seen, the other having been partly
destroyed and covered by Perpendicular panelling when the new
library stair was built in the south-west corner of the
room.”--(H.)

Of the four old gateways remaining the finest is =St. Mary’s Gate=, a typical specimen of Early English work. It leads into St. Mary’s Square. In the northwest corner of the Precincts the famous vineyard was situated.

HEREFORD

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

SPECIAL FEATURES: NORTH TRANSEPT AND EAST END.

Hereford is situated in the fertile and cultivated valley of the Wye.

“Almost in the midst of the city the sturdy mass of the cathedral
building reposes in a secluded close, from which the best general
view is obtained. The close is entered either from Broad Street,
near the west window, or from Castle Street; the whole of the
building lying on the south side of the close between the path and
the river. The space between the Wye and the Cathedral is filled by
the Bishop’s Palace and the college of the Vicars’ Choral. On the
east are the foundations of the castle, which was formerly one of
the strongest on the Welsh marshes.”--(A. H. F.)

A stone church was begun here about 830 in honour of St. Ethelbert, the East Anglian king, murdered by Offa near Hereford in 792. At his shrine miracles were wrought. This church was rebuilt in Edward the Confessor’s reign; but was plundered and burnt by the Welsh and Irish. The present building was begun by Robert de Losinga about 1079 and finished by the middle of the Twelfth Century. The most remarkable part of the building is the north transept. This is supposed to have been built by Bishop Aquablanca (see page 177), who was succeeded by Thomas de Cantilupe, the great saint of the Cathedral (see page 178).

Hereford has suffered greatly from calamities and restorations. In 1786 the western tower and west front fell. They were reconstructed by Wyatt. He also shortened the nave by one bay and destroyed the Norman triforium. Repairs and restorations were undertaken in 1841, 1852 and 1858.

The most striking feature of the exterior is the central =Tower=--of two stories above the roof with buttresses and exhibiting the ball-flower in great profusion. The four pinnacles at the corners were added in 1830. The Lady-Chapel with its tall lancet-shaped windows and bold buttresses is also interesting. On the south side the Audley Chantry projects with great effect; and from the west we gain a good view of the =Bishop’s Cloisters=, with the square turreted tower called the =Lady Arbour=, though nobody knows why. Only the east and the south walks now remain. They are Perpendicular with fine window openings and richly carved roof.

We enter the Cathedral by the =North porch=, completed in 1530. It is of two stages, and projects beyond an inner porch of the Decorated period. The doorway opening into the church is also Decorated.

On entering the =Nave=, we pass to the west end to get the best general view.