“No one could possibly have been found in the whole kingdom better qualified to cope with the great disaster that took place at Ely in 1322 than the officer of the house who had the special custody of the fabric. The originality and skill with which he designed and carried out the noble work that takes the place of the central tower, which is without a rival in the architecture of the whole world, are beyond all praise. The exquisite work in the Lady-Chapel would in itself have been sufficient to establish Walsingham’s reputation as an architect of the very highest order of merit; but it would have revealed nothing, if it stood alone, of the consummate constructive genius which he displayed in the conception of the octagon.
“The building was begun as soon as the space was cleared. The stonework was finished in 1328, little more than six years after the tower fell. The woodwork of the vaulting and lantern took longer time; but this also was quite complete in 1342. Walsingham had become prior in the previous year. The weight of the lantern, it need hardly be said, is not borne, though it looks like it from below, by the vaulting that we see. There is a perfect forest of oak hidden from sight, the eight great angle posts being no less than 3 feet 4 inches by 2 feet 8 inches in section.
“With such a man as Walsingham on the spot we cannot be wrong in assigning to him the authorship of all the architectural designs that were carried out in his lifetime. It is believed—for the date is not exactly known—that he died in 1364. Besides the Lady-Chapel and Octagon, he must have designed the singularly beautiful bays of the presbytery between the Octagon and Northwold’s work. The exquisite way in which the main characteristics of the Early English work are adapted to the Decorated style demands our highest admiration. The arrangement of the three western bays on each side is exactly like Northwold’s work, while the additional grace and beauty of ornamentation mark the advance in taste that distinguished the Decorated period. Bishop Hotham undertook the whole expense of rebuilding this portion of the cathedral. He did not live to see it completed, as he died in 1337, but he left money for the purpose.”—(W. D. S.)
Walsingham, though elected bishop by the monks, was not confirmed by the Pope. However, when they placed the brass over his resting-place in front of the choir they represented “The Flower of Craftsmen” (Flos operatorum was his epitaph), with mitre and crozier.
Ely suffered less than many churches during the Puritan wars.
The most important work of late years has been the restoration of the octagon and lantern, as originally designed by Alan de Walsingham.
The great West Tower (Early English and Decorated) was built before the Galilee Porch, about the last year of the Twelfth Century. It is surmounted by an octagon with a window of three lights in each face. An octagonal turret ornaments each corner. Windows and arcades mark each story. A fine view of it is obtained from the south side.
The Galilee Porch is one of the finest examples of Early English in existence and is only surpassed by Bishop Hugh’s Choir at Lincoln.
“Each side externally, is covered with lancet arcading in four tiers. In the upper tier the lancets are trefoiled with dog-tooth in the moulding; in the next lower tier the lancets are cinquefoiled, with two sets of dog-tooth. The lancets in the west face are all cinquefoiled, and the three lower tiers have trefoils in the spandrels. Nearly all are highly enriched with dog-tooth; while the mouldings of the west door have conventional foliage as well. The lancets here are deeper than on the sides of the porch, and were probably designed to hold figures. Of the three large lancets in the west window the central one is slightly more lofty than the others.
“The interior of the porch is even more beautiful; the profusion of ornamentation on the inner doorway and the exceeding gracefulness of the double arcades in the sides are quite unsurpassed. Both doorways are divided by a shaft and both have open tracery of exceptional beauty above.”—(W. D. S.)
In addition to this feature, Ely has the unique Octagon, a good view of which is obtained from the north-west. It is beautifully proportioned and beautifully decorated with windows of exquisite tracery.
“The way in which the octagon and lantern combine in producing a perfectly harmonious composition is in great part due to two points of difference, points which very few observers detect. These are, firstly, that the lantern is a regular octagon, having all its sides equal, in this respect being unlike the stone octagon beneath it; and, secondly, that the eight faces of the lantern are not parallel to the eight faces of the octagon. The new windows of the lantern are similar to the large ones below, but are not mere copies of them. The upper stage of the lantern, above the roof as seen from within, was once a bell-chamber; its lights are not, and never have been, glazed. The whole of the lantern is of wood, covered with lead. Two flying-buttresses rise from the corners of the nave and transept aisles to the corbel table of the clerestory range. There are also eight elegant flying-buttresses, one to each of the angles of the lantern. These are part of the new work, the originals having long disappeared.”—(W. D. S.)
The north-western part of the north transept fell in 1699, and was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, nephew of Bishop Wren, then in office. The north end of the transept contains Norman windows, and above them are two Perpendicular windows, each of three lights. In the east wall of the transept the lower lights are Decorated; the upper windows are the original Norman.
Next we come to the Lady-Chapel, the east window of which (seven lights) was inserted by Bishop Barnet (1366-1373), who also “beautified five of the windows in the presbytery.” The west window (eight lights) is of a little later date. In the side walls of the Lady-Chapel are five large windows, the tracery of which is very beautiful.
The East End is a superb illustration of Early English, although slightly altered from its original state by the introduction of the windows in the chapels of Alcock and West, and a plain wall for the original windows in the south aisle.
Flying-buttresses support the roof of the presbytery and choir. The Perpendicular window of seven lights attracts our notice in the south end of the south transept.
The entrance to the Cathedral from the south opens from the eastern end of the cloisters and is called the Monks’ Door.
The ornamentation is very rich. One spiral column is especially fine. The arch is trefoiled with cusps, having circular terminations with star ornament, and in the spandrels are quaint, crouching monks, each holding a pastoral staff. Two twisted dragons writhe above.
At the west end of the north alley of the cloisters we come to the Prior’s Door, a fine specimen of late Norman. In the tympanum is a carving in high relief of the Saviour.
Entering through the West we have a full view of the Cathedral, the vista fortunately not broken, for the open screen permits the gaze to wander the whole length to the east end. The massive Perpendicular arches here were built beneath the Norman ones to secure stability for the big tower that we have just examined.
The Nave is one of the most perfect specimens of late Norman. It is very similar to that of Peterborough. Ely, however, offers no suggestion of the transition of the next style, as does Peterborough. The Ely nave is supposed to have been finished before 1173, a little before Peterborough’s, and after that of Norwich. It contains twelve bays and measures 208 feet. The piers are of alternate design. In front of each a shaft runs up to the roof. As we follow this with our eyes we see that the ceiling is painted with Biblical subjects; but these pictures need not detain us, as they are modern. The billet moulding decorates the string-course above the main arcade. Most of the capitals are cushion.
The Octagon is the gem of the whole Cathedral.
“Few visitors will perhaps be disposed to examine any of the objects of interest in the cathedral before an inspection of the beauties of this magnificent erection, the first sight of which, from one of the smaller arches towards the aisles, is a thing never to be forgotten. There is not one of the many able artists and architects who have written about the Octagon that has not spoken of it as being without rival in the whole world; and the admiration that was expressed fifty and more years ago would have been far greater, and the enthusiasm more profound, had the writers seen it in its present state of perfect restoration. No description can do adequate justice to the grandeur of the conception or to the brilliancy of the execution of this renowned work.
“The four great arches rise to the full height of the roof; that to the east, indeed, is higher than the vaulted roof of the choir and presbytery, the intervening space being occupied with tracery of woodwork on painted boards, the Saviour on the Cross being painted in the middle. The wooden vaulting of the Octagon springs from the capitals on the same level as those of the great arches. The four small arches to the aisles are of course no higher than the roofs of the aisles: above these, on each side, are three figures of apostles, under canopies with crockets. The figures are seated, and each holds an emblem, by which it can be seen for whom the figure is intended. It may be noticed (in the central figure on the south-west side) that St. Paul, not St. Matthias, is put in the place of Iscariot. The hood-moulds of the arches are terminated by heads, of which six are portraits. King Edward III. and Queen Philippa are at the north-east, Bishop Hotham and Prior Crauden at the south-east, Walsingham and his master-mason (so it is believed) at the north-west; those to the south-west are mere grotesques. Above the seated figures on each side is a window of four broad lights, filled with stained glass. The eight chief vaulting shafts rise from the ground as slight triple shafts; they support, a little above the spring of the side arches, large corbels, which form bases for exquisitely designed niches, and through these spring more shafts reaching to the vault. On each of the corbels is a boldly carved scene from the career of St. Etheldreda; they commence at the north-west arch. The subjects (two to each arch) are as follows:
“North-west arch: St. Etheldreda’s second marriage. Her taking the veil at Coldingham.
“North-east arch: Her staff taking root. Her preservation in the flood at St. Abb’s Head.
“South-east arch: Her installation as Abbess of Ely. Her death and burial (two scenes).
“South-west arch: One of her miracles. Her translation.
“In order to understand these wonderful sculptures more fully we refer to the Liber Eliensis which describes Etheldreda as hurrying away from Coldingham with two ladies, Sewenna and Sewara, and as reaching a rocky place on the coast where they were overtaken by the king, but the three ladies crossed the Humber and proceeded south, dressed as pilgrims. One night, while the queen slept, her staff, placed in the ground, burst into leaf and flower. On this spot a church was built and dedicated to St. Etheldreda. When the three pilgrims arrived in the Isle of Ely, they were joined by Wilfrid, the archbishop of York, who induced Etheldreda to take the veil. The miracle referred to in the south-west arch shows St. Etheldreda and St. Benedict appearing to a monk named Brytstan, who was charged with seeking refuge in a monastery in order to escape punishment for robberies of which he had been guilty. The miracle was told to Queen Matilda, who freed Brytstan.”—(W. D. S.)
The Screen separating the choir from the Octagon was designed by Scott. It is of oak, delicately carved in geometric patterns, and bearing a cross on the cresting that runs along the top. The gates are brass.
The first three bays of the choir were begun about 1240; the last six, forming the presbytery, were finished in 1340. The space of a hundred years thus lies between them.
“In the juxtaposition of these two magnificent specimens of the Early English and Decorated periods of architecture there is an opportunity of comparison which on such a scale occurs nowhere else. It is to be remembered that in neither case is the treatment of the upper part quite in accordance with the usual practice of the period. When the presbytery was being built there were still standing east of the central tower the four original bays of the Norman choir. These, it may be assumed, were very similar in character to those in the nave. There would, beyond question, have been in each bay large triforium arches, each with a couple of subordinate arches; and a single window in the clerestory with a blank arch on each side. Bishop Northwold’s work was purposely made to correspond with these bays as far as Early English work could do so; and when after the fall of the tower it became necessary to rebuild the choir, Bishop Hotham in like manner made his Decorated work correspond with the Early English presbytery. The choir is, as would be expected, richer in detail as well as more elaborate in design; and it would be difficult to find in England anything to surpass the tracery of the clerestory windows and triforium arches, the beautiful cusped inner arches of the clerestory range, the open parapets at the base of the two stages, or the long corbels, covered with foliage, that support the vaulting shafts. In the choir the clerestory windows have four lights each; in the presbytery are triplets. The old colouring has been renewed throughout. On the north side of the choir the three bays are precisely alike; but on the south there is a variation in the tracery of the western triforium arch. There are also shields of arms (of the See of Ely and of Bishop Hotham) in the spandrels of the triforium and arch below; and the shaft between this arch and the next is enlarged at the top into a base for a statue (probably of St. Etheldreda); while level with the string above is a very fine large canopy (called by the workmen ‘the table’), which is like nothing else in the cathedral. The clerestory windows also on the south have different tracery.
“The difference between the two styles of architecture is well marked in the groining of the roof, the Decorated portion being much more elaborate. Some of the bosses are very remarkable: one has St. Etheldreda with pastoral staff; one has the coronation of the Virgin Mary; one has the foundress bearing the model of a church, in which (as Dean Stubbs has pointed out) both arms of the western transept are represented, so that it is a fair inference that at the time this roof was constructed the whole of the western transept was standing.
“Between the choir and presbytery there rise the massive Norman piers built as the entrance to the apse; and these are the only remains of the Norman church east of the octagon.”—(W. D. S.)
The magnificent Choir-Stalls, with their beautiful canopies, are thought to be Walsingham’s work. They are considered the finest Decorated stalls in existence. The misereres show wonderful carvings.
The Reredos, of alabaster, designed by Scott, stands in the centre of the screen of stone that runs along the whole of the presbytery, the lower part of which is a diaper pattern and the upper portion an open arcade of six arches (Early Decorated style).
“The east end of Ely is the grandest example of the grouping of lancets.... Ely is also undoubtedly the head of all east ends and eastern limbs of that class in which the main body of the church is of the same height throughout, and in which the aisles are brought out to the full length of the building.”—(E. A. F.)
At the end of the north-choir-aisle we come to the Chapel of Bishop Alcock (died 1500), Bishop of Ely from 1486 to 1500. He was a great architect, built the great hall in the Bishop’s palace at Ely and also this very ornate chapel. It dates from 1488. The roof is composed of fan-tracery, with a large pendant; and the walls are covered with canopies, tabernacles, crockets, niches, panels and other decorations with lavish display. The figures have gone from the niches. A cock on a globe—Alcock’s rebus—occurs on the stone-work very frequently.
At the end of the south-choir-aisle we find the corresponding Chapel of Bishop West (died 1533). This is similar in style to the Alcock chapel, but less ornate.
Several bishops are buried in this chapel. Though we may care little or nothing for the careers of the dignitaries who lie there, or who are perpetuated by monuments, we find among the tombs some fine examples of sculpture and ornament of the past.
For instance, that of Bishop Louth (died 1298), under the first arch of the presbytery in the south-choir-aisle, is a fine example of Early Decorated.
In the last arch, before reaching Bishop West’s Chapel, the tomb of Bishop Hotham (died 1337) calls for attention.
Under the four arches of the presbytery on the north, between the stalls and the altar, is that of Bishop Redman (died 1505), a very fine specimen of enriched Perpendicular work.
Next is the effigy of Bishop Kilkenny (died 1256), a fine example of Early English.
In the next arch a large Decorated structure of two stories, believed by Scott to have been built by Walsingham as the base for the Shrine of St. Etheldreda, was formerly known as Bishop Hotham’s shrine.
In the arch north of the altar is the tomb of the builder of the presbytery, Bishop Northwold (died 1254), who is represented in full vestments.
It is only natural that the transepts should show similarity with those of Winchester, consecrated in 1093, seven years before Simeon of Winchester came to Ely. He began his work, as we have seen, here, and got up as far as the triforium. The clerestory was added by his successor. Alterations took place at later periods, and now both triforium and clerestory are almost identical with those in the nave.
In the south transept Perpendicular windows of
three lights have replaced the western windows of the triforium. Two large Perpendicular windows ornament the north end and a curious window of seven lights adorns the south. Galleries, arches, and arcades afford exceedingly interesting study.
On the east of the north transept are three chapels, one of which has been restored for private devotion. Old paintings of the Martyrdom of St. Edmund on the roof have given it the name of St. Edmund’s Chapel. The screen in front dates from about 1350.
From the north transept we enter the Lady-Chapel.
“Notwithstanding the cruel mutilation of the sculpture all round this chapel, it can be seen that for perfection of exquisite work there is no building of the size in this country worthy for one moment to be compared with this in its unmutilated state. Its single defect strikes the beholder at once: the span of the roof is too broad and the vaulting too depressed for the size of the chapel. The windows on the north have been restored. The end windows, which are of great size, are of later date; that to the east has a look of Transition work about it. The building was finished in 1349, and the east window was inserted by Bishop Barnet, circa 1373. The great beauty of the interior consists in the series of tabernacle work and canopies that run round all the four sides below and between the windows. The heads of the canopies project. In the tracery beneath, at the head of the mullion, was a statue. The delicate carving of the cusps and other tracery is varied throughout. On the spandrels were incidents connected with the history of the Virgin Mary (mainly legendary) and of Julian the Apostate; and though in no single instance is a perfect uninjured specimen left, yet enough remains, in all but a few cases, for the original subjects to be identified. All was once enriched with colour, and many traces remain; and in various parts of the windows there are fragments of stained glass. Most of the monumental tablets which once disfigured the arcade below the windows have been happily removed into the vestibule. The arches and canopies at the east end are arranged differently from those on the sides. In the roof, which reminds us of the contemporary roof in the choir, are some carved bosses, not large, but singularly good. Among the subjects can be recognised a Crucifixion, with half-figures beside the cross; Adam and Eve; the Virgin Mary and Elizabeth, holding between them a book inscribed ‘Magnificat’; the Annunciation, with ‘Ave Maria Gratia plena’; the Ascension, indicated by the skirt and feet of the Saviour and five heads of apostles; the Coronation of the Virgin; and the Virgin in an aureole.”—(W. D. S.)
Dedication: The Holy Trinity. Church of a Benedictine Monastery.
This Cathedral was begun in 1096 by Herbert de Losinga, the bishop appointed by William Rufus, who had received his education in Normandy, and who became prior of Fécamp. No earlier church stood on the site. It was dedicated to the Holy Trinity.
“The characteristics of the cathedral are—its long nave, which is typical of the Norman church; its glorious apsidal termination, encircled by a procession path, which recalls the plan of a French cathedral; and the form of this, with the remains of its old bishops’ chair centrally placed, and with the westward position, of the throne at Torcello and other Italian churches, of the basilican type of plan.
“It is interesting to note that Herbert’s early French training influenced him in the planning of the beautiful eastern termination to his cathedral, and the grand sweep of the procession path. Similar apsidal terminations, of slightly later date, once existed at Ely, and still remain in a modified form at Peterborough and St. Bartholomew’s.
“It is probable, and the more generally accredited supposition, that Herbert built the presbytery with its encircling procession path and the original trefoil of Norman chapel radiating therefrom;—the choir and transepts with the two chapels projecting eastwards and the first two bays of the nave. Harrod advances a theory that he completely finished the whole of the cathedral church, as well as the offices for the housing of the sixty monks who were placed therein, in 1101.”—(C. H. B. Q.)
Norwich acquired its chief saint in the Twelfth Century, and a saint, moreover, that much resembled Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln. A young boy, William, the child of simple country people, was murdered by the Jews in the city. Immediately after his death miracles took place. The monks placed his altar near the ante-choir, and raked in the offerings.
The Cathedral suffered from fires, and the tower was struck by lightning in 1271. There was also a terrible riot between the people and the monks in the Thirteenth Century, when the Cathedral was besieged. The monastery and the Cathedral were burned, and many monks were killed. Some citizens of Norwich were hanged, drawn and quartered, and the city had to repair the church. The monks were compelled to erect new gates and entrances, one of which, St. Ethelbert’s Gate, still exists (see page 351).
About 1361 the spire and parts of the tower were blown down, and the presbytery was damaged. Therefore, the clerestory was rebuilt, and in the transitional style from Decorated to Perpendicular. The Cloisters date from about this time, and so does the Erpingham Gate. In the middle of the Fifteenth Century the nave vault was constructed; and it was under the two rules of Bishop Lyhart and Bishop Goldwell that the Cathedral was practically completed as we see it to-day. Dean Gardiner pulled down the Lady-Chapel and the Chapter-House in the Sixteenth Century, and in the Seventeenth Century Cromwell’s soldiers took possession.
Bishop Hall tells us how they behaved:
“Lord, what work was here, what clattering of glasses, what beating down the Walls, what tearing up of Monuments, what pulling down of Seats, what wresting out of Irons and Brass from the Windows and Graves! What defacing of Armes, what demolishing of curious stone work, that had not any representation in the World, but only of the cost of the Founder and skill of the Mason, what toting and piping upon the destroyed Organ pipes, and what a hideous triumph on the Market day before all the Countrey, when, in a kind of Sacrilegious and profane procession, all the Organ pipes, Vestments, both Copes and Surplices, together with the Leaden Crosse which had been newly sawne down from over the Green-Yard Pulpit, and the Service books and singing books that could be had, were carried to the fire in the publick Market place; A leud wretch walking before the Train, in his Cope trailing in the dirt, with a Service book in his hand, imitating in an impious scorne the tune, and usurping the words of the Letany; neer the Publick Crosse, all these monuments of Idolatry must be sacrificed to the fire, not without much Ostentation of a zealous joy.”
The Precincts are, like those of all English cathedrals, lovely, and these are fortunate enough to be entered by several ancient gates. The one on the south, St. Ethelbert’s Gate (Early Decorated), was built in the Thirteenth Century, after the riots and fire of 1272. The Gate House (Perpendicular), on the north, is the entrance to the Bishop’s Palace.
Opposite the west front we find the Erpingham Gate, built about 1420, by Sir Thomas Erpingham, whose figure stands in the niche over the wide arch. It is a greatly admired piece of Perpendicular work.
The West Front (Perpendicular) clearly defines the width of the nave and the aisles on either side. Over the centre door is the large west window of nine lights, often compared to the window of Westminster Hall. Above is a gable, surmounted by a cross. The doors date from 1436, and the west window from Bishop Lyhart’s time (1446-1472). There are no towers here; for the pinnacles placed on the side turrets in 1875 are not deserving of this name.
“The Tower and Spire stand at the intersection of the choir and transepts, covered with vertical shafts on the face of each. The tower is Norman buttress, which is finished by a crocketed pinnacle. Between these buttresses are horizontal bands of design: the lowest, a Norman arcade of nine arches, three of which are pierced as windows; then, above this, a smaller wall arcade with interlaced arches; and then, above again, the principal feature, an arcading of nine arches, three pierced for windows, and the others filled with wall tracery of diamonds and circles; then, between this last and the battlemented parapet, occur five vertical panels, each comprising two circles, the upper pierced for a window. Above, soaring upward, rises the later crocketed spire. The rest of the tower was finished during the reign of Henry I., and is a beautiful specimen of the work of that time; the stonework was almost entirely refaced in 1856. The tower was crowned by a wooden spire from 1297; this was blown down in 1361, damaging the presbytery so badly that the clerestory had to be rebuilt. The wooden spire was constructed probably at the same time, and the present Early Perpendicular turrets were added. The spire was again in 1463 struck by lightning, and again falling eastward, went through the presbytery roof. The present spire was then constructed in stone by Bishop Lyhart (1446-72), and was finished by his successor, Bishop Goldwell (1472-99), who added the battlements.
“It will hardly be necessary to enlarge on the beauty of this spire of Norwich, as the dominant feature, seen from the south-east, rising above the curved sweep of the apse, and strongly buttressed by the south transept, it stands up, clearly defined against the western sky, and points upward, significant and symbolical at once of the ends and aspirations of the church below.
“The eastern arm, or presbytery, takes its history from the tower. Here, as in the nave, the original triforium windows are blocked up, and a range of Perpendicular work superimposed on the old. Above and beyond this, supported between each bay by flying-buttresses, comes the transitional Decorated to Perpendicular clerestory, higher than the original Norman clerestory remaining to the nave. At the base of each flying-buttress are figures of saints. The roof and Norman clerestory were damaged by the falling tower in 1361, but were rebuilt by Bishop Percy, 1355-69. This work is transitional Decorated to Perpendicular. The presbytery was then re-roofed with a framed timber construction, which was consumed by the falling of the burning spire, struck by lightning in 1463. The present stone vault was added in its place by Bishop Goldwell, 1472-99. This necessitated the addition as well of flying-buttresses to take the thrust of the vault.
“The battlementing to the presbytery also was added at the same time as the flying-buttresses.
“It will also be noted that here, as in the nave, an addition was made in the way of a range of later ‘Perpendicular’ windows superimposed over the original Norman triforium, which was blocked up.”—(C. H. B. Q.)
The south transept projects under the central tower.
Next follows the Chapel of St. Mary the Less (Fourteenth Century) projecting southward, then the circular Chapel of St. Luke (Norman), very peculiar in form, with two rows of arcading.
The north side is well viewed from the Bishop’s Gardens. It differs little from the south side, except in the fact that it has been less restored. The chapel corresponding with the Chapel of St. Luke is the Jesus Chapel, and is also circular. Here we find Perpendicular windows inserted in the Norman work.
“The nave on the south side can be seen well either from the upper or lower Close, and can be better examined in detail from the interior of the cloisters. Its elevation consists of fourteen bays divided by flat Norman buttresses. In height it is composed of what, at first sight, appears a bewildering confusion of arches, arcades and windows. Over the aisle windows, hidden by the north walk of cloisters, comes a Norman wall arcading; and over this the Norman triforium windows blocked up, and again, above the later Perpendicular triforium, superimposed on the old, and finished with a battlemented parapet. Behind this come the triforium roof, and then beyond the original Norman clerestory, each bay with a triple arch formation, the centre arch pierced for a window. And then above all, the lead roof over the nave vault.
“The radical changes that have taken place since the nave was built by Bishop Eborard (1121-45) consist of the insertion in the aisles of later ‘Decorated’ traceried windows in place of the original Norman ones, and of the superimposition, before referred to, at triforium level, of a whole range of ‘Perpendicular’ windows over the old Norman work, which were blocked up at this period. The battlementing, too, over the clerestory to the nave is later work, to correspond with battlementing over the triforium windows. It will be noticed that the two bays next the transept in the triforium are higher than the others, in order to throw additional light into the choir.
“Also on this same south side, in the seventh and eighth bays from the west end, two very late windows occur, inserted in the Norman arcading under the original triforium windows; these were inserted by Bishop Nykke to light the chapel he built in two bays of the south aisle of the nave.
“The curious raking of the lead rolls to the nave roof is noticeable; the mediæval builders did this with a view of counteracting the ‘crawl’ of the lead.”—(C. H. B. Q.)
Norwich Cathedral is famous for its magnificent interior. A noble view is obtained on entering, for the great Nave reaches 200 feet to the choir-screen; and if the organ on the latter were removed, the view would be longer, for the extreme length of the Cathedral is 407 feet. The perspective is splendid, as it is, and very largely is it so because of the lierne vault of Perpendicular days, which relieves the severity of the Norman work below.
The nave consists of seven double bays (fourteen compartments) from the west end to the transepts. The main piers are, of course, large, and the arcade arches are ornamented with the billet. The triforium arches are decorated with a chevron or zigzag. Over it is the typical Norman clerestory and above all spreads the handsome lierne vault (Perpendicular). This splendid vault (72 feet), built by Bishop Lyhart (1446-1472), after the Norman roof had been destroyed by fire in 1463, is of great value to the student. There are 328 carved bosses at the intersection of the ribs, the subjects of which are taken from Biblical history.
“The vault is of Perpendicular design, and known as lierne; such vaults may be distinguished by the fact that between the main ribs, springing from the vaulting shafts, are placed cross ribs forming a pattern, as it were, and bracing the main ribs, but not in any great measure structural. This vault at Norwich may be taken as typical of the last legitimate development of the stone roof; it was the precursor of the later fan-vaulting, such as we find in Henry VII.’s chapel at Westminster, where legitimate construction was replaced by ostentatious ingenuity and the accumulation of needless ornament and detail.
“To all those who take an interest in early stone-cutting, this vault of Norwich is a store of inexhaustible treasure; the bosses, rudely cut as they are, tell their own tales with singular truth and directness. Their sculpture may not display the anatomical knowledge of the work of the Renaissance; yet it has a distinct decorative value that has been seldom equalled in the later decadent period. The fourteen large central bosses on the main longitudinal ribs present in themselves an epitome not only of Bible history, but of the connecting incidents forming the theme of Christian teaching. In the tenth bay, on the longitudinal rib, there is, in place of a boss, a circular hole through the vault. It is supposed to have been formed to allow a thurible to be suspended therefrom into the church below. Harrod, quoting from Lambard’s ‘Topographical Dictionary,’ says: ‘I myself, being a child, once saw in Poule’s Church at London, at a feast of Whitsontide, wheare the comyng down of the Holy Gost was set forth by a white pigeon that was let to fly out of a hole that is yet to be seen in the mydst of the roof of the great ile, and by a long censer which, descending out of the same place almost to the very ground, was swinged up and down at such a length that it reached at one swepe almost to the west gate of the church, and with the other to the queer [quire] stairs of the same, breathing out over the whole church and companie a most pleasant perfume of such sweet things as burned therein.’
“It is probable that the hole in the nave vault at Norwich was used for a similar purpose; and its position would seem to agree with such use, situated as it is about midway between the west end and where the front of the mediæval rood loft occurred.”—(C. H. B. Q.)
In the aisles we find Decorated windows, and in the triforium, Perpendicular windows.
The Choir-Screen was erected by Bishop Lyhart in 1446-1472, but only the lower part survived the fury of the Puritan mob. The organ was placed in its present position in 1833. Immediately under the organ loft is a single compartment, blocked off from the north and south aisles by screens that originally belonged to one old screen (Perpendicular). This ante-chapel was formerly the chapel of Our Lady of Pity.
The Choir extends a little into the nave, and, therefore, beyond the tower and transepts. There are sixty splendid Choir-stalls of the Fifteenth Century, with ornate misereres. The Bishop’s Throne and Pulpit are modern. The old Pelican Lectern, in the Decorated style, should be noticed.
The Presbytery is the earliest part of the cathedral. It consists of four compartments, or bays, and terminates in a semicircular apse of five compartments. We find here Perpendicular arches, a lofty Norman triforium, and clerestory windows of the transitional period from Decorated to Perpendicular. The whole effect is Norman and noble. Unfortunately the old glass of the windows has perished.
The aisles of the presbytery are also called the Processional Path, and consist of four bays, and five around the apse. A door in the north aisle opens into the gardens of the Bishop’s Palace; and in this aisle, at the fourth bay east of the tower, there is a very peculiar bridge-chapel that spans the aisle. Critics say that it formed the ante-chapel to the reliquary chapel projecting northward from the outer wall of the Cathedral, and that it was probably built as a bridge for exhibiting relics as the processions passed along underneath.
On the south side of the presbytery (third bay) is the Chapel of St. Mary the Less, or Bauchon Chapel (Fourteenth Century). It projects beyond the wall. The vault is Fifteenth Century, and the bosses represent the Life, Death and Assumption of the Virgin. This is now the Consistory Court.
The north transept is without aisles or triforium. Arcading decorates the wall up to the clerestory. Above is a lierne vault of later date, of course, than the transept. The old apsidal chapel on the east (dedicated to St. Anne) is now used as a storeroom.
A staircase in the east wall of the north transept leads to the tower-galleries and walks, very interesting in themselves and affording glimpses through their openings into the nave, presbytery and transepts below.
Between the south aisle of the presbytery and the south transept a beautiful screen of late Perpendicular tracery fills the Norman arch. The roof, like that of the north transept, originally of wood, was destroyed by fire in 1509, and a new vault added in Perpendicular times.
Of the three chapels grouped around the presbytery the Jesus Chapel on the north and the chapel on the south, St. Luke’s, remain. The Lady-Chapel, at the extreme east, has perished.
The Norman Lady-Chapel was partly destroyed by the fire of 1169, and was succeeded by an Early English chapel of the Thirteenth Century. This was destroyed in the Sixteenth Century; but the finely proportioned entrance arches still remain. They are ornamented with the dog-tooth.
It is not often that ancient altar-pieces are found in the English cathedrals; but Norwich possesses a Retable, supposed to be the work of an Italian painter of the Fourteenth Century. It is in five panels—The Scourging, Bearing the Cross, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. It was formerly in the Jesus Chapel.
The Cloisters are in their usual position—on the south. Originally these were Norman, and perished by fire in 1272. The present ones were 133 years in building, and so they reveal the developments of architecture during 1297-1430. The cloister garth is about 145 feet square.
“The arches are filled with open tracery carried by two mullions.
“On the east side it is geometrical in character, the work being transitional between Early English and Decorated; on the south side the tracery is more flowing and has advanced to Decorated; on the west side again, we get the transitional style between Decorated and Perpendicular, with some flamboyant or flame-like detail; while on the north and latest side it is frankly Perpendicular.”—(C. H. B. Q.)
They are entered from the south side of the nave, of course. The Monk’s Door, opening into the East Walk, is an ornate specimen of Perpendicular; and the Prior’s Door, opening into the West Walk, a fine specimen of Early Decorated.
Dedication: St. Alban. Church of a Benedictine Monastery.
When Sir Gilbert Scott began to restore and repair the old abbey church of St. Albans, in 1870, he found it in a very dilapidated condition. Among other base uses to which various parts of the Cathedral had been put, the Lady-Chapel had been converted into a grammar-school, and a thoroughfare had been made through the retro-choir. After Scott’s death, in 1878, Lord Grimthorpe, who had been diligent and liberal for years regarding restorations, succeeded in getting control of the entire work. He made various changes and additions, and inserted windows at his own pleasure, not always with judgment, nor in the best taste. The consequence is that St. Albans is open to much criticism. Yet it remains an interesting old pile in many respects.
St. Albans did not become a cathedral until 1877. It was a famous old abbey church, dating back to the days of Offa II., King of the Mercians, who founded a Benedictine monastery here about 793. From this time until the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII., the Abbey of St. Albans was of the greatest importance. Its Abbot had a seat in the House of Lords, and took precedence of all the abbots in the kingdom. Naturally, therefore, the list of abbots is notable. Some of them were related to the royal family. Among those especially distinguished were: Paul of Caen, John de Cella, William of Trumpington, John of Hertford, Roger of Norton, Hugh of Eversden, Richard of Wallingford, Thomas de la Mare, John de la Moote, John of Wheathampstead, and Thomas Wolsey, the great cardinal.
Royalty was entertained in the Abbey on many occasions as both guest and prisoner. When the Abbey was consecrated in 1115 by the Archbishop of Rouen, Henry I. and his queen, Matilda, with their courtiers, were entertained from December 27 until January 6; Richard II. stayed here for eight days after Wat Tyler’s rebellion had subsided; and here the conspiracy against him was planned, when the Duke of Gloucester and the Prior of Westminster were dining with the abbot, John de la Moote. In 1399 John of Gaunt’s body rested here; and Richard II., and Henry, Duke of Lancaster (Henry IV.) were here in the same year. During the Wars of the Roses the Abbey of St. Albans was frequently used as a prison. In the first battle of St. Albans (May 23, 1455), when the White Roses were victorious, Henry was confined in the monastery; but in the second battle (February 17, 1461), the king, having been captured, was set at liberty by his brave wife, Margaret of Anjou, who marched from Wakefield with 18,000 men. The royal party went to the Abbey, where the monks chanted thanksgiving and in every way received them with delight. The undisciplined horde of soldiers unfortunately ran wild in the town and plundered the Abbey. Their behaviour was such that Abbot John Stokes changed his politics, and became an ardent Yorkist.
Among the celebrated monks of St. Albans Matthew Paris takes the lead, the great historian whose book begins with the creation and continues to 1259.
St. Albans for a long period received “Peter’s Pence.” This was first levied by the King of the West Saxons in 727, and was a tax of one penny on each family owning lands. The receipt amounted to thirty pence a year and went to the support of a Saxon College at Rome; and because it was collected on August 1 (the day of St. Peter ad Vincula) it was called “Peter’s Pence.” Offa induced the Pope to give it to the Abbey of St. Albans.
The monastic buildings have all perished, and the only remnant of the Abbey is the Great Gate, built in the days of Thomas de la Mare, about 1365. Over the archway there is a large room in which sessions used to be held, and below the road the curious may inspect the dungeons. This Gateway was a law-court and prison; and, as the Abbot of St. Albans had civil jurisdiction over all the town, as well as his monastery, many offenders were tried and condemned here. In the days of Wat Tyler’s rebellion John Ball and his seventeen companions were tried here and spent their last days in the dungeons. Another scene that we can picture is that of the monks bringing out ale and wine to quell the fury of the mob that stormed the Gatehouse before the news of Wat Tyler’s death arrived.
St. Albans was a favorite place of pilgrimage, for it sheltered the remains of the first Christian martyr in Britain. Alban, or Albans, was a young soldier, who, during the persecution of the Christians in the Fourth Century, befriended a deacon named Amphibalus by receiving him in his house. Amphibalus converted him. Alban exchanged clothing with him so that he might escape. Amphibalus was captured, however, and executed near Verulamium. Alban was also beheaded; and a few years after his death a church was built over the spot where his blood had been shed. The north transept of the existing church is said to cover this place.
Matthew Paris states that the body of St. Alban was, during an invasion, removed from the church for safety, and afterward placed in its original grave. Offa II. found the coffin containing the remains of the martyr and laid them in a splendid reliquary, taking care first to place a golden band around the head with the inscription “Hoc est caput Sancti Albani.” Offa also had the martyr canonized. With a miracle-working shrine, the richly-endowed monastery continued to flourish.
The Abbey Church was deemed quite large enough until Paul of Caen (1077-1093) was appointed abbot by William the Conqueror. In about eleven years only (1077-1088) he rebuilt St. Albans, using many of the Roman bricks from the ruins of the neighbouring Verulamium and timber already collected. His was an enormous Norman edifice (460 feet), longer even than Canterbury (290 feet).
After a hundred years or so, Abbot John de Cella (1195-1214) made various changes. Money was raised in various ways for the purpose, and among them the abbot persuaded his monks to do without wine for fifteen years and contribute the savings to the fund for building.
After him came William of Trumpington (1214-1235), who continued the work of building. He also constructed the cloister. Let us see exactly in what their work consisted: