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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of
+Wells, by Percy Dearmer
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Wells
+       A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See
+
+Author: Percy Dearmer
+
+Release Date: May 7, 2010 [EBook #32280]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BELL'S CATHEDRALS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Cortesi and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Wells Cathedral From St. Andrews Spring.]
+
+
+         THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF
+
+                  WELLS
+
+        A DESCRIPTION OF ITS FABRIC
+        AND A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE
+              EPISCOPAL SEE
+
+                  BY THE
+         REV. PERCY DEARMER, M.A.
+
+     [Illustration: Arms of the See]
+
+        WITH FORTY-SIX ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+
+       LONDON GEORGE BELL & SONS 1899
+
+       _First Published October 1898_
+     _Second Edition revised October 1899_
+
+          W.H. WHITE AND CO. LTD.
+
+         RIVERSIDE PRESS, EDINBURGH
+
+
+
+
+GENERAL PREFACE
+
+
+This series of monographs has been planned to supply visitors to the
+great English Cathedrals with accurate and well illustrated
+guide-books at a popular price. The aim of each writer has been to
+produce a work compiled with sufficient knowledge and scholarship to
+be of value to the student of Archæology and History, and yet not too
+technical in language for the use of an ordinary visitor or tourist.
+
+To specify all the authorities which have been made use of in each
+case would be difficult and tedious in this place. But amongst the
+general sources of information which have been almost invariably found
+useful are:--(1) the great county histories, the value of which,
+especially in questions of genealogy and local records, is generally
+recognised; (2) the numerous papers by experts which appear from time
+to time in the Transactions of the Antiquarian and Archaeological
+Societies; (3) the important documents made accessible in the series
+issued by the Master of the Rolls; (4) the well-known works of Britton
+and Willis on the English Cathedrals; and (5) the very excellent
+series of Handbooks to the Cathedrals originated by the late Mr John
+Murray; to which the reader may in most cases be referred for fuller
+detail, especially in reference to the histories of the respective
+sees.
+
+                               GLEESON WHITE,
+                               E.F. STRANGE,
+                                 _Editors of the Series_
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S PREFACE
+
+
+The writer about cathedrals nowadays is one who, reaping where he has
+not sown, and gathering where he has not strawed, is indebted for most
+that he says to the patient labours of other and wiser men. Nowhere
+does one feel this more than at Wells. The admirable Somerset
+Archaeological Society has gone on accumulating information about the
+cathedral for more years than the present writer has lived. Professor
+Freeman produced twenty-eight years ago, in his "History of the
+Cathedral Church of Wells," a little book which has since been a model
+for all works of the kind, and of which one can still say that no one
+can understand all that is contained in the word "cathedral" unless he
+has read it. Yet since that book was written much fresh material has
+been discovered, and the theories then held as to the building of the
+cathedral have been in great measure disproved. To Canon C.M. Church,
+in his "Chapters in the Early History of Wells," and his papers read
+before the Somerset Society, we are indebted for most valuable
+statements of the new historical discoveries, and to his untiring
+kindness I am myself beholden to a greater extent than I can express.
+
+Wells so abounds in interesting detail, that the exigencies of space
+have made it necessary to curtail the last chapter, which contains the
+history of the diocese; a good deal of interesting matter has thus
+been cut from my original MS. of this chapter, and many bishops have
+been dismissed more summarily than they deserve. The need of dealing
+properly with the cathedral itself must be my apology for the baldness
+of this last chapter as it now stands. Those who desire a further
+acquaintance with the history of the diocese cannot do better than
+consult Mr Hunt's "Bath and Wells," in the excellent Diocesan
+Histories series of the Society for the Promotion of Christian
+Knowledge.
+
+To many other writers on the Cathedral Church of Wells,
+acknowledgments and references will be found scattered throughout the
+present volume. I must also express my thanks to Mr Philips, and
+Messrs Dawkes & Partridge of Wells, for permission to reproduce their
+photographs, and to Mr W. Heywood and Mr H.P. Clifford for their
+drawings.
+
+                                                       P.D.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+                                                     PAGE
+CHAPTER I.--History of the Church                       3
+
+CHAPTER II.--Exterior                                  20
+   West Front                                          21
+   Statuary, Central Doorway, the Tiers                30
+   Western Towers                                      44
+   Central Tower                                       47
+   North Porch                                         47
+   North Transept                                      51
+   Walls, Parapet                                      52
+   Chain Gate                                          52
+   Chapter-House                                       54
+   From the South-East                                 55
+   Cloister                                            58
+   Library                                             63
+   Museum                                              64
+   Vicar's Close                                       66
+   Bishop's Palace, Great Hall, Barn                   67
+   Deanery, Archdeaconry, etc., St. Cuthbert's         70
+
+CHAPTER III.--Interior                                 73
+   Nave, etc.                                          77
+       Capitals                                        79
+       Glass                                           84
+   Bubwith's Chapel                                    85
+   Sugar's Chapel                                      86
+   Pulpit, Lectern                                     87
+   Transepts                                           89
+      Capitals                                         89
+      Font, Monuments                                  95
+   Transepts Chapels--St. Martin, St. Calixtus,
+        St. David, Holy Cross                          98
+   Clock                                              105
+   Inverted Arches                                    107
+   Tower, Screen, Organ                               110
+   Choir                                              113
+      Misericords, Glass                              120
+   Choir Aisles, Monuments                            123
+   Eastern Transepts, Monuments                       124
+   Procession Path                                    128
+   Glass in Choir Aisles and Chapels                  130
+   Lady Chapel, Glass                                 133
+   Chapter-House Staircase                            134
+   Chapter-House                                      137
+   Undercroft                                         141
+
+CHAPTER IV.--History of the Diocese and Foundation    147
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+Wells Cathedral from St. Andrew's Spring              _Frontispiece_
+Arms of the See                                              _Title_
+The Cathedral from the South-East                                2
+The Cathedral in the Seventeenth Century                        15
+South Aisle of Nave                                             19
+West Front--Bishop of Aethelhelm                                22
+The West Front                                                  23
+Ornaments in the West Front                                 28, 29
+West Front--Christina                                           31
+The Central Tower from the South-East                           45
+The North Porch                                                 49
+The Bishop's Eye                                                53
+Doorway, South-East of Cloister                                 58
+East Walk of Cloister                                           59
+The Chain Gate, Entrance to Close, 1824                         65
+The Bishop's Palace                                             68
+The Nave                                                        75
+A Capital--The Fruit-stealer's Punishment                       79
+A Capital--Toothache                                            81
+Specimens of Capitals                         82, 83, 84, 148, 149
+View across Nave, showing Sugar's and Bubwith's Chapels         85
+Sugar's Chapel--The Lectern and Pulpit                          88
+Section of North Transept, and Elevation of South Transept      90
+Capitals in Transept                                            92
+The South Transept, from North Side of Nave                     93
+The Font                                                        95
+The Annunciation--Husse's Tomb                                 101
+Priest in Surplice--Husse's Tomb                               102
+The East End in 1823                                           103
+The Inverted Arches                                            109
+Choir, looking West                                            111
+Choir, looking East                                            115
+Procession Path and Lady Chapel                                129
+Steps Of Chapter-house Vestibule And Passage Over Chain Gate   135
+Chapter-House--Doorway                                         138
+Chapter-House--Interior                                        139
+Chapter-House--Vault                                           141
+Chapter-House--Undercroft                                 142, 143
+Section of Chapter-House                                       145
+PLAN                                                           160
+
+
+[Illustration: Wells From The South-East.]
+
+
+
+
+WELLS CATHEDRAL
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
+
+
+"The Gothic Cathedral," wrote Froude, an author who held no brief for
+the Gothic period, "is perhaps, on the whole, the most magnificent
+creation which the mind of man has as yet thrown out." The Cathedral
+Church of Wells, wrote Froude's predecessor in the same historical
+chair, is "the best example to be found in the whole world of a
+secular church, with its subordinate buildings." "There is no other
+place," Professor Freeman went on to say, "where you can see so many
+of the ancient buildings still standing, and still put to their own
+use." And surely there is no place better fitted to be their home than
+this beautiful old city of Wells, set in the midst of the fair western
+country, the land of Avalon and Camelot, of Athelney and Wedmore.
+
+This unique group of buildings does not, however, take us back earlier
+than the close of the Norman period. Of what existed before, we have
+but scant evidence. Tradition says that King Ina had, about the year
+705, founded at Wells a college of secular priests, and therefore a
+church of some sort. And when King Eadward the Elder, taking advantage
+of the peace which his father Alfred had secured, fixed, in 909, the
+new Somersetshire see by the fountain of St. Andrew at Wells, he seems
+to have chosen that little city because there already existed therein
+a church, large enough to serve as a cathedral in those times, and
+tended already by a body of secular canons. Now that the ancient
+church of St. Andrew was raised to this new dignity, it was probably
+in the tenth century rebuilt in stone, with plain round-headed
+windows, and perhaps a small unbuttressed tower to hold the bells;
+for, when Giso became bishop in the next century (1061-1088), he
+erected a whole cluster of quasi-conventual buildings, but we are not
+told that he found it necessary to rebuild the church, although he
+complained that he found it mean and its revenues small. Indeed, the
+fact that Giso was buried under an arch in the wall on the north side
+of the high altar, as his predecessor Duduc had been buried on the
+south side, shows that he had not rebuilt the church.
+
+On Giso's death, John de Villula at once swept away his buildings, and
+set up a bishop's house on their site. John, however, made Bath his
+cathedral church, and suffered the church of Wells to fall into the
+decay from which it was rescued by the first "Maker of Wells," Bishop
+Robert of Lewes.
+
+The active episcopate of Robert of Lewes (1136-66) was as important an
+era in the history of the church as in that of the chapter. In spite
+of the anarchy of Stephen's reign, Robert set steadily to work; and,
+while the neighbouring barons were battering each other's castles, the
+bishop reared the first great cathedral church of Wells. How much of
+the old Saxon building he left we cannot tell; but it was in a ruinous
+condition, and he may have pulled it completely down, or he may have
+left one part for later builders to deal with. In 1148 his new Norman
+church was consecrated, a massive round-arched building, its nave
+perhaps as large as the present one, and its choir under the tower
+with a small presbytery beyond. This date may be taken as the
+beginning of the present cathedral; for all the succeeding
+reconstructions followed the lines of Bishop Robert's church. Yet the
+Norman work has disappeared almost as completely as the Saxon, and the
+font is the only object which can be claimed as undoubtedly
+Romanesque. Of distinctly Norman mouldings there are none in the
+church, and only a few fragments in other places. Seldom has one of
+those strong Norman buildings so utterly vanished from sight. But many
+stones dressed in the Norman fashion can still be traced by the expert
+in the eastern part of the church (p. 74), having been no doubt used
+up again by the later workmen; and there may be masses of undisturbed
+masonry hidden in the walls.
+
+Bishop Robert, as we know from one of his charters, did something also
+for the order of his church. Mammon had gradually encroached upon the
+sacred precincts, and the markets had come to be held in the
+"vestibule," and in the church itself; the busy hum of the buyers and
+sellers marred the quiet of God's house, and disturbed the people at
+their devotions. Strong measures were necessary, and the bishop
+ordered the market to be held at some distance from the church, while
+at the same time, as an act of grace, he remitted the tolls that were
+due to him as lord of the manor. Thus did he lay the foundation of the
+liberties of Wells city while securing the sanctity of Wells
+Cathedral.
+
+According to Bishop Godwin (1616), and the anonymous fifteenth century
+MSS., called in Wharton's _Anglia Sacra_ the "Canon of Wells," there
+was a blank in the history of the church between Bishop Robert, who
+consecrated the Norman building in 1148, and Bishop Jocelin, whose
+episcopate lasted from 1206 to 1242. Godwin, who exaggerated a passage
+from the "Canon of Wells" (which that writer had produced by
+exaggerating a single sentence of a preamble of Jocelin, p. 7),
+declared that Jocelin found the church "as ready to fall," and "pulled
+down the greatest part of it, to witte, the west ende, and built it
+anew from the very foundation." This became the accepted view. But the
+documents recently brought to light through the labours of those who
+unearthed and deciphered the MSS. in possession of the chapter, have
+proved that the energetic Bishop Reginald, so far from letting the
+church go into ruin during his episcopate (1174-1191), did in reality
+rebuild it himself. Much travelled, conversant with all kinds of
+churches and cities in an age of great building operations, he was not
+the sort of man to neglect his cathedral. And, as a matter of fact, he
+is proved to have begun the present church by a charter recently
+found, which is of a date prior to 1180, and therefore belongs to the
+early years of his episcopate. In this important document, recognising
+his duty to provide "that the honour due to God should not be
+tarnished by the squalor of His house," he arranges in full chapter
+for a munificent grant in support of the fabric, until the work be
+finished[1]. Another charter of Reginald's time, which conveys a
+private gift to the church, alludes to "the admirable structure of the
+rising church," thus testifying to the successful progress of the
+bishop's plan during his own lifetime. The part which he built, there
+can be little doubt, included the three western bays of the choir
+(which then formed the presbytery), the transepts, north porch, and
+the eastern bays of the nave. That is to say, on entering the church
+one is looking upon Reginald's work, and not Jocelin's; for, although
+the rest of the nave was completed by Jocelin, it was done in
+accordance with Reginald's original plan.
+
+It is of great importance to remember this fact, since until recently
+the nave, with the other parts just mentioned, was attributed by
+Professor Willis, Professor Freeman, and most authorities to Jocelin.
+Willis, indeed, bowed to what was then thought to be documentary
+evidence against his own judgment; for he declared the work to be of a
+style much earlier than that of Jocelin's time (p. 73). Now we know
+almost to a certainty that the bulk of the cathedral belongs neither
+to the late Norman period of Robert, nor to the Early English of
+Jocelin, but to the period just between the two, that of Reginald de
+Bohun.
+
+During the episcopate of Reginald's immediate successor Savaric
+(1192-1205), something further may have been done to the nave. But
+there was small opportunity for church building during this bishop's
+wandering and litigious life; and all we know for certain is that,
+owing no doubt to the civil war, the intolerable exactions of papal
+legates, and the quarrel with Glastonbury, the cathedral church of
+Wells had fallen into a state of dilapidation when Jocelin became
+bishop in 1206; and that it remained in this condition till King John
+was dead: for Jocelin was an exile abroad, the property of the see was
+confiscated, and its income paid yearly into the king's purse.
+
+From the year 1218, when the land was again at peace, and a profitable
+arrangement had been come to with the monks of Glastonbury, Jocelin
+devoted himself to the fabric and chapter of Wells, up to the year of
+his death in 1242. Grants of money and of timber, which are extant,
+show that by 1220 the work was recommenced, and that it was in
+progress in 1225. By 1239 the church was sufficiently advanced to be
+dedicated.
+
+Jocelin and his brother Hugh (afterwards Bishop of Lincoln) were
+natives of the city they loved so well. They had both lived through
+Reginald's episcopate--Jocelin as canon and Hugh as archdeacon of
+Wells. After, when they rose to high positions as judges, and became
+honourably rich, Hugh, who built much in Lincoln Cathedral, gave
+largely of his great wealth to Jocelin for Wells, and Jocelin himself
+spent all that he had upon the place where he had been brought up from
+infancy.
+
+Thus Jocelin was in a real sense a "maker of Wells." But he was not
+the only maker, for he must share the honour with two other master
+builders--Robert, whose work is entirely gone, and Reginald, whose
+work remains. He did not, as Godwin led us to suppose, pull down and
+rebuild the whole church. But he loyally carried on the work of his
+predecessor, and he executed the great work which has been always
+rightly attributed to him, the present west front; this he joined to
+Reginald's unfinished nave by building the three western bays in
+strict accordance with the earlier style. The front belongs to the
+fully-developed Early English style in which Salisbury is built,
+agreeing exactly with the date of the consecration of the church by
+Jocelin in 1239,--as was pointed out by Professor Willis, who was
+puzzled by the great difference in its style from that of the nave,
+which was then thought to belong to the same period. We know that
+Jocelin was a frequent visitor to Salisbury while Bishop Poore was
+building it; and thus all the lines of evidence combine to support the
+unshaken tradition that Jocelin was the author of the west front.
+
+A month before his death in 1242, Jocelin de Wells put forth a charter
+for the increased endowment of the cathedral staff; and it was because
+of a few chance words in the preamble that he came to be credited with
+the construction of the whole. Having found the church in danger of
+ruin, runs the passage, by reason of its age _aedificare coepimus et
+ampliare--in qua adeo profecimus--quod ipsam consecravimus_. This,
+which need mean nothing more than extensive building operations, is
+the sole foundation for the tradition that Jocelin pulled down the old
+church and built a new one.
+
+The condition of the church at the end of the thirteenth century is
+thus described by Professor Freeman[2]:
+
+"By the end of the thirteenth century we may look upon the church of
+Wells as at last finished. It still lacked much of that perfection of
+outline which now belongs to it, and which the next age was finally to
+give to it. Many among that matchless group of surrounding buildings
+which give Wells its chief charm, had not yet arisen. The church
+itself, with its unfinished towers, must have had a dwarfed and
+stunted look from every point. The Lady Chapel had not yet been
+reared, with its apse alike to contrast with the great window of the
+square presbytery above it, and to group in harmony with the more
+lofty chapter-house of its own form. The cloister was still of wood.
+The palace was still undefended by wall or moat. The Vicars' Close and
+its chain-bridge had not yet been dreamt of. Still, the church, alike
+in its fabric and its constitution, may be looked on as having by this
+time been brought to perfection ... The nave, recast in forms of art
+such as Ina and Eadward, such as Gisa and Robert, had never dreamed
+of, with the long range of its arcades and the soaring sweep of its
+newly-vaulted roof, stood, perfect from western door to rood-loft,
+ever ready, ever open, to welcome worshippers from city and village,
+from hill and combe and moor, in every corner of the land which looked
+to Saint Andrew's as its mother church. The choir, the stalls of the
+canons, the throne of the Bishop, were still confined within the
+narrow space of the crossing; but that narrow space itself gave them a
+dignity which they lost in later arrangements. For the central
+lantern, not yet driven to lean on ungainly props, with the rich
+arcades of its upper stages still open to view, still rose, in all the
+simple majesty of its four mighty arches, as the noblest of canopies
+over the choir below."
+
+"The eastern ending of the presbytery was," Mr Freeman proceeds, "rich
+with the best detail of the thirteenth century, as can be learnt from
+the fragments built up in the chapel of the Vicars' Close, and lying
+about in the undercroft of the chapter-house, which are in the full
+Early English style of the west front. The existing choir aisle walls
+prove that a procession-path ran behind the high altar, with most
+likely a chapel beyond it."
+
+"The thirteenth century," he concludes, "had done its great creative
+work, and had left to future ages only to improve and develop
+according to the principles which the thirteenth century had laid
+down. That is to say, the thirteenth century had done for the local
+church of Wells what it did for England, what it did for Europe, and
+for the world."
+
+The choir, however, was not so cramped as Mr Freeman thought, for it
+included one bay of the nave, as we now know from a notice of the
+making of Haselshaw's tomb, which was dug at the entrance to the
+choir; and, indeed, the marks where the screen was fixed are still
+visible on the piers at this point. From the top of the screen the
+great rood looked down the nave, and on each side of the doorway stood
+an altar, that on the north dedicated to Our Lady, that on the south
+to St. Andrew. The aisles of the choir were also screened off from the
+nave, and outside their gates were two more altars--St. Saviour's on
+the north, and St. Edmund's on the south. Thus the nave, where men
+were ever coming and going, walking and talking, and in laxer times
+buying and selling as well, was quite shut off from the more sacred
+places. Yet here, too, were altars and shrines, and here came the
+processions on Sundays and holidays.
+
+Within the choir the chapter said their offices, the dean and
+precentor facing east in their returned stalls, and the other
+dignitaries in their allotted places, with the junior canons, vicars,
+and those in minor orders below them, and the boys on the lowest forms
+of all. Just beyond these stalls was the bishop's throne; and east of
+the tower the presbytery stood open, with the tombs of the early
+bishops, on either side, under the arches. The rest of the space
+enclosed within the screen belonged more especially to the clergy; the
+north transept was probably used as a chapter-house, when the
+undercroft was yet unfinished, and its western aisle was used as the
+chapter library. The chamber leading to the undercroft was the vestry,
+and the stout walls of the octagon, when it was finished, protected
+the vestments and treasures of the cathedral.
+
+It is worth while to call to mind the kind of service for which the
+church was built, with its aisles and chapels and screen. The usual
+Sunday procession started from the north door of the presbytery,
+preceded by two thurifers with censers, went round behind the
+presbytery, the priest in his cope asperging the altars on his way,
+then down the south choir aisle, and through the south transept into
+the cloister. In the cloister-cemetery, the priest, with his
+ministers, said the prayers for the dead, and then rejoined the
+procession in the cloister Lady Chapel, where the first station was
+made. Thence the procession returned to the great rood in the nave,
+and there made the second station, the bidding-prayer being given out
+to the people from the rood-screen, after which it re-entered the
+choir. But on special occasions the ritual was increased; as, for
+instance, at the procession of palms on Palm Sunday, or the Corpus
+Christi Day procession, which is thus described by Mr J.D.
+Chambers[3]: "The procession, some time before the mass, should
+assemble in order at the step of the Choir (_i.e._ in the Presbytery),
+a priest in Albe and silk Cope carrying the Corpus Christi in a
+tabernacle or feretory under a canopy of silk raised over him and it
+on four staves, borne by four clerks in Albes and Tunicles, with
+lighted tapers. It should go out of the Choir down the Nave, and out
+at the West Door of the Church, round the Church and Cloisters as on
+Ascension Day"--_i.e._ round the outside of the whole church,
+beginning with the north side and returning round the east end, and
+through the cloister to the west door again, and thus back into the
+nave. The colours of the vestments at Wells followed in the main the
+custom of the neighbouring diocese of Sarum, but with some local
+variations, such as are set down in the _Consuetudinary_ which
+Archbishop Laud had copied from the late thirteenth-century MS. Indigo
+and white were used on St. John's Day and on the Dedication Festival;
+in Advent, indigo; at Passiontide, red, and on Palm Sunday, "except
+one cope of black for the part of Caiaphas" at the singing of the
+Passion; red, too, on Maunday Thursday, but with a banner of white.
+Red was also used for Easter, Pentecost, and throughout the Sundays
+after Trinity; while for Virgin Martyrs, red was mixed with white.
+This mixture of colours was probably effected by the cantors wearing
+different coloured copes; thus for confessors saffron _(croceus)_ was
+mixed with green, _sicut honestius et magis proprie possunt adaptari
+festo_; but St. Julian and some others had all saffron, while a few,
+like St. Benedict, had all indigo. White is comparatively little in
+evidence, but it was used at Christmas, and for commemorations of the
+Blessed Virgin. Black was used for the commemoration of the dead.
+
+To this vision of stately pomp, and changing colour, we must add in
+our mind's eye the many chapels with their woven tapestries of flowers
+and beasts and birds, their rich ornaments and sacred associations;
+the majestic rood upon the screen, and the rich altars that stood
+before it; the almost constant succession of services that went on
+behind it, where the canons (each with his own book and candle) and
+their vicars sat, and the pyx hung over the high altar; the sound of a
+little bell from one of the chapels where mass was being said, the
+glimmer of a hanging lamp, the gleam of a silver image, the shrines
+here and there, with their frequent visitors; and, as years went on,
+the subdued light from the gorgeous painted windows (that over the
+high altar glowed then from east to west without obstructing organ),
+the frescoes on some of the walls, the green and red and gold of the
+later monuments; and over all the trail of incense and the sound of
+prayer.
+
+After Jocelin's death the works came to a standstill, for the
+sufficient reason that the chapter was "overburdened with an
+intolerable debt," owing to the enormous expense of the litigation
+with Bath Abbey over Bishop Roger's election (p. 153). This, however,
+was the last attempt of the rival cathedral of St. Peter; and the
+debt, which was at its worst in 1248 (the year after Roger's death),
+was bravely met by a contribution of a fifth of the income of each
+prebend, as well as by gifts and obits; so that towards the end of
+William Bytton's episcopate the debt was nearly cleared, and in 1263
+Bytton made over the sequestrations of vacant benefices to the fabric
+fund.
+
+In 1248 an earthquake had done much damage, shaking down the _tholus_
+(either the vault, or the stone capping) of the central tower, as we
+learn from Matthew Paris _(Hist. Angl._ iii. 42). Accordingly, in
+1263, preparations were made for further building; and in 1286 we hear
+of a chapter meeting, summoned by Dean Thomas Bytton, whereat the
+canons bind themselves to give one-tenth of their prebends for five
+years, "to the finishing of the works now a long time begun (_jam diu
+incepta_), and to repair what needed reparation in the old works."
+
+The reparation here mentioned refers in all probability to the roof
+and piers of the transepts and eastern part of nave, damaged by the
+fall of the _tholus_. The famous western capitals of the transepts,
+with their frequent representations of the miseries of toothache, must
+refer to the second William Bytton, who had died in 1274, and whose
+tomb became famous for its dental cures (p. 125). No doubt, the
+offerings at the shrine of this local saint helped considerably to
+swell the funds for the building operations.
+
+The works "now a long time begun" can hardly be anything else than the
+chapter-house undercroft, the outer walls of which may have been built
+some forty years before. Professor Willis, who had access to the
+document, decided, on architectural evidence, that the undercroft must
+have been already completed at this time, and his view may be safely
+accepted (_Arch. Inst._, "Bristol" vol., p. 28). The passage to the
+undercroft would seem to be the first result of the chapter's
+undertaking; its ornament is of a more advanced type than that of the
+undercroft itself, and one of its carved heads is swollen as by the
+toothache, and tied in a handkerchief. There can be little or no doubt
+that the "finishing" of the old works included also the building of
+the chapter-house staircase, and, when that was finished, the raising
+of the chapter-house itself (the _nova structura_ of the old
+documents) upon the undercroft. The full Decorated style of the
+chapter-house is separated by a considerable interval from the late
+Early English of the undercroft, while that of the staircase, which is
+geometrical Decorated of a character not very far removed from Early
+English, must have been built before the chapter-house itself was
+begun.
+
+The self-sacrificing spirit of the chapter was supplemented by the
+offerings which flowed in from the growing practice of endowing altars
+for requiem services, as well as from the shrine of St. William
+Bytton; and the building activity continued for the next fifty years
+till the church had been brought, in all save its western towers, to
+its final state of perfection. After the staircase to the
+chapter-house had been completed, about the year 1292, the walls of
+the chapter-house itself were built, probably by Bishop William de
+Marchia (1293-1302) who seems to have covered it in with a temporary
+roof.
+
+Dean John de Godelee (1306-1333) was the last great builder of the
+church of Wells. The power of the bishop in his own church is already
+declining, as that of the chapter rises, and it is the dean now who
+organises the works. In 1315 the central tower was raised, and by 1321
+it was being roofed in. By 1319 the chapter-house was finished;
+Godelee, with William Joy, the master-mason, had probably worked out
+the old drawings and built the windows and vaulted roof. Next the Lady
+Chapel must have been begun, for by 1326 it was finished. Somewhere
+about this time the parapet, which adds so much to the external beauty
+of the church, was also made.
+
+But the raising of the central tower had, ere this, brought disaster.
+In 1321 there was a grant from the clergy of the Deanery of Taunton in
+aid of the roofing of the "new _campanile_"; in 1338 a convocation was
+summoned because the church of Wells was so _totaliter confracte et
+enormiter deformate_ that the instant and united action of its members
+was required to save it (_cf._ Willis in _Som. Proc._ 1863). The
+adding of the Decorated portion to the tower increased the weight so
+much that the four great piers sank into the ground, dragging the
+masonry with them and causing rents to appear at the apex of the
+arches. The situation was most dangerous: it was met by the careful
+repairing of the torn masonry and the construction of those inverted
+arches which are so familiar a feature of the church.
+
+Yet the work proceeded very rapidly under a great bishop, who for the
+time eclipsed the rising power of the deans. Ralph of Shrewsbury
+(1329-63) carried on the work of Dean Godelee, and in the early years
+of his episcopate entirely reconstructed the choir. The scheme seems
+to have been contemplated as early as 1325; for in that year each
+dignitary arranged to pay for his own stall in the refitting of the
+choir, because the old stalls had become "ruinous and misshapen." In
+any case, it was Ralph who added the three new bays of the presbytery
+which are so curiously joined to the old presbytery of Reginald, and
+with it form the present eastern limb of the church. He then
+constructed the beautiful retro-choir which connects the presbytery
+with the Lady Chapel. The vaulting of the choir and the construction
+of the great east window would appear to have been undertaken at a
+later period of his episcopate; for the ceiling is of a more advanced
+style than the lower work, and the tracery of the window is half
+Perpendicular. When Bishop Ralph died, in 1363, he was buried in the
+place of honour in front of the high altar, as the founder of the
+choir which he had finished.
+
+The finishing touches were given to the cathedral when Bishop Harewell
+(_ob._ 1386) gave two-thirds of the cost of the south-western or
+Harewell Tower, and when the executors of Bishop Bubwith (_ob._ 1424)
+finished the companion tower on the north-west.
+
+The other efforts of the fourteenth and fifteenth century builders
+were given to those subordinate buildings which are the peculiar glory
+of Wells. Even so magnificent a prelate as Beckington did nothing to
+the actual fabric of the Cathedral (unless his tomb be so considered),
+for the simple reason that there was really nothing for him to do.
+Ralph of Shrewsbury had, besides his work in the church, finished the
+palace (which Jocelin had begun and Burnell had enriched with the hall
+and chapel) by the moat, walls, and gate-house. He had also begun the
+Vicars' Close, of which the chapel was built by Bubwith, but the
+executors of Beckington recast it in its present form. After
+Beckington had employed his energies in erecting the beautiful
+gateways with which his name is always associated, Dean Gunthorpe
+(_ob._ 1498) built the deanery.
+
+The following interesting eulogy of Bishop Beckington and his church
+was written in the form of a Latin dialogue by Chaundler, who was
+Chancellor of Wells in 1454:--
+
+"You might more properly call it a city than a town, as you would
+yourself understand more clearly than day if you could behold all its
+intrinsic splendour and beauty. For that most lovely church which we
+see at a distance, dedicated to the most blessed Apostle of the
+Almighty God, St. Andrew, contains the episcopal chair of the worthy
+Bishop. Adjoining it is the vast palace, adorned with wonderful
+splendour, girt on all sides by flowing waters, crowned by a
+delectable succession of walls and turrets, in which the most worthy
+and learned Bishop Thomas, the first of that name, bears rule. He has
+indeed at his own proper pains and charges conferred such a splendour
+on this city, as well by strongly fortifying the church with gates and
+towers and walls, as by constructing on the grandest scale the palace
+in which he resides and the other surrounding buildings, that he
+deserves to be called, not the founder merely, but rather the
+splendour and ornament of the church."
+
+[Illustration: The Cathedral. (From a Seventeenth Century Print.)]
+
+The Reformation period left the cathedral cold and barren within, but
+interfered little with its fabric; the only serious piece of
+destruction (p. 57) being that of the magnificent Lady Chapel by the
+Cloister, in 1552, by Sir John Gates, "a greate puritan, Episcopacie's
+common Enemy." In other respects it was what Freeman calls a period of
+systematic picking and stealing; as witness this passage from
+Nathaniel Chyles:--"The Great Duke of Somersett, Unkle to Edward the
+Sixt (whose title proved very fatall to this place and Bishopwrick)
+was not only contented to get most of the mannours Lands and
+possessions belonging to this Bishopwrick settled upon him and his
+posteritie, but at last even the palace itselfe also." But the palace
+and some of the property were recovered after Somerset's execution.
+
+The bishop's palace suffered the ruin of Burnell's magnificent hall
+through the prevalent lust for gain. Sir John Harrington writes in
+terms of pardonable indignation:--"I speak now only of the spoil made
+under this Bishop [Barlow]; scarce were five years past after Bath's
+ruins, but as fast went the axes and hammers to work at Wells. The
+goodly hall covered with lead ... was uncovered, and now this roof
+reaches to the sky. The Chapel of Our Lady, late repaired by
+Stillington, a place of reverence and antiquity, was likewise defaced,
+and such was their thirst after lead (I would they had drunk it
+scalding) that they took the dead bodies of bishops out of their
+leaden coffins, and cast abroad the carcases scarce thoroughly
+putrified."
+
+During the Commonwealth the choir was closed, and Dr Cornelius Burges,
+who was appointed "Preacher" at the cathedral, bought the bishop's
+palace and deanery for his private property. He, of course, despoiled
+the palace, "pulling off not only the Lead thereoff," says Chyles,[4]
+"but taking away also the Timber, and making what money he could of
+them, and what remained unsold he removed to the Deanery improving
+that out of the Ruins of the palace, leaving only bare Walls." At the
+Restoration Burges was ejected, after a good deal of litigation, and
+Bishop Piers returned to the ruins of his palace. Burges' sermons had
+never been popular with the people of Wells, who annoyed him by
+walking up and down the cloisters "all sermon time." When the trial
+for his ejectment came on he published his "Case," in which he
+justified his buying Church lands by alleging that he had lent the
+State £3490, and, having a wife and ten children to provide for, he
+took such land, etc. as the only means of repayment. Five of the
+canons' houses were also obtained from Cromwell's Commissioners by the
+Corporation of Wells, one or two of which were pulled down and sold
+for old stone.
+
+At the Restoration, the canons were at great expense to restore the
+church from the ruinous condition into which it had fallen in Puritan
+times, and they were liberally helped in their extremity by the clergy
+and laity of the diocese. Says Chyles (_c._ 1680): "Since his
+Majestie's and Churche's happy and blessed Restoration, what betweene
+the Bishopp, the Deane, and Deane and Chapter, our Church and Quire is
+once more in a beautifull and comely habitt (which God continue) such
+as neither the Church of Rome has reason to upbraid us with a slovenly
+or clownish Service, nor the Puritan and Nonconformist with a gaudy or
+Superstitious. The good old Bishopp [W. Piers], who weather'd out that
+Storme, and was restored to what was his Owne, gave those silk
+Hangings which beautifie the Altar within the Railes." Dean Creyghton
+gave the glass in the west window, the organ and the brass lectern,
+and Dr Busby, who was treasurer of Wells as well as head-master of
+Westminster, gave the silver-gilt alms dish and restored the library,
+lengthening it by the addition of the southern part.
+
+Chyles tells us, too, that there was morning and evening prayer in the
+"Vicars' Chapell in Close Hall," at six, forenoon and afternoon, in
+winter, and seven in summer, in addition to the cathedral services at
+the "canonical howers." Before his time there had been only a morning
+sermon on Sundays, and, in the afternoon, "the whole Cathedrall" had
+been in the habit of going to St. Cuthbert's, returning with the mayor
+and his brethren for the cathedral prayers at four; "but since his
+Majesty's Restoracion one likewise in the Afternoones here is preached
+by the said prebends _in theire turns_. Soe that here the Sermonizing
+people may have their Bellyfull of preaching and forbeare crying out,
+_They are starved for want of the Word_ and calling our clergy _Dumb
+Doggs_."
+
+This time of peace did not last long, for in 1685 the whole of
+Somerset was up in Monmouth's rebellion. The duke's followers came to
+Wells, turned the cathedral into a stable, tore the lead off the roof
+for bullets, pulled down several of the statues, broached a barrel of
+beer on the high altar, and would have destroyed the altar itself, had
+not Lord Grey, one of their leaders, defended it with his sword. Dr
+Conan Doyle's description of the scene in his novel, _Micah Clarke_
+(p. 292), is so vivid that it is well worth referring to.
+
+The long and heavy peace which followed was marked by the gradual
+pewing up of the choir and presbytery, and the intrusion of
+pretentious monuments. Then, in our own times, came the revival,
+bringing evil as well as good in its train. In 1842 the restoration of
+the nave, transepts, and Lady Chapel was commenced at the instance of
+Dean Goodenough, by Mr Benjamin Ferrey. He removed the thick layers of
+whitewash which had been ingeniously applied to conceal the sculpture;
+and the long rows of marble tablets which had disfigured the aisles
+were shifted to the cloisters, whence, it may be hoped, they will one
+day make a further journey towards oblivion.
+
+The restoration of the choir by Mr Salvin, which lasted from 1848 to
+1854, was unfortunately of a less blameless character. It was the
+period of the Great Exhibition, when art reached the lowest depths to
+which it has sunk in the history of the world.
+
+We need not dwell upon the result; few restorations are more marked
+with the complacent ignorance of that strange time. The old pews and
+galleries in the choir, which had hidden the very capitals of the
+piers, were indeed removed, but with them the medieval stalls were
+destroyed and replaced by work of indescribable imbecility. No real
+improvement in the choir of Wells is now possible till every trace of
+Dean Jenkyns' restoration is swept away; but, alas! what he destroyed
+can never be recovered.
+
+In 1868 the report of Mr Ferrey[5] upon the west front was presented,
+and shortly afterwards the work of repair was begun under his
+direction. The report showed how extensive was the decay, and how
+great the danger of complete ruin unless steps were taken to protect
+the old work; and the work of repair was carried out with care and
+reverence; though even here irreparable harm was done by the
+substitution of the modern "slate pencils" for the old blue lias
+shafts. Since then, many small matters have been attended to with
+varying success. The Lady Chapel has been decently furnished and the
+east end slightly improved. Much still remains to be done; but the
+best motto at the present day is _festina lente_, and the safest rule
+is to be progressive in all enrichment by removable furniture, and
+conservative, very conservative, in all structural alteration. If the
+hand of the restorer can now be stayed, the words will still be true
+of Wells, which M. Huysmans used of another church:--_Ces siècles
+s'ètaient reunis pour apporter aux pieds du Christ l'effort surhumain
+de leur art, et les dons de chacun étaient visibles encore._
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+   [1] _Somerset Proceedings_, 1888, ii. 5.
+
+   [2] _History of the Cathedral_, p. 98.
+
+   [3] _Divine Worship in England_, p. 195.
+
+   [4] Book ii. c. 2.
+
+   [5] _Inst. Arch._ 1870.
+
+
+[Illustration: South Aisle Of Nave. (See p. 83.)]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE EXTERIOR
+
+
+"In England," wrote Mr J.H. Parker, in his _Glossary_, "Wells affords
+the most perfect example of a cathedral with all its parts and
+appurtenances. It was," he continues, after an enumeration of the
+parts of the church, "a cathedral proper, and independent of any
+monastic foundation, but with a separate house for each of its
+officers, either in the Close or in the Liberty adjoining to it. The
+bishop's palace was enclosed by a separate moat and fortified, being
+on the south side of the cloister, from which it is separated by the
+moat; the houses for the dean and for the archdeacon are on the north
+side of the Close, with some of the canons' houses; the organist's
+house is at the west end, adjoining to the singing-school and the
+cloister; the precentor's house is at the east end, near the Lady
+Chapel. The vicars-choral have a close of their own adjoining to the
+north-east corner of the canons' close, with a bridge across through
+the gate-house into the north transept; they were a collegiate body,
+with their own chapel, library, and hall." One need only add that all
+these sentences can still, with one exception, be read in the present
+tense to show that Wells possesses a beauty and interest which gives
+it an unique place among cathedral foundations. There is no other
+cathedral city in which so many of the old ecclesiastical buildings
+remain, or on which the modern world has made so little impression.
+The church itself, in Fergusson's opinion perhaps the most beautiful,
+though one of the smallest in England, is but one part of a "group of
+buildings, which," wrote Professor Freeman, "as far as I know, has no
+rival, either in our own island or beyond the sea." The little city to
+which these buildings belong is itself worthy of them, almost a part
+of them, so quiet and venerable is it, so picturesque in its lovely
+setting of green hills.
+
+Were size the main distinction of a church, Wells would sink
+comfortably into the second class; even in some of its best features
+it has many rivals, but the peculiar charm and glory of Wells lies (to
+quote again from Freeman's _History_) "in the union and harmonious
+grouping of all. The church does not stand alone; it is neither
+crowded by incongruous buildings, nor yet isolated from those
+buildings which are its natural and necessary complement. Palace,
+cloister, Lady Chapel, choir, chapter-house, all join to form one
+indivisible whole. The series goes on uninterruptedly along that
+unique bridge, which, by a marvel of ingenuity, connects the church
+itself with the most perfect of buildings of its own class, the
+matchless vicars' close. Scattered around we see here and there an
+ancient house, its gable, its windows, or its turret, falling in with
+the style and group of greater buildings, and bearing its part in
+producing the general harmony of all." Thus, in the first place, the
+group of buildings must be looked at as a whole from the north, from
+the east, from the south-east; then the superb, unrivalled picture
+from the rising ground on the Shepton Mallet road,[1] outside the
+city, must be seen, and, when this little journey has been made, the
+most hurried visitor must find time at least to peep into the vicars'
+close, and walk round the moat of the palace. After some such general
+impression has been gained, the study of the exterior of the church
+will naturally begin with that part which is a peculiar distinction of
+Wells Cathedral--the west front.
+
+The WEST FRONT of Wells has been universally admired. Long ago, old
+Fuller wrote--"The west front of Wells is a masterpiece of art indeed,
+made of imagery in just proportion, so that we may call them _vera et
+spirantia signa_. England affordeth not the like." This verdict is but
+repeated by modern writers; the front is "quite unrivalled," says
+Fergusson, and comparable only to Rheims and Chartres. Mr Hughes, in
+Traill's _Social England_, goes farther and says[2] that "nothing fit
+to rank with it was then being done in Northern Europe--for the
+monumental porches of France, formerly supposed to be contemporary,
+are now recognised as of a later date."
+
+[Illustration: West Front. Bishop Aethelhelm (103). Drawn by H.P.
+Clifford.]
+
+But there has been a discordant note in the general chorus of praise.
+Professor Freeman, whose admiration for nearly everything in Wells was
+so intense, could find little to praise in the west front of the
+cathedral.[3] "It is doubtless," he wrote, "the finest display of
+sculpture in England; but it is thoroughly bad as a piece of
+architecture. I am always glad when I get round the corner, and can
+rest my eye on the massive and simple majesty of the nave and
+transepts. The west front is bad because it is a sham--because it is
+not the real ending of the nave and aisles, but a mere mask, devised,
+in order to gain greater room for the display of statues ... The front
+is not the natural finish of the nave and aisles; it is a blank wall
+built up in a shape which is not the shape which their endings would
+naturally assume. It is therefore a sham; it is a sin against the
+first law of architectural design, the law that enrichment should be
+sought in ornamenting the construction ... not in building up anything
+simply for the sake of effect." He then proceeds to criticise the way
+in which the windows and doorways "are stowed away as they best may
+be," as if they were felt to be mere interruptions to the lines of
+sculpture.
+
+[Illustration: The West Front.]
+
+This latter objection to the doorways had often been made before, only
+that the "rabbit-holes on a mountain side" of earlier critics became
+"mouse-holes" with Mr Freeman. Mr E.W. Godwin, in a lecture in 1862,
+had also found fault with the crowding in of the niches over the
+central doorway, which he declared to be in the highest degree clumsy;
+with the bald appearance given by the shallowness of the reveals in
+the principal windows; and with the way in which "the solid work of
+the base suddenly crops up at the very summit of the two central
+buttresses, not altogether unlike the dog-kennel of modern Gothic."
+
+Of these criticisms the most serious is Mr Freeman's general charge of
+unreality. But why should not a stone screen be erected for the
+display of statuary before the west end of a church, just as lawfully
+as behind the high altar? And, if a screen may be allowed as an end in
+itself, standing simply as a thing of beauty to glorify a building of
+which it is not a structural part, then the front of Wells may stand,
+like the reredos of Winchester, as the noblest example of its kind. It
+has no need to simulate lofty aisles which do not exist, for it
+covers, not the aisles, but the faces of the great towers themselves;
+and, as a consequence, the portion of really blank wall which
+stretches from them to the central gable is so small as to be more
+than justified by the cohesion it gives to the whole. The whole effect
+is singularly broad, but so is the space it covers within; for this
+breadth is legitimately attained by the happy device of planting the
+western towers beyond the aisles.
+
+The massive front of Wells stands, therefore, on its own merits as a
+west front, and not merely a west end--a great stone screen that, so
+far from pretending to be a regular termination of the nave and
+aisles, is actually carried, in all its sculptured magnificence, round
+the sides of the two towers upon which it so frankly depends. It is a
+screen built at a period different from, and, we may now safely
+assume, later than, that of the nave, and built for the exhibition of
+a noble legend in stone, which has ever since been the glory of a
+county famed for its splendid churches.
+
+Taking it then for what it is, and remembering that the lower tiers
+were once filled with statuary, can we regret that the doorways
+themselves were subordinated to the one grand design of accommodating
+this great multitude of silent teachers? The great doorways of French
+churches are magnificent in themselves, but that is surely no reason
+why we should make it an axiom that a front cannot be fine unless it
+have a great doorway. Striking as the effect of these foreign
+entrances may be, there is no structural reason why a door should be
+of an unwieldy size out of all proportion to the stature of the people
+who use it, so that a smaller door has to be cut for ordinary use out
+of the real door. It certainly, as even at Amiens, limits the
+sculptor's opportunities; and in a country like England, where doors
+can only be kept open for a few weeks in the year, great doorways
+would be as inappropriate as closed doors are forbidding. As a matter
+of fact, the usual entrance to Wells Cathedral in Jocelin's time was
+not from the west, but through the cloister and the south porch. And
+the central entrance of the west was made impressive, not by its size,
+but by the exquisite nature of its carving, and the blue and scarlet
+and gold with which it was coloured. It was not insignificant then. It
+had the prominence of a jewel. Moreover, in French churches, where the
+exterior is sacrificed to the internal effect, there is some wisdom in
+concentrating attention upon the doorway. But in English churches--and
+in Wells, perhaps, more than any other English church--the exteriors
+are perfect in themselves, and the visitor need not be tempted to
+hurry to their portals. After all, if the rabbit-holes on a
+mountain-side looked as large as quarries, the mountain would not look
+like a mountain.
+
+There are, moreover, three faults in the front as it now stands which
+cannot be attributed to its maker. In the first place, it is
+undoubtedly a little formal, a little square, and this defect is
+particularly marked in the photographs which one sees everywhere.
+Unfortunately this picture, which is too small to show the detail,
+gives no idea whatever of the general external effect of the church.
+It gives the impression that Wells Cathedral is a glorified wall,
+because the photograph cannot show the other parts upon which the
+front depends. The architect, no doubt, intended the towers to be
+carried higher or surmounted with spires, and though no trace of any
+stone erection has been found on the tops of the present towers, they
+may once have been crowned with wooden spires covered with lead or
+shingle. One need hardly say how vast a difference such lofty towers
+as exist at Laon Cathedral, or spires like those of Lichfield, would
+make in the effect of the front. They would also account for the great
+size of the buttresses, which seem to have been built with a view to
+sustaining a great weight.
+
+A disagreeable impression is also caused by the row of hip-knobs along
+the coping of the central gable, and the pinnacle in their midst. This
+collection of curiosities was probably added in the seventeenth
+century, and the pinnacle may have been taken from one of the denuded
+buttresses of the Lady Chapel to replace the gable cross which must
+have originally stood here: at all events it is a later addition, as
+was proved by an examination of the masonry. It would be an act of
+justice to the memory of Jocelin if these trivial excrescences were
+removed.
+
+Perhaps one is even more distressed on first seeing the front by a
+third fault--the weak and stringy effect of the long, thin, dark,
+marble shafts. For this the restorer, Mr Benjamin Ferrey, must bear
+the blame. He complained with justice that the original blue lias
+shafts, when they were decayed, had been replaced by the ordinary
+Doulting stone.[4] But, unhappily, he did not go back to the original
+material, but fitted the whole front with a complete set of shafts of
+Kilkenny marble, which is at once dark and cold. They absolutely
+refuse to blend with the old, warm, grey stone, and stand out, stark
+and stiff, like an array of gigantic slate pencils. Mr Ferrey was
+possessed with the idea that the blue lias shafts (having only lasted
+for a paltry half-dozen centuries) were not durable enough for the
+work. He therefore used this marble, which, doubtless, will stand in
+increased obtrusiveness when every stone of the cathedral has decayed.
+He further was impressed with the strange notion that the hideous
+Kilkenny marble is of the same colour as the exquisitely delicate grey
+of the blue lias. The result is a sad warning to all restorers not to
+be more clever than the original architect.
+
+Let us, then, try to imagine the west front with its empty lowest tier
+filled with graceful figures, its gable in its first simplicity and
+surmounted by a cross, its towers of Early English form crowned with
+lofty spires, its delicate shafts of their original material, and its
+ranges of figures "all gorgeous in their freshly-painted hues of blue
+and scarlet and purple and gold." Then we shall have some idea of the
+front of Wells as Jocelin meant it to be and to remain.
+
+[Illustration: Ornaments In The West Front.]
+
+As for the colour, its effect can be gathered from the traces which
+survive. There is ultramarine, gold, and scarlet in the tympanum of
+the central doorway, where there are also the marks of metal fittings.
+Ferrey found a deep maroon colour on the figures of the Apostles, and
+a dark colour painted with stars in the Resurrection tier. One of the
+chief glories of the front is the faithful care which is given
+throughout to the smaller features. The mouldings (a succession of
+rounds and hollows) are most bold and effective; the carving of the
+foliage in caps and canopies, tympana, pedestals, and terminals is
+singularly beautiful and free. This impression is deepened by a minute
+examination; indeed, it is almost a matter of regret that some of the
+finest work is at such a height as to be almost impossible to see; for
+in all the earlier work at Wells the Lamp of Sacrifice burns brightly.
+Mr Ferry pointed out an instance, which may be given here, of the care
+with which minor matters were thought out:--In order that the lowest
+tier might not look weak and yet might provide a sufficient shadow for
+the statues, the backs of the niches are set at a slightly recessed
+angle in the centre, and thus an effect of strength is given to the
+angular jambs. Indeed, there may be differences of opinion as to the
+general design of the west front, but there can be none as to the
+supreme excellence of its detail. It is beyond doubt the most rich
+example of Early English work to be found anywhere. The crown of its
+glories, the justification of its form, did it need justification, are
+the frail statues which line it, tier upon tier.
+
+[Illustration: Ornaments In The West Front.]
+
+Vertically the west front is divided into three main parts--the
+centre, containing the three lancet windows of the nave and the main
+doorway, is surmounted by a gable receding in stages with a pinnacle
+at either angle; and the two lateral towers, the lower portion of
+which form one continuous screen with the centre, broken only by the
+boldly projecting buttresses, of which each division possesses two.
+Horizontally the front divides itself naturally into four parts--the
+plain base, which is high enough to contain the full height of the
+small north and south doorways. One of the stones in this division,
+about the level of the eye, and near the middle, which has evidently
+been moved from some other place, bears the inscription, _Pur lalme
+Johan de Putenie priez et trieze jurs de_ ... Next is an arcade of
+niches interspersed with windows, the space above being pierced by
+quatrefoils. The third division contains the three lancet windows, the
+forms of which are repeated on the north and south, breaking the line
+of the two historical tiers of niches which, with the Resurrection
+tier, adorn this main division of the front. A bold string course
+marks it off firmly and decisively from the fourth and upper division,
+in which the three parts of the front become separate, the towers at
+each side and the stepped gable, flanked by two graceful Early English
+pinnacles, in the middle. The statuary is mainly confined to the
+arcading of the second division, to the buttresses of the third, with
+its continuous cornice of the Resurrection tier, and to the gable
+front of the fourth; but the amount of it is largely increased by the
+fact that the work is carried round three sides of the north-western
+tower, which only touches the church on one side. The niches on the
+sides of the south-western tower are almost empty.
+
+THE STATUARY.--The statuary is not only the finest collection of
+medieval sculpture to be found in England; but, separately, the
+figures are with few exceptions finer than any others in this country,
+while some of them are almost as beautiful as the greatest
+masterpieces in Italy or France. It is strange that here, at the
+outset of the Gothic period, the chief characteristics of the old
+Greek spirit should be so apparent, the same restraint, the same
+simplicity, the same exquisite appreciation of light and flowing
+drapery: in other things there is difference enough, the form is less
+perfect, the action is less free, though there is a deeper sentiment
+and a higher power of spiritual expression; but in the essentials of
+sublime statuary there is a singular agreement.
+
+And, strange though it seems, it may well be that in these statues one
+must look for the first signs of the influence of the Renaissance in
+England. Romanesque work has but just died out, and already the old
+spirit, destined in time to supplant the architecture which sprung
+from it, is at work again. While the statues were being cut at Wells,
+Niccola Pisano was reviving sculpture in Italy under the inspiration
+of classical examples; and there can be little doubt but that it was
+Italian sculptors who produced the statuary at Wells. Some of the
+figures on the northern part of the front have been found to be marked
+with Arabic numerals (_Somerset Proceedings_ 1888, i. 57, 62), and
+these numerals, which did not become common in England till the
+sixteenth century, were used in Italy long before, having been
+introduced by Bonacci of Pisa (a fellow-citizen of Niccola) in 1202.
+That they are found here before the middle of the century is a fairly
+conclusive proof that the workers were Italians, and very likely from
+Pisa itself. Jocelin, indeed, was English, but he had been in exile
+from 1208 to 1213, when he had ample opportunity of studying the work
+of the Italian artists. Pleasant as it would be to our national pride,
+we can hardly believe that Englishmen produced what seems to be the
+earliest example of such magnificent and varied sculpture in
+north-western Europe. At Jocelin's death, in 1242, when the work had
+been going on for some thirty years, Niccola Pisano was in his prime,
+Cimabue was two years old, and forty years had yet to elapse before
+the rival sculpture of Amiens Cathedral was executed.
+
+[Illustration: West Front: Christina (185). Drawn by H.P. Clifford.]
+
+Mr Ruskin, whose admiration of the work at Amiens is so intense, has
+given almost as high praise to the sculpture at Wells, and has
+presented sets of photographs of the statuary to various art schools.
+The verdict of enthusiastic approval is, in fact, unanimous. Flaxman,
+to his credit, in spite of his classicalism, was one of the first to
+draw attention to the work. Whoever was the general designer of the
+whole arrangement, he deserves as great praise as the sculptors
+themselves. There must have been several sculptors, both because no
+one man could have carved three hundred and fifty subjects (of which
+one hundred and fifty-two are life-size or colossal), and because a
+certain number of the figures in the fourth and fifth tiers are of
+obviously inferior design. But one master-mind must have conceived and
+directed the work. The height and lightness which is given to the
+gable by the tall row of the Apostles, the solemn prominence of the
+figure of our Lord above, the rich cornice-like effect of the small
+Resurrection tier, the difference in height between the fourth and
+fifth tiers, the concentration of the three lower tiers, the breadth
+which the seated figures give to the face of the buttresses, the
+arrangement of the statues and groups round the buttresses, which
+makes it impossible for them all to be seen at once, all show that one
+mind was busy, carefully subordinating the parts to the whole.
+
+It may well have been Jocelin himself who planned the subject-matter
+of the statuary with such admirable breadth and balance of mind. It is
+easy to produce sermons in stones, easy to sermonise in very many
+ways; but Jocelin did not preach. He just tried to embody the
+Christian spirit at work in the world: God made manifest in man, the
+great truth of the Incarnation; and this he did in what we should call
+the most modern manner, though in truth it is medieval as well as
+modern. He did not conceive of Christianity as confined within the
+covers of the Bible, but he took all history, as he knew it, the
+patient education of man in the Old Testament, the fulfilment of man's
+aspirations and God's purpose in the New, from the birth of our Lord
+to the founding of the Church, and the continuation of this church up
+to his own time, with especial regard to the heroes, saints and rulers
+of the Church of England. He made a "kalendar for unlearned men,"
+which is both a _Biblia Pauperum_ and _Annales Angliae_, because the
+annals of England were to him a new Bible. "Slowly the Bible of the
+race is writ," a modern writer has said, "each age, each kindred, adds
+a word to it." That was the spirit of Jocelin's design; only that,
+through the pomp of mighty kings and fair women and honoured bishops,
+he looked to the naked truth of the judgment time, when mitres and
+crowns would remain but as signs of an awful responsibility, and the
+divine justice, so tried, so obscured on earth, would be vindicated
+before the angels who are quick to do God's will, and the twelve plain
+men who turned the mighty currents of the world. Such was the spirit
+of a man who lived in the days of St. Francis and St. Louis, Stephen
+Langton and Roger Bacon.
+
+Before commencing a detailed description of the statuary, one must
+refer to Professor Cockerell, R.A., whose enthusiastic love of the
+work led him to construct a theory which he published in 1851, as an
+_Iconography of the West Front_. There can be little doubt that he was
+right in his general idea; there can be equally little doubt that he
+was wrong in nearly every application of it. Everyone now, for
+instance, takes it for granted that the south side of the front is
+mainly "spiritual," devoted to ecclesiastics, while the north is
+"temporal"; and that the whole of the fourth and fifth tiers do
+represent certain leading historical figures. But when we read
+Cockerell's reasons for identifying these figures we recoil in dismay.
+His knowledge of history is superficial, of costume he knows practically
+nothing; his drawings are as inaccurate as his imagination is fertile,
+and he states as obvious facts the wildest conjectures. Further
+reference will be found to his book in our description of the fourth
+and fifth tiers. It was at least an honest labour of love, and
+Cockerell deserves the honour, as he had to endure the disadvantages,
+of being the first in the field.
+
+The CENTRAL DOORWAY may be taken before the lowest tier. Its soffit
+contains an evident addition, as if the architect felt that it needed
+emphasising by some enrichment. In the first of its four
+deeply-wrought mouldings a series of niches, five on each side, with
+small delicately-carved figures, has been inserted, evidently after
+the arch was made; they are cut from a different stone (white lias),
+and are skilfully fitted and grooved into the back of the large sunk
+moulding. They add considerably to the effect of the arch, although
+all the heads of the figures have been destroyed. It is characteristic
+of Cockerell's random method of conjecture, that he declared these
+figures to be representations of the Ten Commandments.
+
+1. The tympanum under the arch and above the double opening of the
+doorway contains a quatrefoil, in which is a noble sculpture of the
+Madonna and Child. The head of the Mother and the upper half of the
+Child are gone, but the drapery that remains is of quite perfect grace
+and dignity. A serpent is under the feet of the Madonna, who is
+sitting on a throne; angels censing are on either side without the
+quatrefoil. A good deal of the old colour which once gave this central
+group a peculiar brilliancy can still be traced on this protected
+sculpture; the background was ultramarine, the mouldings red and gold.
+The figures were also gilded in part, and there are marks on the wall
+to show that a metal nimbus was once attached to it.
+
+2. In a canopy above the arch is another sculpture of equal beauty,
+though, owing to its more exposed position, the treatment is a little
+broader. It represents the coronation of Our Lady; both the heads and
+all the hands are gone. The two figures are both seated on one long
+bench, and our Lord leans forward to place the crown upon his Mother's
+head.
+
+
+THE TIERS.
+
+In order to avoid any possible mistake I have taken each tier from
+right to left, specifying the gaps, windows, and buttresses, to
+facilitate identification, and commencing with the lowest tier. I have
+also numbered the figures afresh, because of the confusion which has
+hitherto caused great waste of time to every one who has attempted to
+identify them. Cockerell's numbers are the only ones that are at all
+accurate (and he omits the two figures on the extreme south of the
+fourth and fifth tiers); but, as he recommenced his enumeration with
+each series, they are not much use for purposes of identification.
+There are mistakes and omissions in the enumeration of the
+photographs, there are mistakes in the album in the cathedral library,
+the photographs in the South Kensington Museum are hopelessly muddled,
+and even the descriptions of the restorer, Mr Ferrey, are so arranged
+that it takes days to identify them, while some of them elude one's
+efforts altogether. I have, therefore, numbered the statues and groups
+in a continuous order from bottom to top, so that comparison with
+photographs will in the future be easy. In the case of work most of
+which can only be seen from a distance, the study of photographs is
+absolutely necessary for a full appreciation of their beauty, more
+especially as in very many cases the photographs reveal the form which
+the accidents of discoloration have partly concealed. Mr Phillips of
+10 Market Place has an almost complete set of admirable photographs,
+which he was enabled to take when the scaffolding was up for the
+restoration of 1870-73: it is these which Mr Ruskin has so much
+admired.
+
+As there are so many statues, some of inferior interest and beauty, I
+have ventured to put an asterisk (*) to those which I think no one
+should fail to see; and, in almost every case, I have but echoed the
+general verdict.
+
+THE LOWEST TIER.--This tier contains sixty-two niches, forty-three of
+which are empty, so fatally convenient has their position been for the
+iconoclast. Of those which remain nearly all are on the north side of
+the tower, so that at first sight the tier seems to be quite empty.
+The loss here has been the greater because the figures were of the
+finest kind, as well as the most easily seen: those remaining are
+certainly of the most exquisite loveliness. Cockerell's theory that
+this tier represents the heralds of the gospel, prophets and
+missionaries, has nothing to support it.
+
+It seems to me not unlikely that the tier was devoted to some of the
+most popular saints in the calendar; the position, so near the
+passer-by, would have suited this arrangement, and the front must have
+been singularly deficient in saints if it were otherwise. The figures
+which remain, a group of deacons, a group of bearded figures holding
+books, and of women bearing religious attributes, might well stand for
+saints.
+
+3. _South Tower._ Male figure, much decayed, held by metal clamps.
+
+4. Male figure, much decayed, held by metal clamps.
+
+_Rest of figures missing along west front up to_--
+
+5. _North Tower._ Male figure, much decayed, holds book.
+
+6. A similar figure.
+
+_Missing._
+
+7. _North Buttress._ Male figure, which held some drapery in front.
+
+8. _North Buttress._ Male figure, holding a vessel in right hand
+covered with a cloth, the end of which was in left hand. [Cockerell
+calls this St. Augustine, erroneously supposing this cloth to be the
+pallium.]
+
+9. Beautiful female figure,* drapery resembling a chasuble; hands
+gone.
+
+10. Female figure with flowing hair; hands gone.
+
+11. Female figure, wimple round head, in left hand holds a vessel,
+right hand is on the edge of the vessel, the fingers dipping in.
+
+12. Female figure,* hood over head, holds in right hand the foot of a
+chalice, and with her left the fold of her dress in front.
+
+13. Tall male figure, bearded, holding closed book; in good
+preservation.
+
+14. Male figure, bearded; hands gone.
+
+15. _Buttress._ Male figure, bearded, with flowing hair; hands gone.
+
+16. _Buttress._ Male figure, bearded, holding open book in left hand;
+upper part moulding away.
+
+17. Deacon* in dalmatic, alb, amice, holding open book in left hand,
+right hand gone; drapery is wonderfully fine. (This and the remaining
+figures are tonsured and shaven.)
+
+18. Deacon,* a beautiful figure, (apparently in dalmatic), amice; left
+hand gone.
+
+19. Deacon, in girded alb, ends of girdle hanging down, wears the
+folded chasuble (very rare in art) over left shoulder, maniple; holds
+book with both hands.
+
+_Missing._
+
+20. _Buttress._ Deacon, in girded alb, amice, stole over left
+shoulder, book in left hand. Besides ends of girdle, end of a stole is
+visible on left side, as if a crossed stole had first been carved and
+this end forgotten.
+
+21. _Buttress._ Deacon,* stole worn over left shoulder, maniple, but
+no amice and no girdle; wears instead of alb a surplice with full
+sleeves--an unusual combination.
+
+SECOND TIER.--The next tier (22-53) consists of thirty-two
+quatrefoils, some of which are now empty. The rest contain half-length
+figures of angels, holding crowns, mitres, scrolls, or drapery in
+their hands.
+
+THIRD TIER.--This, which we may call the Bible Tier, consists of
+forty-eight quatrefoils, ranged close above the quatrefoils of the
+second tier, and broken in the centre by the larger sculpture of the
+Coronation of the Virgin (2). The subjects are all from the Bible,
+those on the south from the Old Testament, dealing with the first
+things, while those on the north and on the north and east sides of
+the northern tower are from the New Testament, and represent the life
+and mission of our Lord. The iconoclasts seem to have concentrated
+their attention on those earlier New Testament groups, which would
+contain the figure of our Lady, and they have made the Crucifixion
+almost unrecognisable. The figures are about two feet high.
+
+_Empty._
+
+54. The Death of Jacob.
+
+55. Isaac blessing Jacob, who leans over him.
+
+56. Meeting of Isaac and Rebecca, probably.
+
+57. Noah sacrificing on Ararat. Very fine.
+
+58. The Ark. A curious structure, raised pyramidally in four tiers,
+with open arcades, in which birds and beasts are seen. Below is the
+Flood.
+
+59. Noah building the Ark.* He is in workman's dress, and wears a cap;
+he is working at a bench, beneath which are his tools. Behind is the
+ark, and an "Early English" tree.
+
+60. God decreeing the Deluge.* In great wrath Jehovah approaches a man
+who sits pensively on a hill-side: from behind the man's head springs
+a demon. The figure of Jehovah is admirably expressed.
+
+_Empty._
+
+61. Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac, who is bound on a bundle of
+wood. Cockerell called this the Sacrifice of Cain, which certainly
+suits its position better.
+
+62. Adam delves and Eve spins. Fine.
+
+_Empty._
+
+63. Jehovah in the Garden. A draped figure, addressing two figures
+naked and ashamed.
+
+64. The Temptation. The serpent's body is coiled round the tree near
+Adam, and his head hovers above with an apple in the mouth. Adam is
+already eating the fruit.
+
+65. God placing Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
+
+66. The Creation of Eve.
+
+67. The Creation of Adam. The figure of the Almighty in each of these
+three is magnificent, especially in the last.
+
+_Empty._
+
+OVER CENTRAL DOORWAY. 2. Coronation of the Virgin (p. 34).
+
+_Here follow eighteen New Testament subjects._
+
+68. St. John the Evangelist*; he is winged. A book rests on the back
+of an eagle. The idea of inspiration could not be more finely
+expressed.
+
+_Empty._ (Perhaps the Annunciation was here.)
+
+_Empty._ (Perhaps the Visitation.)
+
+69. The Nativity. Mutilated.
+
+_Empty._
+
+_Empty._
+
+_Empty._
+
+_Empty._
+
+_Empty._
+
+_Empty._
+
+70. Christ among the Doctors: the Holy Child is a very small figure on
+a pedestal. A most expressive group.
+
+71. St. John Baptist, clothed in camels' hair, in the wilderness. (An
+angel appearing from the clouds, broken off since 1862. The fragment
+is now in No. 72).
+
+72. Figures in critical attitudes. Perhaps the Sermon on the Mount.
+
+_Empty._
+
+73. Christ in the Wilderness, probably.
+
+74. Figures in intent attitudes. Perhaps the Mission of the Apostles.
+
+75. Five figures seated at a table. Perhaps the Anointing of Christ's
+feet.
+
+76. Figure on a Mount surrounded by many figures. Perhaps the Feeding
+of the Five Thousand. NORTH SIDE OF TOWER.
+
+77. Christ, sitting, with other figures. Perhaps the Feeding of the
+Four Thousand.
+
+78. The Transfiguration.* A fine composition, two of the Apostles
+crouching in the foreground.
+
+79. The Entry into Jerusalem. Under the city gate two men strew
+clothes and branches: from the walls and tower many people are
+looking.
+
+80. The Betrayal. Chief priest with mitred head-dress in centre:
+winged devil holds up the train of right figure. On left a figure
+holds open a money-box.
+
+81. The Last Supper.* The Virgin kneels to receive the Communion from
+her Son: St. John's head rests on His bosom. The drapery is very fine.
+Underneath are a bottle and a basket.
+
+_Empty._
+
+82. Christ before Pilate.
+
+83. Christ bearing the Cross. Mutilated.
+
+84. The Elevation of the Cross. Much mutilated.
+
+85. The Deposition. Much mutilated.
+
+_Empty._
+
+86. The Resurrection. An angel on either side, guards below.
+
+87. Pentecost: the Birthday of Holy Church. A dignified group of
+figures.
+
+FOURTH AND FIFTH TIERS.--The fourth and fifth tiers contained at least
+120 figures (about a dozen of which are gone), varying in height from
+7 ft. 10 in. to 8 ft. 1 in., a few running as high as 8 ft. 10 in.
+They no doubt represent the kings, bishops, and heroes of English
+history from Egbert to Henry II. Cockerell was probably right in his
+general interpretation of the series, but it is easy to prove that he
+is wrong in many of the names he gives. It is not so easy to suggest
+any better, and therefore his names have stuck to the figures, since
+people naturally like to know them by something more interesting than
+a number. I shall therefore adopt his nomenclature, with the admission
+that equally good grounds could be given in almost every case for some
+other theory. Besides Mr Ferrey's account (_Inst. Brit. Arch._, 1870),
+quoted in inverted commas, Cockerell's descriptions, inaccurate as
+they are, have been consulted, and also Mr Planché's criticism of
+Cockerell.
+
+The word _Buttress_ means that the figure (generally a sitting one) is
+on the west face of the buttress in question. Bishops ("Bp."), unless
+otherwise stated, wear the usual vestments--mitre, chasuble, dalmatic,
+tunicle, stole, maniple, alb, and apparelled amice. Kings ("K.") and
+Queens ("Q.") wear crowns. A favourite attitude is described as
+"holding cord"; this cord being the lace or cord of the mantle, which
+crossed the chest and prevented that garment from falling off the
+shoulders. The mantle seems to have had an uncomfortable tendency to
+slip down, and thus it became a habit constantly to pull the cord
+forward, whence the frequency of this attitude. This cord was wrongly
+described by Cockerell as a necklace, with which it has, of course, no
+connection. The word "trampling" refers to another common feature in
+these tiers; kings are generally represented as trampling on a small
+figure under their feet, to signify their success over their enemies.
+The figures of the fifth tier are rather taller than those of the
+fourth. The first twenty figures on our list, those of the fourth tier
+up to King Ina, may represent the twenty bishops of the diocese from
+Athelm to Jocelin, in direct order, since the corresponding series of
+the fifth tier contains figures which cannot be those of bishops. I
+have, however, kept to Cockerell's names to avoid confusion.
+
+
+FOURTH TIER.--88. _South Tower_--_Buttress_--Sitting Bp.; much
+decayed, supported by metal clamps.
+
+89. Bp. Savaric. Much defaced, head grotesquely so.
+
+90. Bp. Robert. Much defaced, head grotesquely.
+
+_Missing._
+
+91. _Buttress._ Bp. Reginald de Bohun, sitting; somewhat decayed.
+
+92. Bp. Ethelweard, good drapery, well--preserved; no hair or beard.
+
+93. Sighelm, good drapery, well-preserved; ring of curly hair and
+beard.
+
+94. Alfry, in hood; large curly beard.
+
+95. Etheleage, monastic dress, cowl and scapular; large curly beard.
+
+96. Bp. Asser. Short and stout figure, in attitude of benediction.
+
+97. Bp. Heahmund. Short and stout figure, in attitude of benediction.
+
+98. _Buttress._ Bp. Wolfhelm. Fine seated figure, in attitude of
+benediction.
+
+99. Bp. Ealhstan. Stout common-place figure; rather mutilated.
+
+100. Bp. Wilbert. Stout common-place figure; rather mutilated.
+
+101. Bp. Denefrith. Stout common-place figure; better preserved.
+
+102. Bp. Ethelnod. Stout common-place figure; better preserved.
+
+103. _Buttress._ Bp. Aethelhelm, first Bishop of Wells* (reproduced on
+p. 22). Noble figure, sitting in attitude of benediction.
+
+104. Bp. Herewald, in attitude of benediction.
+
+105. Bp. Forthere, head bent slightly forward.
+
+106. Bp. Ealdhelm. A fine figure. _Central Window (South)._
+
+107. K. Ina, looking over right shoulder, hand gone. (These central
+figures, Ina and Ethelburga, are supposed to be of later date than the
+rest.) _Central Window._
+
+108. Q. Ethelburga. Wears the long kirtle with girdle, from which are
+hung an ink-bottle and aulmoniere. _Central Window (North)._
+
+109. K. Egbert, trampling, bearded; cloak falls in a graceful sweep
+from right to left.
+
+110. K. Ethelwulf, bearded. A very short figure, but raised on high
+stone (crouching figure?) higher than the others.
+
+111. K. Ethelbald; decayed.
+
+112. _Buttress._ K. Edgar, sitting, flat cap on head.
+
+113. K. Ethelbert, smooth face, trampling; apparently holds fragment
+of sceptre in right hand, cord of mantle with left.
+
+114. K. Ethelred I., smooth face, trampling, gracefully draped cloak,
+holds fragment of sceptre apparently in right, and something
+indistinct in left hand.
+
+115. K. Edwy, left arm raised, holding cloak, which is over right
+shoulder.
+
+116. K. Edward the Martyr, bearded, holding cup (his usual symbol) in
+left hand, trampling. This is one of the most likely ascriptions.
+
+117. _Buttress._ K. Edmund, sitting, right arm uplifted, left resting
+on knee. Fast decaying.
+
+118. K. Ethelred the Unready, bearded, short figure, trampling, but
+the trampled figure leans easily on its elbow.
+
+119. K. Cnut, bearded, short figure, trampling, but the trampled
+figure is apparently still struggling.
+
+120. Q. Osburga,* in long supertunic, with ample sleeves, falling in
+folds over the feet. The tight sleeve of her kirtle appears on left
+arm, which holds cord of mantle. Head and neck in the wimple which was
+not in thirteenth century distinctive of nun's dress. Book in right
+hand.
+
+121. Q. Emma, in flowing supertunic with ample sleeves, and wimple;
+hands gone.
+
+122. Harold I., no head covering, trampling; hands touching girdle.
+
+123. Harthacnut, like II old, but hands and part of face gone.
+
+124. _Buttress._ K. Edred, sitting, right hand on knee, left raised to
+cord, drapery crossed.
+
+125. Q. Edgitha, mantle falls round over left foot.
+
+126. Edmund Ironside.* Knight in surcoat over chain armour, hauberk
+but no helmet; right arm and left hand gone, but head turned to left
+and attitude is that of drawing or sheathing his sword.
+
+127. Harold. Knight, hauberk and surcoat of mail, cylindrical helmet,
+shield on left side; delapidated.
+
+128. _North Side of Tower. Buttress._ Edward the Confessor, in cap;
+sitting in attitude of judgment (Planché), left hand resting on right
+ankle, this leg being crossed over left knee.
+
+129. Prince Richard.* Crowned figure of great beauty, bearded, head
+slightly bent to left with a melancholy expression; hands gone.
+
+130. Robert Curthouse,* bearded, the right hand draws aside part of
+the surcoat, exposing right leg in curious hose; left leg covered by
+surcoat.
+
+131. K. Rufus,* bearded, right hand holds cord of mantle, left holds
+border of mantle across his body.
+
+132. Q. Matilda, flowing hair, holds mantle in left hand.
+
+133. Emperor Henry, crowned, holds cord of mantle, with right hand
+fingering end of his girdle.
+
+134. K. Stephen, right hand holds cord of mantle, left on girdle.
+
+135. K. Henry II., end of cloak thrown over shoulder, holds the fold
+with both hands; in good preservation.
+
+136. _Buttress._ K. William the Conqueror, sitting in menacing
+attitude, elbows projecting, and hands upon knees.
+
+137. Prince Henry. A dignified figure; hands gone.
+
+138. Prince Geoffrey. Beautiful figure, head gone, holds cord of
+mantle, loose sleeves, and good drapery. (Ferrey is wrong in calling
+this a female figure.)
+
+139. Q. Maude the Good, flowing hair, left hand on girdle of
+supertunic, dress fastened at neck with "a beautiful jewel" (Ferrey).
+
+140. Adelais. Graceful figure, with flowing hair.
+
+141. _Buttress._ K. Henry I., sitting in defiant attitude, right arm
+akimbo, left knee raised, foot on pedestal.
+
+_Missing._
+
+_Missing._
+
+_Missing._
+
+142. K. John.* A beautiful figure.
+
+143. Henry III., no crown, standing, but right knee raised to suit the
+weathering of aisle roof.
+
+
+FIFTH TIER.--144. _South Tower. Buttress on the south side._ Sitting
+Bp., supported by metal clamps.
+
+145. Bp. J. de Villula; hands gone, much decayed, clamped.
+
+146. Bp. Gisa; hands gone.
+
+147. Bp. Duduc*; right hand gone, book in left.
+
+148. _Buttress._ Bp. Lyfing; decayed.
+
+149. Bp. Merewit; hands gone.
+
+150. Bp. Brihtwine; hands gone.
+
+151. Aethelwine. Fine figure with long wavy beard spreading at end,
+hood and mantle, aulmoniere at girdle.
+
+152. Burwold, tall bearded figure in hood, satchel (?) hanging from
+girdle.
+
+153. Bp. Aelfwine.* Beautiful figure in cowl, curly hair and beard,
+finely draped habit with loose sleeves.
+
+154. Bp. Sigegar, book in left hand.
+
+155. _Buttress._ Bp. Brithelm, head turned to right; decayed.
+
+156. Bp. Cyneward.
+
+157. Bp. Wulfhelm. A fine figure.
+
+158. Bp. Elfege. A fine figure.
+
+159. Edfleda, flowing hair, in supertunic or surcoat with long and
+wide sleeves, head covered with veil, which hangs behind, no wimple.
+Nothing conventual to suggest Edfleda.
+
+160. _Buttress._ K. Edward the Elder. Fine figure, right hand on
+knees, left on cord of mantle.
+
+_Missing._
+
+161. Edgitha. Very tall figure, right hand on cord, left holds end of
+veil.
+
+_Missing._
+
+_Central Window (South)._
+
+162. Q. Edgiva, kirtle only, with crown and veil, no wimple.
+
+_Central Window._
+
+163. Ethilda. Wears supertunic over her kirtle, veil and wimple.
+
+_Central Window (North)._
+
+164. Hugh. A sword hangs from his girdle on left side.
+
+165. Elgiva.
+
+166. Q. Edgiva; hands gone.
+
+167. _Buttress._ K. Ethelstan, defiant attitude, right foot on stool,
+wears brooch.
+
+168. K. Charles the Simple. A squat figure with very big head,
+trampling.
+
+169. Otho, close-fitting tunic, over which is mantle with handsome
+fastening.
+
+_Missing._
+
+170. Guthrum. Knight in surcoat, mail hauberk and chausses, shield on
+left side.
+
+171. _Buttress._ K. Alfred, seated; both hands gone, front decayed,
+and clamped.
+
+172. Earl of Mercia.* Knight in helmet with cross-slit, holding right
+hand up and shield upon left arm; the surcoat turned over below the
+waist shows a suit of mail. Well preserved.
+
+173. St. Neot (more probably St. Decuman, as St. Neot was not
+beheaded). Bp. holding with both hands the upper part of his head,
+which has been cut off across the brows.
+
+174. Ethelfleda,* the Lady of the Mercians. A striking and beautiful
+figure with flowing hair, long veil hanging below the waist,
+supertunic held by brooch, but without sleeves, the tight sleeves of
+her kirtle being visible to the shoulders.
+
+175. Ethelward. Woman with flowing hair, veil; hands gone.
+
+176. Grimbald. Priest; hands gone.
+
+177. St. Elfege, Archb.; hands gone; a noble figure.
+
+178. _Buttress._ St. Dunstan, upper part decayed.
+
+179. Turketul. Short figure, trampling, in very pointed cloak, big
+head in cap.
+
+180. John Scotus.* A beautiful figure, with exquisitively fine drapery
+that looks as thin as gauze.
+
+_Missing._
+
+181. _North Side of Tower.--Buttress._ Robert, Archbishop of
+Canterbury, standing, holding book in right hand, left hand gone; no
+mitre.
+
+182. Q. Elgiva, drapery falls from left shoulder, is folded over right
+arm; book in left hand.
+
+183. Q. Edgitha. Tall, gaunt figure; veil falls in long folds to knee,
+right arm close to side, left hand holds cord.
+
+184. Q. Edburga, circlet round head, brooch on her breast, holds
+drapery in right hand.
+
+_Missing._
+
+_Missing._
+
+185. Christina, Abbess of Romsey.* Beautiful female figure, holding
+box in left hand: "her dress is peculiar": one end of veil is caught
+over right shoulder, the other falls down in front on right side (p.
+31).
+
+186. Wulston of Winchester, bearded, "with distended ears"; right hand
+gone.
+
+187. _Buttress._ Archb. Aldred of York, sitting; "mitre modern," it is
+conical in shape.
+
+188. Edgar Atheling. Knight, spurred, in surcoat only, with sword
+girded outside, no mail, but close-fitting cap and fillet on head: the
+fillet was used for the large cylindrical helmet to rest on. He
+carries what may be a palmer's hat (Cockerell points out that Edgar
+went on a pilgrimage); but Planché says it must be a small Saxon
+buckler, as pilgrims did not carry swords. It certainly looks like a
+hat.
+
+189. Robert the Saxon. Knight in hauberk, without mail, but feet
+spurred, cap on head, shield and sword.
+
+190. Falk of Anjou. Knight in hauberk and chausses of mail, hood of
+hauberk enclosing whole head except a portion of the face: on head is
+the thick fillet. He covers his body with a shield. His surcoat is
+deeply jagged.
+
+191. Robert of Normandy. Knight, in hauberk and complete suit of mail,
+in good preservation, shield with boss on it held down: he wears
+cyclindrical helmet, his eyes and nose being visible through the slit.
+
+192. _Buttress._ B. Roger of Salisbury, sitting, without mitre.
+
+_Missing._
+
+_Missing._
+
+193. Female figure, holding drapery with right arm, left hand on side.
+
+194. St. Nicholas, the patron saint of baptism, stands in water up to
+knees, holding a child in each arm. This ascription is approved by
+Planché. (He is commonly called by children "the pancake man," the
+conventional water suggesting round cakes).
+
+195. Female figure, in good preservation, but clamped in a sloping
+position, drapery good.
+
+THE RESURRECTION TIER.--The sixth tier (195-283) consists of a series
+of small canopies which run continuously under the cornice that
+finishes the main division of the front. Above and around, the
+spandrels are filled with beautiful foliage most boldly undercut. Each
+of the eighty-eight canopies (of which thirty are on the north side)
+contains a figure, or group of figures, representing the Resurrection
+of the dead. In spite of a rather defective anatomy, these figures are
+singularly impressive, "startling in significance, pathos, and
+expression," are Cockerell's words. They are naked--crowns, mitres,
+and tonsures alone remaining to distinguish their office. They awaken
+by degrees, heave up the lids of their tombs, and draw themselves up
+slowly, as if scarcely yet awake. Some sit in a strange dreamy posture
+with folded arms, some seem expectant, others are in attitudes of
+fear, hope, defiance, and despair. There are none of the grotesque
+accessories which are too common in ancient representations of this
+subject, but the awful feeling of a great awakening shivers along this
+range of naked, grey, stone figures. It is probably the earliest
+representation of the subject in art; it is certainly the most
+profound and spiritual.
+
+THE ANGELS' TIER.--This is immediately above the Resurrection Tier,
+and occupies the lower part of the gable only. The angelic figures
+stand in nine low niches with well-moulded trefoil heads that rested
+on blue lias shafts; the two niches on the returns of the buttresses
+also contain angels, which are represented as blowing trumpets. In all
+probability the nine figures symbolise the nine orders of the heavenly
+hierarchy, and I have ventured to give the names which the attributes
+and position suggest to my mind as the most likely. Mr Ferrey's
+account is quoted in inverted commas: it must be remembered that he
+had the advantage of a close inspection from the scaffolding.
+
+284. Thrones. "Angel holding an open book," two wings, long robe,
+facing to his right.
+
+285. Cherubim. "Seraph," with four wings, "apparently holding a
+banner," decayed.
+
+286. Seraphim. "Seraph," with four wings, "entirely feathered, with
+bare legs and feet," face gone.
+
+287. Dominations. "Angel wearing a helmet," in vigorous attitude, two
+wings, "too dilapidated to make out what its attributes are."
+
+288. (_Central Figure_). Powers. "Beautifully robed, holding a
+sceptre," two wings: the dress is very ample and majestic.
+
+289. Virtues. "Robed in a short tunic, with an ornamental border, the
+legs are encased in armour," wears "a jewelled cap," two wings.
+
+290. Principalities. "A Seraph, entirely feathered, holding a vessel
+shaped like a bowl," with flames issuing out of it, the legs and feet
+being also enveloped in "wavy lines of flames: probably the avenging
+angel"; four wings.
+
+291. Archangels. "Apparently holding a crown in the right and left
+hands, close to his breast," long robe covering the feet; two wings.
+
+292. Angels. "Carrying a regal or small hand organ," in left hand,
+four wings, decayed; apparently bearing a wand in right hand.
+
+THE APOSTLES' TIER.--The next tier, that of the Apostles, who are thus
+raised above the angels, contains twelve figures of imposing design,
+later in style than the rest of the statuary. The figures are hollowed
+out at the back so as to press less heavily on the tier beneath. The
+arrangement of these niches is very happily managed, so as to avoid
+any monotony in the range of twelve similar niches; for, besides the
+natural division formed by the small attached shafts between the
+figures, an additional projecting shaft in every third division forms
+the tier into four large bays with three figures in each. The capitals
+of these niches are remarkable, the graceful foliage being disposed in
+a very free manner, in some cases growing upwards, in others bent
+down, but always true to the outline of the capital. Of the figures
+themselves the central one, in the place of honour, and taller than
+the rest, is St. Andrew. The others are not all so easy to name, the
+attributes of some having disappeared; and, although Cockerell gave
+names to them all (some of which were certainly wrong), we may content
+ourselves with the following list, which at least is accurate so far
+as it goes:--
+
+293. No symbol in hand, which is covered with drapery. (Carter's
+drawing represents a staff or spear, but he is quite unreliable,
+though it is occasionally possible that the attributes he draws did
+exist when he saw the figures a century ago.)
+
+294. Book (?) in right hand, a vessel or bag of cylindrical form is
+apparently suspended from the left arm. Perhaps St. Matthew with his
+purse.
+
+295. Holds something, which may be the fuller's club, in which case
+the figure is that of St. James the Less; forked beard.
+
+296. Club (?) in hand, long curly hair and beard. There is something
+near the knee, which may be a palmer's hat. (Carter drew this figure
+as St. Bartholomew with knife and skin.)
+
+297. Carter drew this figure as St. Peter with the keys.
+
+298. St. Andrew with his cross; he is so tall that his head fills the
+upper portion of the canopy.
+
+299. St. John holding the chalice, which has large bowl and short
+stem; wavy hair. This is the only figure not bearded.
+
+300. St. James the Greater. Staff in right hand, large satchel on left
+side hung from hand over right shoulder, book in left hand (the book
+of the Gospels with which St. James is always represented, in addition
+to the pilgrim's stiff and scrip). He wears a high cap.
+
+301. Perhaps St. Paul (who is often represented among the Twelve),
+with sword and book.
+
+302. St. Philip holds drapery in right hand. Ferrey says the five
+loaves can be distinguished.
+
+303. Long hair and head-dress like a veil bound by a fillet round the
+brows, forked beard, book in left hand, girdle.
+
+304. This figure occasioned much controversy, owing to Carter having
+drawn it with a crown. Cockerell therefore attributed it to St. Peter,
+and said that the crown showed Bishop Jocelin's papistical tendencies!
+Planché scoffed at this, remarking with truth that none of the
+Apostles are ever represented with crowns, but he caused even greater
+confusion by suggesting that the figure stood for a Saxon king, and
+that the tier, in spite of the Apostolic number, did not represent the
+twelve Apostles. If he had looked at the actual figures instead of
+Carter's drawings he would have seen that there is no crown at all. In
+the photographs this is still clearer, the Apostle's head being
+evidently covered by nothing more imposing than his own long hair or a
+veil like that of the preceding figure.
+
+THE UPPERMOST TIER.--The whole magnificent series was fitly crowned by
+this group (305), of which only the lower part of the central figure
+remains. That, however, sufficiently attests the noble character of
+the rest: it represents our Lord seated in glory within a
+vesica-shaped niche. The feet are pierced. It seems to have been
+mutilated by Monmouth's followers, for it still bears the marks of
+their bullets. The two figures in the niches on either side must also
+have been destroyed at this time, for they are shown in a print in
+Dugdale's _Monasticon_. Ferrey cannot have seen this print when he
+suggested that the figures were of angels censing, for they are there
+given as representing Our Lady (new covenant) and John Baptist (old
+covenant).
+
+THE WESTERN TOWERS.--The projection of these towers beyond the aisles
+of the nave gives its great breadth to the west front, which is 147
+feet across, as against the 116 feet of the almost contemporary
+cathedral of Amiens, which is twice its height. It is an unusual
+arrangement, of which there is no exactly similar example except at
+Rouen. Above the screen the towers are Perpendicular, the southern
+tower having been completed towards the end of the fourteenth, and the
+northern at the beginning of the fifteenth century. They are thus
+later additions to the original design of the front, and make it more
+difficult for us to realise the effect that was first intended.
+
+These two towers are very nearly alike, but the southern, or Harewell,
+tower is some forty years the earlier of the two, and belongs to the
+earliest days of the Perpendicular style, Bishop Harewell having died
+in 1386. The northern tower was built with a sum of money left for the
+purpose by Bishop Bubwith, who died in 1424, and his arms are carved
+high up on a buttress upon the north side, those on the west being a
+modern copy. In one of its two western niches is a figure of the
+bishop in prayer. Both the towers have two belfry windows on each
+side, tiny battlements, and a stair-turret on the outer western angle;
+in both the buttresses are carried up, with but slight reduction in
+bulk, two-thirds of their height and then finished with small
+pinnacles. There are, however, certain slight differences between the
+two towers; their height is not exactly equal, and there are no niches
+on the earlier one. The south tower contains a peal of eight bells;
+that on the north is traditionally considered "rotten," but to all
+appearance it is sound enough.
+
+[Illustration: The Central Tower From The South-east.]
+
+THE CENTRAL TOWER is Early English to the level of the roof. The two
+upper stages are Decorated, but there is a curious inter-mixture of
+styles in them, owing to the repairs that were made after the
+settlements of 1321. The chapter seemed determined to allow no
+possibility of another accident, for besides the inverted arches and
+buttresses of the interior, the original high narrow windows of the
+upper part of the tower have been fortified by later insertions, by
+way of bonding and stiffening the structure, which had been so
+endangered by the sinking of its piers below. There are, however, no
+signs of any rents in the Decorated part. The tower has square angular
+turrets, and is divided vertically into three main compartments, each
+division being marked by a small pinnacle, and the turrets by large
+compound pinnacles. It is an interesting tower to ascend, the rents in
+the wall being plainly discernible; and from the summit there is a
+fine view of Wells and of the valley in which the city stands.
+
+The NORTH PORCH is perhaps the finest piece of architecture at Wells,
+though it generally receives far less attention than it deserves. It
+is certainly the oldest part of the church, and must have been the
+first work which Bishop Reginald undertook, about 1185; in style it
+retains much of the Norman influence. The mouldings of the noble
+entrance arch are numerous and bold, and twice the Norman zig-zag
+occurs, though enriched with leaves in a manner that suggests the
+coming Gothic. A weather moulding, exquisitely carved with deeply
+undercut foliage, covers the arch. Its capitals on the east side
+contain figures among their leaves representing the martyrdom of St.
+Edmund the King: the first three of the caps have the saint in the
+midst, crowned, and transfixed with a number of conventionally-arranged
+arrows, and his enemies, two on either side, drawing their bows; the
+fourth cap shows an executioner cutting off the saint's head; in the
+fifth the head is found by the wolf; the sixth has been partly cut
+away, but the body of the wolf and the heads of two figures remain.
+
+In the spandrels above are two square panels containing a cockatrice,
+and another strange beast. The gable is filled with an arcade, the
+central member of which is corbelled off to make room underneath for
+three little lancet windows which light the parvise chamber within.
+The buttresses of the porch have slender shafts at the angles, which
+are finished off with foliage of a remarkably free and graceful kind;
+it should be noticed as an example of those subtle touches that are so
+abundant in this porch. On the buttresses are pinnacles with an
+arcade, at the top of which little openings cast a shadow that gives a
+lightness to the whole effect. A smaller pinnacle is at the apex of
+the gable, and underneath it an ornament of twisted foliage.
+
+Nothing could well surpass the interior of this porch; the delicacy,
+and refinement which are shown in every detail are the more amazing
+when we consider that the architect and his masons had only just
+emerged from the large methods of Norman building. A range of three
+arcades on either side is divided in the midst by three shafts boldly
+detached from the pear-shaped moulding round which they are grouped.
+These shafts carry the ribs of the groined vault, and divide the porch
+into two square bays. Their capitals are very boldly undercut, and
+bear distinct traces of Romanesque influence; indeed, the volutes of
+the cap on the west side give it almost the appearance of a very
+freely-carved Corinthian capital. Those at the angles are of like
+fashion, except that on the north-east, which has fuller and freer
+foliage, wherein stands a man shooting with his bow at a bird, the
+whole most vigorously conceived.
+
+[Illustration: The North Porch.]
+
+In the uppermost arcade the little touch of foliage that is worked on
+to the junction of the mullions (which are made up of four pear-shaped
+mouldings) illustrates the love of delicate things that is so
+characteristic of this architect. Below is a projecting double arcade,
+behind which, against the wall, is a third row of arches: the outer
+mouldings intersect and the abaci of the outer caps are finished off
+in a carefully restrained curl of foliage; those on the soffit are
+deeply undercut, by means of which a very black shadow is secured. All
+the capitals are carved with the stiff-leafed foliage; and in the
+spandrels are grotesque beasts, full of character. The string-course
+below is finished with dragons who bend round and swallow the end of
+the string, their tails (on the west side) twisting right along the
+moulding. It is significant of the free way in which the masons were
+employed, that the carving varies very much on the two sides. The
+grotesques in the spandrels above mentioned are finest on the east
+side, but the dragons of the string course are best on the west side,
+where their expressions, as they bite the moulding, are full of life
+and humour. On this western side, too, the foliage which fills the
+spandrels of the lowest arcade is at its best; it is indeed the purest
+and truest piece of decorative work in the whole cathedral. Each
+moulding in this beautiful porch, from the filleted ribs of the groins
+to the bands round the shafts, and the moulded edge of the stone
+bench, is most carefully thought out, and adapted to its position, in
+a way that every architect will appreciate. The double doorway which
+leads into the church has an unusual and most effective moulding on
+its jambs, very large and simple, with slight projections worked upon
+it: the inner moulding of the enclosing arch, however, is a boldly
+projecting zig-zag, the supporting capitals of which have two figures,
+one in a cope, the other a bishop in a very pointed chasuble. The
+central pillar is of much later date. Above is a square recess filled
+with later masonry, where perhaps a figure was once inserted.
+
+Most happily, the North Porch has been spared from the restorer's
+hand. It is a unique and most beautiful example of early work; any
+restoration of it would practically destroy it, and would be an
+unpardonable crime. The hungry eye of the modern vandal is sure to
+seize on this piece of virgin work, sooner or later; for its very
+purity will tempt him. We only hope that when that day comes the
+Chapter will be faithful to their trust.
+
+The GABLE END of the north transept, which must be very near to the
+north porch in date, is a very similar example of the early work. It
+is flanked by turrets which are capped with pinnacles; both turrets,
+pinnacles and wall are rich with arcading, the effect of which is
+especially charming in the gable, where, by a happy device, the
+weather moulding is made to curve suddenly over the two topmost
+arches, filling the angle at the apex of the coping, and leaving a
+little space between it and the two arches to be occupied by foliage.
+
+The general character of the WALLS is distinctly Transitional; the
+buttresses are almost as low, broad, shallow and massive as in Norman
+work; and the windows, though now filled with Perpendicular tracery,
+are so broad that, were they but round-headed, they would look more
+Norman than much real Norman work.
+
+The richness of exterior effect is much increased by a most graceful
+Decorated PARAPET, which is carried all round the church on the wall
+of both nave and aisles. As for the masonry as a whole, with the
+exception of the west front nothing could be sounder and more
+skilfully executed. Mr Britton's opinion was that "perhaps there is
+not a church in the kingdom of the same age where the stone has been
+so well chosen, better put together, and where it remains in so
+perfect a state: this deserves the particular notice and study of
+architects."[5]
+
+The CHAIN GATE, one of the peculiar glories of Wells, is really a
+bridge over the roadway, built by Bishop Beckington and his executors,
+to connect the chapter-house staircase with the vicars' close. Freeman
+spoke of it as a "marvel of ingenuity," yet perhaps its excellence
+consists rather in its simplicity. A covered way was needed to the
+close, but the road lay between, and so a bridge was built; the bridge
+had to rest on something: three arches were therefore made, one large
+for carts, and two small for foot-passengers; a further space had to
+be spanned between the road and the staircase: the bridge was
+therefore continued on the same level, but, as the ground here was
+lower, the arch on this side was built on a lower level. Furthermore,
+the two ends of the bridge not being exactly opposite to one another,
+the bridge had to turn at a slight angle where it reaches the road. It
+is just such simple adaptation of means to an end that gave his chance
+to a medieval architect; it is this that gives what is called its
+picturesqueness to an ancient town, it is this that makes nature so
+picturesque. A modern architect would have built his bridge in a
+straight line across the road, and have pulled down something to avoid
+the irregularity; he would not have had the sense of proportion which
+alone was needed to make utility supremely beautiful. The builder of
+the Chain Gate just used his opportunities to their very best. He saw
+that but a small thing was wanted, that the close must not be dwarfed;
+so he kept the work little and delicate, rich and light: he made its
+chief beauty to lie in its _bijou_ character. Yet he preserved its
+dignity by the wide opening of the central arch, the height of which
+is emphasised by the smallness of the two arches on either side. But
+although the two small arches effect so much by their contrast with
+the large one, the harmony of the gateway is preserved by the
+panelling above them which marks this part of the bridge off from the
+rest. On the south of the gate is a blank wall, supported by a
+buttress which was wanted here, and so here was put. On the south of
+the buttress is the lower arch which is so admirable a foil both to
+the height of the main gateway and the delicacy of the windows. A
+correctly-minded architect would not have tolerated this blank wall
+and irregularly-placed arch; but substitute what you will for the
+wall, or alter the height of the arch, or replace both by an arcade,
+and the dignity of the little gateway is gone. It may further be
+noticed that the builder kept the upper and lower stages very
+distinct, and made the upper storey as clearly a bridge as the lower
+is a gateway: the charming little windows run in a continuous range
+over blank wall, gate, and all, but they are grouped closer together
+over the gate. A battlemented parapet finishes the top of the bridge.
+Niches are placed in the midst of the two windows over the gate; they
+contain graceful statues of St. Andrew and other saints. In the wide
+moulding of the string course there are angels, curiously placed in a
+horizontal position, as well as the stags' heads of Beckington's arms.
+
+[Illustration: The Bishop's Eye.]
+
+Passing under the Chain Bridge a good view of the CHAPTER-HOUSE is
+obtained. It is a massive, buttressed octagon, the lower stage marked
+by the small broad barred windows of the undercroft, the next by the
+rather squat traceried windows of the house itself, while under the
+cornice is an open arcade. The gargoyles are interesting. A parapet,
+different in design and inferior to that of the church itself,
+finishes the building. From this part of the road, there is a good
+view of the cathedral in one of its most characteristic aspects;--the
+Lady Chapel, the low buildings of the north-eastern transept and
+retro-choir, the chapter-house in the foreground, all lying on ground
+below the level of the road, and over the Chain Bridge a glimpse of
+the north transept gable and the north-west tower.
+
+A queer corner, hidden by a thick tree, is formed between the
+chapter-house and the choir aisle; in spite of the obscure position, a
+fine gargoyle of the head and shoulders of a man, carved in unusually
+colossal proportions, is placed here at a low altitude, to carry off
+the water that must gather at the junction of aisle with undercroft
+passage. Through the walls that rise high on either side a capital
+glimpse of the tower can be had.
+
+From the same road, opposite the prebendal house (now allotted to the
+Principal of the Theological College), which has a picturesque
+Perpendicular doorway with a window above, the grouping of the Lady
+Chapel with the rest of the church can be well seen.
+
+The rich and light appearance of the EAST END is due not only to the
+charm of its tracery, which contrasts so well with the network of the
+Lady Chapel windows, and to the parapet which rises slightly in the
+centre, but also to the three lights which pierce the gable; of these
+the upper is diamond-shaped, and thus the masonry that is left has the
+appearance of a stout Y cross.
+
+FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.--One of the most interesting views of the
+exterior is from the lovely grass-plot on the east of the cloisters,
+where once stood the cloister Lady Chapel, and where the vicars were
+formerly buried. It is being again used as a cemetery, which is
+unfortunate, since there are few things more irreligiously dismal than
+a modern burial-ground, and already a cluster of marble and granite
+monuments has arisen to spoil one of the most peaceful and unspoilt
+places in Wells. If monuments there must be (and why need we so
+advertise the dead?), let them at least be quiet and humble and
+beautiful: those ostentatious erections of hard and polished stone
+ruin the grey walls before which they stand; their frigid materials
+are too obtrusive for Christian modesty, too enduring for human
+memory. May we not yet hope that this spot will be spared the fate of
+the cloister garth?
+
+From here the Lady Chapel is well seen as quite a separate building,
+joined to the rest of the church only in its lower part, and with its
+own parapet round all its eight sides; its form harmonises most
+charmingly with the square presbytery behind it, and with the lofty
+chapter-house, like itself octagonal. A further beauty is added by the
+solitary flying buttress which stands out at the south-eastern corner;
+though certain rents in the southern wall show that the buttress was
+built for reasons of the gravest utility. On the south side of the
+chapel there is a little door, covered by what looks at first like a
+kind of porch, but it is really the passage of a small vestry (p. 132)
+which was built up against the wall; the roof of the vestry was a
+little higher than that of the passage, and must have leant against
+the wall just under the window, as is proved by its gargoyle near the
+passage door. This vestry was fatuously destroyed in the early part of
+this century by an official who did not even know that it was medieval
+work till the soundness of the masonry proved almost too much for his
+workmen.
+
+The junction between the earlier and the later presbytery is well seen
+from here--too well seen, in fact, for it is awkwardly managed. The
+later choir windows, with their crocketed ogee hood-moulds, are a good
+feature, and so are the flying buttresses; but the high-pitched roof
+of the earlier aisle is discontinued at the break in order to give
+room for these windows and buttresses; and the effect of this sudden
+termination of an aisle roof half-way along a building is not
+pleasant. In the earlier part, too, the later windows have been
+clumsily inserted some distance below the Early English dripstone, as
+if only the internal effect had been considered. The same may also be
+said of the window in the south transept gable: the gable, by the way,
+is a much plainer affair than that of the north transept.
+
+Here stood the two CLOISTER LADY CHAPELS, but unfortunately their
+sites were not marked on the grass after the excavations were finished
+three years ago. Thus nothing can be seen from here of the earlier
+chapel, and, of the later, only the doorway and the Perpendicular
+panelling against the cloister which marks its western end, and the
+commencement of the walls. A small quatrefoiled hagioscope may be
+noticed in the library above the cloister; it, no doubt, commanded a
+view of the high altar of the chapel.
+
+The earlier _Capella B.M.V. juxta claustrum_ is often referred to in
+the chapter documents, and was a favourite centre of devotion. It
+became a kind of family chapel for the numerous clan of Byttons, after
+the first bishop of that name was buried there; it was also sometimes
+used as a chapter-house. The Early English doorway which led to it can
+still be seen in the cloister wall, on the right of the present
+doorway; it is partly covered by an I.H.S. of later date, made with
+the instruments of the Passion. The excavations of 1894, when the
+foundations were laid bare under Mr Buckle's direction, showed that
+this chapel consisted originally of a plain oblong building, earlier
+even than the north porch in date (_i.e._ before 1185), which was
+afterwards (c. 1275) enlarged by the addition of an aisle on either
+side. The excavations showed that arches were used at this time to
+replace the western part of the older walls, and thus to throw the
+ancient chapel open to its new aisles. The original chapel, then, if
+it was not actually part of Bishop Gisa's buildings, spared when John
+de Villula destroyed Gisa's cloister, seems to have been built not
+long after Gisa's time, and at least on the site of Gisa's chapel.
+This would account for its orientation, which was in a more northerly
+direction than that of the cathedral, and probably was the same as
+that of the pre-Norman church. Excellent plans of the foundations both
+of this and the later chapel are to be found in the _Somerset
+Proceedings_ for 1894, where the whole matter is discussed in detail
+by Canon Church and Mr Edmund Buckle.
+
+The later chapel on this site was built by _Bishop Stillington_
+(1466-91): it followed the orientation of the cathedral, and was of
+much larger size than the former building, being about 107 ft. in
+length. It consisted of a nave, transepts and choir, with fan-tracery
+vault, of which some fragments have been lately fixed in the cloister
+wall. Most profusely ornamented and panelled within, as can be seen by
+the west end against the cloister wall, it is considered to have been
+the _chef d'oeuvre_ of the Somerset Perpendicular, surpassing even
+Sherborne and St. Mary, Redcliffe.
+
+But its glory was not to be for long. Stillington was buried in this
+"goodly Lady Chapell in the Cloysters," says Godwin, "but rested not
+long there; for it is reported that divers olde men, who in their
+youth had not onely scene the celebration of his funeral, but also the
+building of his tombe, chapell, and all did also see tombe and chapell
+destroyed, and the bones of the Bishop that built them turned out of
+the lead in which they were interred." This was in 1552, when Bishop
+Barlow and the chapter made a grant to that barbarous scoundrel, Sir
+John Gates, of "the chappie, sett, lyinge and beynge by the cloyster
+on the south syde of the said Cathedral Church of Wells, commonly
+called the Ladye Chapple, with all the stones and stonework, ledde,
+glasse, tymbre, and iron ... the soyle that the sayd chappie standeth
+upon only excepted." The condition was that the rubble should be all
+cleared away, and the ground made "fayre and playn," within four
+years; but before this period had elapsed, Sir John's head had gone
+the way of the Lady Chapel.
+
+[Illustration: Doorway, South-east Of Cloister.]
+
+The CLOISTER in its more prominent features is Perpendicular, having
+been rebuilt in the fifteenth century. Nevertheless the outer walls
+are of Jocelin's date, together with the doorway leading into the
+palace (see illustration on this page); and the lower part of the east
+cloister wall, including the two small doorways therein, is said by Mr
+Buckle to be undoubtedly earlier than Jocelin's time, and contemporary
+with the north porch, _c._ 1185. Thus we have still the original plan
+at least of the thirteenth-century cloisters. This plan is
+characteristic of a non-monastic church, where the cloister is not the
+centre of a common life, but merely an ornamental convenience which
+might or might not be added, and when added might be of any fashion
+that was desired. There is no walk on the north side, no refectory or
+dormitory, and the plan is not square, as would be the case with a
+conventual building, but an irregular parallelogram, while the eastern
+walk is built up against the south end of the transept instead of
+against its western wall.
+
+[Illustration: East Walk Of Cloister.]
+
+The inner part of Jocelin's cloister was probably a wooden penthouse
+like that of Glastonbury. At all events, it has entirely disappeared.
+The eastern alley was built by the executors of Bishop Bubwith, who
+died in 1424. That on the west, with its rooms, was built by
+Beckington (1443-65) and his executors. That on the south was
+completed soon after by Thomas Henry, the treasurer. Beckington, by
+the way, showed a reckless disregard of the earlier work by carrying
+his cloister right up against the south-west tower, and completely
+concealing the beautiful arcading of that part. Beckington's
+executors, in the time of Bishop Stillington, also built the singing
+school over the western cloister. Bubwith's executors built the
+northern part of the library over the eastern cloister; but the
+southern part was added at a later date. The square windows were
+inserted later still by the famous Dr Busby, about 1670. The fourteen
+bays of lierned vaulting over the east alley, and one on the south,
+were executed in 1457-8 by John Turpyn Lathamo, at the cost, we find
+from the fabric roll, of Ÿd. per foot, or £6, 11s. 3d. for the
+whole, though an additional ten shillings was presented to him for his
+diligence.
+
+Each alley consists of thirteen bays in the Perpendicular style; the
+windows are now all unglazed, of six lights, with transoms and
+tracery; between the windows are buttresses to support the rooms
+above, which extend, however, only over the east and west alleys.
+Turpyn's vaulting is of a curiously decadent character, which reminds
+one of the Jacobean Gothic of Oxford and Cambridge. The ribs spread at
+the start to enclose a trefoiled panel, and they curve into one
+another when they meet at the bosses. In the rest of the south walk,
+however, the bosses are square, and receive the ribs in the usual
+manner; in the west walk they are still square, and more varied in
+their ornament, bearing Beckington's initials, arms, and rebus,
+arranged in several different ways. Beckington's arms, which occur
+also on the gateways, are argent on a fess azure, between in chief
+three bucks' heads caboshed gules, and in base as many pheons sable, a
+bishop's mitre or. His rebus is a fire _beacon_ lighted, a _tun_
+holding the fire.
+
+Two small stone pent-houses, of which the purpose is uncertain, are
+built up against the windows of the fourth and sixth bays of the
+eastern alley. The vault of this alley was built without reference to
+the fine Early English doorway into the transept, one side of which it
+hides, the weather moulding being cut away. This doorway is mentioned
+in an Act of the Chapter of 1297, but it was probably made by Jocelin
+before he built the cloister wall, which comes uncomfortably near to
+the door, as if it were an afterthought. The companion doorway from
+the western alley, which was the usual entrance to the cathedral in
+the thirteenth century, has been similarly defaced by the vault. Three
+annual fairs used to be held in the cemetery, till Bishop Reginald set
+apart for the purpose the new ground which is still the market-place.
+The traditional entrance to the church by this south-western porch may
+have been due to the fact that the citizens gathered for secular
+business on the south-western side. At the south end of the eastern
+alley is the Early English bishop's doorway, which no doubt led
+straight to the palace in the days when there was no moat to obstruct
+this route. The door was originally hung to open inwards; a beautiful
+moulding was destroyed to hang it in its present position. There is a
+bracket of later date over this doorway.
+
+The cloister-garth, which is hideous with modern tombstones, is
+traditionally called the _Palm Churchyard_, no doubt because of the
+yew which grows there. Yew trees, so common in churchyards, are still
+commonly called palms, because their branches were used for the
+procession on Palm Sunday. This churchyard was anciently the
+burial-place of the canons, the ground east of the cloister (now used
+again as a cemetery) being reserved for the vicars, while the space
+before the west front was the lay burial-ground.
+
+An admirably contrived _dipping-place_ was still standing in the Palm
+churchyard, near the second bay of the east cloister, within the
+memory of living persons, but now no trace of it remains above ground.
+A water-course, held within a channel of carefully-worked masonry,
+runs under the eastern cloister from St. Andrew's well, and passes on
+to fall ultimately into the old mill-stream. The oblong building over
+it that formed the dipping-place was entered at the south end, and a
+few steps (with aumbries for the linen at either side) led to the
+washing-place at the little stream. An arch covered this spot, where
+the water ran through two low arches on either side and was bridged in
+the midst by a pavement. The place was used for washing linen, and the
+water required for the cathedral was drawn here before the modern
+supply pipes were introduced.
+
+THE LIBRARY is over the east walk of the cloister, and is entered from
+the south transept. It is a charming old-world place, full of ancient
+volumes, many of which are of great interest. A passage runs from end
+to end, along the east side of the long room, the other side being
+mainly occupied by the old desks, benches and bookcases, which project
+at right angles to the wall, many of the book-chains still hanging on
+them. There are said to be over three thousand volumes, including the
+bulk of Bishop Ken's library, a collection of early editions of his
+works, and his copy of Bishop Andrewe's "Devotions." There are also
+several books (including one Aldine "Aristotle") with MS. notes and
+autograph of Erasmus. The collection of old charters, which have
+recently been made to throw so much light on the history of the
+cathedral, is also preserved here. Some of the most interesting
+charters are displayed in glass cases; one of them, Edgar's grant to
+Ealhstane, is specially venerable for the signature of St.
+Dunstan--_Ego Dunitan Ep._--which occurs third among the witnesses to
+the document.
+
+Two precious relics of medieval times are also kept here. One, which
+is generally called a lantern, was till lately hung in the undercroft.
+There is no trace of its ever having been used as a lantern, and it is
+probably the wooden _canopy of the pyx_ which hung before the high
+altar. The Blessed Sacrament was in medieval times reserved, not in a
+tabernacle, but in a hanging pyx of precious metal; and this graceful
+wooden canopy probably contained the pyx. There are only two other
+possible examples of the pyx-canopy (at Milton Abbas and Tewkesbury),
+and both are of later date than this, which is thirteenth century.
+Woodwork of this period is so rare that, even were it not a
+pyx-canopy, it would be of extreme interest. It is cylindrical in
+form, divided into three storeys of open tracery, and crowned with a
+cresting of three-lobed leaves. Its height is 3 ft. 11Πin., its
+internal diameter 14œ inches. It is made of oak, certain parts of a
+later restoration being of deal. Mr St. John Hope (_Proc. of Soc. of
+Antiquaries_, 1897), thus enumerates the traces of colour: "The whole
+of the body and its upper and lower rings have been painted red, with
+gold flowers or other devices upon the transverse bands. The slender
+dividing shafts seem to have been coloured blue. The leaves of the
+cresting have apparently been painted white, but the circular boss in
+the middle of each leaf was entirely red." Two pairs of iron rods,
+with a ring and swivel hook, serve to suspend it in a steady position.
+
+The other relic is the thirteenth-century _crozier_ which was recently
+found in a tomb in the cathedral, and probably belongs to the time of
+Savaric, though there is no evidence, beyond its style, for describing
+it as his crozier. It was dug up in a stone coffin in the western
+burial-ground of the cathedral in the time of Dean Lukin (1799-1812).
+It is thus described in the _Catalogue_ of the Burlington Fine Arts
+Club exhibition of enamels, June 1897: "A complete crozier, [the
+staff] wooden (modern), with enamelled head one foot in length.
+Limoges, thirteenth century. The volute is a serpent with blue scales
+and serrated crest, enclosing a winged figure of St. Michael and a
+dragon studded with turquoises. The knop is encased in pierced
+repoussé open work formed of dragons, and the socket ornamented with
+thirteenth-century foliated scrolls in these slightly spiral bands,
+separated by jewelled dragons whose tails form three rings under the
+knop." St. Michael is represented in the act of attacking the dragon
+with his spear.
+
+A little MUSEUM has been formed in one of the rooms over the western
+cloister. It contains a collection of seals, Mr Buckle's plans of the
+cloisters and the Cloister Lady Chapel excavations, and many other
+objects of interest.
+
+The principal buildings in connection with the cathedral are the
+vicars' close, the bishop's palace, the deanery, the archdeaconry, and
+the canon's houses. There are also Beckington's fine gates,--the Chain
+Gate by the vicars' close, Brown's, or the Dean's Gate, near the
+deanery, the Penniless Porch, leading from the Market Place to the
+cathedral; and the Bishop's Eye, leading from the Market Place to the
+palace.
+
+[Illustration: The Chain Gate, Entrance To Close, 1824]
+
+Most deservedly famous is the unrivalled VICARS' CLOSE, which contains
+the houses built by Bishop Ralph and his successors for the
+vicars-choral. Passing through the gate, one sees the two long ranges
+of quiet and lovely houses, fronted by their little gardens, with a
+roadway betwixt them. Nothing can surpass this arrangement for its
+peaceful seclusion and constant charm, not even the square quadrangles
+and cloisters of Oxford, and yet, so convenient is it, that no better
+model could be chosen should there ever come any general return to the
+old collegiate life; for a settlement, for a model factory, one can
+imagine nothing better even now. There are forty-two houses,
+twenty-one on either side: each consisted originally of two rooms, one
+above the other, with a staircase; for the vicars were single men. Now
+that the vicars-choral are married, many of them live in the town, but
+all the theological students are lodged here, and there are always a
+few rooms to be let to those visitors who are wise enough to stay in
+this charming place.
+
+The tall chimneys rise up through the eaves of the little houses;
+octagonal at the top, they are perforated like a lantern, with two
+openings on each side. On them are shields bearing the arms of the
+see, of Bishop Beckington and his executors, Swan, Sugar, and Pope,
+sugar-loaves and swans abounding in the decoration.
+
+At the farther end of the close is the tiny chapel (finished by
+Bubwith, and finally consecrated in 1489, after Beckington had added
+the wooden ceiling and the chamber above), where compline is still
+said by the theological students. It is one of the most beautiful
+things in Wells--a jewel, like so much of its period--and it has been
+well decorated in sgraffitto and colour by Mr Heywood Sumner. An
+interesting feature of its exterior is that some of the old Early
+English carving was worked in with the masonry of the wall, by way of
+decoration, and very effective it is. A passage at the side leads to
+the Liberty, where are some of the prebendal houses.
+
+Over the entrance, and leading into the bridge of the Chain Gate, are
+the hall and its offices, which are approached by a fine staircase. In
+the hall is a painting of much interest, which represents Bishop Ralph
+seated on his throne, the vicars kneeling before him; the petition
+which he holds runs--_Per vicos positi villae, Pater alme rogamus, Ut
+simul uniti, te, Dante domos maneamus_; and the answer, which has the
+episcopal seal, is--_Vestra petunt merita, Quod sint concessu petita:
+Ut maneatis ita, Loca fecimus hic stabilita._ On the right are
+seventeen figures with ruffles, evidently added in Elizabethan times;
+corresponding inscription has also been added--_Quas primus struxit_,
+etc.
+
+There is also a pulpit over the fireplace, which is large, with good
+mouldings and an inscription, _In vestris prec[=i] habeat^s
+comedat[=u] do[=m] Ricard[=u] Pomroy quem salvet Ihs. Amen_. On the
+hearth are a pair of fine fire-dogs.
+
+Just outside the entrance to the vicars' close is a beautiful ORIEL
+WINDOW, which has been much copied in modern times. It springs from a
+corbelled head, from which foliate four cinquefoiled panels. The
+window now has only three square-headed lights, the centre one being
+large. Under its sills are rich panels, and it is capped by a slight
+crenelated cornice with a boldly-carved drip, from which springs a
+conical roof surmounted by a fleur-de-lys.
+
+The beautiful BISHOP'S PALACE was mainly built by Jocelin, who died in
+1242. It consists of three sides of a quadrangle, the bishop's house
+being on the east, the chapel on the south, the kitchen and offices
+running alongside the moat on the north: on the west side there was
+formerly a gate-tower and a wall having a cloister within which led to
+chapel and hall. In addition to these buildings the great hall, now in
+ruins--forming, with the walls and outhouses, an outer court--was
+built to the south-west of the chapel. The whole group of buildings
+stands on a piece of ground, rich with trees, surrounded by a lovely
+old wall and moat, the single approach being by the bridge and the
+gate-house, which has Renaissance windows and retains the slit for the
+portcullis and the drawbridge-chains. Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury
+constructed the gate-house and fortifications, which form an irregular
+pentagon, with a bastion at each angle, and an extra one in the
+south-east side. The bastion in the western angle (on the south of the
+gate-house) contains two storeys, of which the lower, called the
+cow-house or stock-house, was used as a prison for criminous clerks.
+The moat is fed by a stream from St. Andrew's well hard by.
+
+[Illustration: The Bishop's Palace.]
+
+The palace itself is a most interesting example of medieval
+architecture, and remains very much in its original condition. It is
+oblong in plan, and divided lengthwise by a solid wall, running
+through both storeys from end to end, at about one third of its width;
+the long outer chamber formed by this wall on the ground floor is
+divided into the entrance hall of three bays (containing a fireplace,
+_temp._ Henry VIII.), and the passages to staircase and to chapel at
+either end. The wider chamber within the wall is lighted by plain
+lancet windows, and has a row of slender Purbeck pillars down the
+middle, which, with the corbels on the wall, carry a groined vault:
+this, the "crypt," or undercroft, was probably used as a storage-room;
+it is now the dining-room. To the north of this hall is a square
+chamber with a pillar in the centre; and to the east of the chamber a
+small room projects beyond the ground plan of the building, with a
+space at one end (probably a closet) now walled up.
+
+On the first floor the great chamber (68 by 28 feet) stood over the
+undercroft, while on its north was the bishop's private room, both
+open to the roof, and to the east of this, his private chapel. The
+gallery above the entrance hall was formerly divided into three
+chambers, the two larger of which Mr Buckle thinks were used as a
+lobby and a wardrobe. The windows in the gallery were restored by Mr
+Ferrey in 1846, but nothing is new except the marble shafts and bases.
+The two windows at the north end of the great chamber are evidently
+later additions, as they have fully developed bar-tracery, while the
+other windows in the chamber consist of pairs of trefoil-headed
+windows with a quatrefoil in plate tracery above them.
+
+The GREAT HALL, which is now but a beautiful ruin, was built by Bishop
+Burnell, who died 1292. It was a magnificent chamber, 115 feet by 59œ,
+with high traceried windows. It was divided into nave and aisles
+by rows of pillars to carry the roof and the passage at the west end
+led between buttery and pantry to the kitchen; over these rooms was a
+large solar, and on the north side a porch with staircase at the side
+leading to the solar. Both hall and palace are well and fully
+described by Mr Buckle in the _Somerset Proceedings_ for 1888. Bishop
+Barlow had the hall dismantled, employing Sir John Gates for the
+purpose; the walls, however, were left standing until Bishop Law's
+time, when they were partly demolished in order to make the ruin more
+"picturesque."
+
+The chapel is very similar in style to the hall, and was built very
+shortly afterwards; it is at present defaced by bad decoration and
+fittings. The carving is very fine and varied; some of the capitals
+retain the old stiff-leaf foliage, while in some the leaves grow
+freely round the bell in the Decorated manner. The vaulted ceiling is
+also an excellent example of the transitional work of the period. The
+west window is of later date, and has been twice restored--once by
+Bishop Montague (1608-16), and again in the present century. On the
+north side, at some height from the ground, are the indications of
+what may have been a gallery used as a private pew.
+
+Bishop Beckington (1443-66) added the northern block of buildings, now
+considerably altered, the kitchen and various offices, _le botrye,
+cellarium, le bakehous, ad lez stues ad nutriendos pisces_, in William
+of Worcester's words, as well as the gate now called the Bishop's Eye,
+_aliam portam ad introitum de le palays_, and the parlour (_parlurum_)
+and guest-chambers adjoining the kitchen. This block lies very
+prettily alongside the moat.
+
+Unfortunately the palace, which had so wonderfully escaped the brutal
+adaptations of the eighteenth-century architect, was restored in 1846
+by Mr Ferrey, and its west front completely altered. The upper storey,
+the porch, the buttresses were all added by Mr Ferrey; not to mention
+the tower at the north and the turret at the south, and the
+conservatory. Bishop Bagot, at whose order the work was done, also
+rebuilt the kitchen and offices; in fact, he did what he could to
+destroy the unique character and beauty of a block of buildings
+without parallel anywhere.
+
+THE BISHOP'S BARN, which stands in a field near the palace is
+remarkable for its length (110 ft. by 25œ) and the number of its
+buttresses. Simple in character, stately in proportions, it is a
+striking instance of the perfect sense of fitness which marked the
+medieval builders: in fact, it is the exact opposite to what a modern
+builder would erect if asked to provide a barn in the Gothic style.
+
+THE DEANERY, rebuilt by Dean Gunthorpe (1472-98), is an almost perfect
+specimen of a fifteenth-century house, in spite of the modern sash
+windows and other alterations which deface it. As at the palace, the
+principal apartments were on the first floor; and of these the chief
+is the hall, an excellent example of the more comfortable late
+medieval arrangement. Two handsome oriel windows with vaults of
+fan-tracery are at the upper end, not quite opposite to each other,
+where the sideboards used to stand; and at the lower end a stone arch
+carries a small music-gallery, with three small windows opening to the
+hall. Under this arch is the lavatory, a stone niche, in which a small
+cistern was suspended, with a drain at the bottom; so that the diners
+could put their hands under the tap of the little cistern as they
+passed into dinner.
+
+Over the hall are guest chambers with fine windows; and behind the
+partition at the back of the dais is another chamber with a large
+window, which Mr J.H. Parker thought to have been the chapel.
+
+Fuller description of the various ecclesiastical buildings can be
+found in Mr Parker's paper in the _Somerset Proceedings_ for 1863.
+
+THE ARCHDEACONRY was built in the time of Edward I., but the front of
+the house has been entirely modernised. The hall is larger than that
+of the deanery, and occupies the whole height of the building, having
+a very fine early fifteenth-century open timber roof.
+
+THE CHOIRMASTER'S HOUSE, at the east end of the cathedral, is a fairly
+perfect example of a fifteenth-century house, retaining its beautiful
+porch unspoiled. The roof and upper part of the windows of the hall
+remain, but are disguised and concealed by modern partitions. It is
+now the residence of the Principal of the Theological College.
+
+An organist's house once communicated with the singing-school, which
+is over the western cloister; it was much defaced in the eighteenth
+century, and entirely removed a few years ago.
+
+THE CANONS' HOUSES, which lie in the Liberty to the north of the
+cathedral, have been either entirely rebuilt, or much spoilt by
+alterations.
+
+THE SCHOOLHOUSE is partly of the fourteenth century, with wings added
+in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; it retains some features of
+interest.
+
+BISHOP BUBWITH'S ALMSHOUSE is near St. Cuthbert's Church. It was much
+spoilt in the fifties: the original plan was a great hall, with a
+chapel at the end of it, and cells along the side for the almsmen.
+These cells were open at the top so that there was plenty of fresh
+air, and if an almsman became ill or infirm, he could hear the service
+chanted daily in the chapel without leaving his bed. At the west end
+of the hall is a building of two storeys built by the bishop's
+executors, given to the citizens of Wells as a Guildhall, and used for
+that purpose till about 1779. Here is preserved a very fine money
+chest of the fifteenth century, painted with a scroll pattern, and
+resting on a stand inscribed with curious doggerel of the date 1615.
+
+ST. CUTHBERT'S CHURCH, which is kept open during the daytime, is thus
+described by Mr J.H. Parker in the _Builder_ for 1862 (p. 655):--
+
+"It was originally a cruciform church of the thirteenth century with a
+central tower, and with aisles to the nave; but of the church all that
+remains in the original state is a part of the north aisle. The
+central tower has been removed, the church entirely rebuilt in the
+fifteenth century. The pillars and arches of the nave have been
+rebuilt in the fifteenth century also, and the pillars lengthened
+considerably. The arches, with their dripstones, preserved and used
+again on the taller pillars, and most of the capitals have had the
+foliage cut off. The aisle walls, the clerestory, and roof, are all
+Late Perpendicular, about the time of Henry VII.; but the beautiful
+west tower is evidently earlier than the clerestory and roof, and has
+the mark of the old roof on the east side of it, coming below the
+present clerestory. This fine tower, which is certainly one of the
+finest of its class, and which Mr Freeman considers, I believe, to
+rank only second to one other [Wrington], is said to have been built
+in the time of Bishop Bubwith, or about 1430; and this appears to me
+probable. The character of the work is rather Early Perpendicular, and
+the groined vault under the belfry appears to be an imitation of the
+Decorated vault of the cathedral."
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+   [1] The road should be followed for about a quarter of a mile out
+       of the town; at this point a path leads over a stile and through
+       a coppice to the best point of view.
+
+   [2] Vol. i. 421.
+
+   [3] _History of the Cathedral_, 125.
+
+   [4] The Doulting stone, of which the cathedral is built, comes
+       from the St. Andrew's quarry at the little village of
+       Doulting, where Bishop Ealdhelm died. It is inferior oolite,
+       and very like Bath stone, which is the greater oolite. The
+       exterior shafts were blue lias, and those within either blue
+       lias or Purbeck marble, though there are one or two shafts of
+       red Draycot stone in the western responds of the nave.
+
+   [5] _Cathedrals_, iv. 98.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE INTERIOR
+
+
+The earlier architecture of Wells Cathedral presents so many puzzles,
+that the most skilled experts have differed widely both from each
+other, and, as we know now, from the truth. There are four distinct
+varieties of Early English work, covering a period of about a century
+from the time of Bishop Reginald, whose episcopate began in 1174; and
+yet, until Mr Bennett deciphered the old charters, which have at
+length settled the problem, all the work was attributed to Jocelin,
+for nothing was known of Reginald's building, and some of the best
+judges were even convinced that the west front was built before the
+nave. The difficulty was mainly caused by the unusual character of the
+architecture of the nave; "unlike that of any ordinary English
+building, and belonging to a style on the whole fifty years earlier"
+than the west front, as Professor Willis said, who gave it a name of
+its own, and called it the Somerset style. Thus the theory came to be
+that two bodies of masons had been employed--an ordinary English
+company for the front, and a local Somerset company for the nave,
+transepts and choir, who worked in a local variation of the prevalent
+Early English style. In this way, an attempt was made to overcome the
+difficulty of attributing to Jocelin work which Mr Willis had himself
+pronounced to be "only a little removed from the early Norman style."
+Mr Freeman, too, had allowed that the north porch might be earlier
+than Jocelin; and, long before, Britton had said that there would be
+little hesitation in ascribing the church to the transitional period
+of Henry II. (1154-89) on architectural evidence, were it not for
+Godwin's assertion, that Jocelin had entirely pulled down the old
+church and built a fresh one.
+
+But now we have got behind Godwin, and have found from contemporary
+evidence that Bishop Reginald commenced the present church. Thus we
+are able to divide the Early English work into no less than four
+periods, (1) The three western arches of the choir, with the four
+western bays of its aisles, the transepts, and the four eastern bays
+of the nave, which are Reginald's work (1174-1191), and so early as to
+be still in a state of transition from the Norman. It is a unique
+example of transitional building, and Willis calls it "an improved
+Norman, worked with considerable lightness and richness, but
+distinguished from the Early English by greater massiveness and
+severity." The characteristics of this late twelfth-century work are
+bold round mouldings, square abaci, capitals, some with traces of the
+classical volute, others interwoven with fanciful imagery that reminds
+us of the Norman work of Glastonbury; while in the north porch, which
+must be the earliest of all, we even find the zig-zag Norman moulding.
+(2) The rest of the nave, which was finished in Jocelin's time--that
+is to say, in the first half of the thirteenth century--preserves the
+main characteristics of the earlier work, though the flowing
+sculptured foliage becomes more naturalistic, and lacks the quaint
+intermingling of figure subjects. (3) The west front, which is
+Jocelin's work, and alone can claim to be of pure Early English style.
+(4) The chapter-house crypt, which is so late as to be almost
+Transitional, though, curiously enough, it contains the characteristic
+Early English dog-tooth moulding which is found nowhere else except in
+the west window. From this, we reach the Early Decorated of the
+staircase, the full Decorated of the chapter-house itself, the later
+Decorated of the Lady Chapel, the transitional Decorated of the
+presbytery, and the full Perpendicular of the western towers.
+
+Much of the masonry in the transepts, choir, choir aisles, and even in
+the eastern transepts, bears the peculiar diagonal lines which are the
+marks of Norman tooling. This does not, of course, prove that any part
+of Bishop Robert's church is standing, for medieval builders were
+notoriously economical in using up old masonry, but it does show that
+there are more remains of his work in the building than was generally
+supposed. A characteristic feature in this Norman tooling is that if a
+rule be laid along its lines, they will be found to be very slightly
+curved, a feature which is due to the fact that Norman masons dressed
+their stones with the broad curved blade of an axe.
+
+[Illustration The Nave.]
+
+The plan of the church is remarkably complete, symmetrical, and
+well-proportioned. Nave, transepts, choir, each flanked with its
+aisles, combine to form with the Lady Chapel and chapter-house a
+cathedral church which, though not of the first magnitude, is the most
+complete and typical in England. The ground plan itself, as set out in
+all technical severity on page 160, possesses an unusual attraction
+for the eye. It is free both from mutilation and excrescences; and yet
+all the picturesque external grouping, and internal mystery, which the
+afterthoughts of Gothic architects so often lend to a building, are
+secured, in the case of Wells, by the carefully-placed chapter-house
+and the beautiful arrangement of the Lady Chapel. The transepts of the
+choir are very happily carried far enough east to be internally
+subordinate to this chapel, which arrangement, with the apsidal form
+of the chapel itself, adds much to the beautiful proportions of the
+church. A third transept is given to the west end of the nave by the
+two towers.
+
+The length of Wells Cathedral from east to west is 383 feet within the
+walls, and 415 without. The length of the nave is 161 feet, its
+breadth 82 feet, and its height 67 feet. The length of the choir is
+117 feet, and its height 73 feet. The transepts are 135 feet within
+and 150 feet without.
+
+THE NAVE.--The general effect of the nave is that of length rather
+than height, and this is mainly due to the continuous arcade of the
+triforium which leads the eye from end to end of the building instead
+of from floor to roof. If this be compared with the older work in the
+transepts, it will be seen at once by how simple a device this radical
+change in the effect has been produced. Instead of being carried down
+right across the triforium, as in the transepts, the triple vaulting
+shafts are cut off above the arcade so as to be little more than
+corbels, and the space thus gained is used to give one additional
+opening to each bay of the triforium. In the transepts the triforium
+is composed of pairs of lancet arches separated by vaulting shafts,
+the triforium of each bay being a distinct composition over its pier
+arch; but by the time the architect had come to the nave, a new idea
+had occurred to him, and he made the triforium in one continuous
+arcade, unbroken from east to west, evidently with the deliberate
+intention of producing a horizontal rather than a vertical effect. The
+arrangement has undoubtedly a character of its own, and "there is no
+nave in which the eye is so irresistibly carried eastward as in that
+of Wells."
+
+In spite of this method of securing an effect of length, the builders
+managed to make the most of the small height of their church. The
+manner in which this was done forms an interesting example of the
+subtle feeling of proportion which early architects possessed. The
+clerestory was made unusually lofty, and the comparative lowness of
+the triforium both adds to the soaring effect and prevents the
+horizontal appearance being overmastering. This is increased by the
+bold vaulting of the ceiling, and the way in which the lantern arches
+fit into the vault.
+
+But, homogeneous as the nave appears, a little examination will
+clearly reveal the break which marks the separation between the late
+twelfth-century work of Reginald de Bohun and the thirteenth-century
+continuation of Jocelin. The earlier work, as we have seen, consisted
+of the four eastern bays, which, with the present ritual choir and
+transepts, formed Reginald's church; and, as a matter of fact, at the
+fifth bay (the next bay westward of the north porch) the marks of
+change are so evident that all writers upon the cathedral have based
+their theories upon it. The earlier masonry in the spandrels on the
+east of this point consists of small stones indifferently set: the
+later masonry is made up of larger blocks more carefully laid
+together; in the earlier part there are small heads at the angles of
+the pier arches, in the later there are none, while the small heads in
+the angles of the earlier triforium arcade give place to larger heads
+in the later; the tympana, which fill the heads of the lancets in this
+arcade, also are mainly ornamented in the earlier part with grotesque
+beasts, while in the later they contain foliage, with two exceptions.
+Again, the medallions which decorate the spaces above the triforium
+are sunk in the earlier masonry, but, in the later, they are flush
+with the surface and not so deeply carved. Even more noticeable is the
+difference in the capitals, those of the western bays being lighter,
+freer, and more undercut, though less interesting and hardly as
+beautiful as those of the earlier part. With the exception of these
+differences, however, which are doubtless due to the freedom enjoyed
+by medieval workmen, the original design of the nave was faithfully
+adhered to, the square abaci, even, being retained, though the
+circular abacus had become a leading characteristic of the true Early
+English of Jocelin's period. Certainly it is an unusual instance of an
+architect deliberately setting himself to complete the works of an
+earlier period in faithful accordance with the original plan; and we
+may well be grateful to him for his modesty.
+
+[Illustration: A Capital--the Fruit-stealer's Punishment.]
+
+All the carving is most interesting and beautiful: the caps and
+corbels of the vaulting-shafts; the little heads at the angles of the
+arches, which are vivid sketches of every type of contemporary
+character; and the carvings in the tympana, above referred to, which
+are best in the seventh, eighth, and ninth bays (counting from the
+west end), those on the north excelling in design and execution, while
+those on the south are more grotesque. But the CAPITALS of the piers
+are the best of all, and the most hurried visitor should spare some
+time for the study of these remarkable specimens of sculpture,
+vigorous and life-like, yet always subordinated to their architectural
+purpose. Those in the transepts are perhaps the best (p. 89), but the
+following in the nave should not be missed:--
+
+_North Side, sixth Pier._--(By north porch) Birds pluming their wings:
+Beast licking himself: Ram: Bird with human head, holding knife (?).
+
+_Eighth Pier._--Fox stealing goose, peasant following with stick:
+Birds pruning their feathers: (Within Bubwith's chapel) Human monster
+with fish's tail, holding a fish: Bird holding frog in his beak, which
+is extremely long and delicate.
+
+_Ninth Pier._--Pedlar carrying his pack on his shoulders, a string of
+large beads in one hand.
+
+Toothless monster, with hands on knees.
+
+_South side, seventh Pier._--Birds with human heads, one wearing a
+mitre.
+
+_Eighth Pier._--Peasant, with club, seized by a lion: Bird with
+curious foliated tail: (Within St. Edmund's chapel) Owl: Peasant with
+mallet (?).
+
+The lofty clerestory windows are divided into two lights by
+Perpendicular tracery of late fourteenth or early fifteenth century
+date, which extends to the level of the passage, the lower part being
+filled with masonry. The windows were not, however, altered in shape
+when the tracery was inserted. In the tracery are very slight traces
+of the old glass.
+
+The triforium passage is capacious enough to form a large tunnel,
+which gives a good effect to its lancet openings. The small iron
+rings, which are prominent enough to be rather tiresome to the eye,
+were recently inserted for the use of those engaged in cleaning the
+walls. Within the passage additional arches may be seen, inserted to
+strengthen the arcade at the commencement of the later work and in
+other places.
+
+The groined ceiling has carved bosses at the intersection of its ribs.
+The red pattern is a restoration of the old design which was found on
+the removal of the whitewash, but the restorer seems to have missed
+the right tints.
+
+There is a music-gallery in the clerestory of the sixth bay on the
+south side; it is composed of three panels with quatrefoils containing
+plain shields, and is finished with an embattled cornice. Another
+gallery, perhaps for an organ, must have been supported by the two
+noticeable brackets on the spandrels of the fourth bay of the same
+side. One may conjecture that it was of wood, and was reached from the
+triforium. The brackets are carved in the shape of very large heads of
+a bishop and a king, both supported by smaller heads, and of an
+extremely benevolent expression. The hair of the king has that curious
+formal twist with which we are familiar on playing-cards. As some of
+the small heads in the chapter-house have the same style of hair,
+these two brackets probably belong to the end of the thirteenth
+century.
+
+[Illustration: A Capital--toothache.]
+
+Sir John Harrington in the _Nugae Antiquae_ (ii. 148) says of these
+two heads that "the old men of Wells had a tradition, that, when there
+should be such a king and such a bishop, then the church should be in
+danger of ruin." At the time of the Reformation it was noticed that
+the head of the king bore a certain resemblance to Henry VIII., and
+that the king held in his hands a child falling, who, it was said,
+could be none other than Edward VI. The peculiarity of the bishop's
+figure is that he has women and children about him. "This fruitful
+bishop, they affirmed, was Dr Barlow (p. 156), the first married
+bishop of Wells, and perhaps of England. This talk being rife in Wells
+in Queen Mary's time, made him rather affect Chichester at his return
+than Wells, where not only the things that were ruined but those that
+remained, served for records and remembrances of his sacrilege."
+
+The west end of the nave is covered in its lower portion by an arcade
+of five arches with Purbeck shafts, the middle one being wider than
+the rest, to contain the two smaller arches of the doorway. The three
+lancet windows were re-modelled in Perpendicular times by the
+insertion of the triple shafts, which have the casement mouldings and
+angular caps of the period; but the dog-tooth moulding of the arches,
+the medallions in the spandrels, and the little corbel heads of the
+Early English work remain. A Perpendicular parapet along the sill of
+the window marks the gallery which, pierced through the splays,
+carries the triforium passage round the end of the nave. A string
+course runs along the bottom of this gallery and forms the bases of
+the triple shafts; the bases are supported on corbels which die off
+upon the sloping wall below. This wall conceals a curious gallery, the
+purpose of which is not known; it is entered by steps from the
+triforium, and lighted by round openings which can be seen in the
+central quatrefoils of the west front; when these quatrefoils were
+filled with sculpture it would have been difficult to detect the
+existence of the dark gallery.
+
+[Illustration: Specimens Of Capitals.]
+
+Two small transepts at the west end of the nave are formed by the
+western towers, which project in this church beyond the aisles. These
+transepts are connected with the aisles by an arch, the lower part of
+which is closed by wooden doors. That on the north was used as a
+chapel of the Holy Cross, and of late years as the consistory court:
+it is now the choir-boys' vestry; that on the south served as a porch
+in the days when the usual entrance to the church was by the Early
+English doorway which leads into it from the cloister; it is now
+appropriated to the bell-ringers. They are both of strikingly
+different style to the rest of the interior, as they were built in
+pure Early English style, at the same time as the west front, of which
+the towers form, of course, an integral part. Their shafts are of blue
+lias, the capitals richly carved; their groined vaults have a circular
+opening to admit to the upper storey of the tower, which has its
+corbels ornamented with foliage, although they cannot be seen. Over
+the doorway in the south chapel an arcade is curiously fitted into the
+available space beneath the vault.
+
+[Illustration: A Capital.]
+
+THE AISLES OF THE NAVE (see p. 19) are of the same character as the
+nave itself, the later part having been resumed at about the same
+time, and at the same place. Among the capitals the following in the
+north aisle may be specially mentioned:--
+
+_Fifth Shaft._--Peasants carrying sheep, etc., a dog in the midst.
+
+_Ninth Shaft._--Man in rough coat, which falls before and behind
+rather like a chasuble, carrying foliage on his back. A very good
+figure.
+
+_Tenth Shaft._--(By arch of vestry) Man carrying what seems to be a
+hod of mortar and a mason's mallet.
+
+_Opposite side of arch_, at end of the string course: Peasant in hood
+carrying a staff. On the caps opposite are two heads with tongues on
+their teeth (see p. 92).
+
+The windows, both of these aisles and those of the transepts, were
+filled with Perpendicular tracery at about the same time as the
+clerestory windows. The date of this addition must have been before
+Bishop's Bubwith's time, for the library which that prelate built over
+the cloister blocks the south window of the west aisle of the south
+transept. A stone bench runs along all the aisles.
+
+[Illustration: Specimens Of Capitals.]
+
+GLASS OF THE NAVE, TRANSEPTS, AND AISLES.--Most of the glass of the
+west window was collected abroad, during his exile, by Bishop
+Creyghton, while he was yet dean (1660-70). The main part of it is
+devoted to the life and death of St. John Baptist, and is of excellent
+early sixteenth-century work, for under the fantastic figure of the
+executioner is the inscription _Sancti Johannis Decollatio_ 1507. The
+two other lights containing the large figures of King Ina and Bishop
+Ralph are, however, of later date, and to judge by their costume they
+should belong to Creyghton's own time; moreover, on the southern one
+are Creyghton's arms. Apparently the compositions at the extreme top
+and bottom of the middle light are much later; a little handbook on
+the cathedral by Mr John Davies, the verger in 1814, states that the
+then dean and chapter re-arranged and restored the window in 1813;
+these additions must belong to that time, and according to him they
+were brought from Rouen. Their ugly reds and blues certainly do not
+blend with the earlier glass, as do the figures of Ina and Ralph, but
+considerably mar the mellow and delicate effect of the whole. There
+are only a few slight fragments of old glass in the other windows.
+There are also two modern windows at the west end of the aisles.
+
+[Illustration: View Across Nave, Shewing Sugar's And Bubwith's
+Chapels.]
+
+BISHOP BUBWITH'S CHANTRY CHAPEL.--Two chantry chapels stand opposite
+each other under the ninth pier-arches of the nave. They are alike in
+general characteristics, though there is an interval of sixty years
+between them. The chantry of Bishop Bubwith (_ob._ 1424), who built
+the north-west tower, is formed by a hexagonal screen between the
+piers, the three eastern sides being filled with a reredos that gives
+the chapel a square appearance within. The screen is composed of the
+most light and elaborate tracery, its corners surmounted by a crest;
+it is open above, but has a rather coarsely-carved canopy over where
+the altar stood. Doorways, whose jambs are too delicately carved to
+have ever carried doors, give free access and a clear view of the
+interior from either side. Altogether it was an ideal place for votive
+Celebrations, when but few worshippers were present. The niches over
+the altar have been hacked level with the wall, and the little pillar
+piscina is also defaced. The triple shafts of the pier at the western
+end are corbelled off, the corbel being carved with Bubwith's arms
+(argent, a fess engrailed sable between twelve holly leaves vert, 4,
+4, 4, and 4, arranged in quadrangles) impaled with those of the see.
+The altar here was formerly dedicated to St. Saviour.
+
+SUGAR'S CHANTRY.--In the ninth bay of the nave, on the south side, is
+the chantry of Treasurer Hugh Sugar. Before its erection, the altar of
+St. Edmund of Canterbury, who was canonised in 1246, stood here; and
+perhaps, when it comes to be used again, it will be maintained in
+honour of that most attractive scholar saint. Speaking of these
+chantries, which were endowed in such profusion in the later Middle
+Ages, Canon Church (_Somerset Proceedings_, 1888, ii. 103) says: "The
+belief in the communion of saints, living and dead, and the desire for
+continued remembrance after death, and for the intercessions of the
+living, led practically to the endowment of chantries and obits,
+whereby not only was the church enriched, and the services of many
+priests provided for, but also attachment to the church of their
+fathers was greatly strengthened, as being the common home of the dead
+and the living." That attachment, one would think, is hardly likely to
+be revived by this beautiful chapel and its fellow being put to base
+uses. At present it serves as a kind of booking-office, where visitors
+deposit their sixpences and sign their names, while the other is
+stored with hassocks, and becomes the resting-place of any brooms,
+pails, and dustpans that are in use.
+
+St. Edmund's (or Sugar's) chapel is hexagonal, like that of Bishop
+Bubwith, but its tracery, frieze, and reredos are more elaborate. The
+canopy over the altar is vaulted with lace-like fan-tracery. Five
+niches, now empty of their figures, form the reredos; their sumptuous
+pedestals and canopies are in excellent condition. Attached to the
+frieze without, on either side, are six demi-angels, with delicate
+wings and extremely curly hair, bearing shields, with representations
+of the Five Wounds, the Lily of the Annunciation, between angels'
+wings; the arms of the see (a plain saltire surmounting a pastoral
+staff in pale between two keys addorsed, the bows interlaced on the
+dexter, and a sword erect on the sinister); the arms of Glastonbury
+Abbey (a cross flory, in dexter chief a demi-virgin with child
+proper), the arms of the vicars (a saltire), the initials H.S., and
+Sugar's arms, originally a "canting coat," three sugar-loaves, and in
+chief a doctor's cap. Sugar's initials and arms also occur under the
+canopy. It is the fashion to consider this chapel inferior to its
+fellow, merely because it is later in date, but a little impartial
+study will show that it is much the better of the two. The tracery,
+though less uncommon, is more graceful, that over the doorway
+especially being far better contrived; the cornice is better
+proportioned, and is not spoilt by the untidy trail of foliage which
+runs round that of Bubwith's chapel; the canopy, too, fits in with the
+curve of the tracery, while that of the others projects clumsily
+across it.
+
+THE PULPIT.--From the west end of this chapel steps lead into the
+stone pulpit which adjoins it. This pulpit was built in Henry VIII.'s
+reign, by Bishop Knight, who died in 1547. It is a low, but
+well-proportioned, structure, resting on a basement, and fronted with
+panelled pilasters; it is surmounted by an entablature. In front are
+the bishop's curious arms, which occur more distinctly in the glass of
+the north choir aisle--Per fess, in chief a demi-eagle with two heads
+and sans wings issuing from a demi-rose conjoined to a demi-sun in
+splendour in base. On the frieze is the inscription--_preache. thov.
+the. worde. be. fervent. in. season. and. ovt. of. season. reprove.
+rebvke. exhorte. w^t. all. longe. svfferyng. &. doctryne. 2. Tim[=o]._
+A board along the top, covered with red baize, impairs its beauty at
+present.
+
+[Illustration: Sugar's Chapel--the Lectern And Pulpit.]
+
+THE LECTERN, which stands near, is composed of a massive double desk,
+surmounted by ornamental work, containing the arms of the see. It
+rests upon a ball and turned stem and base, and is entirely of brass.
+Bishop Creyghton, who had it made when he was yet dean, inscribed it
+on both desks with his arms and this legend:--_Dr. Rob^{t.} Creyghton
+upon his returne from fifteen years Exile, w^{th} o^r Soveraigne Lord
+Kinge Charles y^e 2^{d.} made Deane of wells, in y^e yeare 1660, gave
+this Brazen Deske, w^{th} God's holy worde thereon to the saide
+Cathedrall Church._ The Bible referred to still rests upon it, bearing
+the same date; it is bound up with the Prayer Book, and contains
+initial letters and a frontispiece, but it stops at the book of Job.
+
+Opposite the lectern are two sixteenth-century panelled wooden stalls,
+with round finials, all bearing the same device on both sides--a Tudor
+rose with _I.H.S._ in the centre, and the letters _m.d.l.i.i._ (1552)
+on the five petals. These excellent examples of simple and effective
+woodwork were found amongst some lumber in 1846, and now form part of
+the temporary choir stalls that are used for the nave services.
+
+On the south side of Bubwith's chapel, and partly covered by it, is a
+slab, 10 ft. long, covering the grave of Bishop Haselshaw, with the
+inscription, _Walterus de Haselshaw Ep. 1308_. On the west of Sugar's
+chapel, another slab bears the inscription, _Radulphus Erghum Ep.
+1401_. In a slab near the entrance to the choir there is the matrix for
+a brass of a lady, with mitred head-dress of the period, _c._ 1460,
+beneath a canopy. The style suggests that it may belong to Lady Lisle,
+whose tomb possibly stood here.
+
+THE TRANSEPTS are both of the same architectural character, and were
+evidently built before the nave. They have less ornament, the
+medallions and the carved tympana of the nave being alike absent,
+although there are the same small heads at the angles of the pier
+arches. The triforium, too, is different; each bay consists of two
+large openings, devoid of ornament, instead of three narrower ones,
+and is separated from the next bay by the vaulting-shaft which reaches
+down to the string-course of the pier arch (see p. 77). Some of the
+carved work, however, of the capitals and corbels is of a later date
+than that of the nave, which may be due to the capitals having been
+left uncut till after the nave was finished, or to damage done by the
+fall of the _tholus_ in 1248. Apparently the corbels of the vaulting
+shafts are later than those of the nave, they are certainly more
+elaborate. Of the capitals those on the west side of both transepts
+are of one style and abound in representations of the toothache. The
+capitals on the east side are different from those on the west of the
+third pier on this side of the south transept, and that is of a style
+that suggests the Decorated period. Those on the west are certainly
+the best, and some of the following are the finest in the church, and
+perhaps in England:--
+
+NORTH TRANSEPT, _first Pier._--(Inside the Priest Vicars' vestry) A
+prophet (?) with scroll on which there is no name: Man carrying goose.
+(Outside) Head with tongue on teeth.
+
+_Second Pier._--Aaron, writing his name on a scroll: Moses with the
+tables of stone.
+
+_Third Pier._--Woman with a bandage across her face.
+
+Above this cap the corbel consists of a seated figure, naked, with
+distorted mouth and an agonised expression.
+
+[Illustration: Section of North Transept, and Elevation of South
+Transept.]
+
+SOUTH TRANSEPT, _second Pier_ (from the south end).--Two men are
+stealing grapes, one holds the basket full, the other plucks grapes,
+holding a knife in his other hand: The farmers in pursuit, one carries
+a spade and the other a pitchfork: The man with the fork, a vigorous
+figure, catches one thief: The man with the spade hits the other
+(whose face is most woe-begone) on the head (illust. p. 79).
+
+_Third Pier._--Woman pulling thorn out of her foot: Man with one eye,
+finger in his mouth: Baboon head: Cobbler; this figure shows very
+plainly the method of shoemaking at this time; the cobbler, in his
+apron, sits with the shoe on one knee, his strap passes over the knee
+and round the other foot, his foot is turned over so as to present the
+side and not the sole to the strap: Woman's head with long hair.
+
+_Fourth Pier._--Head perfectly hairless: "Elias P." (the prophet) with
+hand on cheek as if he too has the toothache: Head in hood, with
+tongue on the one remaining tooth.
+
+It may be well here to say a word about the general classification of
+these earlier capitals, since their date is a matter of great
+architectural interest. I would venture to divide them into five
+groups--
+
+1. Those of the three western bays of the choir: simple carved foliage
+of distinctly Norman character, as in the north porch: these belong to
+the time of Reginald (1174-1191).
+
+2. The four eastern bays of the nave and its aisles. Some of these may
+belong to the first period, though later than the choir: they are more
+advanced in the foliage, and teem with grotesque birds and beasts.
+Some, however, of the caps in these bays are of quite different
+character (p. 80); they contain _genre_ subjects of perfectly
+naturalistic treatment, very different to the St. Edmund of the north
+porch capital, but exactly similar to the figure caps of the
+transepts. They must therefore have been carved later than the death
+of Saint William Bytton.
+
+3. The western bays of the nave. These, which are of much less
+interest, belong to the period of Jocelin's reconstruction
+(1220-1242). They are characteristic examples of rich stiff-leaf
+foliage, freer than that of the earlier work, but much less varied and
+without either human figures or grotesques.
+
+4. On the eastern range of transept piers. These would seem also to
+come within Jocelin's period, with the exception of the third pier of
+the south transept.
+
+5. On the western range of transept piers (p. 89), with which must be
+classed those later caps already referred to in the nave under group
+2. Their date is settled by the fact that they abound in unmistakable
+representations of the toothache. Now Saint William Bytton died in
+1274, and his tomb became immediately famous for cures of this malady.
+In 1286 the chapter decided to repair the old work, no doubt because
+the offerings at his tomb had brought money to the church; this part
+of the church had been damaged ever since the fall of the _tholus_ in
+1248. The caps must therefore have been carved during the episcopate
+of Burnell (1275-1292). Mr Irvine, indeed, suggests that the figure of
+the woman taking a thorn ("bur") from her foot may contain a reference
+to Bishop Burnell. The undercroft passage, with its curious corbels
+and bosses, was probably also a part of the old work then completed,
+as it contains one "toothache" head. Although the introduction of such
+finished figure-subjects into the capitals suggests this lateness of
+date, they are still completely Early English in style, and a great
+gulf is fixed between them and the Decorated caps of the chapter-house
+begun by Burnell's successor, William de Marchia (1293-1302).
+
+[Illustration: The South Transept From North Side Of Nave.]
+
+[Illustration: Capitals In Transept]
+
+THE FONT is of peculiar interest as the one surviving relic of Bishop
+Robert's Norman church. Whether it also stood in the still earlier
+Saxon church is still an open question: it is as likely to be of
+pre-Norman as of Norman date, and the fact that whatever ornament
+there may have been in the spandrels of its shallow arcades has been
+hacked off, makes conjecture unsafe. Its unusual position in the south
+transept may be due to the Bishop Giso's quasi-conventual buildings on
+the south of the church, which would have made this transept the most
+common entrance to the cathedral at the time of the Conquest. A
+Jacobean cover rests upon the font, and with it forms a charming
+combination of pre-Gothic and post-Gothic Romanesque design.
+
+[Illustration: The Font. (Drawn by W. Heywood.)]
+
+At the south end of the south transept is the tomb of Bishop _de
+Marchia_ (_ob._ 1302). The effigy lies in a recess, and is covered
+with a canopy of three bays, the ogival arches, finished in sumptuous
+crockets and finials, painted red and gold, the spandrels being
+alternately green and red, powdered with a little pattern, the cusps
+and mouldings scarlet and crimson and green and gold, with a dark
+colour in the shadows. The effigy of the bishop is one of the best in
+the cathedral, but even more lovely are the three little figures so
+charmingly supported on foliage at the back of the tomb--two angels
+and a bishop between them. The heads of these three figures have been
+wickedly destroyed, but parts of the chains of the angels' censers
+remain. Of the two beautiful angels which hold the cushion the heads
+fortunately remain. Along the plinth of the tomb are six heads which
+are quite unique in their treatment; three are bearded (one of these
+is bald); one is shaven, tonsured, and turned half round in a
+strangely naturalistic manner; another is also shaven, and the
+remaining head is that of a woman in a veil. Two large faces are
+carved on the east and west ends of the tomb, both with long wavy
+hair--one of a woman, the other with a wavy beard. The central boss of
+the vaulting is carved with five roses, which are coloured green,
+their foliage, like all the foliage in this tomb, being gilt on a red
+ground with the red edges showing. The little angels at the back had
+gilded robes with red lining, and blue wings; the little bishop wore a
+red chasuble with green (or blue) dalmatic, and red tunicle over his
+white alb; the lappets of his mitre, which have survived, were red,
+and traces of dark blue are on his shoes: there seem to have been
+patterns on the various vestments, and the colours can still be seen
+where their sleeves overlapped. Modern lettering has been cut across
+the back of the tomb and coloured, by way of contrast to the ancient
+work.
+
+Under the battlemented cornice of the curtain-wall to the west a row
+of heads is painted in fresco on a red ground, which seems to be part
+of the same scheme with the curious heads on the plinth of de
+Marchia's tomb: one of these, a woman in a dark-coloured hood, is
+especially distinct. No doubt, the whole wall was originally painted.
+The sill of the window over the tomb seems to have been used for some
+special purpose: there is a passage cut through the splay of the
+window, through which the sill may be reached, which is not the case
+with the corresponding window of the north transept. The passage is
+reached from a staircase concealed behind the curtain-wall, which is
+reached by an ogee-headed doorway (with cusps in the head, finial, and
+two small heads to its very beautiful mouldings). This staircase also
+leads to a chamber on the level of the passage, but on the west side:
+the interior of the chamber can be seen from the ground, as its old
+wooden door is kept open. It is supposed by some to have been a
+watching chamber in connection with the tomb. There can, indeed, be
+little doubt that these arrangements had something to do with de
+Marchia's tomb, or that the ornamented doorway in the curtain wall of
+the same date as the tomb, together with the frescoes on the wall,
+were connected with the strong efforts that were made at this time for
+his canonisation. Perhaps the sill was used for the display of his
+relics, and the chamber was the ordinary resting-place of the
+reliquary, for which purpose the door and the absence of windows would
+have fitted it.
+
+Next to de Marchia's tomb on the other side, the monument of Joan
+Viscountess _Lisle_ (_ob._ 1463) gives a good illustration of the
+change of architecture in a hundred and fifty years. The crockets are
+less free, and straight lines and square members abound; the fine ogee
+curve of its single arch is weakened by the rather weedy cusps, its
+shafts have become tiny mouldings, and their capitals mere knops. It
+is coloured, too, all over, in green and red and yellow, but heavily
+in comparison with its neighbour. The colour has been unusually well
+preserved, owing to the fact that the tomb was plastered over, and not
+discovered till 1809. There is no effigy, but a brass of apparently
+recent date bears this inscription:--_Hic jacet Joanna Vicecomitilla
+de Lisle una filiarum et haeredum Thomae Chedder, armiger quae fuit
+uxor Joannis Vicecomitis de Lisle, filii et haeredis Joannis Comitis
+Salopiæ et Margaretæ u[=x] ejus unius filiarum et haeredum Ricardi
+comitis Warwici et Elizabethae uxoris ejus filiæ et haeredis Thomæ de
+Berkley militis, domini de Berkeley, quæ obiit xv^{mo} die mensis Julii
+A[=n][=n] D^i MCCCCLXIII._ Lady Lisle's husband was killed at the
+battle of Chastillon (1453), when he was serving under his father, the
+famous Earl of Shrewsbury. The painted designs above the three niches
+should be noticed, and also those of the moulding and fleurs-de-lys at
+the side. The monument was evidently used as a chantry chapel; but it
+did not originally stand here. The brass by the north side of the
+screen (p. 89) may mark the site.
+
+The eastern aisles of the transepts are divided off into chapels by
+two Perpendicular stone screens, that of the south transept having a
+doorway in it for each chapel. These chapels are thus dedicated,
+beginning from the south--St. Martin, St. Calixtus, St. David, Holy
+Cross. From the last-named chapel the chapter-house is reached through
+an Early English doorway, and a similar doorway (now partly blocked by
+Biconyll's tomb) led from St. Martin's to a small building, supposed
+to have been a vestry, which once stood outside. In the south transept
+there are also--a small door to the tower, a small door with ogee head
+(p. 96), a rather larger doorway with modern lintel leading to the
+library (two shafts just above this door have been cut off, and faces
+very roughly cut on their extremities by way of corbel), and the large
+doorway leading to the cloister. The principal windows belong to the
+original work, having been merely filled with Perpendicular tracery.
+The windows of the south-east aisle contain Decorated tracery, but the
+tracery of the north-east aisle is not good.
+
+The western aisle of the south transept is open; that of the north
+transept is cut off by a Perpendicular stone screen, which is solid in
+the southern bay, and through carved in the northern. The latter is,
+however, boarded up, and used as the vestry of the priest-vicars, the
+other being the vestry of the vicars-choral. From the priest-vicars'
+vestry a door leads into a small chamber now used for the water
+supply, and over the doorway there is a small and pretty figure of a
+woman under a little niche.
+
+There are a very few fragments of Early Perpendicular glass in some of
+the upper lights of the nave and transept windows. There are also two
+modern windows at the west end of the nave, and one in the south
+transept, of which I have been unable to discover the actual
+designers' names.
+
+TRANSEPT CHAPELS.--ST. MARTIN'S, where the obits of Savaric and
+Jocelin were celebrated, is separated by a solid Perpendicular screen
+from the adjoining chapel of St. Calixtus. It is now used as the
+canons' vestry. Partly blocking the old Early English doorway is the
+tomb of _Biconyll_, who was chancellor in 1454. His will, with a good
+deal of information about him, is given in the _Somerset Proceedings_
+for 1894, by Mr A.S. Bicknell, a descendant. The name was originally
+Bykenhulle (A.S. for Beacon Hill), and has been spelt in forty-seven
+different ways. His effigy lies on the tomb, dressed in cassock, long
+surplice, and _cappa nigra_ or choral cope. The ends of the almuce can
+be seen in the opening of the cope, and its hood hangs over the
+shoulders.
+
+ST. CALIXTUS' chapel is enclosed on the side of the choir aisle by
+part of the beautiful ironwork from Beckington's tomb. The doors of
+this and St. Martin's chapel are also made from the same iron screen.
+Within the chapel, and near the screen, in strange contrast to it,
+stands one of those indescribable stoves which disfigure the church,
+its chimney, as usual, driven through the vault. The east end of the
+chapel is occupied by the canopy which formed part of Bishop
+_Beckington's_ tomb till the restoration of 1850, when it was, by an
+inexcusable act of vandalism, taken down and fixed up in this place
+(p. 125). This canopy did not cover the tomb, but stood at its foot so
+as to form the eastern part of a chantry chapel, the tomb being on its
+south side and the iron screen enclosing it where it jutted into the
+choir on the north side. It will be noticed that its northern angle
+was sloped off so as not to present an awkward corner on the side of
+the choir. The reredos, for such it really is, is a most elaborate and
+charming piece of work; "pretty" is perhaps the word that describes it
+best, if "pretty" be taken in its very best sense. Here there is
+nothing of the suave grace of de Marchia's tomb, nothing of the vigour
+and truth of the transept capitals, nothing of the noble delicacy of
+the north porch, which was a delicacy of intellect, while this is a
+delicacy of execution. It is certainly decadent; even by the side of
+Sugar's chapel it is over-refined and a thought effeminate, but, with
+the colour that still covers it fresh and bright, it must have had all
+the fascination of a splendid piece of jewellery, where profusion of
+ornament is more desired than structural grace. The cornice is
+particularly rich with a finely-carved vine ornament, and with two
+angels, their long outstretched wings minutely feathered, who bear
+shields having representations of the sacred wounds. The tabernacle
+work behind the altar is gone, like the altar itself, with the
+exception of the small niches which formed the sides of the central
+composition, but the little canopy of the central niche remains to
+give us a slight idea of its workmanship. The short wings of the
+reredos have panels and traceried openings, and, on the south, a
+piscina which looks almost too tiny to be real. The top has a toy-like
+vault of fan-tracery with little pendants.
+
+On the south side of St. Calixtus' chapel is _Dean Husse's_ alabaster
+tomb (_ob._ 1305), which bears some of the best carved work in the
+cathedral. The effigy itself is good: it represents the Dean clad in
+the same choir vestments as the figures on the panels below. These
+panels should on no account be missed. The first on the left
+represents the Annunciation with a grace that is not less delightful
+for the strain of exaggeration which pervades it. The Blessed Virgin
+(see illustration on p. 101), a lovely figure in long, close-fitting
+kirtle and mantle thrown gracefully over her shoulders, turns round
+from the desk at which she is kneeling, and throws out her arms with a
+quaint gesture of surprise; her crown and nimbus are both of enormous
+size. A very small Gabriel dashes down from the top corner, bearing a
+scroll which takes up the whole of the panel; he is preceded by a Dove
+with very long rays. The next three panels (passing over these with
+shields) contain three figures of clergy, two of which hold books, and
+all their short staves. They wear the cassock, long surplice, and a
+long, graceful choral cope, somewhat like the modern academic gown in
+shape, the rounded ends of the hooded almuce reach to the knee and are
+held at the chest by a cord with tassels. There is no better
+representation of medieval choir vestments in existence than these
+three figures. The last panel is a curious representation of the
+Eternal Father holding the crucifix; this remarkable figure has a
+_very_ long face, great masses of curly hair, a huge crown, and _very_
+long hands.
+
+The two chapels of the north transept can only be reached through the
+choir aisle, no doubt because the way to the chapter-house was through
+them. The first was probably ST DAVID'S chapel. Here should be noticed
+the capital of the easternmost shaft of the second transept pier--a
+head with curly hair and handsome smiling face. This shaft is
+corbelled off, and the corbel through carved in the shape of a lizard
+eating the leaves of a plant with berries thereon; it is a charming
+study. The tomb of Bishop _Still_ (1543-1607) in this chapel is under
+a handsome canopy of warm-coloured marbles, with black columns and
+red, blue, and gold decoration. The effigy is dressed in rochet and
+chimere, over which is a red robe lined with white fur; a ruff is
+round the neck, a close-fitting black cap covers the head and part of
+the ears, and the rochet is finished at the wrists with a plain black
+band.
+
+In the chapel of the HOLY CROSS the monument of the intruding Bishop
+_Kidder_, Ken's successor (p. 158, _ob._ 1703), stands on the site of
+the altar, whither it has been removed from its original position on
+the south side of the choir. Standing in all its chilly
+pretentiousness so near to Still's tomb, it well illustrates the
+immense decline in monumental art which took place during the
+seventeenth century. The bishop's daughter, who erected the monument,
+is represented reclining, as, with one arm outstretched, she looks at
+two urns which are supposed to contain the ashes of her father and
+mother; underneath is a very long Latin inscription.
+
+[Illustration: The Annunciation--Husse's Tomb.]
+
+Against the north wall and close to the entrance to the chapter-house
+stands the tomb of Bishop _Cornish_ (_ob._ 1513). He was chancellor
+and precentor of Wells, and suffragan bishop under Bishop Fox of Bath
+and Wells and Bishop Oldham of Exeter, his title being Bishop of
+Tenos. Part of the inscription remains:--_Obiit supradictus d[)u]s
+Thomas Tinensis Ep[)u]s tercio die mensis Julii anno ... MCCCCCXIII
+Cujus Anime p_[_ropitietur Deus A_]_men_. The three panels on the
+front bear shields--T with a sheaf of corn, Cornish's arms (on a
+chevron between three birds' heads erased a mitre) and C with a sheaf
+of corn; on the side panel are the arms of the chapter, the arms, that
+is, of the see without the pastoral staff. Against the wall within the
+canopy are some matrices of small brasses, in which the kneeling
+figure of a bishop, a scroll, and two plates for inscriptions can be
+traced.
+
+[Illustration: Priest In Surplice--Husse's Tomb.]
+
+From several peculiarities in Cornish's tomb, I am convinced that it
+was also used as the _Easter Sepulchre_, where the Host was laid
+during the concluding days of Holy Week. These sepulchres were often
+made in connection with a tomb, and the usual place for them was
+somewhere on the north side of the choir. The position here in the
+chapel of the Holy Cross (which is an appropriate dedication) would be
+particularly convenient for the purpose. The chapel was easily reached
+by the clergy without their having to go into the public part of the
+church; it was thus as safe a place as the choir itself, and at the
+same time was much more open to the people, who could pay their
+devotions from the transept, and through the open stone screen could
+see the candles burning round the sepulchre.
+
+[Illustration: The East End In 1823.]
+
+Just where it could be best seen from the transept, on the eastern end
+of the upper storey of the tomb under the canopy, is a carving of the
+Resurrection. A wide arch is cut in the stone; within this is carved a
+square opening, not through-cut, but farther recessed, to represent
+the mouth of the sepulchre; in front of the square recess is the
+figure of Christ, issuing from the tomb, clad only in a long mantle,
+which He holds across His body; the hair is long, the face mutilated,
+and the hands gone. At the left is the kneeling figure of a bishop,
+the head gone, but part of the staff remaining in the hands. There is
+a great crack (now filled with mortar) round these two figures, as if
+the attack of the iconoclasts had been made with heavy tools. A
+pedestal at the right-hand corner of the square recess seems a later
+insertion, as it is loose and does not exactly fit; probably it was
+added soon after the tomb was made, to hold a small silver figure of
+an angel, or of a soldier, as there is a little hole (now filled with
+mortar) at a height above it convenient for rivetting a metal figure.
+
+The Sepulchre proper would have consisted of a small coped chest, in
+shape like a reliquary, round which would be painted the incidents of
+the Passion. The slab of the tomb, being without the usual recumbent
+effigy, would have formed the place on which this "coffer" rested,
+this being the usual method when a tomb was used for the purpose. On
+Good Friday, the Host, often in a specially-made pyx, was with much
+ceremony laid in the coffer, together with the altar-cross, and there
+was kept, surrounded by candles and guarded by watchers, till Easter
+Day. We know that there was a special provision at Wells for one
+candle to burn continuously within the Sepulchre "_I cereus in
+sepulchro cum corpori Dominico qui continue ardebit donec Matutinae
+cantentur in die Paschae_" (_MS. Harl._ 1682, _fo._ 5). There is a
+small hole in the east wall of this chapel, close to the tomb and a
+little below the level of of the slab whereon the coffer would have
+rested; this may have held a sconce or some ornament. But the _cereus
+in sepulchro_ was probably a large candle within the chapel, and in
+accordance with general usage, there would have been other candles
+burning upon cressets. There are two other holes in the north wall, a
+few inches to the east of the top of the tomb, which may have held
+rods for the curtains that were used in much profusion for the
+adornment of Easter sepulchres. While the coffer stood on the slab it
+would have hidden the carving of the Resurrection; but on its removal
+on Easter Day, the carving would have stood in full view of the
+people, bright, no doubt, with colour and surrounded by lights. It
+will further be noticed that the tomb stands eighteen inches away from
+the east wall, the space being now filled with modern masonry; this
+was probably in order to leave ample room for the sacred ministers in
+their vestments; had it stood close against the wall the ceremonial
+could not have been conveniently carried out.
+
+Near the tomb is the doorway, with a fine old oak door, which leads
+into the chapter-house; and above the tomb is a window which was
+blocked up when the vestibule was built, and a bracket set in the
+masonry.
+
+THE CLOCK is a great favourite with visitors, who generally congregate
+in the north transept at the striking of the hour and laugh gently to
+one another when the quaint performance is over. "Jack Blandiver"
+(this is the name given him by the country people for some
+undiscovered reason) kicks his bell at each quarter in the most
+life-like manner, his feet trembling afterwards with the exertion; but
+at the hour, after Jack has sounded his four quarters, as the big bell
+begins to toll, the four "knights" above the clock rush round in
+contrary directions, and charge each other with so much ferocity that
+one unfortunate is felled at each encounter, and has barely time to
+recover his upright position before he is again and again knocked down
+with resounding clatter upon his horse's back. The other three fight
+twenty-four times a day unscathed.
+
+The clock was thus described by Mr Octavius Morgan, F.R.S., in the
+_Archaeological Journal_ for 1883:
+
+"In the Cathedral of Wells is what remains of the ancient clock which
+once belonged to Glastonbury Abbey. This very curious timepiece is
+said to have been originally executed by Peter Lightfoot, a monk of
+the abbey, but at the cost of Adam de Sodbury, who was promoted to the
+abbacy in 1322. It appears to have been originally placed in the south
+transept of Glastonbury Abbey Church, where it continued till the
+Dissolution, when, tradition says, it was carried to Wells and placed
+in the north transept of the cathedral with all its belongings--viz.
+the figure which strikes the quarters with his heels on two little
+bells within the church, and the two "knights" which perform the same
+service with their battle axes on the outside. The inside figure
+strikes the hour on a bell before him with a battle-axe in his hands.
+The face of the dial is 6 feet in diameter, contained in a square
+frame, the spandrels of which are filled with angels holding in their
+hands the head of a man; the outer circle is painted blue, with gilt
+stars scattered over it, and is divided into twenty-four parts,
+corresponding with the twenty-four hours; the horary numbers are in
+black-letter characters on circular tablets, and mark the hours from
+twelve at noon to midnight, and from thence to midnight again (noon
+and midnight being marked by a cross instead of a numeral). The hour
+index, a large gilt star or sun, is attached to the machinery behind a
+second circle which conceals all except the index. On the second
+circle are marked the minutes, indicated by a smaller star; a third
+and lesser circle contains the numbers of the days of the month, which
+is marked by a point attached to a small circular opening in the
+plate, through which the phases of the moon are shown. On the opposite
+side is a female figure, with the motto _Semper peragrat Phoebe_.
+
+"An arched pediment surmounts the whole, with an octagonal projection
+from its base like a gallery, capped with a row of battlements,
+forming a cornice to the face of the clock. A panelled and
+battlemented turret is fixed in the centre, round which four figures
+mounted on horses revolve in opposite directions, as if charging at a
+tournament, when set in motion by a communication with the clockwork,
+to be made at pleasure; these are commonly called _knights_, but their
+costume is only that of ordinary persons. The movement is at a
+distance from the dial, and connected with it by a long horizontal
+rod; the dial work was close at the back of the dial. The revolving
+figures on horseback are moved by a separate weight, and are set in
+motion by the freeing of a detent. The old boarding at the back [in
+the vestry of the vicars-choral] is painted black, with a diaper
+scroll of foliage with red and white roses. The female figure on the
+dial, representing the moon, is always kept upright by a balance
+weight; the quarter-boys inside, who strike the quarters, are much
+later, having _knee-breeches_.
+
+"The outside dial has now two hands; it was once like a star with only
+one hand. The bells outside are struck by two figures in armour,
+_temp._ Henry VIII., probably put up when it was removed from
+Glastonbury.
+
+"The clock seems to have remained without alteration after it was then
+put up, till the present modern movement, made by Thwaites & Reed of
+Clerkenwell, was, in the time of Dean Goodenough, substituted for it,
+and the old original movement was taken and deposited in the crypt
+under the chapter-house, where it remained uncared for, for many
+years, during which time, 1853, I visited and examined it, made notes
+of it, and took drawings of it. The great wheel has ninety teeth, and
+the pinion, a lantern-pinion, had nine leaves, or rather bars; the
+second wheel had sixty teeth; the remainder of the works were all
+disjointed and bent, and remained unheeded." The whole is now fitted
+together, and in a going condition, in the mechanical museum at South
+Kensington.
+
+The _Antiquary_ for August 1897 ("Some Mediaeval Mechanicians")
+reminds us that, as the clock was in constant use at Glastonbury for
+about 250 years, and then at Wells for another 250 years, and as the
+old movement is now still working at the South Kensington, "as though
+its life were interminable"--it is probably the oldest piece of
+working mechanism extant.
+
+The same article says of these old works: "It will give an idea of the
+labour involved, when it is stated the mechanism of the clock occupies
+a space of about 5 feet cube (125 cubic feet), that the structure is
+wholly of forged iron; that the numerous wrought-iron wheels, some of
+which are nearly 2 feet in diameter and about œ inch thick, besides
+having to be made truly circular and concentric, had all their teeth
+cut out and trimmed to workable shape by hand; and that the heavy
+wrought-iron frames, etc., are fastened entirely by means of mortise,
+tenon, and colter, no screws being used in the whole structure. The
+pinions are of the lantern form, with octagonal cheek-plates on square
+spindles, and the pendulum of modern form beats seconds."
+
+THE INVERTED ARCHES.--Undoubtedly the first thing that the stranger
+notices in Wells Cathedral, and the last that he is likely to forget,
+is the curious contrivance by which the central tower is supported. Of
+the three pairs of arches (the upper arch resting inverted upon the
+lower) which stretch across the nave and each of the transepts, that
+in the nave is seen at once, and lends a unique character to the whole
+church. At first these arches give one something of a shock, so
+unnecessarily frank are they, so excessively sturdy, so very English,
+we may think. They carry their burden as a great-limbed labourer will
+carry a child in a crowd, to the great advantage of the burden, and
+the natural dissatisfaction of the crowd. In fact, they seem to block
+up the view, and to deform what they do not hide.
+
+That is the first impression, but it does not last for long.
+Familiarity breeds respect for this simple, strong device, which
+arrested the fall of the tower in the fourteenth century, and has kept
+its walls ever since in perfect security, so that the great structure
+has stood like a rock upon the watery soil of Wells for nearly seven
+centuries, with its rents and breaks just as they were when the damage
+was first repaired. The ingenuity, too, of these strange flying
+buttresses becomes more and more evident; the "ungainly props" are
+seen to be so worked into the tower they support, that they almost
+seem like part of the original design of the first builders. One
+discovers that it is the organ, and not the arches, that really blocks
+the view, and one marvels that so huge a mass of masonry can look so
+light as to present, with the great circles in the spandrels where the
+arches meet, "a kind of pattern of gigantic geometrical tracery."
+Indeed, I think no one who has been in Wells a week could wish to see
+the inverted arches removed.
+
+Professor Willis, who had made a most careful investigation of the
+masonry, thus describes the cause and the construction of the inverted
+arches (_Somerset Proceedings, 1863, i. 21_):
+
+"It is evident that the weight of the upper storey of the tower
+completed in 1321 had produced fearful settlements, the effects of
+which may still be seen in the triforium arches of the nave, and
+transepts next to the tower, which are dragged downwards and deformed,
+partly rebuilt, filled up, and otherwise exhibiting the signs so often
+seen under central towers, of a thorough repair. The great piers of
+the tower are cased and connected by a stone framework, which is
+placed under the north, south, and west tower-arches, but not under
+the east. This framework consists of a low pointed arch, upon which
+rests an inverted arch of the same form, so as to produce a figure
+somewhat resembling a St. Andrew's cross, to use the happy phrase
+applied by Leland to a similar contrivance introduced for a similar
+reason [but at a later date] into the central tower arches of
+Glastonbury." To this description there only needs to be added a
+mention of the circles which occupy the spandrels, and help to prevent
+the whole structure from seeming a mere inert mass of masonry. To
+appreciate the work fully, it should be looked at from some spot, such
+as the north-east corner of the north transept, whence the three great
+pairs of arches can be seen together. The effect from here is very
+fine, especially when the nave is lighted up, and strong shadows are
+cast. The extreme boldness of the mouldings, the absence of shafts and
+capitals and of all ornament, give them a primitive vigour, and their
+great intermingling curves, which contrast so magnificently with the
+little shafts of the piers beyond, seem more like a part of some great
+mountain cavern than a mere device of architectural utility.
+
+[Illustration: The Inverted Arches, From The North Transept.]
+
+At the same time as the arches were built, flying buttresses were
+inserted further to secure the tower, and they can be seen blocking up
+the triforium and clerestory of those bays, in nave, choir, and
+transepts, which adjoin it. Other repairs were necessary, for the
+pier-arches of the same bays in nave and transepts were completely
+shattered, and had to be replaced by the present ones, the
+queer-looking capitals of which contrast so oddly with the earlier
+work. It is instructive, also, to compare the lightness of these
+fourteenth-century mouldings with the boldness of those, wrought at
+exactly the same time, of the great inverted arches.
+
+THE TOWER.--Besides its inverted arches and other signs of repair, the
+tower is mainly noticeable for its Perpendicular fan-tracery vault of
+fifteenth-century date. This vault hides the lantern with its arcades,
+and thus destroys one of the elements of distance and mystery which,
+before the advent of the more prosaic Perpendicular period, had been a
+characteristic of Gothic architecture. Nothing else but the desire for
+uniformity can account for this unjustifiable addition; for there can
+have been no intention of hanging bells in the lantern when there were
+already two western bell-towers. The lantern, with its cracked
+masonry, can be seen during the ascent of the tower (p. 47).
+
+The shafts of the eastern tower arches were corbelled off at some
+height from the ground, in order to allow the stalls of the first
+ritual choir to be set flat against the wall. This shows that Bishop
+Reginald, when he rebuilt the church, kept to the old Romanesque
+arrangement and made his choir under the tower, reserving his three
+bays of what is now the choir for the presbytery--a very dignified
+arrangement. The square holes for fixing the wooden screen of this
+earlier choir can still be traced on the aisle walls in a line with
+the ninth piers of the nave.
+
+THE SCREEN was built in the fourteenth century; but Salvin altered and
+spoilt it by bringing forward the middle portion to carry the
+unsightly organ. Mr Freeman objected very strongly to the choir being
+shut off from the nave by this screen, and urged the authorities to
+pull it down and throw the whole church open from end to end. The
+remedy suggested by Mr St. John Hope, on the other hand, is that a
+second screen should be erected under the western arch of the tower,
+against which the nave or rood altar should stand, with seats for the
+choir on either side. Such a screen as this was certainly used in
+conventual churches, and would be more in accord with the spirit of
+medieval architecture, which was content to sacrifice the grandeur of
+great space in order to gain the qualities of seclusion and mystery,
+and inexhaustible variety.
+
+Two things, at least, are certain. The long-established custom of
+crowding the Sunday congregation into the choir should be abolished,
+and the organ should be modified or removed. Magnificent Sunday
+services could be held in the nave, either with a second screen and
+altar or without a screen at all; but, as the former plan could be
+tried without any destruction of old work, it should be tried first.
+
+[Illustration: Choir, Looking West.]
+
+As for the organ, the cathedral will always be defaced while it
+remains as a whole in the midst of the screen. Musical experts could
+no doubt distribute it so that it would no longer be an offence to the
+eye, and yet would sound more effectively than at present. Perhaps
+galleries for the swell, pedal, and great organs might be built above
+the pier-arches in the western bay of the choir on either side, and
+the consol, with the choir organ, might remain on the screen. Some
+fragments of tabernacle work on the triforium level would thus be
+hidden, but it is unremarkable work, exactly similar to that of the
+adjoining bays, and, moreover, it was so blocked and patched when the
+tower was strengthened that it would not be a disadvantage to hide it.
+As it is, the organ, unsightly in shape, and garishly painted, blocks
+up the view of the splendid east window, and makes the nave a mere
+vestibule to the choir. The inverted arches are generally thought to
+block up the church, but were the organ removed it would be found that
+they do not.
+
+THE ORGAN is a modern instrument by Willis. Dean Creyghton, a musician
+whose services are still sung in the cathedral, built the old organ in
+1664, and S. Green of London repaired it in 1786, but only one
+diapason remains of the old stops. The case also disappeared, the
+present one being among the ugliest in England. There are three
+manuals; thirteen speaking stops on the great organ, ten on the swell,
+nine on the choir, and eight on the pedal organ. The swell organ is
+rather small, but has been recently improved; the pedal organ is the
+best feature of the instrument. The wind is supplied by hydraulic
+machinery. There are four pneumatic pistons, six couplers, and seven
+composition pedals. The organist now sits on the south side, so that
+he can see his choristers, whether they sing in the choir or the nave.
+
+THE CHOIR.--The western part of the choir should be particularly
+noticed. For, while the three eastern bays which form the presbytery
+are Late Decorated, the three western bays of the choir are
+twelfth-century work of Bishop Reginald's time, being, in fact, the
+oldest part of the interior. That they were finished before Reginald's
+other work in the transepts and nave is not only likely from the
+general custom of medieval architects, but is made probable by the
+carving of the capitals, which is less advanced than that in any other
+part of the church.
+
+It will be noticed, however, that, though the three arches remain of
+the earlier bays, the two easternmost _piers_ of the old part are
+Decorated, like those in the three later bays; and some of their arch
+mouldings have been cut away in order to fit the new capitals. The
+reason for this peculiar combination of a new pier with an old arch is
+an interesting one. The original pier marked the east end of
+Reginald's church, and it was taken from under its arch because, being
+at the junction of the east wall with the side walls, it was a large
+compound pier quite unfitted to stand as one of an arcade. The three
+bays then formed the presbytery of the church, and the choir was
+placed, Norman fashion, under the tower. A further evidence of this
+being the original east end of the church is presented by the two
+early buttresses outside at this point, which are much wider than any
+of the others. But there must have been an ambulatory beyond the east
+end of the old church, since Reginald's work is carried a bay farther
+east in the choir aisles. There may, too, have been a small chapel
+beyond.
+
+Speaking of the contrast between the three early bays and the later
+work, Freeman says: "The new work, though exceedingly graceful, is
+perhaps too graceful; it has a refinement and minuteness of detail
+which is thoroughly in place in a small building like the Lady Chapel,
+but which gives a sort of feeling of weakness when it is transferred
+to a principal part of the church of the full height of the building.
+The three elder arches are all masculine vigour; the three newer
+arches are all feminine elegance; but it strikes me that feminine
+elegance, thoroughly in its place in the small chapels, is hardly in
+its place in the presbytery."
+
+Certainly, the mouldings of the later arches will not bear comparison
+with those of the earlier. The suave strength of the transitional
+mouldings forms a most instructive contrast to the less effective
+minuteness of the decadent work. The same is true of the capitals:
+those of the later period have little architectural significance, and
+many of them are further weakened by the fact that not the capital
+only, but the adjoining part of the shaft as well, is cut out of white
+stone.
+
+With the exception, however, of the three pier-arches themselves,
+there are few signs of the twelfth-century work. For, when the new
+presbytery was finished, the clerestory over the old arches was
+altered, and the triforium cased with tabernacle work (though not in
+quite so rich a style), so as to bring them into harmony with the
+fourteenth-century work, and to fit them to carry the new vault. The
+tabernacle work of the presbytery must have been completed first; for
+no attempt was made to keep it at the same level with the old part,
+which, when the builders determined to adapt it to the new, caused a
+very marked break at the juncture.
+
+[Illustration: CHOIR, LOOKING EAST. PROCESSION PATH AND LADY PATH
+BEYOND.]
+
+There is, strictly speaking, no triforium, the space being occupied by
+the rather florid tabernacle work, the effect of which is, of course,
+considerably impaired by the absence of statuary. The niches in the
+presbytery are deeper than those in the choir; they spring direct from
+the pier-arches, having no spandrel, and they contain richly-foliated
+brackets, which rest on triple shafts. This part is also marked by
+triple vaulting shafts of Purbeck, which are carried down to the
+floor.
+
+The clerestory windows contain flowing tracery of an advanced and not
+very good type. In some the plain mullions are carried on through the
+head of the window and intersect each other.
+
+Above the tabernacle work of the east end is the east window of seven
+lights, the last bit of the fourteenth-century reconstruction, the
+last flicker of Decorated freedom. Its curious tracery is still
+beautiful, doubly so for the glass it enshrines, but the rule and
+square of Perpendicular domination have already set their mark upon
+it; the two principal mullions run straight up to the window-head, and
+part of the tracery between them is rectangular.
+
+The inhabitants of Wells are, or were, exceedingly proud of the
+"vista" into the procession-path and Lady Chapel, which is afforded by
+the three dainty pointed arches of the east end. So proud were they
+that they would suffer nothing to stand behind the high altar but a
+low stone wall, barely higher than the altar itself, an arrangement
+which, it is hardly necessary to point out, defeated its own end by
+reducing the whole effect to absolute baldness. Mr Freeman wisely
+pointed out the need of a respectable reredos, remarking that the
+original founders never dreamed of the Lady Chapel acting as a
+"peep-show to the choir." A Lady Chapel, he added, was built specially
+not to be peeped into, but to be a thing apart from the great whole of
+the church, from the high altar westward. After a while, a reredos was
+offered to the church, and approved by Mr J.D. Sedding, who was then
+the cathedral architect; but there was much opposition, and the scheme
+was dropped. Dean Plumptre, with characteristic temerity, went so far
+as to appeal to the witness of the _vox populi_ that the open view was
+the best. Since then, wiser counsels have prevailed, and a curtain
+(small and dingy, it is true, but still a curtain) now hangs behind
+the altar. While giving a measure of dignity to the east end, it, of
+course, emphasises, as every architect must have known that it would,
+the charm of the "peep" into the chapels beyond.
+
+A larger reredos would further enhance the peculiar charm of the east
+end. There can, indeed, be little doubt that the ancient reredos was
+of tabernacle work, so as to carry on the effect of niches of the
+triforium storey. Their present disconnectedness can be no part of the
+original plan, and a reredos full of statues, which was high enough to
+group adequately with the rich canopies above could have been the only
+way to secure dignity and unity of effect. Till an architect is found
+capable of mastering so delicate a problem of proportion as such a
+reredos must present, we may well be content with a larger and
+brighter curtain. The low east wall, with its ugly cresting, warns us
+not to embark too rashly upon modern stonework.
+
+The lierned stone vault, with its heavy, angular ribs, is of a very
+unusual kind. Mr Freeman described it as "a coved roof, such as we are
+used to in woodwork in this part of England, only with cells cut in it
+for the clerestory windows." The restorers have gilded the bosses, but
+the space between the ribs is smoothed in a way that gives the
+appearance of there being no masonry in the construction. One can
+hardly judge the ceiling, therefore, by its present appearance, which
+is not further improved by the green wash with which some of the
+clerestory windows are covered.
+
+The general appearance of the choir suffers pitiably from the
+ill-advised restoration of 1848 and the following years. Before that
+time its aspect must have been curious and encumbered; but the
+judicious removal of the pews and galleries, and the restoration of
+the truncated oak canopies of the stalls, would have made matters
+right at a small cost, and without the destruction of any old
+woodwork. As it was, everything was ruthlessly swept away. The
+tabernacled stalls, which eighteenth-century vandalism had respected,
+vanished utterly before the restoring mania of the Gothic revivalist,
+even their traditional position and order being changed.
+
+The result is just what might have been expected. The place has been
+completely modernised. Chilly stone canopies cover the stalls; they
+are of the kind of workmanship which forty years ago was considered
+excellent. That is to say, they are covered with frigid, ungainly, and
+pompous ornament, cut with mechanical regularity, and without one
+trace of feeling or one line of beauty from beginning to end. Below,
+and between them, the choir is encumbered, much as it was before 1848,
+with rows of stalls, which are continued in the presbytery almost up
+to the tawdry brass altar-rails. Two more pale ghosts of medieval art
+front each other in complacent parody of the work their makers could
+not even copy--the pulpit and the bishop's throne. The former is Early
+Victorian; the latter is worse, it is a restoration of Perpendicular
+work so relentless that not a sign of the original conception remains.
+Plate-glass fills the tracery at the sides, and the door is a piece of
+solid swinging stone. On the completion of this terrible work, the
+restorers seem to have felt dimly the want of colour, which previously
+had been so abundant. They therefore proceeded to furnish with that
+peculiar musty red which used to cast a gloom over our childhood--red
+cushions on the seats, red cushions on the desks, red hassocks on the
+floor, red edges to the books, hot red in the bishop's throne, dull
+red on the altar, before the altar, and behind the altar, it is all
+red but the chilly white stone, and the all-pervading woodwork of the
+seats, which adds the muddy gloom of oak that has been stained and
+varnished to the miserable poverty of the whole.
+
+The cause of all this desolation was just the ignorance of its
+promoters as to the functions of a cathedral. The choir was looked
+upon as a select church for the leading families of the town, and the
+seats in it were appropriated; the nave was a vast empty space that
+was never used for worship at all. Hence the organ on the screen,
+hence the setting back of the stalls, so that the choir might be
+widened, and more seats "rammed, jammed, crammed," to use Freeman's
+indignant words, into the space. Instead of the long continuous range
+of stalls which formerly existed, there are now groups of five under
+each arch, with the result that ten of the prebendaries are without
+accommodation. Such is the heavy legacy of blunders with which the
+dean and chapter are burdened. It will take many a year before the
+choir can be redeemed from its unfortunate state; but the present
+arrangement of the altar is a great improvement on its position only a
+few years ago, and no doubt similar measures will in time completely
+efface the traces of 1850.
+
+Of the old woodwork the MISERICORDS have alone escaped destruction.
+Sixty-four of these remain, fifty of which belonged to the prebendal
+stalls of the upper row, though they were removed from their proper
+position at the restoration. Sixty of the seats are now in the lower
+rows of the stalls, the other four are preserved in the library. It is
+enough to say of them that no finer examples of wood-carving can be
+seen in England. The following description of the wonderfully fresh
+and varied subjects was supplied by Mr St. John Hope for a paper read
+by Canon Church before the _Society of Antiquaries_ in March 1896:--
+
+   _South side, first row._--1, a goat (broken); 2, a griffin
+   fighting with a lion(?); 3, a man in hood and drawers riding with
+   his face to the tail of a barebacked horse; 4, a hawk preying on
+   a rabbit; 5, a mermaid (unfinished); 6, two popinjays in a fruit
+   tree; 7, an ape carrying a basket of fruit on his back (broken);
+   8, a double-bodied monster; 9, a dog-headed griffin; 10, two
+   goats butting (unfinished); 11, a monkey holding an owl
+   (unfinished); 12, two dragons interlocked and biting each other's
+   tails; 13, an ewe suckling a lamb (unfinished); 14, a wyvern and
+   a horse fighting. _South side, second row._--15, a mermaid
+   suckling a lion; 16, a man holding a cup? (broken), sitting on
+   the ground, and disputing with another man holding a pouch; 17, a
+   cat preying on a mouse (unfinished); 18, a monster with bat's
+   wings; 19, a griffin devouring a lamb; 20, a puppy biting a cat;
+   21, a man in a contorted position upholding the seat; 22, a
+   serious-looking dog; 23, a cat playing a fiddle; 24, a man seated
+   on the ground and thrusting a dagger through the head of a dragon
+   with feathered wings; 25, bust of a bishop, in amice, chasuble,
+   and mitre (unfinished); 26, a peacock in his pride; 27, a fox
+   preaching to four geese, one of which has fallen asleep (broken);
+   28, a cock crowing. _North side, first row._--29, a lion dormant;
+   30, a dragon with expanded wings, asleep; 31, a man with his left
+   eye closed, wearing a cloak and squatting on the ground with his
+   hands on his knees; 32, a fox running off with a goose in his
+   mouth; 33, head of a man with donkey's ears; 34, two monsters
+   with male and female human heads, caressing (unfinished); 35, a
+   man on his back upholding the seat with his right hand and right
+   foot; 36, a lion with the ears of an ass; 37, a hawk scratching
+   its head; 38, a sleeping cat (unfinished); 39, a woman with
+   dishevelled hair and agonised expression, crouching on the ground
+   with the right hand on her shoulder, the other extended; 40, a
+   dragon with hairy belly biting his back; 41, two ducks addorsed,
+   one with his beak open; 42, two dragons fighting (unfinished);
+   43, a bat's head (unfinished). _North side, second row._--44,
+   head of a man with bushy hair and beard, with a lion's leg
+   growing out of each side; 45, a man in tunic and hood, lying on
+   his side and clasping his hands; 46, a man in girded tunic, with
+   his head downwards, upholding the seat with his back and left
+   hand; 47, head of a lady with hair in a caul on each side,
+   covered with a veil confined by an ornate fillet; 48, a
+   gentle-looking lion; 49, a bat displayed; 50, head of an angel,
+   with amice round neck and expanded wings; 51, a lion; 52, two
+   doves about to drink from a ewer standing in a basin
+   (unfinished); 53, a squirrel with a collar round his neck, trying
+   to escape from a monkey who holds him by a cord; 54, a
+   wood-pigeon feeding; 55, a man riding on a lion, to whose
+   buttocks he is applying a whip; 56, a boar and a cat with cloven
+   feet, walking in opposite directions; 57, an eagle displayed
+   (unfinished); 58, head and shoulders of a man who upholds the
+   seat with his hands; 59, a rabbit regardant; 60, a two-legged
+   beast regarding its tail, which is formed of three oak-leaves on
+   one stem. _In the Library._--61, a man in hood and loose tunic,
+   kneeling on the ground and thrusting a spear down the throat of a
+   dragon; 62, a boy in gown, with long, wavy hair, lying on his
+   side and drawing a thorn out of his left foot (of coarse late
+   seventeenth-century work); 63, a dove or pigeon feeding her
+   young; 64, a sorrowful-looking king sitting cross-legged on a
+   cushion between two rampant griffins, who are secured by straps
+   buckled round their necks.
+
+GLASS IN THE CHOIR.--Over the high altar is a superb specimen of the
+Jesse window. It is so intricate, that at first nothing can be
+distinguished in the glow of jewelled colour but the twining branches
+of the vine, and a little time is needed to enter into the spirit of a
+window that is all the more enduring for not being very obvious. The
+following excellent description by Canon Church (in a sermon preached
+in the cathedral on May Day 1890) will make the legend easy to
+decipher:--
+
+"In the central light are the foremost figures of the Bible story. At
+the base is the recumbent figure of Jesse with name inscribed, with
+head resting on hand as in meditation. From that figure, as from the
+vine stem, issues upward the leading shoot, bearing upon it the
+figures of the Virgin Mother crowned with ruby nimbus, and the Holy
+Child with gold nimbus, both under a golden canopy. Above, in line, is
+the Crucifixion. On either side, the waving tendrils of the vine
+shoots intertwine themselves in rings of light round figures of those
+who prepared the way for the advent of the Word Incarnate. On the
+lower tier, in line with Jesse, are, we may believe, the ancestors of
+Jesse. Amminadab and Obed are inscribed on two of the pedestals--others
+are nameless. Stately figures they are in face and form, in flowing
+mantles of green, and ruby and gold, like Arab chiefs, some with the
+Arab head-covering such as is worn to-day--figures such as some artist
+in the last crusading host might have seen and designed, so different
+from the conventional portraiture of Bible characters.
+
+"In the second tier are the Kings and Prophets chosen to represent the
+heralds of the Babe of Bethlehem, the Word Incarnate. Three
+kings--David with his 'immortal harp of golden wires'; Solomon, with
+Temple model in his hand, in robes of emerald, and ruby, and gold, are
+on either side of the central Figures; and Jechonias, the link in the
+pedigree between the royal David and the captive exile. Three
+Prophets--Abraham, misplaced indeed in order of time, but most fitly
+in place as 'the father of the faithful, unto whom and through whom
+the gospel was before preached to the Gentiles' (Gal. iii. 8); Hosea,
+and Daniel. All these are clad in the magnificence of Oriental
+drapery, the colours of each pair on either side of the central light
+answering like to like. Some are looking upward, some are pointing
+with outstretched hand towards The Child, towards the Crucified One.
+
+"There in central light in the mid-panel of the window is the Virgin
+Mother and the Holy Child, The Child born in Bethlehem the home of
+Jesse, not in David's royal Palace, the flowering shoot of the stem of
+Jesse. Now from His throne on His Mother's knee He looks out over the
+world and as with outstretched arms to embrace. A ray of white light
+on the Mother's head gives a natural halo of purity to Her 'the highly
+favoured' 'with grace replete,' whom all generations have called
+'blessed,' as she looks down wondering on the Holy Child.
+
+"A subdued and sadder colour seems to veil the subject of the highest
+panel in the central light. There is the green Cross in the
+background, and upon it are affixed the attenuated arms and the bent
+form of the Crucified--the head drooping on the breast. On either side
+of the Cross stand, the sorrowing Mother on the right, in attitude of
+calm resignation, very different from the conventional garb of
+mourning, and the exaggerated expression of grief in so many
+paintings; on the other hand St. John, in sadder colours and the gloom
+of grief. Again above, in two of the smaller six-cusped lights, are
+figures rising from the tomb, and in the two at the side are angels
+blowing trumpets calling to judgment. At the head and apex of the
+window are outstretched wings as of the Holy Spirit like the Dove
+brooding over the world re-created by the Word made Flesh, giving
+Himself for our redemption."
+
+The clerestory windows contained a figure under a canopy in each of
+the lower lights. Four of these old windows remain. One light in the
+north-east window contains a St. George, thus described by Mr C.
+Winston (_Arch. Soc., Bristol vol._): "He is clad in a surcoat which
+reaches to the knee. He wears a helmet, avant and rerebras,
+shin-pieces and sollerets of plate, or rather cuir boulli; the rest of
+his person is defended with mail, on his shoulders are aiglettes." In
+the next window are St. Egidias with very distended ears, and St.
+Gregory in a tiara. There are also two modern windows; a glaring one
+by Willement has St. Dunstan and St. Benignus, who were both abbots of
+Glastonbury and St. Honorius; another, by Bell, has Augustine,
+Ambrose, and Athanasius.
+
+THE AISLES OF THE CHOIR are entered from the transepts by ogee arches,
+which have crockets and finials, and are flanked by a pair of
+pinnacles on either side. The aisles are of the same character as the
+choir itself, as they were vaulted when the choir vault was made, and
+new windows of the Decorated style were inserted in the western bays
+as well as in the newer part. There is a stone bench along the aisles
+on both sides, and on the north side some very fine specimens of Early
+English carving lie on the bench. The vaulting is lierned with four
+bosses at each intersection. The foliage of the third group of
+capitals on the north side consists of a single leaf which runs
+horizontally round the caps.
+
+Two old wooden doors, with fine hinges, close the entrance to the
+presbytery on the north and south sides.
+
+The body of Bishop Jocelin lies buried in the midst of the choir,
+where he was laid in the place of honour as a founder. Bishop Godwin
+relates that the tomb was "monstrously defaced" in his time, and all
+traces of the burying-place were lost until, in 1874, an ancient
+freestone coffin was found under the pavement in the midst of the
+choir. Its covering stone had been broken, and the bones within
+disturbed; but on its discovery the stone was renewed, and the
+inscription _Jocelinus de Welles, Ep._ 1242 cut on it.
+
+THE SOUTH-EAST TRANSEPT is the chapel of St. John the Evangelist, but
+it is mainly occupied by a stove, one of those characterised by Mr
+Freeman as "the most hideous stoves with which human perversity ever
+disfigured an ancient building." Odds and ends are also kept here, in
+accordance with the extraordinary idea, not yet quite extinct, that a
+chapel is a place where rubbish may be shot. There is, nevertheless, a
+decorated piscina in the east wall to remind one of its former
+purpose. Against the south wall is the tomb of the learned _Dean
+Gunthorpe_ (1472-98), who built the present Deanery, and gave to the
+cathedral a silver image of our Lady, 158 oz. in weight. His initials
+occur on the panels, I.G. on a blue ground, and also his arms, which
+include guns, in allusion to his name. There are traces of colour,
+especially a strong light blue on the panels. Unless one has good
+nerves, it is advisable not to look at the window, which was given by
+the students of the Theological College under Canon Pindar, its first
+Principal. The middle of this unfortunate chapel is encumbered with a
+monument to _Dean Jenkyns_ (_ob._ 1854), the ornamentation of which may
+be taken as marking the lowest point to which the debasement of Gothic
+design has descended. A row of tiles round it serves to make it more
+conspicuous, and its unhappy prominence is further secured by a low
+brass railing of unutterably bad workmanship. It was Dean Jenkyns who
+restored the choir, and Professor Freeman remarks that on his tomb "is
+written, with an unconscious sarcasm, _Multum ei debet ecclesia
+Wellensis_," words which, he slily points out, seem to be borrowed
+from Lucan's address to Nero, the destroyer of Rome, _Multum Roma
+tamen debet_, etc.
+
+MONUMENTS IN THE SOUTH CHOIR AISLE.--Besides two of the
+thirteenth-century effigies of earlier bishops, there are in this
+aisle two ancient monuments of great interest. In the second bay is
+the tomb of _Saint William Bytton_ (1267-1274), a low slab of Purbeck
+marble, with the figure of a bearded and fully-vested bishop, in the
+act of benediction, cut upon it. This is the oldest incised slab in
+England; and it was at this tomb that the offerings were made which
+helped to finish the church. Godwin says that "many superstitious
+people (especially such as were troubled with the tooth-ake) were wont
+(even of late yeeres) to frequent much the place of his buriall, being
+without the North [a mistake for south] side of the Quier, where we
+see a Marble stone, having a pontificall image graven upon it."
+
+It may have once been more raised than now, and four small plugged
+holes in the masonry of the wall opposite suggest the existence of
+some arrangement in connection with the devotions here. In the
+restoration of 1848 the tomb was discovered between the second and
+third piers of the south choir aisle. It is thus described by Mr J.R.
+Clayton, an eye-witness on the occasion:
+
+"On the coffin being opened in the presence of Dean Jenkyns, it
+contained a skeleton laid out in perfect order, every bone in its
+right place; an iron ring, and a small wooden pastoral staff in two
+fragments; a leaden tablet, 10 in. by 3-1/3, with inscription most
+beautifully rendered in Lombardic characters.
+
+    _Hie jacet Willelmus de Button secundus Bathoniensis
+    et Wellensis episcopus sepultus XII.
+    die Decembris anno domini MCCLXXIIII_."
+
+It was noted at the same time that "the teeth were absolutely perfect
+in number, shape, and order, and without a trace of decay, and hardly
+any discoloration." From this one would infer that the saint was
+famous in his lifetime for his beautiful teeth, and that it was for
+this reason that his aid came to be invoked after his death by those
+suffering from toothache. It is certainly curious that men now living
+should have discovered his teeth to be still in such perfect
+preservation. His contemporaries would, no doubt, have called it a
+miracle.
+
+A little farther east is the remarkable tomb of _Bishop Beckington_,
+surrounded by an exquisite iron screen of the same period. Its canopy
+formerly projected into the choir, being large enough to form a small
+chantry; but, when the choir was so stupidly restored, the canopy was
+dragged from its place, and set up in St. Calixtus' chapel, where it
+still is (p. 99,) a hard-looking stone screen being built between the
+tomb and the choir in its stead. The tomb is divided into two parts,
+the arcade which forms the canopy of the lower effigy supporting the
+slab on which rests the figure of the bishop. The carving is very
+beautiful, and the delicately-wrought wings of the angels, which
+spread over the arches so as to fill the spandrels, are especially
+fine. Traces of colour are strong on the tomb, as they are on the
+canopy from which it has been divorced, so that one can form some
+little idea of what the whole must have been like in its first
+magnificence.
+
+The effigy of the bishop rests upon it, the old and wrinkled face
+(best seen from within the choir) bearing deep traces of that active
+public life which did so much for the city and the church. Below, in
+strange contrast to the gorgeous vestments, which have still the
+remnants of the painted pattern on them, lies a corpse, almost a
+skeleton, in its open shroud. At first one's feeling is that of
+repulsion, but it is lessened when we remember that Beckington himself
+had the tomb made, and consecrated it before a vast concourse of
+people, saying mass for his own soul, for those of his parents, and of
+all the faithful departed in the January of 1452. Thus for thirteen
+years did this great and famous prelate live with his tomb standing as
+a witness to all that, under those sumptuous robes of office which we
+are told he wore at its consecration, he knew himself to be but as
+other men, and could wait humbly for his end.
+
+A little farther east is a large and rather clumsy effigy of _Bishop
+Harewell_ (_ob._ 1386), whose name and arms are suggested, in the
+playful fashion of the time, by two hares at his feet. Harewell is
+known to have been a portly man.
+
+To the west of Beckington's monument an altar tomb in reddish
+alabaster has been placed in memory of _Lord Arthur Hervey,_ the late
+bishop, with an effigy by Mr Brock. It may be hoped that it is the
+last of its kind, since there is little room for more tombs, and great
+need of other and more useful forms of memorial.
+
+_Bishop Drokensford's_ tomb, at the entrance to the south-east
+transept, is of unusual design, the ogee heads of its panels being
+through-cut from side to side. Only the bases remain of its canopy,
+which was taken down in 1758, as it was thought to be in danger of
+falling. There is a good deal of colour on the tomb; the chasuble is
+red with green lining, its orphreys are painted on the stone. The
+apparel is also painted on the alb, the orphreys and ornaments on the
+mitre, and a lozenge-shaped pattern on the cushion. Two shields are
+emblazoned over and over again on the spandrels, the ground being
+alternately red and green with white sprays of foliage; the coat with
+four swans' heads, couped and addorsed, is Drokensford's. He was
+bishop when Dean Godelee's great works were going on, and he gave
+money towards building the central tower.
+
+MONUMENTS OF THE NORTH CHOIR AISLE.--One of the Early English
+effigies, which were made probably by Bishop Jocelin, lies here, with
+a modern inscription, to _Bishop Giso_. There are four others, to
+_Æthelwyn, Leofric, Duduc_, and _Burwold_, all having the same
+characteristics, in the ambulatory chapels and opposite aisle.
+Graceful and solemn as they are, they seem rough in outline, as if
+they were carved by a hand used to calculating for the distant views
+of the west front, and almost weather-worn, by the side of the more
+highly-finished effigies in marble and alabaster which are near them.
+In the year 1848, when these monuments were set back and placed on
+their present ugly bases, they were found to contain boxes with bones
+therein, and leaden tablets with the name of each bishop inscribed
+upon them.
+
+A different monument is that of _Ralph of Shrewsbury_ (_ob._ 1363),
+whose marble effigy, scored by the names of long-departed vandals,
+affords a good example of the episcopal ornaments, the mitre, gloves,
+maniple, the apparel round the neck, and the vexillum round the
+crozier. The tomb formerly stood surrounded by a grating, in the midst
+of the presbytery, for Ralph was the "finisher" of the church. But it
+was afterwards moved, and, says Godwin, it "lost his grates by the
+way." At the entrance to the little transept is the tomb of _Dean
+Forrest_ (_ob._ 1446), similar to that of Drokensford in the opposite
+aisle, but more mutilated. The canopy is gone, but fragments of it are
+in the undercroft of the chapter-house.
+
+THE NORTH-EAST TRANSEPT is the chapel of St. John Baptist, and
+contains a Decorated piscina. On its east wall is a sculpture of the
+Ascension, which formerly was fixed in the east cloister above the
+I.H.S. in the fourth bay. St. Andrew with his cross may be noticed
+among the Apostles. There are traces of blue in the background, and of
+red in one of the cloaks. Most noticeable among its monuments is the
+handsome marble sarcophagus and effigy _of Bishop Creyghton_, who gave
+the lectern. The figure is vested in cope, mitre, and alb, a fact
+which is worth noting, as the bishop lived in the reign of Charles II.
+There is also an effigy of _John de Myddleton_ or Milton, who, after
+being chancellor for a very short time, became a friar and died in
+1337. The plain tomb of _Bishop Berkele_ (_ob._ 1581) bears a curious
+inscription, which assumes more than the character of its subject
+would seem to warrant: _Spiritvs, ervpto, salvvs, gilberte novembre,
+carcere principis en(c) aethere barkle, crepat. añ: dãt ista salutis._
+Which may thus be translated, "Thy soul is safe, Gilbert Barkley,
+having broken from its prison in the beginning of November, it speaks
+from the sky. These words give the year of its safety," The words
+referred to are in the middle part of the tomb--
+
+        _Vixi, videtis præmium:
+    83 Lvxi, redux quieascibus.
+        Pro, captua gendo præsulis
+        Septem per annos triplices_
+
+The figures 83 at the side of _Vixi_ and _Lvxi_ suggested to Mr J.
+Parker that the letters stood also for figures thus--vi (6) xi (11) lv
+(55) xi (11), the total being 83, which was the age at which Berkeley
+died. The quatrain may be translated--
+
+    "I have lived, you see my reward:
+    I have shone, returning to my rest.
+    Having held the office of bishop
+    For seven times three years."
+
+The east end of the north aisle forms a roomy chapel which is
+dedicated to St. Stephen, and contains a piscina of the same type as
+those in the neighbouring chapels. Its east window has five lights,
+and that in the side wall has three, with good reticulated tracery;
+the principal mouldings are already assuming the large flat hollow
+form which was to become characteristic of the Perpendicular style.
+The chapel of St. Catherine on the south side corresponds to it
+exactly.
+
+[Illustration: Procession Path And Lady Chapel.]
+
+THE PROCESSION PATH, or, to use the uglier and more accurate word, the
+Retro-choir, is a rectangular space between these chapels and the
+transepts, on the north and south, and the Lady Chapel and presbytery
+on the east and west. This space is vaulted; and the vault is carried
+by four slender piers of Purbeck marble, with attached shafts, in the
+midst, by a group of Purbeck shafts on each of the two piers which
+lead into the Lady Chapel, and by the light blue Purbeck shafts of the
+eastern arches of the presbytery. As two of the middle piers (which
+are set diagonally from north-east to south-west, and from south-east
+to north-west) are in a line with the pier-arches of the choir, while
+the other two, though in a line with those of the Lady Chapel (which
+themselves project into the Path), are without those of the choir, a
+complicated system of vaulting and a charming arrangement of piers is
+the result. Indeed, this exquisite group of piers has never been
+surpassed, and nothing can be found that better illustrates the
+subtlety and extreme refinement of the last stages of Gothic
+architecture at their best. At whichever point one stands fresh beauty
+is apparent. It is merely a device for connecting Lady Chapel with
+choir, while leaving a wide path free for processions, yet what a gem
+of perfection has been drawn from the need! As one sits at the corner
+near the south wall of the Lady Chapel, one can best appreciate the
+range of vaulting, which, though it is doubled here, is of the same
+height as that of the aisles, running faithfully round to cover the
+ambulatory which encircles the choir, while on either side the pillars
+soar upward to the higher vault of the Lady Chapel and the yet higher
+ceiling of the choir. Opposite are the painted fragments of glass in
+the north choir aisle, seen through the arches of the presbytery, and
+the windows over the range of tabernacle work in the choir itself. On
+the left the south aisle can be seen stretching onwards, across the
+bright break of the transept, to the west end, and on the right are
+the gorgeous windows of the Lady Chapel. Everywhere the slender
+pillars stand, and the mouldings branch away from their rich capitals,
+each doing its appointed work, calculated and exact, in what would
+seem at first but a lavish profusion of marble shaft and moulded
+stone. Yet we can hardly now imagine what it all was like before the
+richly-decked altars were torn down, the painted windows knocked to
+fragments, the canopies, tombs, and images defaced or destroyed.
+
+The vault is lierned with richly-carved bosses still warm with the
+marks of gilding; both on the bosses and the capitals the foliage is
+of the crumpled character suggestive of the oak-leaf.
+
+Unlike the piers of the Lady Chapel, the bases here are of marble,
+though the plinths are of stone. Two grotesque heads, lower than the
+bosses, at the north and south-western angles, hold three ribs in
+their mouths, the ribs, which end there in seeming futility, being
+used to cover an awkward corner of the vaulting.
+
+GLASS IN THE CHOIR AISLES AND CHAPELS.--A good deal of glass in a more
+or less fragmentary condition survives in the eastern portion of the
+church. It is fine work of the first half of the fourteenth century.
+In the south aisles there is good glass in all the upper lights; the
+third window has later glass in the lower lights, which bears the date
+1607, and consists of coats of arms and a series of small square
+pictures of foreign type. The east window of St. Catherine's chapel is
+composed of fragments fitted together at random; in the upper lights
+of the south window are rather coarse heads of St. Aldhelm, St.
+Erkenwald, and other saints: two of them should be noticed for the
+early form of papal tiara. In the corresponding chapel of St. Stephen
+both the east and north windows are the same, the north window even
+containing a second head of St. Erkenwald; the other saints are
+inscribed--"St. Stephanas Papa" (the Pope Stephen, who died 257), "S.
+Blasii Epi" (St. Blaise), and "S. Marcellus Papa"; in the topmost
+light of both windows is a small figure of Our Lord.
+
+In the north aisle, the first window (counting from the east) contains
+a St. Michael; the next a crucifix and a figure of St. Mary Magdalen,
+with some sixteenth-century coats (including the curious arms of
+Bishop Knight, p. 87) in the lower lights. Similar coats are in the
+third window, which has a figure of St. John Baptist. The fourth
+window contains modern glass erected in honour of Bishop Ken (p. 157),
+as a memorial to Dean Plumptre, who died in 1891. In the centre Ken is
+represented in full pontifical vestments, below him angels are
+supporting his arms impaled with those of the see; over his head is
+the favourite superscription of his letters, "All glory be to God,"
+and at his feet his rule of life "_Et tu quæris tibi grandia? Noli
+quærere_" (Jer. xlv. 5). The left-hand panels represent St. Paul
+teaching Timothy (because Ken wrote the "Manual for Winchester
+Scholars," and the "Exposition of the Catechism"), Christ's charge to
+St. Peter; the right panels represent St. Paul before Agrippa and St.
+Peter in prison (because Ken was one of the seven bishops imprisoned
+by James II.). The two lower panels represent labourers going to their
+work singing _Benedicite_, and a priest and choristers chanting _Nunc
+Dimittis,_ in allusion to Ken's morning and evening hymns.
+
+THE LADY CHAPEL was finished in 1326, before the presbytery was added
+to the present choir, and thus it belongs to the middle of the
+Decorated period. In plan it is octagonal, the three western sides
+consisting of the three arches by which it is opened to the rest of
+the church. It could, in fact, stand perfectly well as a detached
+building like the Lady Chapel at Gloucester, and doubtless it did so
+stand while the presbytery was a-building; but its connection with the
+church itself allows its apsidal west end to be cunningly combined
+with the beautiful pillars which support the vault of the ambulatory.
+The arrangement by which these three western sides project into the
+ambulatory is more easy to see than to describe; from the west side of
+the piers which support them spring the vaulting ribs of the
+retro-choir, while on the east side of the piers the shafts rise much
+higher up to carry the loftier vault of the Lady Chapel. As the chapel
+is not a perfect octagon like the chapter-house, but is elongated from
+east to west, this vault was difficult to manage, and its lines are
+somewhat distorted in consequence. The vault springs from triple
+shafts between fine traceried windows of five lights, and its ribs
+meet in a boss containing a beautiful figure of our Lord seated on a
+throne with outstretched arms; the colour and gilding are well
+restored.
+
+Professor Willis said that "the polygonal Lady Chapel and the vaulted
+work which connects it with the presbytery is a most original and
+unique piece of architecture, of pure and beautiful design." As to the
+first part of this sentence there can be no difference of opinion, and
+all will agree as to the fineness of the general effect of the chapel;
+yet there may well be two opinions as to the purity of the work. I
+confess that the following criticism (_Builder_, Aug. 1862) from a
+lecture of Mr E.W. Godwin seems to me to be not entirely without
+justification:--"With the single exception of the way in which the
+vaulting is managed, I look upon this Lady Chapel as no better than
+the other work of the same date. There is a weakness about the
+constant recurrence of the same form in the tracery of the windows;
+the lines of the vault are, in some cases, clumsy to a degree; and the
+capitals have lost their constructional character altogether. The
+growth and vitality, the change and joyfulness, so visible in the
+earlier caps, especially those with figures, are no longer to be seen.
+Leaves are now stuck on; or, at the best, wreathed round the bell of
+the capital; and so the _function_ of the capital--the upbearing
+principle--is lost." So much for its defects. The peculiar excellence
+of the chapel is that it gives that apsidal ending to the church which
+adds so much to its beauty both within and without, and yet does not
+interfere with the square end of the presbytery.
+
+The Lady Chapel has been fitted up for the use of the Theological
+College, and its furniture contrasts favourably with that of the
+choir. A litany desk, stalls, and credence-table in oak have recently
+been given, and a retable carved by Miss Neville; the altar cross,
+however, is too stunted for its position. The eagle lectern, in spite
+of its dark appearance, is modern, of Dean Goodenough's time. The
+doorway on the south side led to the old vestry, so wantonly destroyed
+in the present century: now that the chapel is in daily use the need
+of the vestry is much felt, and a cupboard in St. John's chapel has to
+serve for a makeshift. The gas-brackets are of later and more pleasant
+work than those elsewhere.
+
+Mr Ferrey discovered fragments of a reredos at the east end of the
+chapel, and set them up as best he could to form the present reredos:
+the original arrangement seems to be lost, for some of the pedestals
+are on the level of the floor, while some of the niches at the top are
+cut in half. Mr Ferrey restored the whole chapel at the same time, and
+paved it with tiles.
+
+GLASS IN LADY CHAPEL.--The large windows of this chapel are all filled
+with beautiful fourteenth-century glass, but alas! in a marred
+condition. The side windows contain fragments packed together anyhow.
+The eastern window was made up out of old pieces by Willement at Dean
+Goodenough's restoration, and its colour almost completely spoilt by
+modern insertions. The harm, however, is not irreparable, for the
+figures are almost entirely genuine, and the bad effect is mainly due
+to Willement's blue background. A careful examination would easily
+separate the new from the old, and it would be quite easy at the
+present day to remove the bad work and replace it by glass that would
+carry out the old harmony of colour. The lower lights are filled with
+two tiers of figures in canopies, David and other patriarchs in the
+upper tier, and the following well-chosen series in the lower:--The
+Madonna in the midst, on her right the Serpent and Eve, on her left
+the Brazen Serpent and Moses. The upper lights of this window contain
+angels bearing the instruments of the Passion, which are unspoilt, as
+are also the busts of patriarchs in the north-east window, and of
+bishops in that on the south-east. Three of the topmost lights contain
+emblems of the Evangelists, the fourth is lost. One inscription
+remains, _Ista capella constructa est_ ... but the date is gone.
+
+A tall and light monument stands between the Lady Chapel and St.
+Catherine's; its crocketed finials, filled with tracery, rise almost
+to the ceiling. The canopy is open at the sides and western end, but
+the eastern end forms a niche; this part has been restored in colour
+and gilding, it is powdered with _fleurs-de-lys,_ and bears a shield
+containing the _Agnus Dei_. No other part shows any trace of colour.
+The base is much higher than that of an ordinary tomb, and the canopy
+seems to have been somewhat altered at Ferrey's restoration.
+
+The spot where the altar of St. Catherine and All Virgins stood is now
+"Sacred to the memory of John Phelips Of Montacute in this county
+esquire. Descended from a line of ancestors, Whose names for two
+centuries and a half abound in the annals of the county, He succeeded
+at an early age to the paternal estates, And sustained the wonted
+hospitality of his house. He soon became a most active and intelligent
+magistrate," etc., etc.
+
+THE CHAPTER-HOUSE STAIRCASE is entered by the doorway in the eastern
+aisle of the north transept. There are few things in English
+architecture that can be compared with it for strange impressive
+beauty; the staircase goes upward for eighteen steps and then part of
+it sweeps off to the chapter-house on the right, while the other part
+goes on and up till it reaches the chain-bridge; thus the steps lie,
+worn here and there by the tread of many feet, like fallen leaves, the
+last of them lost in the brighter light of the bridge. Here one is
+still almost within the cathedral, and yet the carts are passing
+underneath, and their rattle mixes with the sound of the organ within.
+
+The date of the staircase is clearly somewhere between that of the
+chapter-house and that of the church itself. It is later than the
+church, for it is built up against the transept buttresses, and it
+contains some of the best examples of simple geometrical tracery,
+while there are nothing but lancet windows in the church of Reginald
+and Jocelin. But the simple geometrical tracery of its two four-light
+windows prove that it was finished before the chapter-house was begun.
+The arches of these windows are rampant, to follow the level of the
+stairs; their beautiful circular tracery is massive, deeply-moulded,
+and filled with remnants of rich glass; their shafts of blue lias have
+naturalistic capitals which are in striking contrast both to the Early
+English carving in the church and the full Decorated of the
+chapter-house itself. Below the windows is a stone bench rising in
+steps with a foot-pace of similar construction; this arrangement adds
+much to the effect of the staircase, though it is marred by a modern
+hand-rail.
+
+Before the Chain Gate was made, the vestibule ended with a graceful
+window of four lights similar to those at the side. The upper part of
+the window remains, but the lower part is occupied by a Perpendicular
+doorway, and the whole now forms a screen which, by breaking the
+light, adds considerably to the charm of the staircase. Through this
+doorway, where they are cut away to allow the door to open, the steps
+continue for two stages, but in a narrower flight. Here the windows
+are Perpendicular, and the vaulted ceiling has given place to a wooden
+roof, for this is the Chain Gate, as light and pretty within as
+without. It was only an after-thought, a matter of convenience, thus
+to connect the chapter-house with the Vicars' Close, and the screen
+that now breaks the light had for a century and a half been the
+outside window, just as the blocked window of the transept had been
+the outer light for the fifty years before the staircase itself was
+thought of. It was just a practical matter-of-fact device; but what
+magnificent utilitarianism, what an inspired after-thought!
+
+[Illustration: Steps Of Chapter-house Vestibule And Passage Over Chain
+Gate.]
+
+The main gallery of the Chain Gate is shut off by a door which, if it
+were kept open, would make the prospect even more beautiful than it
+is. Two corbels which support the vaulting-shafts of the lower
+staircase should be noticed; they both represent figures thrusting
+their staves into the mouth of a dragon, but that on the east (wearing
+a hood and a leathern girdle round his surcoat) is as vigorous in
+action as the figure on the west side is feeble. A small barred
+opening in the top of the east wall lights a curious little chamber,
+which is reached from the staircase that leads to the roof.
+
+THE CHAPTER-HOUSE is entered by a double-arched doorway, the small
+vault between the arches having an odd boss composed of four bearded
+heads. There are marks in the wall which lead one to think that the
+doors were hung in a wooden screen under this vault. The old doors are
+now used in the house of the Principal of the College, where they were
+identified by Canon Church. They have little slits in them, through
+which those in the chapter-house could speak with those without, who
+no doubt waited for admittance on the stepped stone bench of the
+staircase. Grooves in the two inner shafts of the doorway seem to have
+been made for the insertion of some light screen, by which the
+entrance was divided into two passages for ingress and egress. The
+absence of doors certainly adds to the rather cold unfurnished
+appearance of the chapter-house in its present condition.
+
+[Illustration: Chapter-House--Doorway.]
+
+The room itself ("a glorious development of window and vault" it has
+been called) is one of the best examples of that type of chapter-house
+which belongs mainly to the thirteenth century, and is a peculiar
+glory of English architecture. Of octagonal plan, its vaulting ribs
+branch out from sixteen Purbeck shafts which cluster round the central
+pillar, typifying the diocesan church with all its members gathered
+round its common father, the bishop. Each of the eight sides of the
+room is occupied by a window of four lights, with graceful tracery of
+an advanced geometrical type. These windows, which are among the
+finest examples of the period, have no shafts, but their arch
+mouldings are enriched with a continuous series of the ball-flower
+ornament. Most of the old glass, in which ruby and white are the
+predominant colours, remains in the upper lights.
+
+[Illustration: Chapter-House--Interior.]
+
+Under the windows runs an arcade which forms fifty-one stalls,
+separated into groups of seven by the blue lias vaulting-shafts at the
+angles, but in the side which is occupied by the doorway there are
+only two stalls, one on either side of the entrance. Two rows of stone
+benches are under the stalls, and there is a bench of Purbeck round
+the base of the central pier. The arcade strikes one as too shallow:
+its canopies, which rest on blue lias shafts, are ornamented with
+feathering, crockets, finials, and an interesting series of small
+heads. Some of the heads wear crowns, mitres, hoods, and square caps;
+others are grotesque, though I cannot detect the "jesters" to which
+some writers refer. Some of the heads have the same formal twist in
+the hair as those of the large corbels in the nave (p. 81). The heads
+on the side opposite the door are all (with the exception of one
+modern head in plaster) covered with the early form of papal tiara, a
+conical hat with a crown round its rim. On this side, in the middle
+stall, is the bishop's seat, and here are traces of colour; the little
+heads are still pretty with pink cheeks and painted eyes and hair, and
+above the canopy the saltire of St. Andrew is discernible.
+
+Thus the bishop still retained, at least in theory, the head-ship of
+the chapter. The dean sat on one side of him, the precentor on the
+other, and the rest in due order from the archdeacons and officers
+down to those in minor orders. Even the boys of the school were
+admitted to part of the meetings, and they stood on the floor round a
+desk which was in front of the chief pastor. "There every morning,"
+says Canon Church (_Chapters in Hist, of Wells_, p. 333), "after the
+prayers of the third hour and the morning mass, the chapter of the
+whole body was held for the daily lection and commemoration of
+brethren departed, for maintaining discipline, hearing complaints,
+passing judgment, inflicting punishment; for ordering the services of
+the day and of the week--for sitting in council and drawing up
+statutes."
+
+Beautiful as is the general effect of the chapter-house, it must be
+admitted that its detail is inferior to that of the staircase, which
+is just one stage earlier in the development of architecture. Nor can
+its capitals be compared for a moment with those in the nave; the
+lighter form of structure doubtless calls for a lighter cap, but these
+are distinctly untidy in their decoration. The crockets are very near
+having that wholesale look which has caused nineteenth-century
+architects to make so much of this easily debased ornament. The
+arrangement, too, by which the fine doorway rises into a window of
+unmodified pattern seems a rather awkward compromise, especially as
+the line of the staircase roof cuts slantwise across the lights. One
+cannot help thinking that an earlier architect would have departed
+from his uniform pattern at this point, and have inserted a window or
+arcade better adapted to the position, with the addition, perhaps, of
+sculpture in the vacant space.
+
+Between the roof and the vault there is a curious chamber which
+reminds one of the crater of a volcano, and the impression is
+increased by the sponge-like stone, which has some resemblance to
+tufa. The open arcade under the roof has served to keep the woodwork
+in remarkably sound condition.
+
+[Illustration: Chapter-House--Vault.]
+
+THE UNDERCROFT.--Much of the external beauty of the chapter-house, as
+well as the charm of its staircase, is due to its unusual height above
+the ground. It rests upon a vaulted chamber or undercroft, which is
+popularly called the crypt, though that term is not very accurate, as
+the chamber is not sunk underground, but stands almost on a level with
+the floor of the church. The innumerable springs in the soil of Wells
+do not, indeed, admit of a subterranean building. The undercroft was
+finished before the chapter-house staircase was begun; perhaps its
+walls were built at the end of Jocelin's episcopate; at any rate it
+was finished by 1286, and represents the last development of the Early
+English style. It was used as the treasury, where the vestments,
+ornaments, registers, and other precious things, both of the bishop
+and chapter, were kept, and, to increase the security of its massive
+walls, the sacristan had to sleep within them every night.
+
+[Illustration: Chapter-House--Undercroft.]
+
+It is reached by a dimly-lit, impressive passage, which is entered
+from the north choir aisle through a doorway with deeply-sunk
+mouldings and carved capitals. Two heads, slanting inwards in a rather
+awkward manner, support the curious pediment-shaped canopy over the
+doorway. At the commencement of this fine passage, just within the
+doorway, is a small vault supported on extremely odd corbels, as if
+the mason had taken advantage of the obscurity to wanton with his
+craft. One is a large head with enormous cheeks, apparently suffering
+from acute neuralgia; a handkerchief, under which a few
+comically-stiff curls escape, covers the head and is tied under the
+chin; another represents two dragons biting each other, with a head
+upside down beneath them; another, which reminds one of the worst
+eccentricities of modern crockery, is formed by a hand holding a
+foliated capital. I suppose that the head with swollen cheeks is
+really another testimony to St. William Bytton's power over the
+toothache. The undercroft itself was finished before 1286, perhaps
+some time before; but the more advanced sculpture of the passage looks
+as if that part were built in the "toothache" period--that is to say,
+some ten years or so after Bytton's death in 1274.
+
+[Illustration: Chapter-House--Undercroft.]
+
+Certainly the bosses of the vault in the passage beyond the doorway
+are of a character that suggests the transition to Decorated which was
+in progress at this time. They are elaborate, and, with one exception,
+through-carved. The first from the door represents a head, the next an
+_Agnus Dei_, the next two grotesque heads joined together, then
+apparently the Serpent tempting Eve, then an ox, dragons, two small
+grinning heads, with animals apparently biting them on one side. The
+corbels are carved into heads, some crowned, others reversed with the
+shaft in their mouths. On the right-hand side, as one enters the
+undercroft, a pretty stone lantern projects from the wall; of the
+little mullions which form its face, one is set far enough from the
+wall to admit of the insertion of a lamp.
+
+Two heavy wooden doors at the entrance leave no doubt as to the
+purpose for which the undercroft was built. The outer door is the most
+massive; it is studded with nails, and has two great bolts and a huge
+lock: on the outer side a kind of escutcheon is formed round the
+keyhole by a heart-shaped piece of iron, surmounted by a cross; on the
+same side there is an iron bar, and the hook to hold it across the
+doorway. A deep hole has been worn in the pavement by the feet of
+those who pulled open the door. The inner door is lighter, and
+ornamented with beautiful elaborate hinges: on this side are deep
+sockets in the wall, into which the inner bars were run.
+
+In the undercroft itself the walls are impregnably thick, the windows
+narrow, with wide splays. The vaulting, somewhat later in style than
+the walls, is an admirable piece of construction, well-fitted to bear
+the weight of the lofty chamber above. It is also remarkable,
+Professor Willis points out, for the way in which the arches are
+disposed without the introduction of ribs. From the round shafts which
+are grouped about the octagonal pier in the centre spring the vaulting
+ribs, the extremities of which rest upon eight round pillars; and
+another set of vaulting ribs spans the space between these pillars and
+the eight walls, where they rest upon twelve shafts between the lancet
+windows. Could anything be more simple and secure in construction, and
+more varied in effect?
+
+Here, on one of the capitals and on a moulding near the door, we meet
+with the dog-tooth moulding usually so characteristic of the Early
+English style. The piscina in the doorway should be noticed for its
+carving of a dog gnawing a bone.
+
+[Illustration: Section Of Chapter-house.]
+
+A large aumbry is formed by a recess in the thickness of the wall. The
+parapeted structure opposite is a modern coal-hole, for which some
+other place might surely be found. There are several stone coffins in
+the undercroft, and a good many fragments of carved stone, some of
+which are very fine. Here also is a cope-chest of the usual shape,
+which allows the copes to be put away with only one fold. Near it
+there is a large oblong chest covered with iron bands. An iron door
+which is also kept here is thus described by Mr H. Longden
+(_Archaeological Journal_, 1890, p. 132): "It is made of slabs of iron
+nailed to an oak frame-work, and liberally braced across with hinges
+and diagonal cross-straps, stiffening the door in the best way known
+at the time. This is not an iron-plated door, but an iron door; it is,
+in fact, a 'safe' door of the time, and is an uncommon instance. It
+must be remembered that the slabs of which this door is formed were
+all beaten out of lumps of iron, and that iron was not then made, as
+now, in plates, bars, or rods, but ... The lump of iron had to be
+heated and drawn out on the anvil at a great expenditure of time and
+labour. Much of the charm of old work arises from the irregularity of
+the shapes, never quite round, or square, or flat, which the iron
+took, and we miss this in the neat and mechanically-finished work of
+the present time."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE.
+
+
+Legend, which in every ancient city is raised to the dignity of an
+article of faith, places the origin of Wells diocese in the remote
+past; and the visitor is required to believe that Ina, King of Wessex,
+the first great West Saxon lawgiver, the ruler who finally established
+the English supremacy in the south-west, was also the founder of the
+see of Wells. He is said to have planted a bishopric at Congresbury,
+and in 721 to have removed the see to Wells with the help of Daniel,
+the last British bishop. The story, however, rests upon no good
+foundation.
+
+Before the middle of the seventh century the heathen invaders were
+converted by St Birinus, and by the time of Ina Wessex was divided
+into the dioceses of Winchester and Sherborne, the latter including
+Somerset, Dorset, and part of Wiltshire. This was all that Ina did
+towards establishing the diocese of Wells; and it did not go very far,
+for the special boast of the diocese is that it consists of one
+county, Somerset, and of nothing else. And so it is that the honour of
+possessing Ealdhelm, the first bishop of Sherborne, who tramped about,
+an open-air preacher, in his diocese, belongs to Salisbury and not to
+Wells; although Doulting, where Ealdhelm fell sick and died sitting in
+the little wooden village church, is the very place whence afterwards
+the stone was quarried for the building of Wells Cathedral.
+
+It was under that great warrior, Edward the Elder, that the diocese of
+Sherborne was divided, and the Sumorsaetas received a bishop of their
+own, whose stool was placed in the church of St. Andrew at Wells.
+
+It is quite probable that the above tradition grew around Ina's name
+owing to his having really established a church with a body of priests
+attached to it; since we find in a charter of Cynewulf, dated 766, a
+mention of "the minister near the great spring at Wells for the better
+service of God in the church of St. Andrew." This charter is probably
+spurious, but it may for all that enshrine an historical fact,
+especially as it does not pretend to the existence of a bishopric. If
+this be the case, then Edward, who wanted a fairly central church for
+a diocese which had no important town, must have found Wells very
+convenient for his purpose. For while Glastonbury, besides being in
+those days an island, had an abbot of its own, this little body of
+secular priests would be ready to receive the bishop as their chief,
+and to become his chapter. At all events, the year 909 saw Wells with
+a bishop of its own.
+
+[Illustration: Specimens Of Capitals.]
+
+AETHELHELM or ATHELM, _Bishop of Somerset, or Wells_ (909-914), a monk
+of Glastonbury according to tradition, was the first Somersetshire
+bishop; he is said to have been an uncle of St. Dunstan: he was made
+Archbishop of Canterbury in 914.
+
+It will be convenient to weave the history of the foundation of Wells
+with that of the bishops. So here, at the outset, the reader must bear
+in mind that from the beginning the cathedral church was served by
+"secular" clergy, by priests, that is, who were bound by no vows other
+than those of their ordination, who did not live a community life, but
+had each his own house, and generally at this time his own wife and
+family. Wells Cathedral was not "built by the monks," and its chapter
+was never composed of monks; though some of the bishops belonged to
+religious orders, it kept up a pretty constant rivalry with the
+"regular" clergy of Glastonbury and Bath. It belongs in fact, to the
+cathedrals of the old foundation, whose constitutions were not changed
+at the Reformation; and its chapter has continued in unbroken
+succession, from the days when Aethelhelm first presided over his
+little body of clergy in the church of St. Andrew, down to our own
+time. But at first that chapter was informal enough, nor was it
+finally incorporated and officered till the time of Bishop Robert in
+the twelfth century. The number of canons does not seem to have been
+fixed, though in the next century we hear of there being only four or
+five.
+
+[Illustration: Specimens Of Capitals.]
+
+The next five bishops are all little more than names to us. WULFHELM
+succeeded Aethelhelm in 914: also translated to Canterbury; AELFHEAH
+(923), WULFHELM (938), BRITHHELM (956-973), and CYNEWARD (973-975).
+
+SIGEGAR (975-977), a pupil of St. Dunstan, and abbot of Glastonbury,
+was succeeded, or perhaps supplanted, by AELFWINE, in 997-999.
+
+AETHELSTAN, or LYFING; translated to Canterbury 1013.
+
+AETHELWINE and BRIHTWINE shared the episcopate, either as rivals or
+coadjutors. Brihtwine was last in possession. MEREWIT, also called
+Brihtwine, succeeded in 1026.
+
+DUDUC (1033-1060), a German Saxon. Cnut had given him the estates of
+Congresbury and Banwell, which he left to the church of Wells; but
+Harold took possession of them.
+
+GISA (1060-1088), a Belgian from Lorraine, found his see in a sad
+condition: the church was mean, its revenues small, and its four or
+five canons were forced, he says, to beg their bread. He at once set
+to work to increase the revenues; and from Edward the Confessor, from
+his queen, Edith, then from Harold, and afterwards from William the
+Conqueror, he obtained various estates for the support of his canons.
+
+He also changed the way of living of the canons, and built a cloister,
+dormitory, and refectory, thereby forcing them to live a common life,
+much as if they were monks--an unpopular innovation which was
+supported by the appointment in the foreign fashion of a provost to be
+chief officer, the canons choosing for this post one Isaac of Wells.
+
+JOHN DE VILLULA, _Bishop of Bath_ (1088-1122), a rich physician of
+Tours. He put an end to the semi-monastic discipline of Gisa by
+pulling down his community buildings and erecting a private house of
+his own on the site. And he removed the see of Somersetshire from
+Wells to the Abbey of Bath.
+
+GODFREY (1123-1135).
+
+ROBERT OF LEWES (1136-1166), the second founder of the cathedral; he
+made the constitution of the chapter, he rebuilt the old Saxon church,
+and he started Wells as a borough by the grant of its first charter of
+freedom. Of a Fleming family, though born in England, he was a monk
+from the Cluniac house of St. Pancras at Lewes; and to another and
+more famous Cluniac monk, Bishop Henry of Winchester, King Stephen's
+brother, he owed his advancement. In the very year of his consecration
+he began the recovery of Wells from the low estate in which John de
+Villula and his rapacious relatives had left it. He restored their
+property to the canons, and, in order to secure it, he divided it off
+from the property of the see by a charter of incorporation. He
+assisted at Henry II.'s coronation in 1154, and at the consecration of
+Thomas à Becket in 1162.
+
+Bishop Robert arranged the quarrel with Bath by settling that Bath
+should take precedence of Wells, but that the bishop should have his
+throne in both churches, and be elected by the two chapters
+conjointly.
+
+By the charter which incorporated the chapter of Wells, Robert also
+settled portions of the estate, or prebends, on the twenty-two canons,
+and founded the offices of dean, precentor, chancellor, treasurer,
+sub-dean, provost, and sub-chanter, all of which, except the two last,
+still exist.
+
+After an interval of eight years, REGINALD DE BOHUN or FITZ-JOCELIN,
+the Archdeacon of Sarum, was consecrated Bishop of Bath (1174-1191).
+Immediately afterwards he induced the monk who was soon to become
+famous as St. Hugh of Lincoln, to leave the Grande Chartreuse, and to
+come to England as prior of the first English charter-house. He built
+the greater part of the present nave transepts and choir; for this end
+he made large gifts to the fabric fund, and collected gifts from
+others. He also extended the privileges of the town, and increased
+both the endowment and the number of the prebends.
+
+SAVARIC, _Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury_ (1192-1205), a relation of
+the Emperor Henry VI. In 1191 he started with Richard I. for the Holy
+Land. At Messina, though not yet in priest's orders, he obtained
+private letters from the king sanctioning his appointment to any
+bishopric to which he might be elected. Bishop Reginald was a kinsman
+of his, and, on his election to Canterbury, he obtained the vote of
+the convent of Bath for Savaric. The Justiciar gave at once the royal
+sanction, in spite of the protests of the canons of Wells, who had not
+been consulted. Savaric had meanwhile wisely established himself at
+Rome, and was able to obtain the Pope's consent. He was consecrated
+priest one day and bishop the next, but he still remained abroad.
+
+Savaric, supported by the authority of King John, broke into
+Glastonbury with soldiers, starved and beat the monks, and, with great
+violence, established himself in possession.
+
+His biography was compressed in a clever epigram:--
+
+    "_Hospes erat mundo per mundum semper eundo,
+    Sic suprema dies fit sibi prima quies,_"
+
+admirably translated by Canon Bernard:
+
+    "Through the world travelling, all the world's guest,
+    His last day of life was his first day of rest."
+
+Yet he was the first to institute the daily mass of Our Lady, as well
+as that for the faithful departed, in Wells Cathedral.
+
+JOCELIN TROTEMAN DE WELLES, _Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury,_ and
+after 1219 _Bishop of Bath_ (1206-1242), is, after Ken, the most
+famous of Wells worthies. He came from a local stock, and spent all
+his time and money on the cathedral church, first as canon, then as
+bishop for thirty-six years. In 1208, when Pope Innocent III. laid
+England under an interdict, the bishop published it in his own
+diocese, and then fled the country, leaving his estates to be seized
+by John. On John's submission to the Pope in 1213, he returned, and
+two years later stood by Stephen Langton at Runnymede, putting his
+name as Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury to _Magna Charta_. When John
+was dead it was Jocelin who administered the oath to Henry III. at his
+coronation.
+
+In 1219 Jocelin made terms with Glastonbury, which Savaric had seized,
+giving up the abbacy and the title in return for four manors. He
+founded a hospital, re-endowed the Lady mass which Savaric had
+instituted, increased the number of prebends (the estates, that is,
+which each maintained a canon) from thirty-five to fifty, provided
+houses for the canons, and a regular endowment for the vicars-choral,
+started a grammar school in addition to the choristers' school, and
+enclosed the bishop's park. But most of all is he famous for having
+rebuilt the church which Savaric's vagaries had let fall into
+dilapidation, and for having added to it the noble west front. So
+extensive were his repairs that in 1239 a reconsecration was
+necessary; and three years later he died, "God," says old Fuller, "to
+square his great undertakings, giving him a long life to his large
+heart." He was buried in the midst of the choir as a founder of the
+church; and as this interment marked out Wells as the chief church in
+the diocese, the monks of Bath were not told of his death till after
+he had been buried.
+
+ROGER, _first Bishop of Bath and Wells_ (1244-1247). On Jocelin's
+death in 1242, the monks of Bath made a last effort to recover the
+supremacy which had drifted from them. Contrary to the agreement which
+had been made, they pushed through their own candidate, Roger, without
+consulting with the Wells chapter, and snatched the regal sanction and
+papal confirmation for their nominee before the chapter of Wells could
+make a move. At last, the Pope, after much litigation, decreed that,
+in order to avoid any further vacancy, Roger's election should be
+confirmed, but that henceforth the chapter of Wells should have an
+equal voice in the election of the bishop, who was to use the title of
+Bath and Wells. Roger was buried in his old abbey of Bath; he was,
+however, the last bishop to be there interred. The words of Peter
+Heylin are henceforward true of the see:--"The diocese of Bath and
+Wells, though it hath a double name, is one single bishopric. The
+bishop's seat was originally at Wells, where it still continues. The
+style of Bath came in but upon the bye."
+
+WILLIAM BUTTON or BYTTON (1248-1264).
+
+WALTER GIFFARD (1265-1266), a statesman-bishop, took the king's side,
+and, after the victory of Evesham, was rewarded with the
+chancellorship and the archbishopric of York.
+
+WILLIAM BYTTON (THE SAINT) (1267-1274). When Robert of Kilwardy,
+provincial of the Dominicans, was made archbishop, he chose Bytton, on
+account of his saintliness, to consecrate him; and so great was the
+impression made by his holy life that he became the object of popular
+canonisation at his death. Miracles were worked at his tomb, and
+crowds flocked to it with offerings, especially such as were afflicted
+with toothache.
+
+ROBERT BURNELL (1275-1292), the greatest lawyer of his day, chancellor
+of Edward I.; built the hall of the episcopal palace.
+
+WILLIAM OF MARCH OR DE MARCHIA (1293-1302), had been treasurer in
+1290. Two unsuccessful efforts were made to obtain his canonisation.
+
+WALTER DE HASELSHAW (1302-1308), successively canon, dean, and bishop.
+
+Under JOHN OF DROKENSFORD (1309-1329) the chapter obtained a strong
+confirmation of their rights as the result of a violent quarrel with
+the bishop, who had claimed the power of visiting the churches under
+capitular jurisdiction.
+
+RALPH OF SHREWSBURY (1329-1363), Chancellor of Oxford, put the
+finishing stroke to the constitution of the cathedral by founding the
+College of Vicars. He was a great supporter of the friars, and left
+them a third of his property. Among his good deeds he disafforested
+the royal hunting ground of Mendip, and thus did great service to the
+people, "beef," as Fuller has it, "being better pleasing to the
+husbandman's palate than venison." At his death he was buried in the
+place of honour before the high altar, for it was under him that the
+last great building operations in the church of Wells were completed.
+
+JOHN BARNET (1363-66), translated from Worcester, was soon again moved
+to Ely. After JOHN HAREWELL (1367-86), who helped to build the
+south-west tower, and WALTER SKIRLAW (1386-88), RALPH ERGHUM
+(1388-1400) was translated from Salisbury, and founded at Wells the
+much-needed college for the fourteen chantry priests, which was
+destroyed under Edward VI., and of which the memory is preserved in
+"College Lane." There were now, therefore, three distinct corporations
+at Wells--the Chapter, the College of Vicars, and the College of
+Chantry Priests. HENRY BOWETT (1401-1407) was promoted to York.
+
+NICHOLAS BUBWITH (1407-1424) is remembered by the almshouses at Wells
+which he endowed, by his provision for building the north-west tower,
+and by his chantry chapel. There was at this time another hospital
+called the Priory, which has now disappeared. He was one of the
+English envoys at the Council of Constance. Mandates were sent him by
+the archbishop for the prosecution of the Lollards, but there is no
+record of any proceedings having been taken, till JOHN STAFFORD
+(1425-43) had succeeded him, when one William Curayn was compelled to
+abjure and receive absolution for some very reasonable heresies.
+Stafford was translated to Canterbury.
+
+THOMAS BECKINGTON, or Bekynton (1443-65), was first tutor, then
+private secretary to Henry VI., and Keeper of the Privy Seal. His many
+works at Wells are noticed in our other chapters; in his will he
+states that he spent 6000 marks in repairing and adorning his palaces.
+After his death, the mayor and corporation showed their gratitude by
+going annually to his tomb (p. 125) to pray for his soul.
+
+ROBERT STILLINGTON (1466-91) was a minister of Edward IV., and one of
+Richard III.'s supporters. Accused in 1487 of helping Lambert Simnel,
+he was imprisoned at Windsor for the rest of his life. RICHARD FOX
+(1492-94), Keeper of the Privy Seal, translated to Durham. OLIVER KING
+(1495-1503), Chief Secretary of Henry VII. A dream moved Bishop Oliver
+in 1500, to rebuild Bath abbey in the debased Perpendicular style with
+which we are now familiar.
+
+The celebrated ADRIAN DE CASTELLO (1504-1518) obtained first Hereford
+and then Wells, as a reward for political services. As he never
+visited his diocese, his affairs were managed by another famous man,
+Polydore Vergil, who was archdeacon, and furnished the choir of Wells
+with hangings, "flourished," says Fuller, "with the laurel tree," and
+bearing an inscription, _Sunt Polydori munera Vergilii_. Adrian, who
+was born of humble parents at Cornuto in Tuscany, had been made a
+cardinal in 1503 by the infamous Pope Alexander VI., and both his
+archdeacon and himself are prominent figures in Italian history of the
+period.
+
+CARDINAL WOLSEY (1518-23) was appointed to the see, which he held
+together with the archbishopric of York; he was therefore Bishop of
+Bath and Wells only in name, and was soon put in the enjoyment of the
+richer sees successively of Durham and Winchester. He was followed by
+JOHN CLERK (1523-41) and WILLIAM KNIGHT (1541-47). The abbey of Bath
+was now suppressed, so that the bishop's seat was now at Wells alone,
+and (excepting that the style "Bath and Wells" remained) the see was
+restored to its original condition before John de Villula migrated to
+Bath.
+
+WILLIAM BARLOW (1549-54) was translated from St. David's without even
+the form of a _conge d'elire_. In return for this and certain money
+payments he made over a large portion of the episcopal property to the
+greedy Duke of Somerset; he also secured the episcopal manor of Wookey
+for his own family. The other cathedral estates were similarly
+treated. Barlow fled at the accession of Mary, but was caught and
+imprisoned in 1554. He had in Henry's time recanted some Lollard
+tracts which he had written, and now under Mary he recanted once more.
+On the accession of Elizabeth, he (p. 81) accepted the poorer see of
+Chichester.
+
+GILBERT BOURNE (1554-59) had been Bonner's chaplain. At Elizabeth's
+accession he was deprived and imprisoned in the Tower. After 1562 he
+was kept in nominal custody, and died in 1569.
+
+GILBERT BERKELEY (1560-1581) succeeded him. THOMAS GODWIN (1584-90),
+the historian of Wells, succeeded Berkeley.
+
+Another three years' vacancy was followed by the appointment of JOHN
+STILL (1593-1607). He and his successors, JAMES MONTAGUE (1608-16),
+translated to Winchester, ARTHUR LAKE (1616-26), a wise man and "most
+blessed saint," were mostly occupied in the fight with Puritanism.
+William Laud was bishop here for two years (1626-28), but his history
+belongs to London and Canterbury, whither he was translated. LEONARD
+MAWE (1628-29), WALTER CURLL (1629-32), translated to Winchester, and
+WILLIAM PIERS (1632-70) followed. The latter, who put down the Puritan
+"lectures," and ordered all the altars in his diocese to be set
+against the east wall and railed in, lived to see all his work undone
+and then restored again at the accession of Charles II. ROBERT
+CREYGHTON (1670-72), who had been dean, succeeded him. He was a great
+musician (p. 113), and his gifts of ornaments to the cathedral have
+been already mentioned. PETER MEWS (1673-1684) was translated to
+Winchester.
+
+THOMAS KEN (1685-90), the best and most famous of all the Somerset
+bishops, has left so great a name in the see, and figured in so many
+stirring events, that one can hardly believe that he was only given
+five years in which to use his influence upon history. Before he was
+made bishop, however, he had already given proof of that quiet courage
+which was more than once to thwart the will of princes. In 1679 he
+went to the Hague as chaplain to Mary, the wife of William of Orange.
+Here he expressed himself "horribly unsatisfied" with William's
+unkindness to his wife, and he incurred the Prince's anger by
+persuading Count Zulestein to marry a lady whom he had seduced. Soon
+after, when he was living at Winchester, he refused to allow the royal
+harbinger to use his prebendal house for the lodging of Nell Gwynn, on
+the occasion of Charles II.'s visit there in 1683. Charles, with
+characteristic generosity, thought all the more highly of him, and
+when he was told of the vacant bishopric, said no one should have the
+see but "the little black fellow who refused his lodging to poor
+Nelly." Before the year was over, Charles was on his death-bed, and
+summoned Ken to his side. The bishop persuaded the king to send the
+Duchess of Portsmouth from the room and to call in the Queen. He then
+absolved him, although Charles would not receive the communion.
+
+After the Monmouth rebellion (p. 17) he, with the Bishop of Ely, was
+sent to tell the Duke of his fate; he remained with the wretched man
+all through the night before his execution, and accompanied him on the
+scaffold. He then returned to his see, used all his influence on
+behalf of the unhappy peasants, and by his personal intervention,
+saved a hundred prisoners from death. He strongly opposed the
+Romanising policy of James II., and preached several sermons which had
+a large share in the formation of public opinion. He was one of the
+seven bishops who were committed to the Tower for petitioning the king
+against the order to the clergy to read the second Declaration of
+Indulgence. The incidents of that wonderful trial are familiar to all
+Englishmen, and it is notable that one of the richest dissenters in
+the city begged to have the special honour of giving security for the
+high church bishop of Bath and Wells.
+
+But when the revolution came, Ken was found among those who were
+called non-jurors, because they regarded their oath of allegiance to
+James as still binding. He was consequently, in 1690, deprived of his
+see. He made a public protest in the cathedral against his
+deprivation, and continued to sign himself _T. Bath and Wells_, but he
+had to live in retirement, and with an income of only £20 a year. He
+died in 1710, and was buried in Frome Church at sunrise, in allusion
+to his morning hymn ("Awake, my soul, and with the sun"), and to his
+habit of rising with the sun.
+
+Ken was in every way a great saint, and, like all the saints, he was
+distinguished by his love for the poor, and his care for their
+education. Among his customs it is recorded that he used to have
+twelve poor men to dine with him on Sundays, and that he was wont to
+go afoot in London when the other bishops rode in their coaches. He
+wrote many books, among them his "Manual of Prayers for the Use of
+Winchester Scholars." "His elaborate works," says Macaulay, "have long
+been forgotten; but his morning and evening hymns are still repeated
+daily in thousands of dwellings."
+
+RICHARD KIDDER (1691-1703) became bishop on the deprivation of Ken, Dr
+Beveridge having declined the offer of a see, the rightful ruler of
+which had been unjustly removed. Kidder did not, however, long enjoy
+his usurped position; for, on the night of November 26th, 1703, a
+great storm--the same that destroyed Winstanley in his lighthouse on
+the Eddystone--blew down a stack of chimneys in the palace, and thus
+killed both the bishop and his wife as they lay abed.
+
+GEORGE HOOPER (1704-27), an old friend of Ken, was next offered the
+see, but he urged the reinstatement of the rightful pastor. Queen Anne
+offered to restore Ken to his bishopric, but he importuned Hooper to
+accept, and from that time ceased to sign himself by his diocesan
+title. Hooper had preceded Ken, in 1677, as Princess Mary's spiritual
+adviser at the Hague, where he had won her back to the services of the
+church, and he had also been with Ken at Monmouth's execution. Almost
+as lovable and holy, he was more learned than his friend.
+
+Hooper was succeeded by JOHN WYNNE (1727-43), EDWARD WILLES (1743-73),
+and CHARLES MOSS (1774-1802); all three were typical eighteenth-century
+prelates, rich and mostly non-resident.
+
+RICHARD BEADON (1802-24), was translated from Gloucester.
+
+GEORGE HENRY LAW (1824-45), a son of the Bishop of Carlisle, and
+brother of Lord Chief-Justice Ellenborough, was translated from
+Chester, and is said to have been an active prelate till his latter
+years. Hon. RICHARD BAGOT (1845-54) came to Wells as a place of
+retirement after the worries which he had gone through, as Bishop of
+Oxford, during the Tractarian movement.
+
+ROBERT JOHN, LORD AUCKLAND, was translated from Sodor and Man in 1854.
+At his death in 1869, he was succeeded by LORD ARTHUR CHARLES HERVEY,
+who died in 1894. The present bishop is DR G.W. KENNION, who was
+translated hither from the Australian diocese of Adelaide.
+
+[Illustration: PLAN OF WELLS CATHEDRAL.]
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
+
+
+1. Words and phrases which were italicized in the original have been
+   surrounded by underscores ('_') in this version. Words or phrases
+   which were bolded have been rendered in ALL CAPITALS.
+
+2. Obvious printer's errors have been corrected without note.
+
+3. Inconsistencies in hyphenation or the spelling of proper names, and
+   dialect or obsolete word spelling, have been maintained as in the
+   original.
+
+4. The original of this text contains characters not available in
+   the Latin-1 character set. These occur only in quotations from
+   monumental inscriptions. The characters have been coded as
+   follows. The notation [=x] means "letter x with a macron above."
+   There are instances of macrons over i, u, m, n, o and x. The
+   notation [)u] means "letter u with a breve"; it occurs twice.
+
+5. The caret is used to show the superscript for abbreviations (i.e.
+   Rob^t is Rob with a superscript small t in the original text, an
+   abbreviation for Robert). If multiple letters are superscripted,
+   they are surrounded by curly braces (i.e. w^{th}).
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral
+Church of Wells, by Percy Dearmer
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+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+The Project Gutenberg etext of BELL'S CATHEDRALS: WELLS
+by the Rev. Percy Dearmer, M.A.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+	body {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; }
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+
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+                    left: 92%;
+                    font-size: smaller;
+                    text-align: right;
+                    color: gray; background-color: white;
+                   } /* page numbers */
+        .right     { text-align: right;}
+        .tocch            {text-align: left; }                   /* cell defs for TOC, illustration lists */
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of
+Wells, by Percy Dearmer
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Wells
+       A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See
+
+Author: Percy Dearmer
+
+Release Date: May 7, 2010 [EBook #32280]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BELL'S CATHEDRALS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Cortesi and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a id="Frontispiece" name="Frontispiece"></a>
+<a href="images/image01h.jpg">
+	<img src="images/image01.jpg"
+	alt="Wells Cathedral From St. Andrews Spring"
+	title="Wells Cathedral From St. Andrews Spring" />
+</a>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<h1>
+<a id="Title_Page" name="Title_Page"></a>
+THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF<br />
+<span class="big">WELLS</span></h1>
+
+<h2>A DESCRIPTION OF ITS FABRIC<br />
+AND A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE<br />
+EPISCOPAL SEE
+</h2>
+
+<h3>BY THE REV. PERCY DEARMER, M.A.</h3>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a id="image02" name="image02"></a>
+<p class="ctr">WITH FORTY-SIX
+<img class="plain" alt="Arms of the See" title="Arms of the See"
+	src="images/image02.jpg" />
+ILLUSTRATIONS</p>
+
+<p class="ctr">
+LONDON GEORGE BELL &amp; SONS 1899<br />
+
+<i>First Published October 1898</i><br />
+
+<i>Second Edition revised October 1899</i><br />
+
+W.H. WHITE AND CO. LTD.<br />
+
+RIVERSIDE PRESS, EDINBURGH</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<h2>
+<a name="GENERAL_PREFACE" id="GENERAL_PREFACE"></a>
+GENERAL PREFACE</h2>
+
+<p>This series of monographs has been planned to supply visitors
+to the great English Cathedrals with accurate and well illustrated
+guide-books at a popular price. The aim of each writer
+has been to produce a work compiled with sufficient knowledge
+and scholarship to be of value to the student of Arch&aelig;ology
+and History, and yet not too technical in language for the use
+of an ordinary visitor or tourist.</p>
+
+<p>To specify all the authorities which have been made use of
+in each case would be difficult and tedious in this place. But
+amongst the general sources of information which have been
+almost invariably found useful are:&mdash;(1) the great county
+histories, the value of which, especially in questions of genealogy
+and local records, is generally recognised; (2) the
+numerous papers by experts which appear from time to
+time in the Transactions of the Antiquarian and Arch&aelig;ological
+Societies; (3) the important documents made accessible in
+the series issued by the Master of the Rolls; (4) the well-known
+works of Britton and Willis on the English Cathedrals;
+and (5) the very excellent series of Handbooks to the
+Cathedrals originated by the late Mr John Murray; to which
+the reader may in most cases be referred for fuller detail,
+especially in reference to the histories of the respective sees.</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+GLEESON WHITE,<br />
+E.F. STRANGE,<br />
+<br />
+<i>Editors of the Series</i>
+</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<h2>
+<a name="AUTHORS_PREFACE" id="AUTHORS_PREFACE"></a>
+AUTHOR'S PREFACE</h2>
+
+<p>The writer about cathedrals nowadays is one who, reaping
+where he has not sown, and gathering where he has not
+strawed, is indebted for most that he says to the patient
+labours of other and wiser men. Nowhere does one feel this
+more than at Wells. The admirable Somerset Arch&aelig;ological
+Society has gone on accumulating information about the
+cathedral for more years than the present writer has lived.
+Professor Freeman produced twenty-eight years ago, in his
+&quot;History of the Cathedral Church of Wells,&quot; a little book
+which has since been a model for all works of the kind, and
+of which one can still say that no one can understand all that
+is contained in the word &quot;cathedral&quot; unless he has read it.
+Yet since that book was written much fresh material has been
+discovered, and the theories then held as to the building of
+the cathedral have been in great measure disproved. To
+Canon C.M. Church, in his &quot;Chapters in the Early History
+of Wells,&quot; and his papers read before the Somerset Society, we
+are indebted for most valuable statements of the new historical
+discoveries, and to his untiring kindness I am myself beholden
+to a greater extent than I can express.</p>
+
+<p>Wells so abounds in interesting detail, that the exigencies of
+space have made it necessary to curtail the last chapter, which
+contains the history of the diocese; a good deal of interesting
+matter has thus been cut from my original MS. of this chapter,
+and many bishops have been dismissed more summarily than
+they deserve. The need of dealing properly with the cathedral
+itself must be my apology for the baldness of this last chapter
+as it now stands. Those who desire a further acquaintance
+with the history of the diocese cannot do better than consult
+Mr Hunt's &quot;Bath and Wells,&quot; in the excellent Diocesan
+Histories series of the Society for the Promotion of Christian
+Knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>To many other writers on the Cathedral Church of Wells,
+acknowledgments and references will be found scattered
+throughout the present volume. I must also express my
+thanks to Mr Philips, and Messrs Dawkes &amp; Partridge of
+Wells, for permission to reproduce their photographs, and
+to Mr W. Heywood and Mr H.P. Clifford for their
+drawings.</p>
+
+<p class="right">P.D.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<h2>
+<a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>
+CONTENTS</h2>
+<div class="ctr">
+<table summary="TOC">
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td class="tocpn">PAGE</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.&mdash;History of the Church</a></td><td class="tocpn">3</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.&mdash;Exterior</a></td><td class="tocpn">20</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_1">West Front</a></td><td class="tocpn">21</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_2">Statuary, Central Doorway, the Tiers</a></td><td class="tocpn">30</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_3">Western Towers</a></td><td class="tocpn">44</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_4">Central Tower</a></td><td class="tocpn">47</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_5">North Porch</a></td><td class="tocpn">47</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_6">North Transept</a></td><td class="tocpn">51</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_7">Walls, Parapet</a></td><td class="tocpn">52</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_8">Chain Gate</a></td><td class="tocpn">52</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_9">Chapter-House</a></td><td class="tocpn">54</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_10">From the South-East</a></td><td class="tocpn">55</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_11">Cloister</a></td><td class="tocpn">58</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_12">Library</a></td><td class="tocpn">63</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_13">Museum</a></td><td class="tocpn">64</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_14">Vicar's Close</a></td><td class="tocpn">66</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_15">Bishop's Palace, Great Hall, Barn</a></td><td class="tocpn">67</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#II_16">Deanery, Archdeaconry, etc., St. Cuthbert's</a></td><td class="tocpn">70</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.&mdash;Interior</a></td><td class="tocpn">73</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_1">Nave, etc.</a></td><td class="tocpn">77</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb2"><a href="#III_1_1">Capitals</a></td><td class="tocpn">79</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb2"><a href="#III_1_2">Glass</a></td><td class="tocpn">84</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_2">Bubwith's Chapel</a></td><td class="tocpn">85</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_3">Sugar's Chapel</a></td><td class="tocpn">86</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_4">Pulpit, Lectern</a></td><td class="tocpn">87</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_5">Transepts</a></td><td class="tocpn">89</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb2"><a href="#III_5">Capitals</a></td><td class="tocpn">89</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb2"><a href="#III_5_2">Font, Monuments</a></td><td class="tocpn">95</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_6">Transepts Chapels&mdash;St. Martin, St. Calixtus, St. David, Holy Cross</a></td><td class="tocpn">98</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_7">Clock</a></td><td class="tocpn">105</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_8">Inverted Arches</a></td><td class="tocpn">107</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_9">Tower, Screen, Organ</a></td><td class="tocpn">110</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_10">Choir</a></td><td class="tocpn">113</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb2"><a href="#III_10_1">Misericords, Glass</a></td><td class="tocpn">120</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_11">Choir Aisles, Monuments</a></td><td class="tocpn">123</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_12">Eastern Transepts, Monuments</a></td><td class="tocpn">124</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_13">Procession Path</a></td><td class="tocpn">128</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_14">Glass in Choir Aisles and Chapels</a></td><td class="tocpn">130</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_15">Lady Chapel, Glass</a></td><td class="tocpn">133</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_16">Chapter-House Staircase</a></td><td class="tocpn">134</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_17">Chapter-House</a></td><td class="tocpn">137</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocsb"><a href="#III_18">Undercroft</a></td><td class="tocpn">141</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.&mdash;History of the Diocese and Foundation</a></td><td class="tocpn">147</td></tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<h2>
+<a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<table summary="Illustrations">
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td><td class="tocpn">PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#Frontispiece">Wells Cathedral from St. Andrew's Spring</a></td><td class="tocpn"><i>Frontispiece</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image02">Arms of the See</a></td><td class="tocpn"><i>Title</i></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image03">The Cathedral from the South-East </a></td><td class="tocpn">2</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image04">The Cathedral in the Seventeenth Century</a></td><td class="tocpn">15</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image05">South Aisle of Nave</a></td><td class="tocpn">19</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image06">West Front&mdash;Bishop of Aethelhelm</a></td><td class="tocpn">22</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image07">The West Front</a></td><td class="tocpn">23</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image08">Ornaments in the West Front</a></td><td class="tocpn">28, <a href="#image09">29</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image10">West Front&mdash;Christina</a></td><td class="tocpn">31</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image11">The Central Tower from the South-East</a></td><td class="tocpn">45</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image12">The North Porch</a></td><td class="tocpn">49</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image13">The Bishop's Eye</a></td><td class="tocpn">53</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image14">Doorway, South-East of Cloister</a></td><td class="tocpn">58</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image15">East Walk of Cloister</a></td><td class="tocpn">59</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image16">The Chain Gate, Entrance to Close, 1824</a></td><td class="tocpn">65</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image17">The Bishop's Palace</a></td><td class="tocpn">68</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image18">The Nave</a></td><td class="tocpn">75</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image19">A Capital&mdash;The Fruit-stealer's Punishment</a></td><td class="tocpn">79</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image20">A Capital&mdash;Toothache</a></td><td class="tocpn">81</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch">Specimens of Capitals</td><td class="tocpn"><a href="#image21">82</a>, <a href="#image22">83</a>, <a href="#image23">84</a>, <a href="#image44">148</a>, <a href="#image45">149</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image24">View across Nave, showing Sugar's and Bubwith's Chapels</a></td><td class="tocpn">85</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image25">Sugar's Chapel&mdash;The Lectern and Pulpit</a></td><td class="tocpn">88</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image26">Section of North Transept, and Elevation of South Transept</a></td><td class="tocpn">90</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image27">Capitals in Transept</a></td><td class="tocpn">92</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image28">The South Transept, from North Side of Nave</a></td><td class="tocpn">93</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image29">The Font</a></td><td class="tocpn">95</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image30">The Annunciation&mdash;Husse's Tomb</a></td><td class="tocpn">101</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image31">Priest in Surplice&mdash;Husse's Tomb</a></td><td class="tocpn">102</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image32">The East End in 1823</a></td><td class="tocpn">103</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image33">The Inverted Arches</a></td><td class="tocpn">109</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image34">Choir, looking West</a></td><td class="tocpn">111</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image35">Choir, looking East</a></td><td class="tocpn">115</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image36">Procession Path and Lady Chapel</a></td><td class="tocpn">129</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image37">Steps Of Chapter-house Vestibule And Passage Over Chain Gate</a></td><td class="tocpn">135</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image38">Chapter-House&mdash;Doorway</a></td><td class="tocpn">138</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image39">Chapter-House&mdash;Interior</a></td><td class="tocpn">139</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image40">Chapter-House&mdash;Vault</a></td><td class="tocpn">141</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image41">Chapter-House&mdash;Undercroft</a></td><td class="tocpn">142, <a href="#image42">143</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image43">Section of Chapter-House</a></td><td class="tocpn">145</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tocch"><a href="#image46">PLAN</a></td><td class="tocpn">160</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image03" id="image03"></a>
+<a href="images/image03h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image03.jpg"
+	alt=" Wells From The South-East."
+	title=" Wells From The South-East." />
+</a></div>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<h1>
+WELLS CATHEDRAL<br />
+<br />
+</h1>
+
+<h2>
+<a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>
+CHAPTER I</h2>
+<h3>HISTORY OF THE CHURCH</h3>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span>
+&quot;The Gothic Cathedral,&quot; wrote Froude, an author who held
+no brief for the Gothic period, &quot;is perhaps, on the whole, the
+most magnificent creation which the mind of man has as yet
+thrown out.&quot; The Cathedral Church of Wells, wrote Froude's
+predecessor in the same historical chair, is &quot;the best example
+to be found in the whole world of a secular church, with its
+subordinate buildings.&quot; &quot;There is no other place,&quot; Professor
+Freeman went on to say, &quot;where you can see so many of the
+ancient buildings still standing, and still put to their own use.&quot;
+And surely there is no place better fitted to be their home
+than this beautiful old city of Wells, set in the midst of the
+fair western country, the land of Avalon and Camelot, of
+Athelney and Wedmore.</p>
+
+<p>This unique group of buildings does not, however, take us
+back earlier than the close of the Norman period. Of what
+existed before, we have but scant evidence. Tradition says
+that King Ina had, about the year 705, founded at Wells a
+college of secular priests, and therefore a church of some sort.
+And when King Eadward the Elder, taking advantage of the
+peace which his father Alfred had secured, fixed, in 909, the
+new Somersetshire see by the fountain of St. Andrew at Wells,
+he seems to have chosen that little city because there already
+existed therein a church, large enough to serve as a cathedral
+in those times, and tended already by a body of secular canons.
+Now that the ancient church of St. Andrew was raised to this
+new dignity, it was probably in the tenth century rebuilt in
+stone, with plain round-headed windows, and perhaps a small
+unbuttressed tower to hold the bells; for, when Giso became
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span>
+bishop in the next century (1061-1088), he erected a whole
+cluster of quasi-conventual buildings, but we are not told that
+he found it necessary to rebuild the church, although he complained
+that he found it mean and its revenues small. Indeed,
+the fact that Giso was buried under an arch in the wall on the
+north side of the high altar, as his predecessor Duduc had been
+buried on the south side, shows that he had not rebuilt the
+church.</p>
+
+<p>On Giso's death, John de Villula at once swept away his
+buildings, and set up a bishop's house on their site. John,
+however, made Bath his cathedral church, and suffered the
+church of Wells to fall into the decay from which it was rescued
+by the first &quot;Maker of Wells,&quot; Bishop Robert of Lewes.</p>
+
+<p>The active episcopate of Robert of Lewes (1136-66) was
+as important an era in the history of the church as in that
+of the chapter. In spite of the anarchy of Stephen's reign,
+Robert set steadily to work; and, while the neighbouring
+barons were battering each other's castles, the bishop reared
+the first great cathedral church of Wells. How much of
+the old Saxon building he left we cannot tell; but it was in
+a ruinous condition, and he may have pulled it completely
+down, or he may have left one part for later builders to
+deal with. In 1148 his new Norman church was consecrated,
+a massive round-arched building, its nave perhaps as large
+as the present one, and its choir under the tower with a small
+presbytery beyond. This date may be taken as the beginning
+of the present cathedral; for all the succeeding reconstructions
+followed the lines of Bishop Robert's church. Yet the Norman
+work has disappeared almost as completely as the Saxon, and
+the font is the only object which can be claimed as undoubtedly
+Romanesque. Of distinctly Norman mouldings there are none
+in the church, and only a few fragments in other places.
+Seldom has one of those strong Norman buildings so utterly
+vanished from sight. But many stones dressed in the Norman
+fashion can still be traced by the expert in the eastern part
+of the church (p. <a href="#Page_74">74</a>), having been no doubt used up again by
+the later workmen; and there may be masses of undisturbed
+masonry hidden in the walls.</p>
+
+<p>Bishop Robert, as we know from one of his charters, did
+something also for the order of his church. Mammon had
+gradually encroached upon the sacred precincts, and the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span>
+markets had come to be held in the &quot;vestibule,&quot; and in the
+church itself; the busy hum of the buyers and sellers marred
+the quiet of God's house, and disturbed the people at their
+devotions. Strong measures were necessary, and the bishop
+ordered the market to be held at some distance from the
+church, while at the same time, as an act of grace, he remitted
+the tolls that were due to him as lord of the manor. Thus
+did he lay the foundation of the liberties of Wells city while
+securing the sanctity of Wells Cathedral.</p>
+
+<p>According to Bishop Godwin (1616), and the anonymous
+fifteenth century MSS., called in Wharton's <i>Anglia Sacra</i> the
+&quot;Canon of Wells,&quot; there was a blank in the history of the
+church between Bishop Robert, who consecrated the Norman
+building in 1148, and Bishop Jocelin, whose episcopate lasted
+from 1206 to 1242. Godwin, who exaggerated a passage
+from the &quot;Canon of Wells&quot; (which that writer had produced
+by exaggerating a single sentence of a preamble of Jocelin, p. 7),
+declared that Jocelin found the church &quot;as ready to fall,&quot;
+and &quot;pulled down the greatest part of it, to witte, the west
+ende, and built it anew from the very foundation.&quot; This
+became the accepted view. But the documents recently
+brought to light through the labours of those who unearthed
+and deciphered the MSS. in possession of the chapter, have
+proved that the energetic Bishop Reginald, so far from letting
+the church go into ruin during his episcopate (1174-1191), did
+in reality rebuild it himself. Much travelled, conversant
+with all kinds of churches and cities in an age of great
+building operations, he was not the sort of man to neglect his
+cathedral. And, as a matter of fact, he is proved to have
+begun the present church by a charter recently found, which
+is of a date prior to 1180, and therefore belongs to the early
+years of his episcopate. In this important document, recognising
+his duty to provide &quot;that the honour due to God
+should not be tarnished by the squalor of His house,&quot; he
+arranges in full chapter for a munificent grant in support of
+the fabric, until the work be
+finished<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">1</a>.
+Another charter of
+Reginald's time, which conveys a private gift to the church,
+alludes to &quot;the admirable structure of the rising church,&quot; thus
+testifying to the successful progress of the bishop's plan during
+his own lifetime. The part which he built, there can be
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span>
+little doubt, included the three western bays of the choir
+(which then formed the presbytery), the transepts, north porch,
+and the eastern bays of the nave. That is to say, on entering
+the church one is looking upon Reginald's work, and not
+Jocelin's; for, although the rest of the nave was completed
+by Jocelin, it was done in accordance with Reginald's original
+plan.</p>
+
+<p>It is of great importance to remember this fact, since until
+recently the nave, with the other parts just mentioned, was
+attributed by Professor Willis, Professor Freeman, and most
+authorities to Jocelin. Willis, indeed, bowed to what was
+then thought to be documentary evidence against his own
+judgment; for he declared the work to be of a style much
+earlier than that of Jocelin's time (p. <a href="#Page_73">73</a>). Now we know
+almost to a certainty that the bulk of the cathedral belongs
+neither to the late Norman period of Robert, nor to the
+Early English of Jocelin, but to the period just between the
+two, that of Reginald de Bohun.</p>
+
+<p>During the episcopate of Reginald's immediate successor
+Savaric (1192-1205), something further may have been done
+to the nave. But there was small opportunity for church
+building during this bishop's wandering and litigious life;
+and all we know for certain is that, owing no doubt to the
+civil war, the intolerable exactions of papal legates, and the
+quarrel with Glastonbury, the cathedral church of Wells had
+fallen into a state of dilapidation when Jocelin became bishop
+in 1206; and that it remained in this condition till King John
+was dead: for Jocelin was an exile abroad, the property of
+the see was confiscated, and its income paid yearly into the
+king's purse.</p>
+
+<p>From the year 1218, when the land was again at peace,
+and a profitable arrangement had been come to with the
+monks of Glastonbury, Jocelin devoted himself to the fabric
+and chapter of Wells, up to the year of his death in 1242.
+Grants of money and of timber, which are extant, show that
+by 1220 the work was recommenced, and that it was in
+progress in 1225. By 1239 the church was sufficiently advanced
+to be dedicated.</p>
+
+<p>Jocelin and his brother Hugh (afterwards Bishop of
+Lincoln) were natives of the city they loved so well. They
+had both lived through Reginald's episcopate&mdash;Jocelin as
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span>canon and Hugh as archdeacon of Wells. After, when they
+rose to high positions as judges, and became honourably rich,
+Hugh, who built much in Lincoln Cathedral, gave largely
+of his great wealth to Jocelin for Wells, and Jocelin himself
+spent all that he had upon the place where he had been
+brought up from infancy.</p>
+
+<p>Thus Jocelin was in a real sense a &quot;maker of Wells.&quot;
+But he was not the only maker, for he must share the honour
+with two other master builders&mdash;Robert, whose work is entirely
+gone, and Reginald, whose work remains. He did not, as
+Godwin led us to suppose, pull down and rebuild the whole
+church. But he loyally carried on the work of his predecessor,
+and he executed the great work which has been always rightly
+attributed to him, the present west front; this he joined
+to Reginald's unfinished nave by building the three western
+bays in strict accordance with the earlier style. The front
+belongs to the fully-developed Early English style in which
+Salisbury is built, agreeing exactly with the date of the consecration
+of the church by Jocelin in 1239,&mdash;as was pointed out
+by Professor Willis, who was puzzled by the great difference
+in its style from that of the nave, which was then thought to
+belong to the same period. We know that Jocelin was a
+frequent visitor to Salisbury while Bishop Poore was building
+it; and thus all the lines of evidence combine to support
+the unshaken tradition that Jocelin was the author of the
+west front.</p>
+
+<p>A month before his death in 1242, Jocelin de Wells put forth
+a charter for the increased endowment of the cathedral staff;
+and it was because of a few chance words in the preamble that
+he came to be credited with the construction of the whole.
+Having found the church in danger of ruin, runs the passage,
+by reason of its age <i>aedificare coepimus et ampliare&mdash;in qua adeo
+profecimus&mdash;quod ipsam consecravimus</i>. This, which need mean
+nothing more than extensive building operations, is the sole
+foundation for the tradition that Jocelin pulled down the old
+church and built a new one.</p>
+
+<p>The condition of the church at the end of the thirteenth
+century is thus described by Professor Freeman<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">2</a>:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By the end of the thirteenth century we may look upon
+the church of Wells as at last finished. It still lacked much
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span>of that perfection of outline which now belongs to it, and which
+the next age was finally to give to it. Many among that matchless
+group of surrounding buildings which give Wells its chief
+charm, had not yet arisen. The church itself, with its unfinished
+towers, must have had a dwarfed and stunted look from
+every point. The Lady Chapel had not yet been reared, with
+its apse alike to contrast with the great window of the square
+presbytery above it, and to group in harmony with the more
+lofty chapter-house of its own form. The cloister was still of
+wood. The palace was still undefended by wall or moat. The
+Vicars' Close and its chain-bridge had not yet been dreamt of.
+Still, the church, alike in its fabric and its constitution, may
+be looked on as having by this time been brought to perfection ... The
+nave, recast in forms of art such as Ina and
+Eadward, such as Gisa and Robert, had never dreamed of, with
+the long range of its arcades and the soaring sweep of its newly-vaulted
+roof, stood, perfect from western door to rood-loft, ever
+ready, ever open, to welcome worshippers from city and village,
+from hill and combe and moor, in every corner of the land
+which looked to Saint Andrew's as its mother church. The
+choir, the stalls of the canons, the throne of the Bishop, were
+still confined within the narrow space of the crossing; but that
+narrow space itself gave them a dignity which they lost in later
+arrangements. For the central lantern, not yet driven to lean
+on ungainly props, with the rich arcades of its upper stages
+still open to view, still rose, in all the simple majesty of its four
+mighty arches, as the noblest of canopies over the choir below.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The eastern ending of the presbytery was,&quot; Mr Freeman
+proceeds, &quot;rich with the best detail of the thirteenth century, as
+can be learnt from the fragments built up in the chapel of the
+Vicars' Close, and lying about in the undercroft of the chapter-house,
+which are in the full Early English style of the west
+front. The existing choir aisle walls prove that a procession-path
+ran behind the high altar, with most likely a chapel
+beyond it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The thirteenth century,&quot; he concludes, &quot;had done its great
+creative work, and had left to future ages only to improve and
+develop according to the principles which the thirteenth
+century had laid down. That is to say, the thirteenth century
+had done for the local church of Wells what it did for England,
+what it did for Europe, and for the world.&quot;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span>The choir, however, was not so cramped as Mr Freeman
+thought, for it included one bay of the nave, as we now know
+from a notice of the making of Haselshaw's tomb, which was
+dug at the entrance to the choir; and, indeed, the marks where
+the screen was fixed are still visible on the piers at this point.
+From the top of the screen the great rood looked down the
+nave, and on each side of the doorway stood an altar, that on
+the north dedicated to Our Lady, that on the south to St.
+Andrew. The aisles of the choir were also screened off from
+the nave, and outside their gates were two more altars&mdash;St.
+Saviour's on the north, and St. Edmund's on the south. Thus
+the nave, where men were ever coming and going, walking and
+talking, and in laxer times buying and selling as well, was quite
+shut off from the more sacred places. Yet here, too, were
+altars and shrines, and here came the processions on Sundays
+and holidays.</p>
+
+<p>Within the choir the chapter said their offices, the dean and
+precentor facing east in their returned stalls, and the other
+dignitaries in their allotted places, with the junior canons,
+vicars, and those in minor orders below them, and the boys
+on the lowest forms of all. Just beyond these stalls was the
+bishop's throne; and east of the tower the presbytery stood
+open, with the tombs of the early bishops, on either side,
+under the arches. The rest of the space enclosed within the
+screen belonged more especially to the clergy; the north
+transept was probably used as a chapter-house, when the
+undercroft was yet unfinished, and its western aisle was used
+as the chapter library. The chamber leading to the undercroft
+was the vestry, and the stout walls of the octagon, when it was
+finished, protected the vestments and treasures of the cathedral.</p>
+
+<p>It is worth while to call to mind the kind of service for
+which the church was built, with its aisles and chapels and
+screen. The usual Sunday procession started from the north
+door of the presbytery, preceded by two thurifers with censers,
+went round behind the presbytery, the priest in his cope
+asperging the altars on his way, then down the south choir
+aisle, and through the south transept into the cloister. In the
+cloister-cemetery, the priest, with his ministers, said the prayers
+for the dead, and then rejoined the procession in the cloister
+Lady Chapel, where the first station was made. Thence the
+procession returned to the great rood in the nave, and there
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span>made the second station, the bidding-prayer being given out
+to the people from the rood-screen, after which it re-entered
+the choir. But on special occasions the ritual was increased;
+as, for instance, at the procession of palms on Palm Sunday, or
+the Corpus Christi Day procession, which is thus described by
+Mr J.D. Chambers<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">3</a>: &quot;The procession, some time before the
+mass, should assemble in order at the step of the Choir (<i>i.e.</i> in
+the Presbytery), a priest in Albe and silk Cope carrying the
+Corpus Christi in a tabernacle or feretory under a canopy of
+silk raised over him and it on four staves, borne by four
+clerks in Albes and Tunicles, with lighted tapers. It should go
+out of the Choir down the Nave, and out at the West Door of
+the Church, round the Church and Cloisters as on Ascension
+Day&quot;&mdash;<i>i.e.</i> round the outside of the whole church, beginning
+with the north side and returning round the east end, and
+through the cloister to the west door again, and thus back into
+the nave. The colours of the vestments at Wells followed
+in the main the custom of the neighbouring diocese of Sarum,
+but with some local variations, such as are set down in the
+<i>Consuetudinary</i> which Archbishop Laud had copied from the
+late thirteenth-century MS. Indigo and white were used on
+St. John's Day and on the Dedication Festival; in Advent,
+indigo; at Passiontide, red, and on Palm Sunday, &quot;except one
+cope of black for the part of Caiaphas&quot; at the singing of the
+Passion; red, too, on Maunday Thursday, but with a banner
+of white. Red was also used for Easter, Pentecost, and
+throughout the Sundays after Trinity; while for Virgin Martyrs,
+red was mixed with white. This mixture of colours was probably
+effected by the cantors wearing different coloured copes;
+thus for confessors saffron <i>(croceus)</i> was mixed with green,
+<i>sicut honestius et magis proprie possunt adaptari festo</i>;
+but St. Julian
+and some others had all saffron, while a few, like St. Benedict,
+had all indigo. White is comparatively little in evidence, but
+it was used at Christmas, and for commemorations of the
+Blessed Virgin. Black was used for the commemoration of
+the dead.</p>
+
+<p>To this vision of stately pomp, and changing colour, we
+must add in our mind's eye the many chapels with their woven
+tapestries of flowers and beasts and birds, their rich ornaments
+and sacred associations; the majestic rood upon the screen,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span>and the rich altars that stood before it; the almost constant
+succession of services that went on behind it, where the canons
+(each with his own book and candle) and their vicars sat, and
+the pyx hung over the high altar; the sound of a little bell
+from one of the chapels where mass was being said, the
+glimmer of a hanging lamp, the gleam of a silver image, the
+shrines here and there, with their frequent visitors; and, as
+years went on, the subdued light from the gorgeous painted
+windows (that over the high altar glowed then from east to
+west without obstructing organ), the frescoes on some of the
+walls, the green and red and gold of the later monuments; and
+over all the trail of incense and the sound of prayer.</p>
+
+<p>After Jocelin's death the works came to a standstill, for the
+sufficient reason that the chapter was &quot;overburdened with an
+intolerable debt,&quot; owing to the enormous expense of the
+litigation with Bath Abbey over Bishop Roger's election
+(p. <a href="#Page_153">153</a>). This, however, was the last attempt of the rival
+cathedral of St. Peter; and the debt, which was at its worst in
+1248 (the year after Roger's death), was bravely met by a
+contribution of a fifth of the income of each prebend, as well
+as by gifts and obits; so that towards the end of William
+Bytton's episcopate the debt was nearly cleared, and in 1263
+Bytton made over the sequestrations of vacant benefices to the
+fabric fund.</p>
+
+<p>In 1248 an earthquake had done much damage, shaking
+down the <i>tholus</i> (either the vault, or the stone capping) of the
+central tower, as we learn from Matthew Paris <i>(Hist. Angl.</i>
+iii. 42). Accordingly, in 1263, preparations were made for
+further building; and in 1286 we hear of a chapter meeting,
+summoned by Dean Thomas Bytton, whereat the canons bind
+themselves to give one-tenth of their prebends for five years,
+&quot;to the finishing of the works now a long time begun (<i>jam
+diu incepta</i>), and to repair what needed reparation in the old
+works.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The reparation here mentioned refers in all probability to
+the roof and piers of the transepts and eastern part of nave,
+damaged by the fall of the <i>tholus</i>. The famous western
+capitals of the transepts, with their frequent representations of
+the miseries of toothache, must refer to the second William
+Bytton, who had died in 1274, and whose tomb became famous
+for its dental cures (p. <a href="#Page_125">125</a>). No doubt, the offerings at the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span>shrine of this local saint helped considerably to swell the funds
+for the building operations.</p>
+
+<p>The works &quot;now a long time begun&quot; can hardly be anything
+else than the chapter-house undercroft, the outer walls of which
+may have been built some forty years before. Professor Willis,
+who had access to the document, decided, on architectural
+evidence, that the undercroft must have been already completed
+at this time, and his view may be safely accepted (<i>Arch.
+Inst</i>., &quot;Bristol&quot; vol., p. 28). The passage to the undercroft
+would seem to be the first result of the chapter's undertaking;
+its ornament is of a more advanced type than that of the
+undercroft itself, and one of its carved heads is swollen as by
+the toothache, and tied in a handkerchief. There can be little
+or no doubt that the &quot;finishing&quot; of the old works included
+also the building of the chapter-house staircase, and, when
+that was finished, the raising of the chapter-house itself (the
+<i>nova structura</i> of the old documents) upon the undercroft.
+The full Decorated style of the chapter-house is separated by
+a considerable interval from the late Early English of the
+undercroft, while that of the staircase, which is geometrical
+Decorated of a character not very far removed from Early
+English, must have been built before the chapter-house itself
+was begun.</p>
+
+<p>The self-sacrificing spirit of the chapter was supplemented
+by the offerings which flowed in from the growing practice of
+endowing altars for requiem services, as well as from the shrine
+of St. William Bytton; and the building activity continued for
+the next fifty years till the church had been brought, in all save
+its western towers, to its final state of perfection. After the
+staircase to the chapter-house had been completed, about the
+year 1292, the walls of the chapter-house itself were built,
+probably by Bishop William de Marchia (1293-1302) who
+seems to have covered it in with a temporary roof.</p>
+
+<p>Dean John de Godelee (1306-1333) was the last great
+builder of the church of Wells. The power of the bishop in
+his own church is already declining, as that of the chapter
+rises, and it is the dean now who organises the works. In
+1315 the central tower was raised, and by 1321 it was being
+roofed in. By 1319 the chapter-house was finished; Godelee,
+with William Joy, the master-mason, had probably worked
+out the old drawings and built the windows and vaulted roof.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span>Next the Lady Chapel must have been begun, for by 1326 it
+was finished. Somewhere about this time the parapet, which
+adds so much to the external beauty of the church, was also
+made.</p>
+
+<p>But the raising of the central tower had, ere this, brought
+disaster. In 1321 there was a grant from the clergy of the
+Deanery of Taunton in aid of the roofing of the &quot;new
+<i>campanile</i>&quot;; in 1338 a convocation was summoned because
+the church of Wells was so <i>totaliter confracte et enormiter
+deformate</i> that the instant and united action of its members
+was required to save it (<i>cf.</i> Willis in <i>Som. Proc</i>. 1863). The
+adding of the Decorated portion to the tower increased the
+weight so much that the four great piers sank into the ground,
+dragging the masonry with them and causing rents to appear
+at the apex of the arches. The situation was most dangerous:
+it was met by the careful repairing of the torn masonry and the
+construction of those inverted arches which are so familiar a
+feature of the church.</p>
+
+<p>Yet the work proceeded very rapidly under a great bishop,
+who for the time eclipsed the rising power of the deans.
+Ralph of Shrewsbury (1329-63) carried on the work of Dean
+Godelee, and in the early years of his episcopate entirely
+reconstructed the choir. The scheme seems to have been
+contemplated as early as 1325; for in that year each dignitary
+arranged to pay for his own stall in the refitting of the choir,
+because the old stalls had become &quot;ruinous and misshapen.&quot;
+In any case, it was Ralph who added the three new bays of
+the presbytery which are so curiously joined to the old
+presbytery of Reginald, and with it form the present eastern
+limb of the church. He then constructed the beautiful retro-choir
+which connects the presbytery with the Lady Chapel. The
+vaulting of the choir and the construction of the great east
+window would appear to have been undertaken at a later
+period of his episcopate; for the ceiling is of a more advanced
+style than the lower work, and the tracery of the window is
+half Perpendicular. When Bishop Ralph died, in 1363, he was
+buried in the place of honour in front of the high altar, as the
+founder of the choir which he had finished.</p>
+
+<p>The finishing touches were given to the cathedral when
+Bishop Harewell (<i>ob.</i> 1386) gave two-thirds of the cost of the
+south-western or Harewell Tower, and when the executors of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span>Bishop Bubwith (<i>ob.</i> 1424) finished the companion tower on
+the north-west.</p>
+
+<p>The other efforts of the fourteenth and fifteenth century
+builders were given to those subordinate buildings which are
+the peculiar glory of Wells. Even so magnificent a prelate
+as Beckington did nothing to the actual fabric of the
+Cathedral (unless his tomb be so considered), for the simple
+reason that there was really nothing for him to do. Ralph of
+Shrewsbury had, besides his work in the church, finished the
+palace (which Jocelin had begun and Burnell had enriched with
+the hall and chapel) by the moat, walls, and gate-house. He
+had also begun the Vicars' Close, of which the chapel was
+built by Bubwith, but the executors of Beckington recast it in
+its present form. After Beckington had employed his energies
+in erecting the beautiful gateways with which his name is
+always associated, Dean Gunthorpe (<i>ob.</i> 1498) built the
+deanery.</p>
+
+<p>The following interesting eulogy of Bishop Beckington and
+his church was written in the form of a Latin dialogue by
+Chaundler, who was Chancellor of Wells in 1454:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You might more properly call it a city than a town, as you
+would yourself understand more clearly than day if you could
+behold all its intrinsic splendour and beauty. For that most
+lovely church which we see at a distance, dedicated to the
+most blessed Apostle of the Almighty God, St. Andrew,
+contains the episcopal chair of the worthy Bishop. Adjoining
+it is the vast palace, adorned with wonderful splendour, girt on
+all sides by flowing waters, crowned by a delectable succession
+of walls and turrets, in which the most worthy and learned
+Bishop Thomas, the first of that name, bears rule. He has
+indeed at his own proper pains and charges conferred such a
+splendour on this city, as well by strongly fortifying the church
+with gates and towers and walls, as by constructing on the
+grandest scale the palace in which he resides and the other
+surrounding buildings, that he deserves to be called, not the
+founder merely, but rather the splendour and ornament of the
+church.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The Reformation period left the cathedral cold and barren
+within, but interfered little with its fabric; the only serious
+piece of destruction (p. <a href="#Page_57">57</a>) being that of the magnificent
+Lady Chapel by the Cloister, in 1552, by Sir John Gates, &quot;a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16" />greate puritan, Episcopacie's common Enemy.&quot; In other
+respects it was what Freeman calls a period of systematic
+picking and stealing; as witness this passage from Nathaniel
+Chyles:&mdash;&quot;The Great Duke of Somersett, Unkle to Edward
+the Sixt (whose title proved very fatall to this place and
+Bishopwrick) was not only contented to get most of the mannours
+Lands and possessions belonging to this Bishopwrick
+settled upon him and his posteritie, but at last even the
+palace itselfe also.&quot; But the palace and some of the property
+were recovered after Somerset's execution.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image04" id="image04"></a>
+<a href="images/image04h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image04.jpg"
+	alt=" The Cathedral. (From a Seventeenth Century Print.)"
+	title=" The Cathedral. (From a Seventeenth Century Print.)" />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>The bishop's palace suffered the ruin of Burnell's magnificent
+hall through the prevalent lust for gain. Sir John
+Harrington writes in terms of pardonable indignation:&mdash;&quot;I
+speak now only of the spoil made under this Bishop [Barlow];
+scarce were five years past after Bath's ruins, but as fast went
+the axes and hammers to work at Wells. The goodly hall
+covered with lead ... was uncovered, and now this roof
+reaches to the sky. The Chapel of Our Lady, late repaired by
+Stillington, a place of reverence and antiquity, was likewise
+defaced, and such was their thirst after lead (I would they had
+drunk it scalding) that they took the dead bodies of bishops
+out of their leaden coffins, and cast abroad the carcases scarce
+thoroughly putrified.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>During the Commonwealth the choir was closed, and Dr
+Cornelius Burges, who was appointed &quot;Preacher&quot; at the
+cathedral, bought the bishop's palace and deanery for his
+private property. He, of course, despoiled the palace, &quot;pulling
+off not only the Lead thereoff,&quot; says Chyles,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">4</a> &quot;but taking
+away also the Timber, and making what money he could of
+them, and what remained unsold he removed to the Deanery
+improving that out of the Ruins of the palace, leaving only
+bare Walls.&quot; At the Restoration Burges was ejected, after a
+good deal of litigation, and Bishop Piers returned to the ruins
+of his palace. Burges' sermons had never been popular with
+the people of Wells, who annoyed him by walking up and down
+the cloisters &quot;all sermon time.&quot; When the trial for his ejectment
+came on he published his &quot;Case,&quot; in which he justified
+his buying Church lands by alleging that he had lent the State
+&pound;3490, and, having a wife and ten children to provide for, he
+took such land, etc. as the only means of repayment. Five of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span>the canons' houses were also obtained from Cromwell's Commissioners
+by the Corporation of Wells, one or two of which
+were pulled down and sold for old stone.</p>
+
+<p>At the Restoration, the canons were at great expense to
+restore the church from the ruinous condition into which it
+had fallen in Puritan times, and they were liberally helped
+in their extremity by the clergy and laity of the diocese.
+Says Chyles (<i>c.</i> 1680): &quot;Since his Majestie's and Churche's
+happy and blessed Restoration, what betweene the Bishopp,
+the Deane, and Deane and Chapter, our Church and Quire
+is once more in a beautifull and comely habitt (which God
+continue) such as neither the Church of Rome has reason to
+upbraid us with a slovenly or clownish Service, nor the Puritan
+and Nonconformist with a gaudy or Superstitious. The good
+old Bishopp [W. Piers], who weather'd out that Storme, and
+was restored to what was his Owne, gave those silk Hangings
+which beautifie the Altar within the Railes.&quot; Dean Creyghton
+gave the glass in the west window, the organ and the brass
+lectern, and Dr Busby, who was treasurer of Wells as well
+as head-master of Westminster, gave the silver-gilt alms dish
+and restored the library, lengthening it by the addition of the
+southern part.</p>
+
+<p>Chyles tells us, too, that there was morning and evening
+prayer in the &quot;Vicars' Chapell in Close Hall,&quot; at six, forenoon
+and afternoon, in winter, and seven in summer, in addition to
+the cathedral services at the &quot;canonical howers.&quot; Before his
+time there had been only a morning sermon on Sundays, and,
+in the afternoon, &quot;the whole Cathedrall&quot; had been in the
+habit of going to St. Cuthbert's, returning with the mayor and
+his brethren for the cathedral prayers at four; &quot;but since his
+Majesty's Restoracion one likewise in the Afternoones here is
+preached by the said prebends <i>in theire turns</i>. Soe that here
+the Sermonizing people may have their Bellyfull of preaching
+and forbeare crying out, <i>They are starved for want of the Word</i>
+and calling our clergy <i>Dumb Doggs</i>.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This time of peace did not last long, for in 1685 the whole
+of Somerset was up in Monmouth's rebellion. The duke's
+followers came to Wells, turned the cathedral into a stable, tore
+the lead off the roof for bullets, pulled down several of the
+statues, broached a barrel of beer on the high altar, and
+would have destroyed the altar itself, had not Lord Grey,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span>one of their leaders, defended it with his sword. Dr Conan
+Doyle's description of the scene in his novel, <i>Micah Clarke</i>
+(p. 292), is so vivid that it is well worth referring to.</p>
+
+<p>The long and heavy peace which followed was marked by
+the gradual pewing up of the choir and presbytery, and the
+intrusion of pretentious monuments. Then, in our own times,
+came the revival, bringing evil as well as good in its train. In
+1842 the restoration of the nave, transepts, and Lady Chapel
+was commenced at the instance of Dean Goodenough, by Mr
+Benjamin Ferrey. He removed the thick layers of whitewash
+which had been ingeniously applied to conceal the sculpture;
+and the long rows of marble tablets which had disfigured the
+aisles were shifted to the cloisters, whence, it may be hoped,
+they will one day make a further journey towards oblivion.</p>
+
+<p>The restoration of the choir by Mr Salvin, which lasted from
+1848 to 1854, was unfortunately of a less blameless character.
+It was the period of the Great Exhibition, when art reached the
+lowest depths to which it has sunk in the history of the world.</p>
+
+<p>We need not dwell upon the result; few restorations are
+more marked with the complacent ignorance of that strange
+time. The old pews and galleries in the choir, which had
+hidden the very capitals of the piers, were indeed removed,
+but with them the medieval stalls were destroyed and replaced
+by work of indescribable imbecility. No real improvement in
+the choir of Wells is now possible till every trace of Dean
+Jenkyns' restoration is swept away; but, alas! what he
+destroyed can never be recovered.</p>
+
+<p>In 1868 the report of Mr Ferrey<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">5</a> upon the west front was
+presented, and shortly afterwards the work of repair was begun
+under his direction. The report showed how extensive was the
+decay, and how great the danger of complete ruin unless steps
+were taken to protect the old work; and the work of repair was
+carried out with care and reverence; though even here irreparable
+harm was done by the substitution of the modern &quot;slate
+pencils&quot; for the old blue lias shafts. Since then, many small
+matters have been attended to with varying success. The
+Lady Chapel has been decently furnished and the east end
+slightly improved. Much still remains to be done; but the
+best motto at the present day is <i>festina lente</i>, and the safest
+rule is to be progressive in all enrichment by removable
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span>furniture, and conservative, very conservative, in all structural
+alteration. If the hand of the restorer can now be stayed, the
+words will still be true of Wells, which M. Huysmans used of
+another church:&mdash;<i>Ces si&egrave;cles s'&eacute;taient reunis pour apporter aux
+pieds du Christ l'effort surhumain de leur art, et les dons de
+chacun &eacute;taient visibles encore</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image05" id="image05"></a>
+<a href="images/image05h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image05.jpg"
+	alt=" South Aisle Of Nave."
+	title=" South Aisle Of Nave." />
+</a></div>
+<hr class="major" />
+<h3>FOOTNOTES</h3>
+<div class="footnotes">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_1_1">[1]</a>
+<i>Somerset Proceedings</i>, 1888, ii. 5.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_2_2">[2]</a> <i>History of the Cathedral</i>, p. 98.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_3_3">[3]</a> <i>Divine Worship in England</i>, p. 195.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_4_4">[4]</a> Book ii. c. 2.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_5_5">[5]</a> <i>Inst. Arch</i>. 1870.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<h2>
+<a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20" />
+CHAPTER II</h2>
+<h3>THE EXTERIOR</h3>
+
+
+<p>&quot;In England,&quot; wrote Mr J.H. Parker, in his <i>Glossary</i>,
+&quot;Wells affords the most perfect example of a cathedral with
+all its parts and appurtenances. It was,&quot; he continues, after
+an enumeration of the parts of the church, &quot;a cathedral
+proper, and independent of any monastic foundation, but
+with a separate house for each of its officers, either in the
+Close or in the Liberty adjoining to it. The bishop's palace
+was enclosed by a separate moat and fortified, being on the
+south side of the cloister, from which it is separated by the
+moat; the houses for the dean and for the archdeacon are
+on the north side of the Close, with some of the canons'
+houses; the organist's house is at the west end, adjoining to
+the singing-school and the cloister; the precentor's house
+is at the east end, near the Lady Chapel. The vicars-choral
+have a close of their own adjoining to the north-east corner
+of the canons' close, with a bridge across through the gate-house
+into the north transept; they were a collegiate body,
+with their own chapel, library, and hall.&quot; One need only
+add that all these sentences can still, with one exception,
+be read in the present tense to show that Wells possesses a
+beauty and interest which gives it an unique place among
+cathedral foundations. There is no other cathedral city in
+which so many of the old ecclesiastical buildings remain,
+or on which the modern world has made so little impression.
+The church itself, in Fergusson's opinion perhaps the most
+beautiful, though one of the smallest in England, is but
+one part of a &quot;group of buildings, which,&quot; wrote Professor
+Freeman, &quot;as far as I know, has no rival, either in our own
+island or beyond the sea.&quot; The little city to which these
+buildings belong is itself worthy of them, almost a part of
+them, so quiet and venerable is it, so picturesque in its
+lovely setting of green hills.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span>Were size the main distinction of a church, Wells would
+sink comfortably into the second class; even in some of its
+best features it has many rivals, but the peculiar charm and
+glory of Wells lies (to quote again from Freeman's <i>History</i>)
+&quot;in the union and harmonious grouping of all. The church
+does not stand alone; it is neither crowded by incongruous
+buildings, nor yet isolated from those buildings which are
+its natural and necessary complement. Palace, cloister, Lady
+Chapel, choir, chapter-house, all join to form one indivisible
+whole. The series goes on uninterruptedly along that unique
+bridge, which, by a marvel of ingenuity, connects the church
+itself with the most perfect of buildings of its own class,
+the matchless vicars' close. Scattered around we see here
+and there an ancient house, its gable, its windows, or its
+turret, falling in with the style and group of greater buildings,
+and bearing its part in producing the general harmony of all.&quot;
+Thus, in the first place, the group of buildings must be
+looked at as a whole from the north, from the east, from
+the south-east; then the superb, unrivalled picture from the
+rising ground on the Shepton Mallet road,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">1</a> outside the city,
+must be seen, and, when this little journey has been made,
+the most hurried visitor must find time at least to peep into
+the vicars' close, and walk round the moat of the palace.
+After some such general impression has been gained, the
+study of the exterior of the church will naturally begin with
+that part which is a peculiar distinction of Wells Cathedral&mdash;the
+west front.</p>
+
+<p><a name="II_1" id="II_1"></a>The <b>West Front</b> of Wells has been universally admired.
+Long ago, old Fuller wrote&mdash;&quot;The west front of Wells is
+a masterpiece of art indeed, made of imagery in just proportion,
+so that we may call them <i>vera et spirantia signa</i>. England
+affordeth not the like.&quot; This verdict is but repeated
+by modern writers; the front is &quot;quite unrivalled,&quot; says
+Fergusson, and comparable only to Rheims and Chartres.
+Mr Hughes, in Traill's <i>Social England</i>, goes farther and says<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">2</a>
+that &quot;nothing fit to rank with it was then being done in
+Northern Europe&mdash;for the monumental porches of France,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span>formerly supposed to be contemporary, are now recognised
+as of a later date.&quot;</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image06" id="image06"></a>
+<a href="images/image06h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image06.jpg"
+	alt=" West Front. Bishop Aethelhelm (103)."
+	title=" West Front. Bishop Aethelhelm (103)." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>But there has been a discordant note in the general chorus
+of praise. Professor Freeman, whose admiration for nearly
+everything in Wells was so intense, could find little to praise
+in the west front of
+the cathedral.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">3</a> &quot;It is
+doubtless,&quot; he wrote,
+&quot;the finest display of
+sculpture in England;
+but it is thoroughly
+bad as a piece of architecture.
+I am always
+glad when I get round
+the corner, and can
+rest my eye on the
+massive and simple
+majesty of the nave
+and transepts. The
+west front is bad because
+it is a sham&mdash;because
+it is not the
+real ending of the nave
+and aisles, but a mere
+mask, devised, in order
+to gain greater room
+for the display of
+statues ... The
+front is not the natural
+finish of the nave and
+aisles; it is a blank
+wall built up in a shape
+which is not the shape
+which their endings
+would naturally assume. It is therefore a sham; it is
+a sin against the first law of architectural design, the law
+that enrichment should be sought in ornamenting the construction ... not
+in building up anything simply for the
+sake of effect.&quot; He then proceeds to criticise the way in which
+the windows and doorways &quot;are stowed away as they best may
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24" /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span>be,&quot; as if they were felt to be mere interruptions to the lines of
+sculpture.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image07" id="image07"></a>
+<a href="images/image07h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image07.jpg"
+	alt=" The West Front."
+	title=" The West Front." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>This latter objection to the doorways had often been made
+before, only that the &quot;rabbit-holes on a mountain side&quot; of
+earlier critics became &quot;mouse-holes&quot; with Mr Freeman. Mr
+E.W. Godwin, in a lecture in 1862, had also found fault with
+the crowding in of the niches over the central doorway, which
+he declared to be in the highest degree clumsy; with the bald
+appearance given by the shallowness of the reveals in the principal
+windows; and with the way in which &quot;the solid work of
+the base suddenly crops up at the very summit of the two
+central buttresses, not altogether unlike the dog-kennel of
+modern Gothic.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Of these criticisms the most serious is Mr Freeman's general
+charge of unreality. But why should not a stone screen be
+erected for the display of statuary before the west end of a
+church, just as lawfully as behind the high altar? And, if
+a screen may be allowed as an end in itself, standing simply
+as a thing of beauty to glorify a building of which it is not
+a structural part, then the front of Wells may stand, like
+the reredos of Winchester, as the noblest example of its kind.
+It has no need to simulate lofty aisles which do not exist,
+for it covers, not the aisles, but the faces of the great towers
+themselves; and, as a consequence, the portion of really blank
+wall which stretches from them to the central gable is so
+small as to be more than justified by the cohesion it gives to
+the whole. The whole effect is singularly broad, but so is
+the space it covers within; for this breadth is legitimately
+attained by the happy device of planting the western towers
+beyond the aisles.</p>
+
+<p>The massive front of Wells stands, therefore, on its own
+merits as a west front, and not merely a west end&mdash;a great
+stone screen that, so far from pretending to be a regular
+termination of the nave and aisles, is actually carried, in all its
+sculptured magnificence, round the sides of the two towers
+upon which it so frankly depends. It is a screen built at a
+period different from, and, we may now safely assume, later
+than, that of the nave, and built for the exhibition of a noble
+legend in stone, which has ever since been the glory of a
+county famed for its splendid churches.</p>
+
+<p>Taking it then for what it is, and remembering that the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span>lower tiers were once filled with statuary, can we regret that
+the doorways themselves were subordinated to the one grand
+design of accommodating this great multitude of silent teachers?
+The great doorways of French churches are magnificent in
+themselves, but that is surely no reason why we should make it
+an axiom that a front cannot be fine unless it have a great
+doorway. Striking as the effect of these foreign entrances may
+be, there is no structural reason why a door should be of an
+unwieldy size out of all proportion to the stature of the people
+who use it, so that a smaller door has to be cut for ordinary
+use out of the real door. It certainly, as even at Amiens,
+limits the sculptor's opportunities; and in a country like
+England, where doors can only be kept open for a few weeks
+in the year, great doorways would be as inappropriate as closed
+doors are forbidding. As a matter of fact, the usual entrance
+to Wells Cathedral in Jocelin's time was not from the west, but
+through the cloister and the south porch. And the central
+entrance of the west was made impressive, not by its size, but
+by the exquisite nature of its carving, and the blue and scarlet
+and gold with which it was coloured. It was not insignificant
+then. It had the prominence of a jewel. Moreover, in French
+churches, where the exterior is sacrificed to the internal effect,
+there is some wisdom in concentrating attention upon the
+doorway. But in English churches&mdash;and in Wells, perhaps,
+more than any other English church&mdash;the exteriors are perfect
+in themselves, and the visitor need not be tempted to hurry to
+their portals. After all, if the rabbit-holes on a mountain-side
+looked as large as quarries, the mountain would not look like
+a mountain.</p>
+
+<p>There are, moreover, three faults in the front as it now stands
+which cannot be attributed to its maker. In the first place, it
+is undoubtedly a little formal, a little square, and this defect
+is particularly marked in the photographs which one sees
+everywhere. Unfortunately this picture, which is too small
+to show the detail, gives no idea whatever of the general
+external effect of the church. It gives the impression that
+Wells Cathedral is a glorified wall, because the photograph
+cannot show the other parts upon which the front depends.
+The architect, no doubt, intended the towers to be carried
+higher or surmounted with spires, and though no trace of any
+stone erection has been found on the tops of the present towers,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span>they may once have been crowned with wooden spires covered
+with lead or shingle. One need hardly say how vast a difference
+such lofty towers as exist at Laon Cathedral, or spires like
+those of Lichfield, would make in the effect of the front.
+They would also account for the great size of the buttresses,
+which seem to have been built with a view to sustaining a great
+weight.</p>
+
+<p>A disagreeable impression is also caused by the row of
+hip-knobs along the coping of the central gable, and the
+pinnacle in their midst. This collection of curiosities was
+probably added in the seventeenth century, and the pinnacle
+may have been taken from one of the denuded buttresses of
+the Lady Chapel to replace the gable cross which must have
+originally stood here: at all events it is a later addition, as was
+proved by an examination of the masonry. It would be an
+act of justice to the memory of Jocelin if these trivial excrescences
+were removed.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps one is even more distressed on first seeing the
+front by a third fault&mdash;the weak and stringy effect of the long,
+thin, dark, marble shafts. For this the restorer, Mr Benjamin
+Ferrey, must bear the blame. He complained with justice that
+the original blue lias shafts, when they were decayed, had
+been replaced by the ordinary Doulting stone.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">4</a> But, unhappily,
+he did not go back to the original material, but
+fitted the whole front with a complete set of shafts of Kilkenny
+marble, which is at once dark and cold. They absolutely
+refuse to blend with the old, warm, grey stone, and stand out,
+stark and stiff, like an array of gigantic slate pencils. Mr
+Ferrey was possessed with the idea that the blue lias shafts
+(having only lasted for a paltry half-dozen centuries) were not
+durable enough for the work. He therefore used this marble,
+which, doubtless, will stand in increased obtrusiveness when
+every stone of the cathedral has decayed. He further was
+impressed with the strange notion that the hideous Kilkenny
+marble is of the same colour as the exquisitely delicate grey
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span>of the blue lias. The result is a sad warning to all restorers
+not to be more clever than the original architect.</p>
+
+<p>Let us, then, try to imagine the west front with its empty
+lowest tier filled with graceful figures, its gable in its first
+simplicity and surmounted by a cross, its towers of Early
+English form crowned with lofty spires, its delicate shafts of
+their original material, and its ranges of figures &quot;all gorgeous
+in their freshly-painted hues of blue and scarlet and purple
+and gold.&quot; Then we shall have some idea of the front of
+Wells as Jocelin meant it to be and to remain.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image08" id="image08"></a>
+<a href="images/image08h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image08.jpg"
+	alt="Ornaments In The West Front."
+	title="Ornaments In The West Front." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>As for the colour, its effect can be gathered from the
+traces which survive. There is ultramarine, gold, and scarlet
+in the tympanum of the central doorway, where there are also
+the marks of metal fittings. Ferrey found a deep maroon
+colour on the figures of the Apostles, and a dark colour painted
+with stars in the Resurrection tier. One of the chief glories of
+the front is the faithful care which is given throughout to the
+smaller features. The mouldings (a succession of rounds and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span>hollows) are most bold and effective; the carving of the
+foliage in caps and canopies, tympana, pedestals, and terminals
+is singularly beautiful and free. This impression
+is deepened by a minute examination; indeed, it is almost
+a matter of regret that some of the finest work is at such
+a height as to be almost impossible to see; for in all the
+earlier work at Wells the Lamp of Sacrifice burns brightly.
+Mr Ferry pointed out an instance, which may be given here,
+of the care with which minor matters were thought out:&mdash;In
+order that the lowest tier might not look weak and yet might
+provide a sufficient shadow for the statues, the backs of the
+niches are set at a slightly recessed angle in the centre,
+and thus an effect of strength is given to the angular jambs.
+Indeed, there may be differences of opinion as to the general
+design of the west front, but there can be none as to the
+supreme excellence of its detail. It is beyond doubt the most
+rich example of Early English work to be found anywhere.
+The crown of its glories, the justification of its form, did it need
+justification, are the frail statues which line it, tier upon tier.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image09" id="image09"></a>
+<a href="images/image09h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image09.jpg"
+	alt="Ornaments In The West Front."
+	title="Ornaments In The West Front." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>Vertically the west front is divided into three main parts&mdash;the
+centre, containing the three lancet windows of the nave
+and the main doorway, is surmounted by a gable receding in
+stages with a pinnacle at either angle; and the two lateral
+towers, the lower portion of which form one continuous screen
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span>with the centre, broken only by the boldly projecting buttresses,
+of which each division possesses two. Horizontally the front
+divides itself naturally into four parts&mdash;the plain base, which is
+high enough to contain the full height of the small north and
+south doorways. One of the stones in this division, about the
+level of the eye, and near the middle, which has evidently been
+moved from some other place, bears the inscription, <i>Pur lalme
+Johan de Putenie priez et trieze jurs de</i> ... Next is an arcade
+of niches interspersed with windows, the space above being
+pierced by quatrefoils. The third division contains the three
+lancet windows, the forms of which are repeated on the north
+and south, breaking the line of the two historical tiers of
+niches which, with the Resurrection tier, adorn this main
+division of the front. A bold string course marks it off firmly
+and decisively from the fourth and upper division, in which
+the three parts of the front become separate, the towers at
+each side and the stepped gable, flanked by two graceful Early
+English pinnacles, in the middle. The statuary is mainly confined
+to the arcading of the second division, to the buttresses
+of the third, with its continuous cornice of the Resurrection
+tier, and to the gable front of the fourth; but the amount of it is
+largely increased by the fact that the work is carried round
+three sides of the north-western tower, which only touches the
+church on one side. The niches on the sides of the south-western
+tower are almost empty.</p>
+
+<p><a name="II_2" id="II_2"></a><b>The Statuary.</b>&mdash;The statuary is not only the finest collection
+of medieval sculpture to be found in England; but,
+separately, the figures are with few exceptions finer than any
+others in this country, while some of them are almost as beautiful
+as the greatest masterpieces in Italy or France. It is strange
+that here, at the outset of the Gothic period, the chief characteristics
+of the old Greek spirit should be so apparent, the
+same restraint, the same simplicity, the same exquisite appreciation
+of light and flowing drapery: in other things there is
+difference enough, the form is less perfect, the action is less
+free, though there is a deeper sentiment and a higher power of
+spiritual expression; but in the essentials of sublime statuary
+there is a singular agreement.</p>
+
+<p>And, strange though it seems, it may well be that in these
+statues one must look for the first signs of the influence of the
+Renaissance in England. Romanesque work has but just died
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span>out, and already the old spirit, destined in time to supplant
+the architecture which sprung from it, is at work again. While
+the statues were being cut at Wells, Niccola Pisano was
+reviving sculpture in Italy under the inspiration of classical
+examples; and there can be little doubt but
+that it was Italian sculptors who
+produced the statuary at Wells. Some
+of the figures on the northern part
+of the front have been found to be
+marked with Arabic numerals (<i>Somerset
+Proceedings</i> 1888, i. 57, 62), and
+these numerals, which did not become
+common in England till the sixteenth
+century, were used in Italy long before,
+having been introduced by Bonacci of
+Pisa (a fellow-citizen of Niccola) in
+1202. That they are found here before
+the middle of the century is a fairly
+conclusive proof that the workers were
+Italians, and very likely from Pisa itself.
+Jocelin, indeed, was English, but he
+had been in exile from 1208 to 1213,
+when he had ample opportunity of
+studying the work of the Italian artists.
+Pleasant as it would be to our national
+pride, we can hardly believe that Englishmen
+produced what seems to be the
+earliest example of such magnificent
+and varied sculpture in north-western
+Europe. At Jocelin's death, in 1242,
+when the work had been going on for
+some thirty years, Niccola Pisano was
+in his prime, Cimabue was two years
+old, and forty years had yet to elapse before the rival sculpture
+of Amiens Cathedral was executed.</p>
+
+<div class="floatr">
+<a name="image10" id="image10"></a>
+<a href="images/image10h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image10.jpg" alt="West Front: Christina (185)"
+title="West Front: Christina (185)" />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>Mr Ruskin, whose admiration of the work at Amiens is
+so intense, has given almost as high praise to the sculpture
+at Wells, and has presented sets of photographs of the
+statuary to various art schools. The verdict of enthusiastic
+approval is, in fact, unanimous. Flaxman, to his credit, in
+spite of his classicalism, was one of the first to draw attention
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span>to the work. Whoever was the general designer of the whole
+arrangement, he deserves as great praise as the sculptors themselves.
+There must have been several sculptors, both because
+no one man could have carved three hundred and fifty
+subjects (of which one hundred and fifty-two are life-size or
+colossal), and because a certain number of the figures in the
+fourth and fifth tiers are of obviously inferior design. But
+one master-mind must have conceived and directed the work.
+The height and lightness which is given to the gable by the
+tall row of the Apostles, the solemn prominence of the figure
+of our Lord above, the rich cornice-like effect of the small
+Resurrection tier, the difference in height between the fourth
+and fifth tiers, the concentration of the three lower tiers, the
+breadth which the seated figures give to the face of the
+buttresses, the arrangement of the statues and groups round
+the buttresses, which makes it impossible for them all to be
+seen at once, all show that one mind was busy, carefully
+subordinating the parts to the whole.</p>
+
+<p>It may well have been Jocelin himself who planned the
+subject-matter of the statuary with such admirable breadth
+and balance of mind. It is easy to produce sermons in
+stones, easy to sermonise in very many ways; but Jocelin did
+not preach. He just tried to embody the Christian spirit
+at work in the world: God made manifest in man, the great
+truth of the Incarnation; and this he did in what we should
+call the most modern manner, though in truth it is medieval
+as well as modern. He did not conceive of Christianity as
+confined within the covers of the Bible, but he took all
+history, as he knew it, the patient education of man in the
+Old Testament, the fulfilment of man's aspirations and God's
+purpose in the New, from the birth of our Lord to the
+founding of the Church, and the continuation of this church
+up to his own time, with especial regard to the heroes, saints
+and rulers of the Church of England. He made a &quot;kalendar
+for unlearned men,&quot; which is both a <i>Biblia Pauperum</i> and
+<i>Annales Angliae</i>, because the annals of England were to him
+a new Bible. &quot;Slowly the Bible of the race is writ,&quot; a
+modern writer has said, &quot;each age, each kindred, adds a word
+to it.&quot; That was the spirit of Jocelin's design; only that,
+through the pomp of mighty kings and fair women and
+honoured bishops, he looked to the naked truth of the judg<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span>ment
+time, when mitres and crowns would remain but as
+signs of an awful responsibility, and the divine justice, so
+tried, so obscured on earth, would be vindicated before the
+angels who are quick to do God's will, and the twelve plain
+men who turned the mighty currents of the world. Such was
+the spirit of a man who lived in the days of St. Francis and
+St. Louis, Stephen Langton and Roger Bacon.</p>
+
+<p>Before commencing a detailed description of the statuary,
+one must refer to Professor Cockerell, R.A., whose enthusiastic
+love of the work led him to construct a theory which he
+published in 1851, as an <i>Iconography of the West Front</i>.
+There can be little doubt that he was right in his general
+idea; there can be equally little doubt that he was wrong
+in nearly every application of it. Everyone now, for instance,
+takes it for granted that the south side of the front is mainly
+&quot;spiritual,&quot; devoted to ecclesiastics, while the north is
+&quot;temporal&quot;; and that the whole of the fourth and fifth tiers
+do represent certain leading historical figures. But when we
+read Cockerell's reasons for identifying these figures we recoil
+in dismay. His knowledge of history is superficial, of costume
+he knows practically nothing; his drawings are as inaccurate
+as his imagination is fertile, and he states as obvious facts the
+wildest conjectures. Further reference will be found to his
+book in our description of the fourth and fifth tiers. It was
+at least an honest labour of love, and Cockerell deserves the
+honour, as he had to endure the disadvantages, of being the
+first in the field.</p>
+
+<p>The <b>central doorway</b> may be taken before the lowest
+tier. Its soffit contains an evident addition, as if the architect
+felt that it needed emphasising by some enrichment. In the
+first of its four deeply-wrought mouldings a series of niches,
+five on each side, with small delicately-carved figures, has
+been inserted, evidently after the arch was made; they are
+cut from a different stone (white lias), and are skilfully fitted
+and grooved into the back of the large sunk moulding. They
+add considerably to the effect of the arch, although all the
+heads of the figures have been destroyed. It is characteristic
+of Cockerell's random method of conjecture, that he declared
+these figures to be representations of the Ten Commandments.</p>
+
+<p>1. The tympanum under the arch and above the double opening of the
+doorway contains a quatrefoil, in which is a noble sculpture of the Madonna
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span>and Child. The head of the Mother and the upper half of the Child are
+gone, but the drapery that remains is of quite perfect grace and dignity.
+A serpent is under the feet of the Madonna, who is sitting on a throne;
+angels censing are on either side without the quatrefoil. A good deal
+of the old colour which once gave this central group a peculiar brilliancy
+can still be traced on this protected sculpture; the background was
+ultramarine, the mouldings red and gold. The figures were also gilded in
+part, and there are marks on the wall to show that a metal nimbus was
+once attached to it.</p>
+
+<p>2. In a canopy above the arch is another sculpture of equal beauty,
+though, owing to its more exposed position, the treatment is a little
+broader. It represents the coronation of Our Lady; both the heads and
+all the hands are gone. The two figures are both seated on one long
+bench, and our Lord leans forward to place the crown upon his Mother's
+head.</p>
+
+
+<h3>THE TIERS.</h3>
+
+<p>In order to avoid any possible mistake I have taken each tier from
+right to left, specifying the gaps, windows, and buttresses, to facilitate
+identification, and commencing with the lowest tier. I have also numbered
+the figures afresh, because of the confusion which has hitherto
+caused great waste of time to every one who has attempted to identify
+them. Cockerell's numbers are the only ones that are at all accurate
+(and he omits the two figures on the extreme south of the fourth and fifth
+tiers); but, as he recommenced his enumeration with each series, they are
+not much use for purposes of identification. There are mistakes and
+omissions in the enumeration of the photographs, there are mistakes in the
+album in the cathedral library, the photographs in the South Kensington
+Museum are hopelessly muddled, and even the descriptions of the restorer,
+Mr Ferrey, are so arranged that it takes days to identify them, while some
+of them elude one's efforts altogether. I have, therefore, numbered the
+statues and groups in a continuous order from bottom to top, so that comparison
+with photographs will in the future be easy. In the case of work
+most of which can only be seen from a distance, the study of photographs is
+absolutely necessary for a full appreciation of their beauty, more especially
+as in very many cases the photographs reveal the form which the accidents
+of discoloration have partly concealed. Mr Phillips of 10 Market Place
+has an almost complete set of admirable photographs, which he was enabled
+to take when the scaffolding was up for the restoration of 1870-73: it is
+these which Mr Ruskin has so much admired.</p>
+
+<p>As there are so many statues, some of inferior interest and beauty, I
+have ventured to put an asterisk (*) to those which I think no one should
+fail to see; and, in almost every case, I have but echoed the general
+verdict.</p>
+
+<p><b>The Lowest Tier.</b>&mdash;This tier contains sixty-two niches, forty-three of
+which are empty, so fatally convenient has their position been for the
+iconoclast. Of those which remain nearly all are on the north side of the
+tower, so that at first sight the tier seems to be quite empty. The loss
+here has been the greater because the figures were of the finest kind, as
+well as the most easily seen: those remaining are certainly of the most
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span>exquisite loveliness. Cockerell's theory that this tier represents the heralds
+of the gospel, prophets and missionaries, has nothing to support it.</p>
+
+<p>It seems to me not unlikely that the tier was devoted to some of the most
+popular saints in the calendar; the position, so near the passer-by, would
+have suited this arrangement, and the front must have been singularly
+deficient in saints if it were otherwise. The figures which remain, a group
+of deacons, a group of bearded figures holding books, and of women bearing
+religious attributes, might well stand for saints.</p>
+
+<p>3. <i>South Tower</i>. Male figure, much decayed, held by metal clamps.</p>
+
+<p>4. Male figure, much decayed, held by metal clamps.</p>
+
+<p><i>Rest of figures missing along west front up to</i>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>5. <i>North Tower</i>. Male figure, much decayed, holds book.</p>
+
+<p>6. A similar figure.</p>
+
+<p><i>Missing</i>.</p>
+
+<p>7. <i>North Buttress</i>. Male figure, which held some drapery in front.</p>
+
+<p>8. <i>North Buttress</i>. Male figure, holding a vessel in right hand
+covered with a cloth, the end of which was in left hand. [Cockerell
+calls this St. Augustine, erroneously supposing this cloth to be the
+pallium.]</p>
+
+<p>9. Beautiful female figure,* drapery resembling a chasuble; hands gone.</p>
+
+<p>10. Female figure with flowing hair; hands gone.</p>
+
+<p>11. Female figure, wimple round head, in left hand holds a vessel,
+right hand is on the edge of the vessel, the fingers dipping in.</p>
+
+<p>12. Female figure,* hood over head, holds in right hand the foot of
+a chalice, and with her left the fold of her dress in front.</p>
+
+<p>13. Tall male figure, bearded, holding closed book; in good preservation.</p>
+
+<p>14. Male figure, bearded; hands gone.</p>
+
+<p>15. <i>Buttress</i>. Male figure, bearded, with flowing hair; hands gone.</p>
+
+<p>16. <i>Buttress</i>. Male figure, bearded, holding open book in left hand;
+upper part moulding away.</p>
+
+<p>17. Deacon* in dalmatic, alb, amice, holding open book in left
+hand, right hand gone; drapery is wonderfully fine. (This
+and the remaining figures are tonsured and shaven.)</p>
+
+<p>18. Deacon,* a beautiful figure, (apparently in dalmatic), amice;
+left hand gone.</p>
+
+<p>19. Deacon, in girded alb, ends of girdle hanging down, wears
+the folded chasuble (very rare in art) over left shoulder,
+maniple; holds book with both hands.</p>
+
+<p><i>Missing</i>.</p>
+
+<p>20. <i>Buttress</i>. Deacon, in girded alb, amice, stole over left
+shoulder, book in left hand. Besides ends of girdle, end of
+a stole is visible on left side, as if a crossed stole had first
+been carved and this end forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>21. <i>Buttress</i>. Deacon,* stole worn over left shoulder, maniple,
+but no amice and no girdle; wears instead of alb a surplice with
+full sleeves&mdash;an unusual combination.</p>
+
+<p><b>Second Tier</b>.&mdash;The next tier (22-53) consists of thirty-two quatrefoils,
+some of which are now empty. The rest contain half-length figures of
+angels, holding crowns, mitres, scrolls, or drapery in their hands.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span><b>Third Tier.</b>&mdash;This, which we may call the Bible Tier, consists of forty-eight
+quatrefoils, ranged close above the quatrefoils of the second tier, and
+broken in the centre by the larger sculpture of the Coronation of the
+Virgin (2). The subjects are all from the Bible, those on the south from
+the Old Testament, dealing with the first things, while those on the north
+and on the north and east sides of the northern tower are from the New
+Testament, and represent the life and mission of our Lord. The iconoclasts
+seem to have concentrated their attention on those earlier New Testament
+groups, which would contain the figure of our Lady, and they have made
+the Crucifixion almost unrecognisable. The figures are about two feet
+high.</p>
+
+<p><i>Empty</i>.</p>
+
+<p>54. The Death of Jacob.</p>
+
+<p>55. Isaac blessing Jacob, who leans over him.</p>
+
+<p>56. Meeting of Isaac and Rebecca, probably.</p>
+
+<p>57. Noah sacrificing on Ararat. Very fine.</p>
+
+<p>58. The Ark. A curious structure, raised pyramidally in four tiers, with
+open arcades, in which birds and beasts are seen. Below is the Flood.</p>
+
+<p>59. Noah building the Ark.* He is in workman's dress, and wears a cap;
+he is working at a bench, beneath which are his tools. Behind is the
+ark, and an &quot;Early English&quot; tree.</p>
+
+<p>60. God decreeing the Deluge.* In great wrath Jehovah approaches a man
+who sits pensively on a hill-side: from behind the man's head springs a
+demon. The figure of Jehovah is admirably expressed.</p>
+
+<p><i>Empty</i>.</p>
+
+<p>61. Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac, who is bound on a bundle of wood.
+Cockerell called this the Sacrifice of Cain, which certainly suits its
+position better.</p>
+
+<p>62. Adam delves and Eve spins. Fine.</p>
+
+<p><i>Empty</i>.</p>
+
+<p>63. Jehovah in the Garden. A draped figure, addressing two figures naked
+and ashamed.</p>
+
+<p>64. The Temptation. The serpent's body is coiled round the tree near
+Adam, and his head hovers above with an apple in the mouth. Adam is
+already eating the fruit.</p>
+
+<p>65. God placing Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.</p>
+
+<p>66. The Creation of Eve.</p>
+
+<p>67. The Creation of Adam. The figure of the Almighty in each of these
+three is magnificent, especially in the last.</p>
+
+<p><i>Empty</i>.</p>
+
+<p><b>Over central doorway.</b> 2. Coronation of the Virgin (p. <a href="#Page_34">34</a>).</p>
+
+<p><i>Here follow eighteen New Testament subjects.</i></p>
+
+<p>68. St. John the Evangelist*; he is winged. A book rests on the back of
+an eagle. The idea of inspiration could not be more finely expressed.</p>
+
+<p><i>Empty</i>. (Perhaps the Annunciation was here.)</p>
+
+<p><i>Empty</i>. (Perhaps the Visitation.)</p>
+
+<p>69. The Nativity. Mutilated.</p>
+
+<p><i>Empty</i>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Empty</i>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Empty</i>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Empty</i>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Empty</i>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Empty</i>.</p>
+
+<p>70. Christ among the Doctors: the Holy Child is a very small figure on a
+pedestal. A most expressive group.</p>
+
+<p>71. St. John Baptist, clothed in camels' hair, in the wilder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span>ness.
+(An angel appearing from the clouds, broken off since 1862. The
+fragment is now in No. 72).</p>
+
+<p>72. Figures in critical attitudes. Perhaps the Sermon on the Mount.</p>
+
+<p><i>Empty</i>.</p>
+
+<p>73. Christ in the Wilderness, probably.</p>
+
+<p>74. Figures in intent attitudes. Perhaps the Mission of the Apostles.</p>
+
+<p>75. Five figures seated at a table. Perhaps the Anointing of Christ's
+feet.</p>
+
+<p>76. Figure on a Mount surrounded by many figures. Perhaps the Feeding of
+the Five Thousand. <b>North side of Tower.</b></p>
+
+<p>77. Christ, sitting, with other figures. Perhaps the Feeding of the Four
+Thousand.</p>
+
+<p>78. The Transfiguration.* A fine composition, two of the Apostles
+crouching in the foreground.</p>
+
+<p>79. The Entry into Jerusalem. Under the city gate two men strew clothes
+and branches: from the walls and tower many people are looking.</p>
+
+<p>80. The Betrayal. Chief priest with mitred head-dress in centre: winged
+devil holds up the train of right figure. On left a figure holds open a
+money-box.</p>
+
+<p>81. The Last Supper.* The Virgin kneels to receive the Communion from
+her Son: St. John's head rests on His bosom. The drapery is very fine.
+Underneath are a bottle and a basket.</p>
+
+<p><i>Empty</i>.</p>
+
+<p>82. Christ before Pilate.</p>
+
+<p>83. Christ bearing the Cross. Mutilated.</p>
+
+<p>84. The Elevation of the Cross. Much mutilated.</p>
+
+<p>85. The Deposition. Much mutilated.</p>
+
+<p><i>Empty</i>.</p>
+
+<p>86. The Resurrection. An angel on either side, guards below.</p>
+
+<p>87. Pentecost: the Birthday of Holy Church. A dignified group of
+figures.</p>
+
+<p><b>Fourth and Fifth Tiers.</b>&mdash;The fourth and fifth tiers contained at
+least 120 figures (about a dozen of which are gone), varying in height
+from 7 ft. 10 in. to 8 ft. 1 in., a few running as high as 8 ft. 10 in.
+They no doubt represent the kings, bishops, and heroes of English
+history from Egbert to Henry II. Cockerell was probably right in
+his general interpretation of the series, but it is easy to prove that he is
+wrong in many of the names he gives. It is not so easy to suggest any
+better, and therefore his names have stuck to the figures, since people
+naturally like to know them by something more interesting than a number.
+I shall therefore adopt his nomenclature, with the admission that equally
+good grounds could be given in almost every case for some other theory.
+Besides Mr Ferrey's account (<i>Inst. Brit. Arch</i>., 1870), quoted in inverted
+commas, Cockerell's descriptions, inaccurate as they are, have been consulted,
+and also Mr Planch&eacute;'s criticism of Cockerell.</p>
+
+<p>The word <i>Buttress</i> means that the figure (generally a sitting one) is
+on the west face of the buttress in question. Bishops (&quot;Bp.&quot;), unless
+otherwise stated, wear the usual vestments&mdash;mitre, chasuble, dalmatic,
+tunicle, stole, maniple, alb, and apparelled amice. Kings (&quot;K.&quot;) and
+Queens (&quot;Q.&quot;) wear crowns. A favourite attitude is described as &quot;holding
+cord&quot;; this cord being the lace or cord of the mantle, which crossed the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span>chest and prevented that garment from falling off the shoulders. The
+mantle seems to have had an uncomfortable tendency to slip down, and
+thus it became a habit constantly to pull the cord forward, whence the
+frequency of this attitude. This cord was wrongly described by Cockerell
+as a necklace, with which it has, of course, no connection. The word
+&quot;trampling&quot; refers to another common feature in these tiers; kings are
+generally represented as trampling on a small figure under their feet,
+to signify their success over their enemies. The figures of the fifth
+tier are rather taller than those of the fourth. The first twenty
+figures on our list, those of the fourth tier up to King Ina, may
+represent the twenty bishops of the diocese from Athelm to Jocelin, in
+direct order, since the corresponding series of the fifth tier contains
+figures which cannot be those of bishops. I have, however, kept to
+Cockerell's names to avoid confusion.</p>
+
+<p><b>Fourth Tier.</b>&mdash;88. <i>South Tower</i>&mdash;<i>Buttress</i>&mdash;Sitting Bp.; much
+decayed, supported by metal clamps.</p>
+
+<p>89. Bp. Savaric. Much defaced, head grotesquely so.</p>
+
+<p>90. Bp. Robert. Much defaced, head grotesquely.</p>
+
+<p><i>Missing</i>.</p>
+
+<p>91. <i>Buttress</i>. Bp. Reginald de Bohun, sitting; somewhat decayed.</p>
+
+<p>92. Bp. Ethelweard, good drapery, well&mdash;preserved; no hair or beard.</p>
+
+<p>93. Sighelm, good drapery, well-preserved; ring of curly hair and beard.</p>
+
+<p>94. Alfry, in hood; large curly beard.</p>
+
+<p>95. Etheleage, monastic dress, cowl and scapular; large curly beard.</p>
+
+<p>96. Bp. Asser. Short and stout figure, in attitude of benediction.</p>
+
+<p>97. Bp. Heahmund. Short and stout figure, in attitude of benediction.</p>
+
+<p>98. <i>Buttress</i>. Bp. Wolfhelm. Fine seated figure, in attitude of
+benediction.</p>
+
+<p>99. Bp. Ealhstan. Stout common-place figure; rather mutilated.</p>
+
+<p>100. Bp. Wilbert. Stout common-place figure; rather mutilated.</p>
+
+<p>101. Bp. Denefrith. Stout common-place figure; better preserved.</p>
+
+<p>102. Bp. Ethelnod. Stout common-place figure; better preserved.</p>
+
+<p>103. <i>Buttress</i>. Bp. Aethelhelm, first Bishop of Wells* (reproduced on
+p. <a href="#Page_22">22</a>). Noble figure, sitting in attitude of benediction.</p>
+
+<p>104. Bp. Herewald, in attitude of benediction.</p>
+
+<p>105. Bp. Forthere, head bent slightly forward.</p>
+
+<p>106. Bp. Ealdhelm. A fine figure. <i>Central Window (South).</i></p>
+
+<p>107. K. Ina, looking over right shoulder, hand gone. (These central
+figures, Ina and Ethelburga, are supposed to be of later date than the
+rest.) <i>Central Window</i>.</p>
+
+<p>108. Q. Ethelburga. Wears the long kirtle with girdle, from which are
+hung an ink-bottle and aulmoniere. <i>Central Window (North).</i></p>
+
+<p>109. K. Egbert, trampling, bearded; cloak falls in a graceful sweep from
+right to left.</p>
+
+<p>110. K. Ethelwulf, bearded. A very short figure, but raised on high
+stone (crouching figure?) higher than the others.</p>
+
+<p>111. K. Ethelbald; decayed.</p>
+
+<p>112. <i>Buttress</i>. K. Edgar, sitting, flat cap on head.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span>
+113. K. Ethelbert, smooth face, trampling; apparently holds fragment of
+sceptre in right hand, cord of mantle with left.</p>
+
+<p>114. K. Ethelred I., smooth face, trampling, gracefully draped cloak,
+holds fragment of sceptre apparently in right, and something indistinct
+in left hand.</p>
+
+<p>115. K. Edwy, left arm raised, holding cloak, which is over right
+shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>116. K. Edward the Martyr, bearded, holding cup (his usual symbol) in
+left hand, trampling. This is one of the most likely ascriptions.</p>
+
+<p>117. <i>Buttress</i>. K. Edmund, sitting, right arm uplifted, left resting on
+knee. Fast decaying.</p>
+
+<p>118. K. Ethelred the Unready, bearded, short figure, trampling, but the
+trampled figure leans easily on its elbow.</p>
+
+<p>119. K. Cnut, bearded, short figure, trampling, but the trampled figure
+is apparently still struggling.</p>
+
+<p>120. Q. Osburga,* in long supertunic, with ample sleeves, falling in
+folds over the feet. The tight sleeve of her kirtle appears on left arm,
+which holds cord of mantle. Head and neck in the wimple which was not in
+thirteenth century distinctive of nun's dress. Book in right hand.</p>
+
+<p>121. Q. Emma, in flowing supertunic with ample sleeves, and wimple;
+hands gone.</p>
+
+<p>122. Harold I., no head covering, trampling; hands touching girdle.</p>
+
+<p>123. Harthacnut, like II old, but hands and part of face gone.</p>
+
+<p>124. <i>Buttress</i>. K. Edred, sitting, right hand on knee, left raised to
+cord, drapery crossed.</p>
+
+<p>125. Q. Edgitha, mantle falls round over left foot.</p>
+
+<p>126. Edmund Ironside.* Knight in surcoat over chain armour, hauberk but
+no helmet; right arm and left hand gone, but head turned to left and
+attitude is that of drawing or sheathing his sword.</p>
+
+<p>127. Harold. Knight, hauberk and surcoat of mail, cylindrical helmet,
+shield on left side; delapidated.</p>
+
+<p>128. <i>North Side of Tower. Buttress.</i> Edward the Confessor, in cap;
+sitting in attitude of judgment (Planch&eacute;), left hand resting on right
+ankle, this leg being crossed over left knee.</p>
+
+<p>129. Prince Richard.* Crowned figure of great beauty, bearded, head
+slightly bent to left with a melancholy expression; hands gone.</p>
+
+<p>130. Robert Curthouse,* bearded, the right hand draws aside part of the
+surcoat, exposing right leg in curious hose; left leg covered by
+surcoat.</p>
+
+<p>131. K. Rufus,* bearded, right hand holds cord of mantle, left holds
+border of mantle across his body.</p>
+
+<p>132. Q. Matilda, flowing hair, holds mantle in left hand.</p>
+
+<p>133. Emperor Henry, crowned, holds cord of mantle, with right hand
+fingering end of his girdle.</p>
+
+<p>134. K. Stephen, right hand holds cord of mantle, left on girdle.</p>
+
+<p>135. K. Henry II., end of cloak thrown over shoulder, holds the fold
+with both hands; in good preservation.</p>
+
+<p>136. <i>Buttress</i>. K. William the Conqueror, sitting in menacing
+attitude, elbows projecting, and hands upon knees.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span>137. Prince Henry. A dignified figure; hands gone.</p>
+
+<p>138. Prince Geoffrey. Beautiful figure, head gone, holds cord of mantle,
+loose sleeves, and good drapery. (Ferrey is wrong in calling this a
+female figure.)</p>
+
+<p>139. Q. Maude the Good, flowing hair, left hand on girdle of supertunic,
+dress fastened at neck with &quot;a beautiful jewel&quot; (Ferrey).</p>
+
+<p>140. Adelais. Graceful figure, with flowing hair.</p>
+
+<p>141. <i>Buttress</i>. K. Henry I., sitting in defiant attitude, right arm
+akimbo, left knee raised, foot on pedestal.</p>
+
+<p><i>Missing</i>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Missing</i>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Missing</i>.</p>
+
+<p>142. K. John.* A beautiful figure.</p>
+
+<p>143. Henry III., no crown, standing, but right knee raised to suit the
+weathering of aisle roof.</p>
+
+<p><b>Fifth Tier</b>.&mdash;144. <i>South Tower. Buttress on the south side</i>. Sitting
+Bp., supported by metal clamps.</p>
+
+<p>145. Bp. J. de Villula; hands gone, much decayed, clamped.</p>
+
+<p>146. Bp. Gisa; hands gone.</p>
+
+<p>147. Bp. Duduc*; right hand gone, book in left.</p>
+
+<p>148. <i>Buttress</i>. Bp. Lyfing; decayed.</p>
+
+<p>149. Bp. Merewit; hands gone.</p>
+
+<p>150. Bp. Brihtwine; hands gone.</p>
+
+<p>151. Aethelwine. Fine figure with long wavy beard spreading at end, hood
+and mantle, aulmoniere at girdle.</p>
+
+<p>152. Burwold, tall bearded figure in hood, satchel (?) hanging from
+girdle.</p>
+
+<p>153. Bp. Aelfwine.* Beautiful figure in cowl, curly hair and beard,
+finely draped habit with loose sleeves.</p>
+
+<p>154. Bp. Sigegar, book in left hand.</p>
+
+<p>155. <i>Buttress</i>. Bp. Brithelm, head turned to right; decayed.</p>
+
+<p>156. Bp. Cyneward.</p>
+
+<p>157. Bp. Wulfhelm. A fine figure.</p>
+
+<p>158. Bp. Elfege. A fine figure.</p>
+
+<p>159. Edfleda, flowing hair, in supertunic or surcoat with long and wide
+sleeves, head covered with veil, which hangs behind, no wimple. Nothing
+conventual to suggest Edfleda.</p>
+
+<p>160. <i>Buttress</i>. K. Edward the Elder. Fine figure, right hand on knees,
+left on cord of mantle.</p>
+
+<p><i>Missing</i>.</p>
+
+<p>161. Edgitha. Very tall figure, right hand on cord, left holds end of
+veil.</p>
+
+<p><i>Missing</i>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Central Window</i> (<i>South</i>).</p>
+
+<p>162. Q. Edgiva, kirtle only, with crown and veil, no wimple.</p>
+
+<p><i>Central Window.</i></p>
+
+<p>163. Ethilda. Wears supertunic over her kirtle, veil and wimple.</p>
+
+<p><i>Central Window</i> (<i>North</i>).</p>
+
+<p>164. Hugh. A sword hangs from his girdle on left side.</p>
+
+<p>165. Elgiva.</p>
+
+<p>166. Q. Edgiva; hands gone.</p>
+
+<p>167. <i>Buttress</i>. K. Ethelstan, defiant attitude, right foot on stool,
+wears brooch.</p>
+
+<p>168. K. Charles the Simple. A squat figure with very big head,
+trampling.</p>
+
+<p>169. Otho, close-fitting tunic, over which is mantle with handsome
+fastening.</p>
+
+<p><i>Missing</i>.</p>
+
+<p>170. Guthrum. Knight in surcoat, mail hauberk and chausses, shield on
+left side.</p>
+
+<p>171. <i>Buttress</i>. K. Alfred, seated; both hands gone, front decayed, and
+clamped.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span></p>
+
+<p>172. Earl of Mercia.* Knight in
+helmet with cross-slit, holding right hand up and shield upon left arm;
+the surcoat turned over below the waist shows a suit of mail. Well
+preserved.</p>
+
+<p>173. St. Neot (more probably St. Decuman, as St. Neot was not beheaded).
+Bp. holding with both hands the upper part of his head, which has been
+cut off across the brows.</p>
+
+<p>174. Ethelfleda,* the Lady of the Mercians. A striking and beautiful
+figure with flowing hair, long veil hanging below the waist, supertunic
+held by brooch, but without sleeves, the tight sleeves of her kirtle
+being visible to the shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>175. Ethelward. Woman with flowing hair, veil; hands gone.</p>
+
+<p>176. Grimbald. Priest; hands gone.</p>
+
+<p>177. St. Elfege, Archb.; hands gone; a noble figure.</p>
+
+<p>178. <i>Buttress</i>. St. Dunstan, upper part decayed.</p>
+
+<p>179. Turketul. Short figure, trampling, in very pointed cloak, big head
+in cap.</p>
+
+<p>180. John Scotus.* A beautiful figure, with exquisitively fine drapery
+that looks as thin as gauze.</p>
+
+<p><i>Missing</i>.</p>
+
+<p>181. <i>North Side of Tower.&mdash;Buttress</i>. Robert, Archbishop of Canterbury,
+standing, holding book in right hand, left hand gone; no mitre.</p>
+
+<p>182. Q. Elgiva, drapery falls from left shoulder, is folded over right
+arm; book in left hand.</p>
+
+<p>183. Q. Edgitha. Tall, gaunt figure; veil falls in long folds to knee,
+right arm close to side, left hand holds cord.</p>
+
+<p>184. Q. Edburga, circlet round head, brooch on her breast, holds drapery
+in right hand.</p>
+
+<p><i>Missing</i>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Missing</i>.</p>
+
+<p>185. Christina, Abbess of Romsey.* Beautiful female figure, holding
+box in left hand: &quot;her dress is peculiar&quot;: one end of veil is caught
+over right shoulder, the other falls down in front on right side (p. <a href="#Page_31">31</a>).</p>
+
+<p>186. Wulston of Winchester, bearded, &quot;with distended ears&quot;; right hand
+gone.</p>
+
+<p>187. <i>Buttress</i>. Archb. Aldred of York, sitting; &quot;mitre modern,&quot; it is
+conical in shape.</p>
+
+<p>188. Edgar Atheling. Knight, spurred, in surcoat only, with sword girded
+outside, no mail, but close-fitting cap and fillet on head: the fillet
+was used for the large cylindrical helmet to rest on. He carries what
+may be a palmer's hat (Cockerell points out that Edgar went on a
+pilgrimage); but Planch&eacute; says it must be a small Saxon buckler, as
+pilgrims did not carry swords. It certainly looks like a hat.</p>
+
+<p>189. Robert the Saxon. Knight in hauberk, without mail, but feet
+spurred, cap on head, shield and sword.</p>
+
+<p>190. Falk of Anjou. Knight in hauberk and chausses of mail, hood of
+hauberk enclosing whole head except a portion of the face: on head is
+the thick fillet. He covers his body with a shield. His surcoat is
+deeply jagged.</p>
+
+<p>191. Robert of Normandy. Knight, in hauberk and complete suit of mail,
+in good preservation, shield with boss on it held down: he wears
+cyclindrical helmet, his eyes and nose being visible through the slit.</p>
+
+<p>192. <i>Buttress</i>. B. Roger of Salisbury, sitting, without mitre.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span><i>Missing</i>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Missing</i>.</p>
+
+<p>193. Female figure, holding drapery with right arm, left hand on side.</p>
+
+<p>194. St. Nicholas, the patron saint of baptism, stands in water up to
+knees, holding a child in each arm. This ascription is approved by
+Planch&eacute;. (He is commonly called by children &quot;the pancake man,&quot; the
+conventional water suggesting round cakes).</p>
+
+<p>195. Female figure, in good preservation, but clamped in a sloping
+position, drapery good.</p>
+
+<p><b>The Resurrection Tier</b>.&mdash;The sixth tier (195-283) consists of a series
+of small canopies which run continuously under the cornice that finishes
+the main division of the front. Above and around, the spandrels are
+filled with beautiful foliage most boldly undercut. Each of the
+eighty-eight canopies (of which thirty are on the north side) contains a
+figure, or group of figures, representing the Resurrection of the dead.
+In spite of a rather defective anatomy, these figures are singularly
+impressive, &quot;startling in significance, pathos, and expression,&quot; are
+Cockerell's words. They are naked&mdash;crowns, mitres, and tonsures alone
+remaining to distinguish their office. They awaken by degrees, heave up
+the lids of their tombs, and draw themselves up slowly, as if scarcely
+yet awake. Some sit in a strange dreamy posture with folded arms, some
+seem expectant, others are in attitudes of fear, hope, defiance, and
+despair. There are none of the grotesque accessories which are too
+common in ancient representations of this subject, but the awful feeling
+of a great awakening shivers along this range of naked, grey, stone
+figures. It is probably the earliest representation of the subject in
+art; it is certainly the most profound and spiritual.</p>
+
+<p><b>The Angels' Tier</b>.&mdash;This is immediately above the Resurrection Tier,
+and occupies the lower part of the gable only. The angelic figures stand
+in nine low niches with well-moulded trefoil heads that rested on blue
+lias shafts; the two niches on the returns of the buttresses also
+contain angels, which are represented as blowing trumpets. In all
+probability the nine figures symbolise the nine orders of the heavenly
+hierarchy, and I have ventured to give the names which the attributes
+and position suggest to my mind as the most likely. Mr Ferrey's account
+is quoted in inverted commas: it must be remembered that he had the
+advantage of a close inspection from the scaffolding.</p>
+
+<p>284. Thrones. &quot;Angel holding an open book,&quot; two wings, long robe, facing
+to his right.</p>
+
+<p>285. Cherubim. &quot;Seraph,&quot; with four wings, &quot;apparently holding a banner,&quot;
+decayed.</p>
+
+<p>286. Seraphim. &quot;Seraph,&quot; with four wings, &quot;entirely feathered, with bare
+legs and feet,&quot; face gone.</p>
+
+<p>287. Dominations. &quot;Angel wearing a helmet,&quot; in vigorous attitude, two
+wings, &quot;too dilapidated to make out what its attributes are.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>288. (<i>Central Figure</i>). Powers. &quot;Beautifully robed, holding a sceptre,&quot;
+two wings: the dress is very ample and majestic.</p>
+
+<p>289. Virtues. &quot;Robed in a short tunic, with an ornamental border, the
+legs are encased in armour,&quot; wears &quot;a jewelled cap,&quot; two wings.</p>
+
+<p>290. Principalities. &quot;A Seraph,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span>entirely feathered, holding a vessel shaped like a bowl,&quot; with flames
+issuing out of it, the legs and feet being also enveloped in &quot;wavy lines
+of flames: probably the avenging angel&quot;; four wings.</p>
+
+<p>291. Archangels. &quot;Apparently holding a crown in the right and left
+hands, close to his breast,&quot; long robe covering the feet; two wings.</p>
+
+<p>292. Angels. &quot;Carrying a regal or small hand organ,&quot; in left hand, four
+wings, decayed; apparently bearing a wand in right hand.</p>
+
+<p><b>The Apostles' Tier</b>.&mdash;The next tier, that of the Apostles, who are thus
+raised above the angels, contains twelve figures of imposing design,
+later in style than the rest of the statuary. The figures are hollowed
+out at the back so as to press less heavily on the tier beneath. The
+arrangement of these niches is very happily managed, so as to avoid any
+monotony in the range of twelve similar niches; for, besides the natural
+division formed by the small attached shafts between the figures, an
+additional projecting shaft in every third division forms the tier into
+four large bays with three figures in each. The capitals of these niches
+are remarkable, the graceful foliage being disposed in a very free
+manner, in some cases growing upwards, in others bent down, but always
+true to the outline of the capital. Of the figures themselves the
+central one, in the place of honour, and taller than the rest, is St.
+Andrew. The others are not all so easy to name, the attributes of some
+having disappeared; and, although Cockerell gave names to them all (some
+of which were certainly wrong), we may content ourselves with the
+following list, which at least is accurate so far as it goes:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>293. No symbol in hand, which is covered with drapery. (Carter's drawing
+represents a staff or spear, but he is quite unreliable, though it is
+occasionally possible that the attributes he draws did exist when he saw
+the figures a century ago.)</p>
+
+<p>294. Book (?) in right hand, a vessel or bag of cylindrical form is
+apparently suspended from the left arm. Perhaps St. Matthew with his
+purse.</p>
+
+<p>295. Holds something, which may be the fuller's club, in which case the
+figure is that of St. James the Less; forked beard.</p>
+
+<p>296. Club (?) in hand, long curly hair and beard. There is something
+near the knee, which may be a palmer's hat. (Carter drew this figure as
+St. Bartholomew with knife and skin.)</p>
+
+<p>297. Carter drew this figure as St. Peter with the keys.</p>
+
+<p>298. St. Andrew with his cross; he is so tall that his head fills the
+upper portion of the canopy.</p>
+
+<p>299. St. John holding the chalice, which has large bowl and short stem;
+wavy hair. This is the only figure not bearded.</p>
+
+<p>300. St. James the Greater. Staff in right hand, large satchel on left
+side hung from hand over right shoulder, book in left hand (the book of
+the Gospels with which St. James is always represented, in addition to
+the pilgrim's stiff and scrip). He wears a high cap.</p>
+
+<p>301. Perhaps St. Paul (who is often represented among the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span>Twelve), with sword and book.</p>
+
+<p>302. St. Philip holds drapery in right hand. Ferrey says the five loaves
+can be distinguished.</p>
+
+<p>303. Long hair and head-dress like a veil bound by a fillet round the
+brows, forked beard, book in left hand, girdle.</p>
+
+<p>304. This figure occasioned much controversy, owing to Carter having
+drawn it with a crown. Cockerell therefore attributed it to St. Peter,
+and said that the crown showed Bishop Jocelin's papistical tendencies!
+Planch&eacute; scoffed at this, remarking with truth that none of the Apostles
+are ever represented with crowns, but he caused even greater confusion
+by suggesting that the figure stood for a Saxon king, and that the tier,
+in spite of the Apostolic number, did not represent the twelve Apostles.
+If he had looked at the actual figures instead of Carter's drawings he
+would have seen that there is no crown at all. In the photographs this
+is still clearer, the Apostle's head being evidently covered by nothing
+more imposing than his own long hair or a veil like that of the
+preceding figure.</p>
+
+<p><b>The Uppermost Tier</b>.&mdash;The whole magnificent series was fitly crowned by
+this group (305), of which only the lower part of the central figure
+remains. That, however, sufficiently attests the noble character of the
+rest: it represents our Lord seated in glory within a vesica-shaped
+niche. The feet are pierced. It seems to have been mutilated by
+Monmouth's followers, for it still bears the marks of their bullets. The
+two figures in the niches on either side must also have been destroyed
+at this time, for they are shown in a print in Dugdale's <i>Monasticon</i>.
+Ferrey cannot have seen this print when he suggested that the figures
+were of angels censing, for they are there given as representing Our
+Lady (new covenant) and John Baptist (old covenant).</p>
+
+<p><a name="II_3" id="II_3"></a><b>The Western Towers</b>.&mdash;The projection of these towers
+beyond the aisles of the nave gives its great breadth to the
+west front, which is 147 feet across, as against the 116 feet of
+the almost contemporary cathedral of Amiens, which is twice
+its height. It is an unusual arrangement, of which there is no
+exactly similar example except at Rouen. Above the screen
+the towers are Perpendicular, the southern tower having been
+completed towards the end of the fourteenth, and the northern
+at the beginning of the fifteenth century. They are thus later
+additions to the original design of the front, and make it more
+difficult for us to realise the effect that was first intended.</p>
+
+<p>These two towers are very nearly alike, but the southern, or
+Harewell, tower is some forty years the earlier of the two, and
+belongs to the earliest days of the Perpendicular style, Bishop
+Harewell having died in 1386. The northern tower was built
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46" /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span>with a sum of money left for the purpose by Bishop Bubwith,
+who died in 1424, and his arms are carved high up on a
+buttress upon the north side, those on the west being a modern
+copy. In one of its two western niches is a figure of the
+bishop in prayer. Both the towers have two belfry windows on
+each side, tiny battlements, and a stair-turret on the outer western
+angle; in both the buttresses are carried up, with but slight reduction
+in bulk, two-thirds of their height and then finished
+with small pinnacles. There are, however, certain slight differences
+between the two towers; their height is not exactly equal,
+and there are no niches on the earlier one. The south tower
+contains a peal of eight bells; that on the north is traditionally
+considered &quot;rotten,&quot; but to all appearance it is sound enough.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image11" id="image11"></a>
+<a href="images/image11h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image11.jpg"
+	alt="The Central Tower From The South-east."
+	title="The Central Tower From The South-east." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><a name="II_4" id="II_4"></a><b>The Central Tower</b> is Early English to the level of the
+roof. The two upper stages are Decorated, but there is a
+curious inter-mixture of styles in them, owing to the repairs
+that were made after the settlements of 1321. The chapter
+seemed determined to allow no possibility of another accident,
+for besides the inverted arches and buttresses of the interior, the
+original high narrow windows of the upper part of the tower
+have been fortified by later insertions, by way of bonding and
+stiffening the structure, which had been so endangered by
+the sinking of its piers below. There are, however, no signs
+of any rents in the Decorated part. The tower has square
+angular turrets, and is divided vertically into three main compartments,
+each division being marked by a small pinnacle,
+and the turrets by large compound pinnacles. It is an interesting
+tower to ascend, the rents in the wall being plainly
+discernible; and from the summit there is a fine view of Wells
+and of the valley in which the city stands.</p>
+
+<p>The<a name="II_5" id="II_5"></a> <b>North Porch</b> is perhaps the finest piece of architecture
+at Wells, though it generally receives far less attention than it
+deserves. It is certainly the oldest part of the church, and
+must have been the first work which Bishop Reginald undertook,
+about 1185; in style it retains much of the Norman
+influence. The mouldings of the noble entrance arch are
+numerous and bold, and twice the Norman zig-zag occurs,
+though enriched with leaves in a manner that suggests the
+coming Gothic. A weather moulding, exquisitely carved with
+deeply undercut foliage, covers the arch. Its capitals on the
+east side contain figures among their leaves representing the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span>martyrdom of St. Edmund the King: the first three of the
+caps have the saint in the midst, crowned, and transfixed with
+a number of conventionally-arranged arrows, and his enemies,
+two on either side, drawing their bows; the fourth cap shows
+an executioner cutting off the saint's head; in the fifth
+the head is found by the wolf; the sixth has been partly cut
+away, but the body of the wolf and the heads of two figures
+remain.</p>
+
+<p>In the spandrels above are two square panels containing a
+cockatrice, and another strange beast. The gable is filled with
+an arcade, the central member of which is corbelled off to
+make room underneath for three little lancet windows which
+light the parvise chamber within. The buttresses of the porch
+have slender shafts at the angles, which are finished off with
+foliage of a remarkably free and graceful kind; it should be
+noticed as an example of those subtle touches that are so
+abundant in this porch. On the buttresses are pinnacles with
+an arcade, at the top of which little openings cast a shadow
+that gives a lightness to the whole effect. A smaller pinnacle
+is at the apex of the gable, and underneath it an ornament of
+twisted foliage.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing could well surpass the interior of this porch; the
+delicacy, and refinement which are shown in every detail are
+the more amazing when we consider that the architect and his
+masons had only just emerged from the large methods of Norman
+building. A range of three arcades on either side is divided
+in the midst by three shafts boldly detached from the pear-shaped
+moulding round which they are grouped. These shafts
+carry the ribs of the groined vault, and divide the porch into
+two square bays. Their capitals are very boldly undercut, and
+bear distinct traces of Romanesque influence; indeed, the
+volutes of the cap on the west side give it almost the appearance
+of a very freely-carved Corinthian capital. Those at the
+angles are of like fashion, except that on the north-east, which
+has fuller and freer foliage, wherein stands a man shooting with
+his bow at a bird, the whole most vigorously conceived.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image12" id="image12"></a>
+<a href="images/image12h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image12.jpg"
+	alt="The North Porch."
+	title="The North Porch." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>In the uppermost arcade the little touch of foliage that is
+worked on to the junction of the mullions (which are made up
+of four pear-shaped mouldings) illustrates the love of delicate
+things that is so characteristic of this architect. Below is a
+projecting double arcade, behind which, against the wall, is a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50" /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span>third row of arches: the outer mouldings intersect and the
+abaci of the outer caps are finished off in a carefully restrained
+curl of foliage; those on the soffit are deeply undercut, by
+means of which a very black shadow is secured. All the
+capitals are carved with the stiff-leafed foliage; and in the
+spandrels are grotesque beasts, full of character. The string-course
+below is finished with dragons who bend round and
+swallow the end of the string, their tails (on the west side)
+twisting right along the moulding. It is significant of the free
+way in which the masons were employed, that the carving varies
+very much on the two sides. The grotesques in the spandrels
+above mentioned are finest on the east side, but the dragons of
+the string course are best on the west side, where their
+expressions, as they bite the moulding, are full of life and
+humour. On this western side, too, the foliage which fills the
+spandrels of the lowest arcade is at its best; it is indeed the
+purest and truest piece of decorative work in the whole
+cathedral. Each moulding in this beautiful porch, from the
+filleted ribs of the groins to the bands round the shafts, and
+the moulded edge of the stone bench, is most carefully thought
+out, and adapted to its position, in a way that every architect
+will appreciate. The double doorway which leads into the
+church has an unusual and most effective moulding on its
+jambs, very large and simple, with slight projections worked
+upon it: the inner moulding of the enclosing arch, however,
+is a boldly projecting zig-zag, the supporting capitals of which
+have two figures, one in a cope, the other a bishop in a very
+pointed chasuble. The central pillar is of much later date.
+Above is a square recess filled with later masonry, where
+perhaps a figure was once inserted.</p>
+
+<p>Most happily, the North Porch has been spared from the
+restorer's hand. It is a unique and most beautiful example of
+early work; any restoration of it would practically destroy it,
+and would be an unpardonable crime. The hungry eye of
+the modern vandal is sure to seize on this piece of virgin work,
+sooner or later; for its very purity will tempt him. We only
+hope that when that day comes the Chapter will be faithful to
+their trust.</p>
+
+<p>The <a name="II_6" id="II_6"></a><b>gable end</b> of the <b>north transept</b>, which must be very
+near to the north porch in date, is a very similar example of the
+early work. It is flanked by turrets which are capped with
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span>pinnacles; both turrets, pinnacles and wall are rich with
+arcading, the effect of which is especially charming in the
+gable, where, by a happy device, the weather moulding is made
+to curve suddenly over the two topmost arches, filling the angle
+at the apex of the coping, and leaving a little space between
+it and the two arches to be occupied by foliage.</p>
+
+<p><a name="II_7" id="II_7"></a>The general character of the <b>walls</b> is distinctly Transitional;
+the buttresses are almost as low, broad, shallow and massive
+as in Norman work; and the windows, though now filled with
+Perpendicular tracery, are so broad that, were they but round-headed,
+they would look more Norman than much real Norman
+work.</p>
+
+<p>The richness of exterior effect is much increased by a most
+graceful Decorated <b>parapet</b>, which is carried all round the
+church on the wall of both nave and aisles. As for the masonry
+as a whole, with the exception of the west front nothing could
+be sounder and more skilfully executed. Mr Britton's opinion
+was that &quot;perhaps there is not a church in the kingdom of the
+same age where the stone has been so well chosen, better put
+together, and where it remains in so perfect a state: this
+deserves the particular notice and study of architects.&quot;<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">5</a></p>
+
+<p>The <a name="II_8" id="II_8"></a><b>Chain Gate</b>, one of the peculiar glories of Wells,
+is really a bridge over the roadway, built by Bishop
+Beckington and his executors, to connect the chapter-house
+staircase with the vicars' close. Freeman spoke of it as
+a &quot;marvel of ingenuity,&quot; yet perhaps its excellence consists
+rather in its simplicity. A covered way was needed to the
+close, but the road lay between, and so a bridge was built;
+the bridge had to rest on something: three arches were
+therefore made, one large for carts, and two small for
+foot-passengers; a further space had to be spanned between
+the road and the staircase: the bridge was therefore
+continued on the same level, but, as the ground here was
+lower, the arch on this side was built on a lower level.
+Furthermore, the two ends of the bridge not being exactly
+opposite to one another, the bridge had to turn at a slight
+angle where it reaches the road. It is just such simple
+adaptation of means to an end that gave his chance to a
+medieval architect; it is this that gives what is called its
+picturesqueness to an ancient town, it is this that makes
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span>nature so picturesque. A modern architect would have
+built his bridge in a straight line across the road, and have
+pulled down something to avoid the irregularity; he would
+not have had the sense of proportion which alone was
+needed to make utility supremely beautiful. The builder
+of the Chain Gate just used his opportunities to their very
+best. He saw that but a small thing was wanted, that the
+close must not be dwarfed; so he kept the work little and
+delicate, rich and light: he made its chief beauty to
+lie in its <i>bijou</i> character. Yet he preserved its dignity by
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span>the wide opening of the central arch, the height of which
+is emphasised by the smallness of the two arches on either
+side. But although the two small arches effect so much
+by their contrast with the large one, the harmony of the gateway
+is preserved by the panelling above them which marks this
+part of the bridge off from the rest. On the south of the
+gate is a blank wall, supported by a buttress which was
+wanted here, and so here was put. On the south of the
+buttress is the lower arch which is so admirable a foil both
+to the height of the main gateway and the delicacy of the
+windows. A correctly-minded architect would not have
+tolerated this blank wall and irregularly-placed arch; but
+substitute what you will for the wall, or alter the height
+of the arch, or replace both by an arcade, and the dignity
+of the little gateway is gone. It may further be noticed
+that the builder kept the upper and lower stages very
+distinct, and made the upper storey as clearly a bridge as
+the lower is a gateway: the charming little windows run
+in a continuous range over blank wall, gate, and all, but
+they are grouped closer together over the gate. A battlemented
+parapet finishes the top of the bridge. Niches are
+placed in the midst of the two windows over the gate;
+they contain graceful statues of St. Andrew and other saints.
+In the wide moulding of the string course there are angels,
+curiously placed in a horizontal position, as well as the
+stags' heads of Beckington's arms.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image13" id="image13"></a>
+<a href="images/image13h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image13.jpg"
+	alt="The Bishop's Eye."
+	title="The Bishop's Eye." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>Passing under the Chain Bridge a good view of the
+<a name="II_9" id="II_9"></a><b>chapter-house</b> is obtained. It is a massive, buttressed octagon,
+the lower stage marked by the small broad barred windows
+of the undercroft, the next by the rather squat traceried
+windows of the house itself, while under the cornice is an
+open arcade. The gargoyles are interesting. A parapet,
+different in design and inferior to that of the church itself,
+finishes the building. From this part of the road, there
+is a good view of the cathedral in one of its most characteristic
+aspects;&mdash;the Lady Chapel, the low buildings of the
+north-eastern transept and retro-choir, the chapter-house in
+the foreground, all lying on ground below the level of the
+road, and over the Chain Bridge a glimpse of the north
+transept gable and the north-west tower.</p>
+
+<p>A queer corner, hidden by a thick tree, is formed between the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span>
+chapter-house and the choir aisle; in spite of the obscure
+position, a fine gargoyle of the head and shoulders of a man,
+carved in unusually colossal proportions, is placed here at a
+low altitude, to carry off the water that must gather at the
+junction of aisle with undercroft passage. Through the walls
+that rise high on either side a capital glimpse of the tower can
+be had.</p>
+
+<p>From the same road, opposite the prebendal house (now
+allotted to the Principal of the Theological College), which has
+a picturesque Perpendicular doorway with a window above,
+the grouping of the Lady Chapel with the rest of the church
+can be well seen.</p>
+
+<p>The rich and light appearance of the <b>east end</b> is due not only
+to the charm of its tracery, which contrasts so well with the
+network of the Lady Chapel windows, and to the parapet which
+rises slightly in the centre, but also to the three lights which
+pierce the gable; of these the upper is diamond-shaped, and
+thus the masonry that is left has the appearance of a stout
+<span class="monument">Y</span> cross.</p>
+
+<p><a name="II_10" id="II_10"></a><b>From the South-East</b>.&mdash;One of the most interesting
+views of the exterior is from the lovely grass-plot on the east
+of the cloisters, where once stood the cloister Lady Chapel,
+and where the vicars were formerly buried. It is being again
+used as a cemetery, which is unfortunate, since there are few
+things more irreligiously dismal than a modern burial-ground,
+and already a cluster of marble and granite monuments has
+arisen to spoil one of the most peaceful and unspoilt places in
+Wells. If monuments there must be (and why need we so
+advertise the dead?), let them at least be quiet and humble and
+beautiful: those ostentatious erections of hard and polished
+stone ruin the grey walls before which they stand; their frigid
+materials are too obtrusive for Christian modesty, too enduring
+for human memory. May we not yet hope that this spot will
+be spared the fate of the cloister garth?</p>
+
+<p>From here the Lady Chapel is well seen as quite a separate
+building, joined to the rest of the church only in its lower part,
+and with its own parapet round all its eight sides; its form
+harmonises most charmingly with the square presbytery behind
+it, and with the lofty chapter-house, like itself octagonal. A
+further beauty is added by the solitary flying buttress which
+stands out at the south-eastern corner; though certain rents in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span>the southern wall show that the buttress was built for reasons
+of the gravest utility. On the south side of the chapel there is
+a little door, covered by what looks at first like a kind of porch,
+but it is really the passage of a small vestry (p. <a href="#Page_132">132</a>) which was
+built up against the wall; the roof of the vestry was a little
+higher than that of the passage, and must have leant against
+the wall just under the window, as is proved by its gargoyle
+near the passage door. This vestry was fatuously destroyed in
+the early part of this century by an official who did not even
+know that it was medieval work till the soundness of the
+masonry proved almost too much for his workmen.</p>
+
+<p>The junction between the earlier and the later presbytery is
+well seen from here&mdash;too well seen, in fact, for it is awkwardly
+managed. The later choir windows, with their crocketed ogee
+hood-moulds, are a good feature, and so are the flying buttresses;
+but the high-pitched roof of the earlier aisle is discontinued at
+the break in order to give room for these windows and
+buttresses; and the effect of this sudden termination of an
+aisle roof half-way along a building is not pleasant. In the
+earlier part, too, the later windows have been clumsily inserted
+some distance below the Early English dripstone, as if only the
+internal effect had been considered. The same may also be
+said of the window in the south transept gable: the gable, by
+the way, is a much plainer affair than that of the north
+transept.</p>
+
+<p>Here stood the two <b>Cloister Lady Chapels</b>, but unfortunately
+their sites were not marked on the grass after the
+excavations were finished three years ago. Thus nothing can
+be seen from here of the earlier chapel, and, of the later, only
+the doorway and the Perpendicular panelling against the
+cloister which marks its western end, and the commencement
+of the walls. A small quatrefoiled hagioscope may be noticed
+in the library above the cloister; it, no doubt, commanded
+a view of the high altar of the chapel.</p>
+
+<p>The earlier <i>Capella B.M.V. juxta claustrum</i> is often referred
+to in the chapter documents, and was a favourite centre of
+devotion. It became a kind of family chapel for the numerous
+clan of Byttons, after the first bishop of that name was buried
+there; it was also sometimes used as a chapter-house. The
+Early English doorway which led to it can still be seen in the
+cloister wall, on the right of the present doorway; it is partly
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span>covered by an I.H.S. of later date, made with the instruments
+of the Passion. The excavations of 1894, when the foundations
+were laid bare under Mr Buckle's direction, showed that
+this chapel consisted originally of a plain oblong building,
+earlier even than the north porch in date (<i>i.e.</i> before 1185),
+which was afterwards (c. 1275) enlarged by the addition of an
+aisle on either side. The excavations showed that arches were
+used at this time to replace the western part of the older walls,
+and thus to throw the ancient chapel open to its new aisles.
+The original chapel, then, if it was not actually part of Bishop
+Gisa's buildings, spared when John de Villula destroyed Gisa's
+cloister, seems to have been built not long after Gisa's time,
+and at least on the site of Gisa's chapel. This would account
+for its orientation, which was in a more northerly direction
+than that of the cathedral, and probably was the same as that
+of the pre-Norman church. Excellent plans of the foundations
+both of this and the later chapel are to be found in the
+<i>Somerset Proceedings</i> for 1894, where the whole matter is discussed
+in detail by Canon Church and Mr Edmund Buckle.</p>
+
+<p>The later chapel on this site was built by <i>Bishop Stillington</i>
+(1466-91): it followed the orientation of the cathedral, and was
+of much larger size than the former building, being about
+107 ft. in length. It consisted of a nave, transepts and choir,
+with fan-tracery vault, of which some fragments have been
+lately fixed in the cloister wall. Most profusely ornamented
+and panelled within, as can be seen by the west end against
+the cloister wall, it is considered to have been the <i>chef d'oeuvre</i>
+of the Somerset Perpendicular, surpassing even Sherborne and
+St. Mary, Redcliffe.</p>
+
+<p>But its glory was not to be for long. Stillington was buried
+in this &quot;goodly Lady Chapell in the Cloysters,&quot; says Godwin,
+&quot;but rested not long there; for it is reported that divers olde
+men, who in their youth had not onely scene the celebration of
+his funeral, but also the building of his tombe, chapell, and
+all did also see tombe and chapell destroyed, and the bones of
+the Bishop that built them turned out of the lead in which
+they were interred.&quot; This was in 1552, when Bishop Barlow
+and the chapter made a grant to that barbarous scoundrel,
+Sir John Gates, of &quot;the chappie, sett, lyinge and beynge by
+the cloyster on the south syde of the said Cathedral Church of
+Wells, commonly called the Ladye Chapple, with all the stones
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span>and stonework, ledde, glasse, tymbre, and iron ... the soyle
+that the sayd chappie standeth upon only excepted.&quot; The
+condition was that the rubble should be all cleared away, and
+the ground made &quot;fayre and playn,&quot; within four years; but
+before this period had elapsed, Sir John's head had gone the
+way of the Lady Chapel.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image14" id="image14"></a>
+<a href="images/image14h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image14.jpg"
+	alt="Doorway, South-east Of Cloister."
+	title="Doorway, South-east Of Cloister." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>The <a name="II_11" id="II_11"></a><b>Cloister</b> in its more prominent features is Perpendicular,
+having been rebuilt in the fifteenth century. Nevertheless
+the outer walls are of Jocelin's date, together with the doorway
+leading into the palace (see illustration on this page); and the
+lower part of the east cloister wall, including the two small
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60" /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span>doorways therein, is said by Mr Buckle to be undoubtedly
+earlier than Jocelin's time, and contemporary with the north
+porch, <i>c</i>. 1185. Thus we have still the original plan at least
+of the thirteenth-century cloisters. This plan is characteristic
+of a non-monastic church, where the cloister is not the centre
+of a common life, but merely an ornamental convenience which
+might or might not be added, and when added might be of
+any fashion that was desired. There is no walk on the north
+side, no refectory or dormitory, and the plan is not square, as
+would be the case with a conventual building, but an irregular
+parallelogram, while the eastern walk is built up against the
+south end of the transept instead of against its western wall.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image15" id="image15"></a>
+<a href="images/image15h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image15.jpg"
+	alt="East Walk Of Cloister."
+	title="East Walk Of Cloister." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>The inner part of Jocelin's cloister was probably a wooden
+penthouse like that of Glastonbury. At all events, it has
+entirely disappeared. The eastern alley was built by the
+executors of Bishop Bubwith, who died in 1424. That on the
+west, with its rooms, was built by Beckington (1443-65) and his
+executors. That on the south was completed soon after by
+Thomas Henry, the treasurer. Beckington, by the way, showed
+a reckless disregard of the earlier work by carrying his cloister
+right up against the south-west tower, and completely concealing
+the beautiful arcading of that part. Beckington's executors,
+in the time of Bishop Stillington, also built the singing
+school over the western cloister. Bubwith's executors built
+the northern part of the library over the eastern cloister; but
+the southern part was added at a later date. The square
+windows were inserted later still by the famous Dr Busby,
+about 1670. The fourteen bays of lierned vaulting over the
+east alley, and one on the south, were executed in 1457-8 by
+John Turpyn Lathamo, at the cost, we find from the fabric
+roll, of &frac34;d. per foot, or &pound;6, 11s. 3d. for the whole, though an
+additional ten shillings was presented to him for his diligence.</p>
+
+<p>Each alley consists of thirteen bays in the Perpendicular
+style; the windows are now all unglazed, of six lights, with
+transoms and tracery; between the windows are buttresses to
+support the rooms above, which extend, however, only over the
+east and west alleys. Turpyn's vaulting is of a curiously
+decadent character, which reminds one of the Jacobean Gothic
+of Oxford and Cambridge. The ribs spread at the start to
+enclose a trefoiled panel, and they curve into one another
+when they meet at the bosses. In the rest of the south walk,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span>however, the bosses are square, and receive the ribs in the
+usual manner; in the west walk they are still square, and
+more varied in their ornament, bearing Beckington's initials,
+arms, and rebus, arranged in several different ways. Beckington's
+arms, which occur also on the gateways, are argent on
+a fess azure, between in chief three bucks' heads caboshed
+gules, and in base as many pheons sable, a bishop's mitre or.
+His rebus is a fire <i>beacon</i> lighted, a <i>tun</i> holding the fire.</p>
+
+<p>Two small stone pent-houses, of which the purpose is uncertain,
+are built up against the windows of the fourth and
+sixth bays of the eastern alley. The vault of this alley was
+built without reference to the fine Early English doorway into
+the transept, one side of which it hides, the weather moulding
+being cut away. This doorway is mentioned in an Act of the
+Chapter of 1297, but it was probably made by Jocelin before
+he built the cloister wall, which comes uncomfortably near to
+the door, as if it were an afterthought. The companion doorway
+from the western alley, which was the usual entrance to
+the cathedral in the thirteenth century, has been similarly
+defaced by the vault. Three annual fairs used to be held in
+the cemetery, till Bishop Reginald set apart for the purpose
+the new ground which is still the market-place. The
+traditional entrance to the church by this south-western porch
+may have been due to the fact that the citizens gathered for
+secular business on the south-western side. At the south end
+of the eastern alley is the Early English bishop's doorway,
+which no doubt led straight to the palace in the days when
+there was no moat to obstruct this route. The door was
+originally hung to open inwards; a beautiful moulding was
+destroyed to hang it in its present position. There is a bracket
+of later date over this doorway.</p>
+
+<p>The cloister-garth, which is hideous with modern tombstones,
+is traditionally called the <i>Palm Churchyard</i>, no doubt
+because of the yew which grows there. Yew trees, so common
+in churchyards, are still commonly called palms, because their
+branches were used for the procession on Palm Sunday. This
+churchyard was anciently the burial-place of the canons, the
+ground east of the cloister (now used again as a cemetery)
+being reserved for the vicars, while the space before the west
+front was the lay burial-ground.</p>
+
+<p>An admirably contrived <i>dipping-place</i> was still standing in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span>the Palm churchyard, near the second bay of the east cloister,
+within the memory of living persons, but now no trace of it
+remains above ground. A water-course, held within a channel
+of carefully-worked masonry, runs under the eastern cloister
+from St. Andrew's well, and passes on to fall ultimately into
+the old mill-stream. The oblong building over it that formed
+the dipping-place was entered at the south end, and a few
+steps (with aumbries for the linen at either side) led to
+the washing-place at the little stream. An arch covered this
+spot, where the water ran through two low arches on either
+side and was bridged in the midst by a pavement. The place
+was used for washing linen, and the water required for the
+cathedral was drawn here before the modern supply pipes
+were introduced.</p>
+
+<p><a name="II_12" id="II_12"></a><b>The Library</b> is over the east walk of the cloister, and is
+entered from the south transept. It is a charming old-world
+place, full of ancient volumes, many of which are of great
+interest. A passage runs from end to end, along the east side
+of the long room, the other side being mainly occupied by the
+old desks, benches and bookcases, which project at right angles
+to the wall, many of the book-chains still hanging on them.
+There are said to be over three thousand volumes, including
+the bulk of Bishop Ken's library, a collection of early editions
+of his works, and his copy of Bishop Andrewe's &quot;Devotions.&quot;
+There are also several books (including one Aldine &quot;Aristotle&quot;)
+with MS. notes and autograph of Erasmus. The collection of
+old charters, which have recently been made to throw so much
+light on the history of the cathedral, is also preserved here.
+Some of the most interesting charters are displayed in glass
+cases; one of them, Edgar's grant to Ealhstane, is specially
+venerable for the signature of St. Dunstan&mdash;<i>Ego Dunitan Ep</i>.&mdash;which
+occurs third among the witnesses to the document.</p>
+
+<p>Two precious relics of medieval times are also kept here.
+One, which is generally called a lantern, was till lately hung in
+the undercroft. There is no trace of its ever having been used
+as a lantern, and it is probably the wooden <i>canopy of the
+pyx</i> which hung before the high altar. The Blessed
+Sacrament was in medieval times reserved, not in a tabernacle,
+but in a hanging pyx of precious metal; and this
+graceful wooden canopy probably contained the pyx. There
+are only two other possible examples of the pyx-canopy (at
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span>Milton Abbas and Tewkesbury), and both are of later date
+than this, which is thirteenth century. Woodwork of this
+period is so rare that, even were it not a pyx-canopy, it would
+be of extreme interest. It is cylindrical in form, divided into
+three storeys of open tracery, and crowned with a cresting of
+three-lobed leaves. Its height is 3 ft. 11&frac14; in., its internal
+diameter 14&frac12; inches. It is made of oak, certain parts of
+a later restoration being of deal. Mr St. John Hope (<i>Proc.
+of Soc. of Antiquaries</i>, 1897), thus enumerates the traces
+of colour: &quot;The whole of the body and its upper and lower
+rings have been painted red, with gold flowers or other devices
+upon the transverse bands. The slender dividing shafts seem
+to have been coloured blue. The leaves of the cresting have
+apparently been painted white, but the circular boss in the
+middle of each leaf was entirely red.&quot; Two pairs of iron rods,
+with a ring and swivel hook, serve to suspend it in a steady
+position.</p>
+
+<p>The other relic is the thirteenth-century <i>crozier</i> which
+was recently found in a tomb in the cathedral, and probably
+belongs to the time of Savaric, though there is no evidence,
+beyond its style, for describing it as his crozier. It was dug up
+in a stone coffin in the western burial-ground of the cathedral
+in the time of Dean Lukin (1799-1812). It is thus described
+in the <i>Catalogue</i> of the Burlington Fine Arts Club exhibition
+of enamels, June 1897: &quot;A complete crozier, [the staff]
+wooden (modern), with enamelled head one foot in length.
+Limoges, thirteenth century. The volute is a serpent with
+blue scales and serrated crest, enclosing a winged figure of
+St. Michael and a dragon studded with turquoises. The knop
+is encased in pierced repouss&eacute; open work formed of dragons,
+and the socket ornamented with thirteenth-century foliated
+scrolls in these slightly spiral bands, separated by jewelled
+dragons whose tails form three rings under the knop.&quot; St.
+Michael is represented in the act of attacking the dragon
+with his spear.</p>
+
+<p>A little <a name="II_13" id="II_13"></a><b>Museum</b> has been formed in one of the rooms over
+the western cloister. It contains a collection of seals, Mr
+Buckle's plans of the cloisters and the Cloister Lady Chapel
+excavations, and many other objects of interest.</p>
+
+<p>The principal buildings in connection with the cathedral
+are the vicars' close, the bishop's palace, the deanery, the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span>archdeaconry, and the canon's houses. There are also Beckington's
+fine gates,&mdash;the Chain Gate by the vicars' close,
+Brown's, or the Dean's Gate, near the deanery, the Penniless
+Porch, leading from the Market Place to the cathedral;
+and the Bishop's Eye, leading from the Market Place to
+the palace.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image16" id="image16"></a>
+<a href="images/image16h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image16.jpg"
+	alt="The Chain Gate, Entrance To Close, 1824"
+	title="The Chain Gate, Entrance To Close, 1824" />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span>Most deservedly famous is the unrivalled <a name="II_14" id="II_14"></a><b>Vicars' Close</b>,
+which contains the houses built by Bishop Ralph and his
+successors for the vicars-choral. Passing through the gate,
+one sees the two long ranges of quiet and lovely houses,
+fronted by their little gardens, with a roadway betwixt them.
+Nothing can surpass this arrangement for its peaceful seclusion
+and constant charm, not even the square quadrangles and
+cloisters of Oxford, and yet, so convenient is it, that no better
+model could be chosen should there ever come any general
+return to the old collegiate life; for a settlement, for a model
+factory, one can imagine nothing better even now. There
+are forty-two houses, twenty-one on either side: each consisted
+originally of two rooms, one above the other, with a
+staircase; for the vicars were single men. Now that the
+vicars-choral are married, many of them live in the town,
+but all the theological students are lodged here, and there
+are always a few rooms to be let to those visitors who are wise
+enough to stay in this charming place.</p>
+
+<p>The tall chimneys rise up through the eaves of the little
+houses; octagonal at the top, they are perforated like a
+lantern, with two openings on each side. On them are shields
+bearing the arms of the see, of Bishop Beckington and his
+executors, Swan, Sugar, and Pope, sugar-loaves and swans
+abounding in the decoration.</p>
+
+<p>At the farther end of the close is the tiny chapel (finished
+by Bubwith, and finally consecrated in 1489, after Beckington
+had added the wooden ceiling and the chamber above), where
+compline is still said by the theological students. It is
+one of the most beautiful things in Wells&mdash;a jewel, like
+so much of its period&mdash;and it has been well decorated in
+sgraffitto and colour by Mr Heywood Sumner. An interesting
+feature of its exterior is that some of the old Early English
+carving was worked in with the masonry of the wall, by way of
+decoration, and very effective it is. A passage at the side
+leads to the Liberty, where are some of the prebendal houses.</p>
+
+<p>Over the entrance, and leading into the bridge of the Chain
+Gate, are the hall and its offices, which are approached by a
+fine staircase. In the hall is a painting of much interest, which
+represents Bishop Ralph seated on his throne, the vicars
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span>kneeling before him; the petition which he holds runs&mdash;<i>Per
+vicos positi villae, Pater alme rogamus, Ut simul uniti, te, Dante
+domos maneamus</i>; and the answer, which has the episcopal
+seal, is&mdash;<i>Vestra petunt merita, Quod sint concessu petita:
+Ut maneatis ita, Loca fecimus hic stabilita</i>. On the right are
+seventeen figures with ruffles, evidently added in Elizabethan
+times; corresponding inscription has also been added&mdash;<i>Quas
+primus struxit</i>, etc.</p>
+
+<p>There is also a pulpit over the fireplace, which is large,
+with good mouldings and an inscription, <i>In vestris prec&#299;
+habeat^s comedat&#363; do[=m] Ricard&#363; Pomroy quem salvet Ihs. Amen</i>.
+On the hearth are a pair of fine fire-dogs.</p>
+
+<p>Just outside the entrance to the vicars' close is a beautiful
+<b>oriel window</b>, which has been much copied in modern times.
+It springs from a corbelled head, from which foliate four
+cinquefoiled panels. The window now has only three square-headed
+lights, the centre one being large. Under its sills
+are rich panels, and it is capped by a slight crenelated cornice
+with a boldly-carved drip, from which springs a conical roof
+surmounted by a fleur-de-lys.</p>
+
+<p>The beautiful <a name="II_15" id="II_15"></a><b>Bishop's Palace</b> was mainly built by
+Jocelin, who died in 1242. It consists of three sides of
+a quadrangle, the bishop's house being on the east, the chapel
+on the south, the kitchen and offices running alongside the
+moat on the north: on the west side there was formerly a
+gate-tower and a wall having a cloister within which led to
+chapel and hall. In addition to these buildings the great
+hall, now in ruins&mdash;forming, with the walls and outhouses, an
+outer court&mdash;was built to the south-west of the chapel. The
+whole group of buildings stands on a piece of ground, rich
+with trees, surrounded by a lovely old wall and moat, the
+single approach being by the bridge and the gate-house,
+which has Renaissance windows and retains the slit for the
+portcullis and the drawbridge-chains. Bishop Ralph of
+Shrewsbury constructed the gate-house and fortifications,
+which form an irregular pentagon, with a bastion at each
+angle, and an extra one in the south-east side. The bastion
+in the western angle (on the south of the gate-house) contains
+two storeys, of which the lower, called the cow-house or
+stock-house, was used as a prison for criminous clerks. The
+moat is fed by a stream from St. Andrew's well hard by.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span>
+<a name="image17" id="image17"></a>
+<a href="images/image17h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image17.jpg"
+	alt="The Bishop's Palace."
+	title="The Bishop's Palace." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>The palace itself is a most interesting example of medieval
+architecture, and remains very much in its original condition.
+It is oblong in plan, and divided lengthwise by a solid wall,
+running through both storeys from end to end, at about one
+third of its width; the long outer chamber formed by this wall
+on the ground floor is divided into the entrance hall of three
+bays (containing a fireplace, <i>temp</i>. Henry VIII.), and the
+passages to staircase and to chapel at either end. The wider
+chamber within the wall is lighted by plain lancet windows,
+and has a row of slender Purbeck pillars down the middle,
+which, with the corbels on the wall, carry a groined vault:
+this, the &quot;crypt,&quot; or undercroft, was probably used as a
+storage-room; it is now the dining-room. To the north of this
+hall is a square chamber with a pillar in the centre; and to
+the east of the chamber a small room projects beyond the
+ground plan of the building, with a space at one end (probably
+a closet) now walled up.</p>
+
+<p>On the first floor the great chamber (68 by 28 feet)
+stood over the undercroft, while on its north was the bishop's
+private room, both open to the roof, and to the east
+of this, his private chapel. The gallery above the entrance
+hall was formerly divided into three chambers, the two larger
+of which Mr Buckle thinks were used as a lobby and a wardrobe.
+The windows in the gallery were restored by Mr Ferrey
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span>in 1846, but nothing is new except the marble shafts and bases.
+The two windows at the north end of the great chamber are
+evidently later additions, as they have fully developed bar-tracery,
+while the other windows in the chamber consist of
+pairs of trefoil-headed windows with a quatrefoil in plate
+tracery above them.</p>
+
+<p>The <b>Great Hall</b>, which is now but a beautiful ruin,
+was built by Bishop Burnell, who died 1292. It was a
+magnificent chamber, 115 feet by 59&frac12;, with high traceried
+windows. It was divided into nave and aisles by rows
+of pillars to carry the roof and the passage at the west
+end led between buttery and pantry to the kitchen; over
+these rooms was a large solar, and on the north side a porch
+with staircase at the side leading to the solar. Both hall
+and palace are well and fully described by Mr Buckle in the
+<i>Somerset Proceedings</i> for 1888. Bishop Barlow had the hall
+dismantled, employing Sir John Gates for the purpose; the
+walls, however, were left standing until Bishop Law's time,
+when they were partly demolished in order to make the ruin
+more &quot;picturesque.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The chapel is very similar in style to the hall, and was
+built very shortly afterwards; it is at present defaced by bad
+decoration and fittings. The carving is very fine and varied;
+some of the capitals retain the old stiff-leaf foliage, while in
+some the leaves grow freely round the bell in the Decorated
+manner. The vaulted ceiling is also an excellent example of
+the transitional work of the period. The west window is of
+later date, and has been twice restored&mdash;once by Bishop
+Montague (1608-16), and again in the present century. On the
+north side, at some height from the ground, are the indications
+of what may have been a gallery used as a private pew.</p>
+
+<p>Bishop Beckington (1443-66) added the northern block of
+buildings, now considerably altered, the kitchen and various
+offices, <i>le botrye, cellarium, le bakehous, ad lez stues ad nutriendos
+pisces</i>, in William of Worcester's words, as well as the gate now
+called the Bishop's Eye, <i>aliam portam ad introitum de le palays</i>,
+and the parlour (<i>parlurum</i>) and guest-chambers adjoining the
+kitchen. This block lies very prettily alongside the moat.</p>
+
+<p>Unfortunately the palace, which had so wonderfully escaped
+the brutal adaptations of the eighteenth-century architect, was
+restored in 1846 by Mr Ferrey, and its west front completely
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span>altered. The upper storey, the porch, the buttresses were all
+added by Mr Ferrey; not to mention the tower at the north
+and the turret at the south, and the conservatory. Bishop
+Bagot, at whose order the work was done, also rebuilt the
+kitchen and offices; in fact, he did what he could to destroy
+the unique character and beauty of a block of buildings
+without parallel anywhere.</p>
+
+<p><b>The Bishop's Barn</b>, which stands in a field near the
+palace is remarkable for its length (110 ft. by 25&frac12;) and the
+number of its buttresses. Simple in character, stately in proportions,
+it is a striking instance of the perfect sense of fitness
+which marked the medieval builders: in fact, it is the exact
+opposite to what a modern builder would erect if asked to
+provide a barn in the Gothic style.</p>
+
+<p><a name="II_16" id="II_16"></a><b>The Deanery</b>, rebuilt by Dean Gunthorpe (1472-98), is
+an almost perfect specimen of a fifteenth-century house, in
+spite of the modern sash windows and other alterations which
+deface it. As at the palace, the principal apartments were
+on the first floor; and of these the chief is the hall, an
+excellent example of the more comfortable late medieval
+arrangement. Two handsome oriel windows with vaults of
+fan-tracery are at the upper end, not quite opposite to each
+other, where the sideboards used to stand; and at the
+lower end a stone arch carries a small music-gallery, with
+three small windows opening to the hall. Under this arch
+is the lavatory, a stone niche, in which a small cistern was
+suspended, with a drain at the bottom; so that the diners
+could put their hands under the tap of the little cistern as
+they passed into dinner.</p>
+
+<p>Over the hall are guest chambers with fine windows; and
+behind the partition at the back of the dais is another chamber
+with a large window, which Mr J.H. Parker thought to have
+been the chapel.</p>
+
+<p>Fuller description of the various ecclesiastical buildings
+can be found in Mr Parker's paper in the <i>Somerset Proceedings</i>
+for 1863.</p>
+
+<p><b>The Archdeaconry</b> was built in the time of Edward I.,
+but the front of the house has been entirely modernised.
+The hall is larger than that of the deanery, and occupies the
+whole height of the building, having a very fine early fifteenth-century
+open timber roof.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span><b>The Choirmaster's House</b>, at the east end of the cathedral,
+is a fairly perfect example of a fifteenth-century house,
+retaining its beautiful porch unspoiled. The roof and upper
+part of the windows of the hall remain, but are disguised
+and concealed by modern partitions. It is now the residence
+of the Principal of the Theological College.</p>
+
+<p>An organist's house once communicated with the singing-school,
+which is over the western cloister; it was much
+defaced in the eighteenth century, and entirely removed a
+few years ago.</p>
+
+<p><b>The Canons' Houses</b>, which lie in the Liberty to the
+north of the cathedral, have been either entirely rebuilt, or
+much spoilt by alterations.</p>
+
+<p><b>The Schoolhouse</b> is partly of the fourteenth century, with
+wings added in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; it retains
+some features of interest.</p>
+
+<p><b>Bishop Bubwith's Almshouse</b> is near St. Cuthbert's
+Church. It was much spoilt in the fifties: the original plan
+was a great hall, with a chapel at the end of it, and cells along
+the side for the almsmen. These cells were open at the top
+so that there was plenty of fresh air, and if an almsman
+became ill or infirm, he could hear the service chanted daily
+in the chapel without leaving his bed. At the west end of
+the hall is a building of two storeys built by the bishop's
+executors, given to the citizens of Wells as a Guildhall, and
+used for that purpose till about 1779. Here is preserved a
+very fine money chest of the fifteenth century, painted with
+a scroll pattern, and resting on a stand inscribed with curious
+doggerel of the date 1615.</p>
+
+<p><b>St. Cuthbert's Church</b>, which is kept open during the
+daytime, is thus described by Mr J.H. Parker in the <i>Builder</i>
+for 1862 (p. 655):&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was originally a cruciform church of the thirteenth
+century with a central tower, and with aisles to the nave; but
+of the church all that remains in the original state is a part
+of the north aisle. The central tower has been removed,
+the church entirely rebuilt in the fifteenth century. The
+pillars and arches of the nave have been rebuilt in the fifteenth
+century also, and the pillars lengthened considerably. The
+arches, with their dripstones, preserved and used again on
+the taller pillars, and most of the capitals have had the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span>foliage cut off. The aisle walls, the clerestory, and roof, are
+all Late Perpendicular, about the time of Henry VII.; but
+the beautiful west tower is evidently earlier than the clerestory
+and roof, and has the mark of the old roof on the east side
+of it, coming below the present clerestory. This fine tower,
+which is certainly one of the finest of its class, and which
+Mr Freeman considers, I believe, to rank only second to one
+other [Wrington], is said to have been built in the time of
+Bishop Bubwith, or about 1430; and this appears to me
+probable. The character of the work is rather Early Perpendicular,
+and the groined vault under the belfry appears
+to be an imitation of the Decorated vault of the cathedral.&quot;</p>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<h3>FOOTNOTES</h3>
+<div class="footnotes">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_6_6">[1]</a> The road should be followed for about a quarter of a
+mile out of the town; at this point a path leads over a
+stile and through a coppice to the best point of view.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_7_7">[2]</a> Vol. i. 421.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_8_8">[3]</a> <i>History of the Cathedral</i>, 125.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_9_9">[4]</a> The Doulting stone, of which the cathedral is built,
+comes from the St. Andrew's quarry at the little village of
+Doulting, where Bishop Ealdhelm died. It is inferior oolite,
+and very like Bath stone, which is the greater oolite. The
+exterior shafts were blue lias, and those within either blue
+lias or Purbeck marble, though there are one or two shafts
+of red Draycot stone in the western responds of the nave.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_10_10">[5]</a> <i>Cathedrals</i>, iv. 98.</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<h2>
+<a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>
+CHAPTER III</h2>
+<h3>THE INTERIOR</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span>The earlier architecture of Wells Cathedral presents so many
+puzzles, that the most skilled experts have differed widely both
+from each other, and, as we know now, from the truth. There
+are four distinct varieties of Early English work, covering a
+period of about a century from the time of Bishop Reginald,
+whose episcopate began in 1174; and yet, until Mr Bennett
+deciphered the old charters, which have at length settled the
+problem, all the work was attributed to Jocelin, for nothing was
+known of Reginald's building, and some of the best judges
+were even convinced that the west front was built before the
+nave. The difficulty was mainly caused by the unusual character
+of the architecture of the nave; &quot;unlike that of any
+ordinary English building, and belonging to a style on the whole
+fifty years earlier&quot; than the west front, as Professor Willis said,
+who gave it a name of its own, and called it the Somerset style.
+Thus the theory came to be that two bodies of masons had
+been employed&mdash;an ordinary English company for the front, and
+a local Somerset company for the nave, transepts and choir, who
+worked in a local variation of the prevalent Early English style.
+In this way, an attempt was made to overcome the difficulty of
+attributing to Jocelin work which Mr Willis had himself pronounced
+to be &quot;only a little removed from the early Norman
+style.&quot; Mr Freeman, too, had allowed that the north porch
+might be earlier than Jocelin; and, long before, Britton had
+said that there would be little hesitation in ascribing the church
+to the transitional period of Henry II. (1154-89) on architectural
+evidence, were it not for Godwin's assertion, that Jocelin
+had entirely pulled down the old church and built a
+fresh one.</p>
+
+<p>But now we have got behind Godwin, and have found from
+contemporary evidence that Bishop Reginald commenced the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span>present church. Thus we are able to divide the Early English
+work into no less than four periods, (1) The three western
+arches of the choir, with the four western bays of its aisles, the
+transepts, and the four eastern bays of the nave, which are
+Reginald's work (1174-1191), and so early as to be still in a
+state of transition from the Norman. It is a unique example
+of transitional building, and Willis calls it &quot;an improved
+Norman, worked with considerable lightness and richness, but
+distinguished from the Early English by greater massiveness
+and severity.&quot; The characteristics of this late twelfth-century
+work are bold round mouldings, square abaci, capitals, some
+with traces of the classical volute, others interwoven with fanciful
+imagery that reminds us of the Norman work of Glastonbury;
+while in the north porch, which must be the earliest of
+all, we even find the zig-zag Norman moulding. (2) The rest
+of the nave, which was finished in Jocelin's time&mdash;that is to say,
+in the first half of the thirteenth century&mdash;preserves the main
+characteristics of the earlier work, though the flowing sculptured
+foliage becomes more naturalistic, and lacks the quaint intermingling
+of figure subjects. (3) The west front, which is
+Jocelin's work, and alone can claim to be of pure Early English
+style. (4) The chapter-house crypt, which is so late as to be
+almost Transitional, though, curiously enough, it contains the
+characteristic Early English dog-tooth moulding which is found
+nowhere else except in the west window. From this, we reach
+the Early Decorated of the staircase, the full Decorated of the
+chapter-house itself, the later Decorated of the Lady Chapel,
+the transitional Decorated of the presbytery, and the full Perpendicular
+of the western towers.</p>
+
+<p>Much of the masonry in the transepts, choir, choir aisles, and
+even in the eastern transepts, bears the peculiar diagonal lines
+which are the marks of Norman tooling. This does not, of
+course, prove that any part of Bishop Robert's church is
+standing, for medieval builders were notoriously economical in
+using up old masonry, but it does show that there are more
+remains of his work in the building than was generally supposed.
+A characteristic feature in this Norman tooling is that
+if a rule be laid along its lines, they will be found to be very
+slightly curved, a feature which is due to the fact that Norman
+masons dressed their stones with the broad curved blade of an
+axe.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span>
+<a name="image18" id="image18"></a>
+<a href="images/image18h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image18.jpg"
+	alt="The Nave."
+	title="The Nave." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span>
+The plan of the church is remarkably complete, symmetrical,
+and well-proportioned. Nave, transepts, choir, each flanked
+with its aisles, combine to form with the Lady Chapel and
+chapter-house a cathedral church which, though not of the first
+magnitude, is the most complete and typical in England. The
+ground plan itself, as set out in all technical severity on page 160,
+possesses an unusual attraction for the eye. It is free both
+from mutilation and excrescences; and yet all the picturesque
+external grouping, and internal mystery, which the afterthoughts
+of Gothic architects so often lend to a building, are secured, in
+the case of Wells, by the carefully-placed chapter-house and
+the beautiful arrangement of the Lady Chapel. The transepts
+of the choir are very happily carried far enough east to be
+internally subordinate to this chapel, which arrangement, with
+the apsidal form of the chapel itself, adds much to the beautiful
+proportions of the church. A third transept is given to the
+west end of the nave by the two towers.</p>
+
+<p>The length of Wells Cathedral from east to west is 383 feet
+within the walls, and 415 without. The length of the nave
+is 161 feet, its breadth 82 feet, and its height 67 feet. The
+length of the choir is 117 feet, and its height 73 feet. The
+transepts are 135 feet within and 150 feet without.</p>
+
+<p><a name="III_1" id="III_1"></a><b>The Nave</b>.&mdash;The general effect of the nave is that of length
+rather than height, and this is mainly due to the continuous
+arcade of the triforium which leads the eye from end to end of
+the building instead of from floor to roof. If this be compared
+with the older work in the transepts, it will be seen at
+once by how simple a device this radical change in the effect
+has been produced. Instead of being carried down right across
+the triforium, as in the transepts, the triple vaulting shafts are
+cut off above the arcade so as to be little more than corbels,
+and the space thus gained is used to give one additional opening
+to each bay of the triforium. In the transepts the triforium
+is composed of pairs of lancet arches separated by vaulting
+shafts, the triforium of each bay being a distinct composition
+over its pier arch; but by the time the architect had come
+to the nave, a new idea had occurred to him, and he made the
+triforium in one continuous arcade, unbroken from east to
+west, evidently with the deliberate intention of producing a
+horizontal rather than a vertical effect. The arrangement has
+undoubtedly a character of its own, and &quot;there is no nave in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span>which the eye is so irresistibly carried eastward as in that of
+Wells.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In spite of this method of securing an effect of length, the
+builders managed to make the most of the small height of their
+church. The manner in which this was done forms an
+interesting example of the subtle feeling of proportion which
+early architects possessed. The clerestory was made unusually
+lofty, and the comparative lowness of the triforium both adds
+to the soaring effect and prevents the horizontal appearance
+being overmastering. This is increased by the bold vaulting
+of the ceiling, and the way in which the lantern arches fit into
+the vault.</p>
+
+<p>But, homogeneous as the nave appears, a little examination
+will clearly reveal the break which marks the separation
+between the late twelfth-century work of Reginald de Bohun
+and the thirteenth-century continuation of Jocelin. The
+earlier work, as we have seen, consisted of the four eastern
+bays, which, with the present ritual choir and transepts, formed
+Reginald's church; and, as a matter of fact, at the fifth bay
+(the next bay westward of the north porch) the marks of change
+are so evident that all writers upon the cathedral have based
+their theories upon it. The earlier masonry in the spandrels
+on the east of this point consists of small stones indifferently
+set: the later masonry is made up of larger blocks more
+carefully laid together; in the earlier part there are small
+heads at the angles of the pier arches, in the later there are
+none, while the small heads in the angles of the earlier
+triforium arcade give place to larger heads in the later; the
+tympana, which fill the heads of the lancets in this arcade, also
+are mainly ornamented in the earlier part with grotesque
+beasts, while in the later they contain foliage, with two
+exceptions. Again, the medallions which decorate the spaces
+above the triforium are sunk in the earlier masonry, but,
+in the later, they are flush with the surface and not so deeply
+carved. Even more noticeable is the difference in the capitals,
+those of the western bays being lighter, freer, and more undercut,
+though less interesting and hardly as beautiful as those of
+the earlier part. With the exception of these differences,
+however, which are doubtless due to the freedom enjoyed
+by medieval workmen, the original design of the nave was
+faithfully adhered to, the square abaci, even, being retained,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span>though the circular abacus had become a leading characteristic
+of the true Early English of Jocelin's period. Certainly it is
+an unusual instance of an architect deliberately setting himself
+to complete the works of an earlier period in faithful accordance
+with the original plan; and we may well be grateful to
+him for his modesty.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image19" id="image19"></a>
+<a href="images/image19h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image19.jpg"
+	alt="A Capital&mdash;the Fruit-stealer's Punishment."
+	title="A Capital&mdash;the Fruit-stealer's Punishment." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>All the carving is most interesting and beautiful: the caps
+and corbels of the vaulting-shafts; the little heads at the
+angles of the arches, which are vivid sketches of every type of
+contemporary character; and the carvings in the tympana,
+above referred to, which are best in the seventh, eighth, and
+ninth bays (counting from the west end), those on the north
+excelling in design and execution, while those on the south
+are more grotesque. But the <a name="III_1_1" id="III_1_1"></a><b>capitals</b> of the piers are the
+best of all, and the most hurried visitor should spare some
+time for the study of these remarkable specimens of sculpture,
+vigorous and life-like, yet always subordinated to their architectural
+purpose. Those in the transepts are perhaps the best
+(p. <a href="#Page_89">89</a>), but the following in the nave should not be missed:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span>
+<i>North Side, sixth Pier</i>.&mdash;(By north porch) Birds pluming
+their wings: Beast licking himself: Ram: Bird with human
+head, holding knife (?).</p>
+
+<p><i>Eighth Pier</i>.&mdash;Fox stealing goose, peasant following with
+stick: Birds pruning their feathers: (Within Bubwith's chapel)
+Human monster with fish's tail, holding a fish: Bird holding
+frog in his beak, which is extremely long and delicate.</p>
+
+<p><i>Ninth Pier</i>.&mdash;Pedlar carrying his pack on his shoulders,
+a string of large beads in one hand.</p>
+
+<p>Toothless monster, with hands on knees.</p>
+
+<p><i>South side, seventh Pier</i>.&mdash;Birds with human heads, one
+wearing a mitre.</p>
+
+<p><i>Eighth Pier</i>.&mdash;Peasant, with club, seized by a lion: Bird
+with curious foliated tail: (Within St. Edmund's chapel)
+Owl: Peasant with mallet (?).</p>
+
+<p>The lofty clerestory windows are divided into two lights by
+Perpendicular tracery of late fourteenth or early fifteenth
+century date, which extends to the level of the passage, the
+lower part being filled with masonry. The windows were not,
+however, altered in shape when the tracery was inserted. In
+the tracery are very slight traces of the old glass.</p>
+
+<p>The triforium passage is capacious enough to form a large
+tunnel, which gives a good effect to its lancet openings. The
+small iron rings, which are prominent enough to be rather
+tiresome to the eye, were recently inserted for the use of
+those engaged in cleaning the walls. Within the passage
+additional arches may be seen, inserted to strengthen the
+arcade at the commencement of the later work and in other
+places.</p>
+
+<p>The groined ceiling has carved bosses at the intersection
+of its ribs. The red pattern is a restoration of the old design
+which was found on the removal of the whitewash, but the
+restorer seems to have missed the right tints.</p>
+
+<p>There is a music-gallery in the clerestory of the sixth bay
+on the south side; it is composed of three panels with
+quatrefoils containing plain shields, and is finished with an
+embattled cornice. Another gallery, perhaps for an organ,
+must have been supported by the two noticeable brackets on
+the spandrels of the fourth bay of the same side. One may
+conjecture that it was of wood, and was reached from the
+triforium. The brackets are carved in the shape of very large
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span>heads of a bishop and a king, both supported by smaller
+heads, and of an extremely benevolent expression. The
+hair of the king has that curious formal twist with which we
+are familiar on playing-cards. As some of the small heads
+in the chapter-house have the same style of hair, these two
+brackets probably belong to the end of the thirteenth century.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image20" id="image20"></a>
+<a href="images/image20h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image20.jpg"
+	alt="A Capital&mdash;toothache."
+	title="A Capital&mdash;toothache." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>Sir John Harrington in the <i>Nugae Antiquae</i> (ii. 148) says
+of these two heads that &quot;the old men of Wells had a tradition,
+that, when there should be such a king and such a
+bishop, then the church should be in danger of ruin.&quot; At
+the time of the Reformation it was noticed that the head
+of the king bore a certain resemblance to Henry VIII., and
+that the king held in his hands a child falling, who, it was
+said, could be none other than Edward VI. The peculiarity
+of the bishop's figure is that he has women and children
+about him. &quot;This fruitful bishop, they affirmed, was Dr
+Barlow (p. <a href="#Page_156">156</a>), the first married bishop of Wells, and perhaps
+of England. This talk being rife in Wells in Queen
+Mary's time, made him rather affect Chichester at his return
+than Wells, where not only the things that were ruined but
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span>those that remained, served for records and remembrances of
+his sacrilege.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The west end of the nave is covered in its lower portion by
+an arcade of five arches with Purbeck shafts, the middle one
+being wider than the rest, to contain the two smaller arches
+of the doorway. The three lancet windows were re-modelled
+in Perpendicular times by the insertion of the triple shafts,
+which have the casement mouldings and angular caps of the
+period; but the dog-tooth moulding of the arches, the
+medallions in the spandrels, and the little corbel heads of the
+Early English work remain. A Perpendicular parapet along
+the sill of the window marks the gallery which, pierced through
+the splays, carries the triforium passage round the end of the
+nave. A string course runs along the bottom of this gallery
+and forms the bases of the triple shafts; the bases are supported
+on corbels which die off upon the sloping wall below.
+This wall conceals a curious gallery, the purpose of which is
+not known; it is entered by steps from the triforium, and
+lighted by round openings which can be seen in the central
+quatrefoils of the west front; when these quatrefoils were
+filled with sculpture it would have been difficult to detect the
+existence of the dark gallery.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image21" id="image21"></a>
+<a href="images/image21h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image21.jpg"
+	alt="Specimens Of Capitals."
+	title="Specimens Of Capitals." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>Two small transepts at the west end of the nave are formed
+by the western towers, which project in this church beyond the
+aisles. These transepts are connected with the aisles by an
+arch, the lower part of which is closed by wooden doors.
+That on the north was used as a chapel of the Holy Cross,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span>and of late years as the consistory court: it is now the choir-boys'
+vestry; that on the south served as a porch in the days
+when the usual entrance to the church was by the Early
+English doorway which leads into it from the cloister; it is
+now appropriated to the bell-ringers. They are both of
+strikingly different style to the rest of the interior, as they
+were built in pure Early English style, at the same time as the
+west front, of which the towers form, of course, an integral
+part. Their shafts are of blue lias, the capitals richly carved;
+their groined vaults have a circular opening to admit to the
+upper storey of the tower, which has its corbels ornamented
+with foliage, although they cannot be seen. Over the doorway
+in the south chapel an arcade is curiously fitted into the
+available space beneath the vault.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image22" id="image22"></a>
+<a href="images/image22h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image22.jpg"
+	alt="A Capital."
+	title="A Capital." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><b>The Aisles of the Nave</b> (see p. <a href="#Page_19">19</a>) are of the same
+character as the nave itself, the later part having been resumed
+at about the same time, and at the same place. Among the
+capitals the following in the north aisle may be specially
+mentioned:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><i>Fifth Shaft</i>.&mdash;Peasants carrying sheep, etc., a dog in the midst.</p>
+
+<p><i>Ninth Shaft</i>.&mdash;Man in rough coat, which falls before and
+behind rather like a chasuble, carrying foliage on his back. A
+very good figure.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span><i>Tenth Shaft</i>.&mdash;(By arch of vestry) Man carrying what seems
+to be a hod of mortar and a mason's mallet.</p>
+
+<p><i>Opposite side of arch</i>, at end of the string course: Peasant in
+hood carrying a staff. On the caps opposite are two heads
+with tongues on their teeth (see p. <a href="#Page_92">92</a>).</p>
+
+<p>The windows, both of these aisles and those of the transepts,
+were filled with Perpendicular tracery at about the same time
+as the clerestory windows. The date of this addition must
+have been before Bishop's Bubwith's time, for the library which
+that prelate built over the cloister blocks the south window of
+the west aisle of the south transept. A stone bench runs
+along all the aisles.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image23" id="image23"></a>
+<a href="images/image23h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image23.jpg"
+	alt="Specimens Of Capitals."
+	title="Specimens Of Capitals." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><a name="III_1_2" id="III_1_2"></a><b>Glass of the Nave, Transepts, and Aisles</b>.&mdash;Most of
+the glass of the west window was collected abroad, during his
+exile, by Bishop Creyghton, while he was yet dean (1660-70).
+The main part of it is devoted to the life and death of St.
+John Baptist, and is of excellent early sixteenth-century work,
+for under the fantastic figure of the executioner is the inscription
+<i>Sancti Johannis Decollatio</i> 1507. The two other
+lights containing the large figures of King Ina and Bishop
+Ralph are, however, of later date, and to judge by their
+costume they should belong to Creyghton's own time; moreover,
+on the southern one are Creyghton's arms. Apparently
+the compositions at the extreme top and bottom of the middle
+light are much later; a little handbook on the cathedral by Mr
+John Davies, the verger in 1814, states that the then dean and
+chapter re-arranged and restored the window in 1813; these
+additions must belong to that time, and according to him they
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span>were brought from Rouen. Their ugly reds and blues certainly
+do not blend with the earlier glass, as do the figures of Ina
+and Ralph, but considerably mar the mellow and delicate
+effect of the whole. There are only a few slight fragments of
+old glass in the other windows. There are also two modern
+windows at the west end of the aisles.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image24" id="image24"></a>
+<a href="images/image24h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image24.jpg"
+	alt="View Across Nave, Shewing Sugar's And Bubwith's Chapels."
+	title="View Across Nave, Shewing Sugar's And Bubwith's Chapels." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><a name="III_2" id="III_2"></a><b>Bishop Bubwith's Chantry Chapel.</b>&mdash;Two chantry
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span>chapels stand opposite each other under the ninth pier-arches
+of the nave. They are alike in general characteristics, though
+there is an interval of sixty years between them. The chantry
+of Bishop Bubwith (<i>ob.</i> 1424), who built the north-west tower,
+is formed by a hexagonal screen between the piers, the three
+eastern sides being filled with a reredos that gives the chapel
+a square appearance within. The screen is composed of the
+most light and elaborate tracery, its corners surmounted by
+a crest; it is open above, but has a rather coarsely-carved
+canopy over where the altar stood. Doorways, whose jambs
+are too delicately carved to have ever carried doors, give free
+access and a clear view of the interior from either side.
+Altogether it was an ideal place for votive Celebrations, when
+but few worshippers were present. The niches over the altar
+have been hacked level with the wall, and the little pillar
+piscina is also defaced. The triple shafts of the pier at the
+western end are corbelled off, the corbel being carved with
+Bubwith's arms (argent, a fess engrailed sable between twelve
+holly leaves vert, 4, 4, 4, and 4, arranged in quadrangles)
+impaled with those of the see. The altar here was formerly
+dedicated to St. Saviour.</p>
+
+<p><a name="III_3" id="III_3"></a><b>Sugar's Chantry</b>.&mdash;In the ninth bay of the nave, on the
+south side, is the chantry of Treasurer Hugh Sugar. Before
+its erection, the altar of St. Edmund of Canterbury, who was
+canonised in 1246, stood here; and perhaps, when it comes
+to be used again, it will be maintained in honour of that most
+attractive scholar saint. Speaking of these chantries, which
+were endowed in such profusion in the later Middle Ages,
+Canon Church (<i>Somerset Proceedings</i>, 1888, ii. 103) says:
+&quot;The belief in the communion of saints, living and dead, and
+the desire for continued remembrance after death, and for the
+intercessions of the living, led practically to the endowment of
+chantries and obits, whereby not only was the church enriched,
+and the services of many priests provided for, but also attachment
+to the church of their fathers was greatly strengthened,
+as being the common home of the dead and the living.&quot;
+That attachment, one would think, is hardly likely to be
+revived by this beautiful chapel and its fellow being put
+to base uses. At present it serves as a kind of booking-office,
+where visitors deposit their sixpences and sign their
+names, while the other is stored with hassocks, and becomes
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span>the resting-place of any brooms, pails, and dustpans that are
+in use.</p>
+
+<p>St. Edmund's (or Sugar's) chapel is hexagonal, like that of
+Bishop Bubwith, but its tracery, frieze, and reredos are more
+elaborate. The canopy over the altar is vaulted with lace-like
+fan-tracery. Five niches, now empty of their figures, form the
+reredos; their sumptuous pedestals and canopies are in excellent
+condition. Attached to the frieze without, on either side, are
+six demi-angels, with delicate wings and extremely curly hair,
+bearing shields, with representations of the Five Wounds, the
+Lily of the Annunciation, between angels' wings; the arms of
+the see (a plain saltire surmounting a pastoral staff in pale
+between two keys addorsed, the bows interlaced on the dexter,
+and a sword erect on the sinister); the arms of Glastonbury
+Abbey (a cross flory, in dexter chief a demi-virgin with child
+proper), the arms of the vicars (a saltire), the initials H.S.,
+and Sugar's arms, originally a &quot;canting coat,&quot; three sugar-loaves,
+and in chief a doctor's cap. Sugar's initials and arms
+also occur under the canopy. It is the fashion to consider
+this chapel inferior to its fellow, merely because it is later in
+date, but a little impartial study will show that it is much the
+better of the two. The tracery, though less uncommon, is
+more graceful, that over the doorway especially being far better
+contrived; the cornice is better proportioned, and is not spoilt
+by the untidy trail of foliage which runs round that of Bubwith's
+chapel; the canopy, too, fits in with the curve of the tracery,
+while that of the others projects clumsily across it.</p>
+
+<p><a name="III_4" id="III_4"></a><b>The Pulpit</b>.&mdash;From the west end of this chapel steps lead
+into the stone pulpit which adjoins it. This pulpit was built
+in Henry VIII.'s reign, by Bishop Knight, who died in 1547.
+It is a low, but well-proportioned, structure, resting on a
+basement, and fronted with panelled pilasters; it is surmounted
+by an entablature. In front are the bishop's curious arms,
+which occur more distinctly in the glass of the north choir
+aisle&mdash;Per fess, in chief a demi-eagle with two heads and sans
+wings issuing from a demi-rose conjoined to a demi-sun in
+splendour in base. On the frieze is the inscription&mdash;<i>preache.
+thov. the. worde. be. fervent. in. season. and. ovt. of.
+season. reprove. rebvke. exhorte. w^t. all. longe. svfferyng.
+&amp;. doctryne. 2. Tim&#333;</i>. A board along the top, covered with
+red baize, impairs its beauty at present.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span>
+<a name="image25" id="image25"></a>
+<a href="images/image25h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image25.jpg"
+	alt="Sugar's Chapel&mdash;the Lectern And Pulpit."
+	title="Sugar's Chapel&mdash;the Lectern And Pulpit." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><b>The Lectern</b>, which stands near, is composed of a massive
+double desk, surmounted by ornamental work, containing the
+arms of the see. It rests upon a ball and turned stem and base,
+and is entirely of brass. Bishop Creyghton, who had it made
+when he was yet dean, inscribed it on both desks with his
+arms and this legend:&mdash;<i>Dr. Rob^t.^ Creyghton upon his returne
+from fifteen years Exile, w^th^ o^r Soveraigne Lord Kinge Charles
+y^e 2^d.^ made Deane of wells, in y^e yeare 1660, gave this Brazen
+Deske, w^th^ God's holy worde thereon to the saide Cathedrall
+Church.</i> The Bible referred to still rests upon it, bearing the
+same date; it is bound up with the Prayer Book, and contains
+initial letters and a frontispiece, but it stops at the book of Job.</p>
+
+<p>Opposite the lectern are two sixteenth-century panelled
+wooden stalls, with round finials, all bearing the same device
+on both sides&mdash;a Tudor rose with <i>I.H.S.</i> in the centre, and the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span>letters <i>m.d.l.i.i.</i> (1552) on the five petals. These excellent
+examples of simple and effective woodwork were found amongst
+some lumber in 1846, and now form part of the temporary
+choir stalls that are used for the nave services.</p>
+
+<p>On the south side of Bubwith's chapel, and partly covered by
+it, is a slab, 10 ft. long, covering the grave of Bishop Haselshaw,
+with the inscription, <i>Walterus de Haselshaw Ep</i>. 1308. On
+the west of Sugar's chapel, another slab bears the inscription,
+<i>Radulphus Erghum Ep</i>. 1401. In a slab near the entrance to
+the choir there is the matrix for a brass of a lady, with mitred
+head-dress of the period, <i>c</i>. 1460, beneath a canopy. The
+style suggests that it may belong to Lady Lisle, whose tomb
+possibly stood here.</p>
+
+<p><a name="III_5" id="III_5"></a><b>The Transepts</b> are both of the same architectural character,
+and were evidently built before the nave. They have
+less ornament, the medallions and the carved tympana of the
+nave being alike absent, although there are the same small
+heads at the angles of the pier arches. The triforium, too, is
+different; each bay consists of two large openings, devoid of
+ornament, instead of three narrower ones, and is separated
+from the next bay by the vaulting-shaft which reaches down to
+the string-course of the pier arch (see p. <a href="#Page_77">77</a>). Some of the
+carved work, however, of the capitals and corbels is of a later
+date than that of the nave, which may be due to the capitals
+having been left uncut till after the nave was finished, or to
+damage done by the fall of the <i>tholus</i> in 1248. Apparently
+the corbels of the vaulting shafts are later than those of the
+nave, they are certainly more elaborate. Of the capitals those
+on the west side of both transepts are of one style and abound
+in representations of the toothache. The capitals on the east
+side are different from those on the west of the third pier on
+this side of the south transept, and that is of a style that
+suggests the Decorated period. Those on the west are certainly
+the best, and some of the following are the finest in the
+church, and perhaps in England:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><b>North Transept,</b> <i>first Pier</i>.&mdash;(Inside the Priest Vicars'
+vestry) A prophet (?) with scroll on which there is no name:
+Man carrying goose. (Outside) Head with tongue on teeth.</p>
+
+<p><i>Second Pier</i>.&mdash;Aaron, writing his name on a scroll: Moses
+with the tables of stone.</p>
+
+<p><i>Third Pier</i>.&mdash;Woman with a bandage across her face.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span>Above this cap the corbel consists of a seated figure, naked,
+with distorted mouth and an agonised expression.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image26" id="image26"></a>
+<a href="images/image26h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image26.jpg"
+	alt="Section of North Transept, and Elevation of South Transept."
+	title="Section of North Transept, and Elevation of South Transept." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><b>South Transept,</b> <i>second Pier</i> (from the south end).&mdash;
+Two men are stealing grapes, one holds the basket full, the
+other plucks grapes, holding a knife in his other hand: The
+farmers in pursuit, one carries a spade and the other a pitch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span>fork:
+The man with the fork, a vigorous figure, catches one
+thief: The man with the spade hits the other (whose face is
+most woe-begone) on the head (illust. p. <a href="#Page_79">79</a>).</p>
+
+<p><i>Third Pier</i>.&mdash;Woman pulling thorn out of her foot: Man
+with one eye, finger in his mouth: Baboon head: Cobbler;
+this figure shows very plainly the method of shoemaking at this
+time; the cobbler, in his apron, sits with the shoe on one knee,
+his strap passes over the knee and round the other foot, his
+foot is turned over so as to present the side and not the sole to
+the strap: Woman's head with long hair.</p>
+
+<p><i>Fourth Pier</i>.&mdash;Head perfectly hairless: &quot;Elias P.&quot; (the
+prophet) with hand on cheek as if he too has the toothache:
+Head in hood, with tongue on the one remaining tooth.</p>
+
+<p>It may be well here to say a word about the general classification
+of these earlier capitals, since their date is a matter of
+great architectural interest. I would venture to divide them
+into five groups&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>1. Those of the three western bays of the choir: simple
+carved foliage of distinctly Norman character, as in the north
+porch: these belong to the time of Reginald (1174-1191).</p>
+
+<p>2. The four eastern bays of the nave and its aisles. Some
+of these may belong to the first period, though later than the
+choir: they are more advanced in the foliage, and teem with
+grotesque birds and beasts. Some, however, of the caps in these
+bays are of quite different character (p. <a href="#Page_80">80</a>); they contain
+<i>genre</i> subjects of perfectly naturalistic treatment, very different
+to the St. Edmund of the north porch capital, but exactly
+similar to the figure caps of the transepts. They must therefore
+have been carved later than the death of Saint William
+Bytton.</p>
+
+<p>3. The western bays of the nave. These, which are of
+much less interest, belong to the period of Jocelin's reconstruction
+(1220-1242). They are characteristic examples of rich
+stiff-leaf foliage, freer than that of the earlier work, but much
+less varied and without either human figures or grotesques.</p>
+
+<p>4. On the eastern range of transept piers. These would
+seem also to come within Jocelin's period, with the exception
+of the third pier of the south transept.</p>
+
+<p>5. On the western range of transept piers (p. <a href="#Page_89">89</a>), with
+which must be classed those later caps already referred to
+in the nave under group 2. Their date is settled by the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span>fact that they abound in unmistakable representations of
+the toothache. Now Saint William Bytton died in 1274,
+and his tomb became immediately famous for cures of
+this malady. In 1286 the chapter decided to repair the
+old work, no doubt because the offerings at his tomb had
+brought money to the church; this part of the church had
+been damaged ever since the fall of the <i>tholus</i> in 1248.
+The caps must therefore have been carved during the
+episcopate of Burnell (1275-1292). Mr Irvine, indeed,
+suggests that the figure of the woman taking a thorn (&quot;bur&quot;)
+from her foot may contain a reference to Bishop Burnell.
+The undercroft passage, with its curious corbels and bosses,
+was probably also a part of the old work then completed,
+as it contains one &quot;toothache&quot; head. Although the introduction
+of such finished figure-subjects into the capitals
+suggests this lateness of date, they are still completely Early
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94" /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span>English in style, and a great gulf is fixed between them
+and the Decorated caps of the chapter-house begun by
+Burnell's successor, William de Marchia (1293-1302).</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image27" id="image27"></a>
+<a href="images/image27h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image27.jpg"
+	alt="Capitals In Transept"
+	title="Capitals In Transept" />
+</a></div>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image28" id="image28"></a>
+<a href="images/image28h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image28.jpg"
+	alt="The South Transept From North Side Of Nave."
+	title="The South Transept From North Side Of Nave." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><a name="III_5_2" id="III_5_2"></a><b>The Font</b> is of peculiar interest as the one surviving
+relic of Bishop Robert's Norman church. Whether it also
+stood in the still earlier Saxon church is still an open
+question: it is as likely
+to be of pre-Norman as
+of Norman date, and
+the fact that whatever
+ornament there may have
+been in the spandrels of
+its shallow arcades has
+been hacked off, makes
+conjecture unsafe. Its
+unusual position in the
+south transept may be
+due to the Bishop Giso's
+quasi-conventual buildings
+on the south of the
+church, which would
+have made this transept
+the most common entrance
+to the cathedral
+at the time of the Conquest.
+A Jacobean
+cover rests upon the
+font, and with it forms
+a charming combination
+of pre-Gothic and post-Gothic
+Romanesque
+design.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image29" id="image29"></a>
+<a href="images/image29h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image29.jpg"
+	alt="The Font. (Drawn by W. Heywood.)"
+	title="The Font. (Drawn by W. Heywood.)" />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>At the south end of
+the south transept is
+the tomb of Bishop <i>de
+Marchia</i> (<i>ob.</i> 1302). The effigy lies in a recess, and is
+covered with a canopy of three bays, the ogival arches,
+finished in sumptuous crockets and finials, painted red
+and gold, the spandrels being alternately green and red,
+powdered with a little pattern, the cusps and mouldings
+scarlet and crimson and green and gold, with a dark colour
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span>in the shadows. The effigy of the bishop is one of the best
+in the cathedral, but even more lovely are the three little
+figures so charmingly supported on foliage at the back of
+the tomb&mdash;two angels and a bishop between them. The
+heads of these three figures have been wickedly destroyed,
+but parts of the chains of the angels' censers remain. Of
+the two beautiful angels which hold the cushion the heads
+fortunately remain. Along the plinth of the tomb are six heads
+which are quite unique in their treatment; three are bearded
+(one of these is bald); one is shaven, tonsured, and turned
+half round in a strangely naturalistic manner; another is
+also shaven, and the remaining head is that of a woman in
+a veil. Two large faces are carved on the east and west
+ends of the tomb, both with long wavy hair&mdash;one of a woman,
+the other with a wavy beard. The central boss of the
+vaulting is carved with five roses, which are coloured green,
+their foliage, like all the foliage in this tomb, being gilt on
+a red ground with the red edges showing. The little angels
+at the back had gilded robes with red lining, and blue
+wings; the little bishop wore a red chasuble with green
+(or blue) dalmatic, and red tunicle over his white alb; the
+lappets of his mitre, which have survived, were red, and
+traces of dark blue are on his shoes: there seem to have
+been patterns on the various vestments, and the colours can
+still be seen where their sleeves overlapped. Modern
+lettering has been cut across the back of the tomb and
+coloured, by way of contrast to the ancient work.</p>
+
+<p>Under the battlemented cornice of the curtain-wall to
+the west a row of heads is painted in fresco on a red ground,
+which seems to be part of the same scheme with the curious
+heads on the plinth of de Marchia's tomb: one of these,
+a woman in a dark-coloured hood, is especially distinct.
+No doubt, the whole wall was originally painted. The
+sill of the window over the tomb seems to have been used
+for some special purpose: there is a passage cut through
+the splay of the window, through which the sill may be
+reached, which is not the case with the corresponding window
+of the north transept. The passage is reached from a staircase
+concealed behind the curtain-wall, which is reached
+by an ogee-headed doorway (with cusps in the head, finial,
+and two small heads to its very beautiful mouldings). This
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span>staircase also leads to a chamber on the level of the passage,
+but on the west side: the interior of the chamber can be
+seen from the ground, as its old wooden door is kept open.
+It is supposed by some to have been a watching chamber
+in connection with the tomb. There can, indeed, be little
+doubt that these arrangements had something to do with
+de Marchia's tomb, or that the ornamented doorway in the
+curtain wall of the same date as the tomb, together with
+the frescoes on the wall, were connected with the strong
+efforts that were made at this time for his canonisation.
+Perhaps the sill was used for the display of his relics, and
+the chamber was the ordinary resting-place of the reliquary,
+for which purpose the door and the absence of windows
+would have fitted it.</p>
+
+<p>Next to de Marchia's tomb on the other side, the monument
+of Joan Viscountess <i>Lisle</i> (<i>ob.</i> 1463) gives a good illustration
+of the change of architecture in a hundred and fifty years.
+The crockets are less free, and straight lines and square
+members abound; the fine ogee curve of its single arch
+is weakened by the rather weedy cusps, its shafts have
+become tiny mouldings, and their capitals mere knops. It
+is coloured, too, all over, in green and red and yellow,
+but heavily in comparison with its neighbour. The colour
+has been unusually well preserved, owing to the fact that
+the tomb was plastered over, and not discovered till 1809.
+There is no effigy, but a brass of apparently recent date
+bears this inscription:&mdash;<i>Hic jacet Joanna Vicecomitilla de
+Lisle una filiarum et haeredum Thomae Chedder, armiger
+quae fuit uxor Joannis Vicecomitis de Lisle, filii et haeredis
+Joannis Comitis Salopi&aelig; et Margaret&aelig; u[=x] ejus unius filiarum
+et haeredum Ricardi comitis Warwici et Elizabethae uxoris
+ejus fili&aelig; et haeredis Thom&aelig; de Berkley militis, domini de
+Berkeley, qu&aelig; obiit xv^mo^ die mensis Julii A[=n][=n] D^i MCCCCLXIII.</i>
+Lady Lisle's husband was killed at the battle of Chastillon
+(1453), when he was serving under his father, the famous
+Earl of Shrewsbury. The painted designs above the three
+niches should be noticed, and also those of the moulding
+and fleurs-de-lys at the side. The monument was evidently
+used as a chantry chapel; but it did not originally stand
+here. The brass by the north side of the screen (p. <a href="#Page_89">89</a>)
+may mark the site.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span>The eastern aisles of the transepts are divided off into
+chapels by two Perpendicular stone screens, that of the south
+transept having a doorway in it for each chapel. These
+chapels are thus dedicated, beginning from the south&mdash;St.
+Martin, St. Calixtus, St. David, Holy Cross. From the last-named
+chapel the chapter-house is reached through an Early
+English doorway, and a similar doorway (now partly blocked
+by Biconyll's tomb) led from St. Martin's to a small building,
+supposed to have been a vestry, which once stood outside.
+In the south transept there are also&mdash;a small door to the tower,
+a small door with ogee head (p. <a href="#Page_96">96</a>), a rather larger doorway
+with modern lintel leading to the library (two shafts just above
+this door have been cut off, and faces very roughly cut on
+their extremities by way of corbel), and the large doorway
+leading to the cloister. The principal windows belong to the
+original work, having been merely filled with Perpendicular
+tracery. The windows of the south-east aisle contain Decorated
+tracery, but the tracery of the north-east aisle is not good.</p>
+
+<p>The western aisle of the south transept is open; that of the
+north transept is cut off by a Perpendicular stone screen, which
+is solid in the southern bay, and through carved in the
+northern. The latter is, however, boarded up, and used as
+the vestry of the priest-vicars, the other being the vestry of the
+vicars-choral. From the priest-vicars' vestry a door leads into
+a small chamber now used for the water supply, and over the
+doorway there is a small and pretty figure of a woman under
+a little niche.</p>
+
+<p>There are a very few fragments of Early Perpendicular glass
+in some of the upper lights of the nave and transept windows.
+There are also two modern windows at the west end of the
+nave, and one in the south transept, of which I have been
+unable to discover the actual designers' names.</p>
+
+<p><a name="III_6" id="III_6"></a><b>Transept Chapels</b>.&mdash;<b>St. Martin's</b>, where the obits of
+Savaric and Jocelin were celebrated, is separated by a solid
+Perpendicular screen from the adjoining chapel of St. Calixtus.
+It is now used as the canons' vestry. Partly blocking the
+old Early English doorway is the tomb of <i>Biconyll</i>, who was
+chancellor in 1454. His will, with a good deal of information
+about him, is given in the <i>Somerset Proceedings</i> for 1894, by Mr
+A.S. Bicknell, a descendant. The name was originally Bykenhulle
+(A.S. for Beacon Hill), and has been spelt in forty-seven
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span>different ways. His effigy lies on the tomb, dressed in cassock,
+long surplice, and <i>cappa nigra</i> or choral cope. The ends of
+the almuce can be seen in the opening of the cope, and its
+hood hangs over the shoulders.</p>
+
+<p><b>St. Calixtus'</b> chapel is enclosed on the side of the choir
+aisle by part of the beautiful ironwork from Beckington's
+tomb. The doors of this and St. Martin's chapel are also
+made from the same iron screen. Within the chapel, and
+near the screen, in strange contrast to it, stands one of those
+indescribable stoves which disfigure the church, its chimney,
+as usual, driven through the vault. The east end of the chapel
+is occupied by the canopy which formed part of Bishop
+<i>Beckington's</i> tomb till the restoration of 1850, when it was,
+by an inexcusable act of vandalism, taken down and fixed up
+in this place (p. <a href="#Page_125">125</a>). This canopy did not cover the tomb,
+but stood at its foot so as to form the eastern part of a chantry
+chapel, the tomb being on its south side and the iron screen
+enclosing it where it jutted into the choir on the north side.
+It will be noticed that its northern angle was sloped off so as
+not to present an awkward corner on the side of the choir.
+The reredos, for such it really is, is a most elaborate and
+charming piece of work; &quot;pretty&quot; is perhaps the word that
+describes it best, if &quot;pretty&quot; be taken in its very best sense.
+Here there is nothing of the suave grace of de Marchia's
+tomb, nothing of the vigour and truth of the transept capitals,
+nothing of the noble delicacy of the north porch, which was
+a delicacy of intellect, while this is a delicacy of execution.
+It is certainly decadent; even by the side of Sugar's chapel it
+is over-refined and a thought effeminate, but, with the colour
+that still covers it fresh and bright, it must have had all the
+fascination of a splendid piece of jewellery, where profusion of
+ornament is more desired than structural grace. The cornice
+is particularly rich with a finely-carved vine ornament, and
+with two angels, their long outstretched wings minutely
+feathered, who bear shields having representations of the
+sacred wounds. The tabernacle work behind the altar is gone,
+like the altar itself, with the exception of the small niches
+which formed the sides of the central composition, but the
+little canopy of the central niche remains to give us a slight
+idea of its workmanship. The short wings of the reredos have
+panels and traceried openings, and, on the south, a piscina
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span>which looks almost too tiny to be real. The top has a toy-like
+vault of fan-tracery with little pendants.</p>
+
+<p>On the south side of St. Calixtus' chapel is <i>Dean Husse's</i>
+alabaster tomb (<i>ob</i>. 1305), which bears some of the best
+carved work in the cathedral. The effigy itself is good: it
+represents the Dean clad in the same choir vestments as the
+figures on the panels below. These panels should on no
+account be missed. The first on the left represents the
+Annunciation with a grace that is not less delightful for the
+strain of exaggeration which pervades it. The Blessed Virgin
+(see illustration on p. <a href="#Page_101">101</a>), a lovely figure in long, close-fitting
+kirtle and mantle thrown gracefully over her shoulders, turns
+round from the desk at which she is kneeling, and throws out
+her arms with a quaint gesture of surprise; her crown and
+nimbus are both of enormous size. A very small Gabriel
+dashes down from the top corner, bearing a scroll which takes
+up the whole of the panel; he is preceded by a Dove with
+very long rays. The next three panels (passing over these
+with shields) contain three figures of clergy, two of which hold
+books, and all their short staves. They wear the cassock, long
+surplice, and a long, graceful choral cope, somewhat like the
+modern academic gown in shape, the rounded ends of the
+hooded almuce reach to the knee and are held at the chest
+by a cord with tassels. There is no better representation of
+medieval choir vestments in existence than these three figures.
+The last panel is a curious representation of the Eternal
+Father holding the crucifix; this remarkable figure has a <i>very</i>
+long face, great masses of curly hair, a huge crown, and
+<i>very</i> long hands.</p>
+
+<p>The two chapels of the north transept can only be reached
+through the choir aisle, no doubt because the way to the
+chapter-house was through them. The first was probably
+<b>St David's</b> chapel. Here should be noticed the capital of
+the easternmost shaft of the second transept pier&mdash;a head
+with curly hair and handsome smiling face. This shaft is
+corbelled off, and the corbel through carved in the shape of
+a lizard eating the leaves of a plant with berries thereon; it
+is a charming study. The tomb of Bishop <i>Still</i> (1543-1607)
+in this chapel is under a handsome canopy of warm-coloured
+marbles, with black columns and red, blue, and gold decoration.
+The effigy is dressed in rochet and chimere, over which is a red
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span>robe lined with white fur; a ruff is round the neck, a close-fitting
+black cap covers the head and part of the ears, and the
+rochet is finished at the wrists with a plain black band.</p>
+
+<div class="floatr">
+<a name="image30" id="image30"></a>
+<a href="images/image30h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image30.jpg"
+	alt="The Annunciation&mdash;Husse's Tomb."
+	title="The Annunciation&mdash;Husse's Tomb." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>In the chapel of the <b>Holy
+Cross</b> the monument of the
+intruding Bishop <i>Kidder</i>,
+Ken's successor (p. 158, <i>ob.</i>
+1703), stands on the site of
+the altar, whither it has been
+removed from its original
+position on the south side
+of the choir. Standing in
+all its chilly pretentiousness
+so near to Still's tomb, it well
+illustrates the immense decline
+in monumental art
+which took place during the
+seventeenth century. The
+bishop's daughter, who
+erected the monument, is
+represented reclining, as, with
+one arm outstretched, she
+looks at two urns which are
+supposed to contain the ashes
+of her father and mother;
+underneath is a very long
+Latin inscription.</p>
+
+<p>Against the north wall and
+close to the entrance to the
+chapter-house stands the
+tomb of Bishop <i>Cornish</i>
+(<i>ob</i>. 1513). He was chancellor
+and precentor of Wells,
+and suffragan bishop under
+Bishop Fox of Bath and
+Wells and Bishop Oldham
+of Exeter, his title being Bishop of Tenos. Part of the
+inscription remains:&mdash;<i>Obiit supradictus d&#365;s Thomas Tinensis
+Ep&#365;s tercio die mensis Julii anno ... MCCCCCXIII Cujus
+Anime p</i>[<i>ropitietur Deus A</i>]<i>men</i>. The three panels on the
+front bear shields&mdash;<span class="monument">T</span>
+with a sheaf of corn, Cornish's arms (on
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span>
+a chevron between three birds' heads erased a mitre) and
+<span class="monument">C</span>
+with
+a sheaf of corn; on the side panel are the arms of the chapter,
+the arms, that is, of the see without the pastoral staff. Against
+the wall within the
+canopy are some matrices
+of small brasses,
+in which the kneeling
+figure of a bishop, a
+scroll, and two plates
+for inscriptions can be
+traced.</p>
+
+<div class="floatl">
+<a name="image31" id="image31"></a>
+<a href="images/image31h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image31.jpg"
+	alt="Priest In Surplice&mdash;Husse's Tomb."
+	title="Priest In Surplice&mdash;Husse's Tomb." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>From several peculiarities
+in Cornish's
+tomb, I am convinced
+that it was also used as
+the <i>Easter Sepulchre</i>,
+where the Host was
+laid during the concluding
+days of Holy
+Week. These sepulchres
+were often made
+in connection with a
+tomb, and the usual
+place for them was
+somewhere on the
+north side of the
+choir. The position
+here in the chapel of
+the Holy Cross (which
+is an appropriate dedication)
+would be
+particularly convenient
+for the purpose.
+The chapel
+was easily reached by
+the clergy without
+their having to go
+into the public part of the church; it was thus as safe a place
+as the choir itself, and at the same time was much more open
+to the people, who could pay their devotions from the transept,
+and through the open stone screen could see the candles
+burning round the sepulchre.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Just where it could be best seen from the transept, on the
+eastern end of the upper storey of the tomb under the canopy,
+is a carving of the Resurrection. A wide arch is cut in the
+stone; within this is carved a square opening, not through-cut,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span>but farther recessed, to represent the mouth of the sepulchre;
+in front of the square recess is the figure of Christ, issuing from
+the tomb, clad only in a long mantle, which He holds across
+His body; the hair is long, the face mutilated, and the hands
+gone. At the left is the kneeling figure of a bishop, the head
+gone, but part of the staff remaining in the hands. There is a
+great crack (now filled with mortar) round these two figures, as
+if the attack of the iconoclasts had been made with heavy tools.
+A pedestal at the right-hand corner of the square recess seems
+a later insertion, as it is loose and does not exactly fit; probably
+it was added soon after the tomb was made, to hold a small
+silver figure of an angel, or of a soldier, as there is a little hole
+(now filled with mortar) at a height above it convenient for
+rivetting a metal figure.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image32" id="image32"></a>
+<a href="images/image32h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image32.jpg"
+	alt="The East End In 1823."
+	title="The East End In 1823." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>The Sepulchre proper would have consisted of a small
+coped chest, in shape like a reliquary, round which would be
+painted the incidents of the Passion. The slab of the tomb,
+being without the usual recumbent effigy, would have formed
+the place on which this &quot;coffer&quot; rested, this being the usual
+method when a tomb was used for the purpose. On Good
+Friday, the Host, often in a specially-made pyx, was with
+much ceremony laid in the coffer, together with the altar-cross,
+and there was kept, surrounded by candles and guarded by
+watchers, till Easter Day. We know that there was a special
+provision at Wells for one candle to burn continuously within
+the Sepulchre &quot;<i>I cereus in sepulchro cum corpori Dominico qui
+continue ardebit donec Matutinae cantentur in die Paschae</i>&quot;
+(<i>MS. Harl</i>. 1682, <i>fo</i>. 5). There is a small hole in the east wall of
+this chapel, close to the tomb and a little below the level of
+of the slab whereon the coffer would have rested; this may
+have held a sconce or some ornament. But the <i>cereus in
+sepulchro</i> was probably a large candle within the chapel, and in
+accordance with general usage, there would have been other
+candles burning upon cressets. There are two other holes in
+the north wall, a few inches to the east of the top of the tomb,
+which may have held rods for the curtains that were used
+in much profusion for the adornment of Easter sepulchres.
+While the coffer stood on the slab it would have hidden the
+carving of the Resurrection; but on its removal on Easter Day,
+the carving would have stood in full view of the people, bright,
+no doubt, with colour and surrounded by lights. It will
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span>further be noticed that the tomb stands eighteen inches away
+from the east wall, the space being now filled with modern
+masonry; this was probably in order to leave ample room
+for the sacred ministers in their vestments; had it stood
+close against the wall the ceremonial could not have been
+conveniently carried out.</p>
+
+<p>Near the tomb is the doorway, with a fine old oak door,
+which leads into the chapter-house; and above the tomb is a
+window which was blocked up when the vestibule was built,
+and a bracket set in the masonry.</p>
+
+<p><a name="III_7" id="III_7"></a><b>The Clock</b> is a great favourite with visitors, who generally
+congregate in the north transept at the striking of the hour
+and laugh gently to one another when the quaint performance
+is over. &quot;Jack Blandiver&quot; (this is the name given him by the
+country people for some undiscovered reason) kicks his bell at
+each quarter in the most life-like manner, his feet trembling
+afterwards with the exertion; but at the hour, after Jack has
+sounded his four quarters, as the big bell begins to toll, the
+four &quot;knights&quot; above the clock rush round in contrary
+directions, and charge each other with so much ferocity that
+one unfortunate is felled at each encounter, and has barely
+time to recover his upright position before he is again and
+again knocked down with resounding clatter upon his horse's
+back. The other three fight twenty-four times a day unscathed.</p>
+
+<p>The clock was thus described by Mr Octavius Morgan,
+F.R.S., in the <i>Arch&aelig;ological Journal</i> for 1883:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the Cathedral of Wells is what remains of the ancient
+clock which once belonged to Glastonbury Abbey. This very
+curious timepiece is said to have been originally executed by
+Peter Lightfoot, a monk of the abbey, but at the cost of Adam
+de Sodbury, who was promoted to the abbacy in 1322. It
+appears to have been originally placed in the south transept
+of Glastonbury Abbey Church, where it continued till the
+Dissolution, when, tradition says, it was carried to Wells and
+placed in the north transept of the cathedral with all its
+belongings&mdash;viz. the figure which strikes the quarters with his
+heels on two little bells within the church, and the two
+&quot;knights&quot; which perform the same service with their battle
+axes on the outside. The inside figure strikes the hour on
+a bell before him with a battle-axe in his hands. The face of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span>the dial is 6 feet in diameter, contained in a square frame, the
+spandrels of which are filled with angels holding in their hands
+the head of a man; the outer circle is painted blue, with gilt
+stars scattered over it, and is divided into twenty-four parts,
+corresponding with the twenty-four hours; the horary numbers
+are in black-letter characters on circular tablets, and mark
+the hours from twelve at noon to midnight, and from thence
+to midnight again (noon and midnight being marked by a
+cross instead of a numeral). The hour index, a large gilt
+star or sun, is attached to the machinery behind a second
+circle which conceals all except the index. On the second
+circle are marked the minutes, indicated by a smaller star;
+a third and lesser circle contains the numbers of the days of
+the month, which is marked by a point attached to a small
+circular opening in the plate, through which the phases of the
+moon are shown. On the opposite side is a female figure,
+with the motto <i>Semper peragrat Phoebe</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An arched pediment surmounts the whole, with an
+octagonal projection from its base like a gallery, capped with
+a row of battlements, forming a cornice to the face of the
+clock. A panelled and battlemented turret is fixed in the
+centre, round which four figures mounted on horses revolve
+in opposite directions, as if charging at a tournament, when
+set in motion by a communication with the clockwork, to be
+made at pleasure; these are commonly called <i>knights</i>, but
+their costume is only that of ordinary persons. The movement
+is at a distance from the dial, and connected with it by
+a long horizontal rod; the dial work was close at the back of
+the dial. The revolving figures on horseback are moved by
+a separate weight, and are set in motion by the freeing of a
+detent. The old boarding at the back [in the vestry of the
+vicars-choral] is painted black, with a diaper scroll of foliage
+with red and white roses. The female figure on the dial,
+representing the moon, is always kept upright by a balance
+weight; the quarter-boys inside, who strike the quarters, are
+much later, having <i>knee-breeches</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The outside dial has now two hands; it was once like a
+star with only one hand. The bells outside are struck by
+two figures in armour, <i>temp</i>. Henry VIII., probably put up
+when it was removed from Glastonbury.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The clock seems to have remained without alteration
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span>after it was then put up, till the present modern movement,
+made by Thwaites &amp; Reed of Clerkenwell, was, in the time of
+Dean Goodenough, substituted for it, and the old original
+movement was taken and deposited in the crypt under the
+chapter-house, where it remained uncared for, for many years,
+during which time, 1853, I visited and examined it, made
+notes of it, and took drawings of it. The great wheel has
+ninety teeth, and the pinion, a lantern-pinion, had nine
+leaves, or rather bars; the second wheel had sixty teeth; the
+remainder of the works were all disjointed and bent, and
+remained unheeded.&quot; The whole is now fitted together, and
+in a going condition, in the mechanical museum at South
+Kensington.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Antiquary</i> for August 1897 (&quot;Some Mediaeval
+Mechanicians&quot;) reminds us that, as the clock was in constant
+use at Glastonbury for about 250 years, and then at
+Wells for another 250 years, and as the old movement is
+now still working at the South Kensington, &quot;as though its
+life were interminable&quot;&mdash;it is probably the oldest piece of
+working mechanism extant.</p>
+
+<p>The same article says of these old works: &quot;It will give
+an idea of the labour involved, when it is stated the
+mechanism of the clock occupies a space of about 5 feet cube
+(125 cubic feet), that the structure is wholly of forged iron;
+that the numerous wrought-iron wheels, some of which are
+nearly 2 feet in diameter and about &frac12; inch thick, besides
+having to be made truly circular and concentric, had all their
+teeth cut out and trimmed to workable shape by hand; and
+that the heavy wrought-iron frames, etc., are fastened entirely
+by means of mortise, tenon, and colter, no screws being
+used in the whole structure. The pinions are of the lantern
+form, with octagonal cheek-plates on square spindles, and the
+pendulum of modern form beats seconds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p><a name="III_8" id="III_8"></a><b>The Inverted Arches</b>.&mdash;Undoubtedly the first thing that
+the stranger notices in Wells Cathedral, and the last that he is
+likely to forget, is the curious contrivance by which the central
+tower is supported. Of the three pairs of arches (the upper
+arch resting inverted upon the lower) which stretch across the
+nave and each of the transepts, that in the nave is seen at once,
+and lends a unique character to the whole church. At first
+these arches give one something of a shock, so unnecessarily
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span>frank are they, so excessively sturdy, so very English, we may
+think. They carry their burden as a great-limbed labourer will
+carry a child in a crowd, to the great advantage of the burden,
+and the natural dissatisfaction of the crowd. In fact, they seem
+to block up the view, and to deform what they do not hide.</p>
+
+<p>That is the first impression, but it does not last for long.
+Familiarity breeds respect for this simple, strong device, which
+arrested the fall of the tower in the fourteenth century, and
+has kept its walls ever since in perfect security, so that the
+great structure has stood like a rock upon the watery soil of
+Wells for nearly seven centuries, with its rents and breaks just
+as they were when the damage was first repaired. The ingenuity,
+too, of these strange flying buttresses becomes more and
+more evident; the &quot;ungainly props&quot; are seen to be so worked
+into the tower they support, that they almost seem like part of
+the original design of the first builders. One discovers that it
+is the organ, and not the arches, that really blocks the view, and
+one marvels that so huge a mass of masonry can look so light
+as to present, with the great circles in the spandrels where the
+arches meet, &quot;a kind of pattern of gigantic geometrical tracery.&quot;
+Indeed, I think no one who has been in Wells a week could
+wish to see the inverted arches removed.</p>
+
+<p>Professor Willis, who had made a most careful investigation
+of the masonry, thus describes the cause and the construction
+of the inverted arches (<i>Somerset Proceedings, 1863, i. 21</i>):</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is evident that the weight of the upper storey of the tower
+completed in 1321 had produced fearful settlements, the effects
+of which may still be seen in the triforium arches of the nave,
+and transepts next to the tower, which are dragged downwards and
+deformed, partly rebuilt, filled up, and otherwise exhibiting the
+signs so often seen under central towers, of a thorough repair.
+The great piers of the tower are cased and connected by a
+stone framework, which is placed under the north, south, and
+west tower-arches, but not under the east. This framework
+consists of a low pointed arch, upon which rests an inverted
+arch of the same form, so as to produce a figure somewhat
+resembling a St. Andrew's cross, to use the happy phrase applied
+by Leland to a similar contrivance introduced for a similar
+reason [but at a later date] into the central tower arches of
+Glastonbury.&quot; To this description there only needs to be added
+a mention of the circles which occupy the spandrels, and help
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span>to prevent the whole structure from seeming a mere inert mass
+of masonry. To appreciate the work fully, it should be looked
+at from some spot, such as the north-east corner of the north
+transept, whence the three great pairs of arches can be seen
+together. The effect from here is very fine, especially when
+the nave is lighted up, and strong shadows are cast. The
+extreme boldness of
+the mouldings, the
+absence of shafts
+and capitals and of
+all ornament, give
+them a primitive
+vigour, and their
+great intermingling
+curves, which contrast
+so magnificently
+with the
+little shafts of the
+piers beyond, seem
+more like a part
+of some great
+mountain cavern
+than a mere device
+of architectural
+utility.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image33" id="image33"></a>
+<a href="images/image33h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image33.jpg"
+	alt="The Inverted Arches, From The North Transept."
+	title="The Inverted Arches, From The North Transept." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>At the same time
+as the arches were
+built, flying buttresses
+were inserted
+further to
+secure the tower,
+and they can be
+seen blocking up
+the triforium and clerestory of those bays, in nave, choir, and
+transepts, which adjoin it. Other repairs were necessary, for the
+pier-arches of the same bays in nave and transepts were completely
+shattered, and had to be replaced by the present ones,
+the queer-looking capitals of which contrast so oddly with the
+earlier work. It is instructive, also, to compare the lightness of
+these fourteenth-century mouldings with the boldness of those,
+wrought at exactly the same time, of the great inverted arches.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span><a name="III_9" id="III_9"></a><b>The Tower</b>.&mdash;Besides its inverted arches and other signs
+of repair, the tower is mainly noticeable for its Perpendicular
+fan-tracery vault of fifteenth-century date. This vault hides
+the lantern with its arcades, and thus destroys one of the
+elements of distance and mystery which, before the advent of
+the more prosaic Perpendicular period, had been a characteristic
+of Gothic architecture. Nothing else but the desire for
+uniformity can account for this unjustifiable addition; for there
+can have been no intention of hanging bells in the lantern
+when there were already two western bell-towers. The lantern,
+with its cracked masonry, can be seen during the ascent of the
+tower (p. <a href="#Page_47">47</a>).</p>
+
+<p>The shafts of the eastern tower arches were corbelled off at
+some height from the ground, in order to allow the stalls of the
+first ritual choir to be set flat against the wall. This shows that
+Bishop Reginald, when he rebuilt the church, kept to the old
+Romanesque arrangement and made his choir under the tower,
+reserving his three bays of what is now the choir for the
+presbytery&mdash;a very dignified arrangement. The square holes
+for fixing the wooden screen of this earlier choir can still be
+traced on the aisle walls in a line with the ninth piers of the
+nave.</p>
+
+<p><b>The Screen</b> was built in the fourteenth century; but
+Salvin altered and spoilt it by bringing forward the middle
+portion to carry the unsightly organ. Mr Freeman objected
+very strongly to the choir being shut off from the nave by
+this screen, and urged the authorities to pull it down and
+throw the whole church open from end to end. The remedy
+suggested by Mr St. John Hope, on the other hand, is that a
+second screen should be erected under the western arch of the
+tower, against which the nave or rood altar should stand, with
+seats for the choir on either side. Such a screen as this was
+certainly used in conventual churches, and would be more in
+accord with the spirit of medieval architecture, which was
+content to sacrifice the grandeur of great space in order to
+gain the qualities of seclusion and mystery, and inexhaustible
+variety.</p>
+
+<p>Two things, at least, are certain. The long-established
+custom of crowding the Sunday congregation into the choir
+should be abolished, and the organ should be modified or
+removed. Magnificent Sunday services could be held in the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112" /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span>nave, either with a second screen and altar or without a screen
+at all; but, as the former plan could be tried without any
+destruction of old work, it should be tried first.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image34" id="image34"></a>
+<a href="images/image34h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image34.jpg"
+	alt="Choir, Looking West."
+	title="Choir, Looking West." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>As for the organ, the cathedral will always be defaced while
+it remains as a whole in the midst of the screen. Musical
+experts could no doubt distribute it so that it would no longer
+be an offence to the eye, and yet would sound more effectively
+than at present. Perhaps galleries for the swell, pedal, and
+great organs might be built above the pier-arches in the western
+bay of the choir on either side, and the consol, with the choir
+organ, might remain on the screen. Some fragments of tabernacle
+work on the triforium level would thus be hidden, but it is
+unremarkable work, exactly similar to that of the adjoining bays,
+and, moreover, it was so blocked and patched when the tower
+was strengthened that it would not be a disadvantage to hide it.
+As it is, the organ, unsightly in shape, and garishly painted,
+blocks up the view of the splendid east window, and makes
+the nave a mere vestibule to the choir. The inverted arches
+are generally thought to block up the church, but were the
+organ removed it would be found that they do not.</p>
+
+<p><b>The Organ</b> is a modern instrument by Willis. Dean
+Creyghton, a musician whose services are still sung in the
+cathedral, built the old organ in 1664, and S. Green of London
+repaired it in 1786, but only one diapason remains of the old
+stops. The case also disappeared, the present one being
+among the ugliest in England. There are three manuals;
+thirteen speaking stops on the great organ, ten on the swell,
+nine on the choir, and eight on the pedal organ. The swell
+organ is rather small, but has been recently improved; the
+pedal organ is the best feature of the instrument. The wind
+is supplied by hydraulic machinery. There are four pneumatic
+pistons, six couplers, and seven composition pedals. The
+organist now sits on the south side, so that he can see his
+choristers, whether they sing in the choir or the nave.</p>
+
+<p><a name="III_10" id="III_10"></a><b>The Choir</b>.&mdash;The western part of the choir should be
+particularly noticed. For, while the three eastern bays which
+form the presbytery are Late Decorated, the three western bays
+of the choir are twelfth-century work of Bishop Reginald's
+time, being, in fact, the oldest part of the interior. That they
+were finished before Reginald's other work in the transepts and
+nave is not only likely from the general custom of medieval
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span>architects, but is made probable by the carving of the capitals,
+which is less advanced than that in any other part of the
+church.</p>
+
+<p>It will be noticed, however, that, though the three arches
+remain of the earlier bays, the two easternmost <i>piers</i> of the old
+part are Decorated, like those in the three later bays; and
+some of their arch mouldings have been cut away in order to
+fit the new capitals. The reason for this peculiar combination
+of a new pier with an old arch is an interesting one. The
+original pier marked the east end of Reginald's church, and it
+was taken from under its arch because, being at the junction of
+the east wall with the side walls, it was a large compound pier
+quite unfitted to stand as one of an arcade. The three bays
+then formed the presbytery of the church, and the choir was
+placed, Norman fashion, under the tower. A further evidence
+of this being the original east end of the church is presented
+by the two early buttresses outside at this point, which are
+much wider than any of the others. But there must have been
+an ambulatory beyond the east end of the old church, since
+Reginald's work is carried a bay farther east in the choir aisles.
+There may, too, have been a small chapel beyond.</p>
+
+<p>Speaking of the contrast between the three early bays and the
+later work, Freeman says: &quot;The new work, though exceedingly
+graceful, is perhaps too graceful; it has a refinement and
+minuteness of detail which is thoroughly in place in a small
+building like the Lady Chapel, but which gives a sort of feeling
+of weakness when it is transferred to a principal part of the
+church of the full height of the building. The three elder
+arches are all masculine vigour; the three newer arches are
+all feminine elegance; but it strikes me that feminine elegance,
+thoroughly in its place in the small chapels, is hardly in its
+place in the presbytery.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Certainly, the mouldings of the later arches will not bear
+comparison with those of the earlier. The suave strength of
+the transitional mouldings forms a most instructive contrast to
+the less effective minuteness of the decadent work. The same
+is true of the capitals: those of the later period have little
+architectural significance, and many of them are further
+weakened by the fact that not the capital only, but the adjoining
+part of the shaft as well, is cut out of white stone.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span></p>
+
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image35" id="image35"></a>
+<a href="images/image35h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image35.jpg"
+	alt="CHOIR, LOOKING EAST. PROCESSION PATH AND LADY PATH BEYOND."
+	title="CHOIR, LOOKING EAST. PROCESSION PATH AND LADY PATH BEYOND." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>With the exception, however, of the three pier-arches them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span>selves,
+there are few signs of the twelfth-century work. For,
+when the new presbytery was finished, the clerestory over
+the old arches was altered, and the triforium cased with
+tabernacle work (though not in quite so rich a style), so as to
+bring them into harmony with the fourteenth-century work,
+and to fit them to carry the new vault. The tabernacle work
+of the presbytery must have been completed first; for no attempt
+was made to keep it at the same level with the old part, which,
+when the builders determined to adapt it to the new, caused a
+very marked break at the juncture.</p>
+
+
+<p>There is, strictly speaking, no triforium, the space being
+occupied by the rather florid tabernacle work, the effect of
+which is, of course, considerably impaired by the absence of
+statuary. The niches in the presbytery are deeper than those
+in the choir; they spring direct from the pier-arches, having no
+spandrel, and they contain richly-foliated brackets, which rest
+on triple shafts. This part is also marked by triple vaulting
+shafts of Purbeck, which are carried down to the floor.</p>
+
+<p>The clerestory windows contain flowing tracery of an advanced
+and not very good type. In some the plain mullions
+are carried on through the head of the window and intersect
+each other.</p>
+
+<p>Above the tabernacle work of the east end is the east
+window of seven lights, the last bit of the fourteenth-century
+reconstruction, the last flicker of Decorated freedom. Its
+curious tracery is still beautiful, doubly so for the
+glass it enshrines, but the rule and square of Perpendicular
+domination have already set their mark upon it; the two
+principal mullions run straight up to the window-head, and
+part of the tracery between them is rectangular.</p>
+
+<p>The inhabitants of Wells are, or were, exceedingly proud of
+the &quot;vista&quot; into the procession-path and Lady Chapel, which
+is afforded by the three dainty pointed arches of the east end.
+So proud were they that they would suffer nothing to stand
+behind the high altar but a low stone wall, barely higher than
+the altar itself, an arrangement which, it is hardly necessary to
+point out, defeated its own end by reducing the whole effect
+to absolute baldness. Mr Freeman wisely pointed out the
+need of a respectable reredos, remarking that the original
+founders never dreamed of the Lady Chapel acting as a &quot;peep-show
+to the choir.&quot; A Lady Chapel, he added, was built
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span>specially not to be peeped into, but to be a thing apart from
+the great whole of the church, from the high altar westward.
+After a while, a reredos was offered to the church, and approved
+by Mr J.D. Sedding, who was then the cathedral architect;
+but there was much opposition, and the scheme was dropped.
+Dean Plumptre, with characteristic temerity, went so far as to
+appeal to the witness of the <i>vox populi</i> that the open view was
+the best. Since then, wiser counsels have prevailed, and a
+curtain (small and dingy, it is true, but still a curtain) now
+hangs behind the altar. While giving a measure of dignity to
+the east end, it, of course, emphasises, as every architect must
+have known that it would, the charm of the &quot;peep&quot; into the
+chapels beyond.</p>
+
+<p>A larger reredos would further enhance the peculiar charm
+of the east end. There can, indeed, be little doubt that the
+ancient reredos was of tabernacle work, so as to carry on the
+effect of niches of the triforium storey. Their present disconnectedness
+can be no part of the original plan, and a
+reredos full of statues, which was high enough to group
+adequately with the rich canopies above could have been the
+only way to secure dignity and unity of effect. Till an architect
+is found capable of mastering so delicate a problem of proportion
+as such a reredos must present, we may well be content
+with a larger and brighter curtain. The low east wall, with its
+ugly cresting, warns us not to embark too rashly upon modern
+stonework.</p>
+
+<p>The lierned stone vault, with its heavy, angular ribs, is of a
+very unusual kind. Mr Freeman described it as &quot;a coved roof,
+such as we are used to in woodwork in this part of England,
+only with cells cut in it for the clerestory windows.&quot; The
+restorers have gilded the bosses, but the space between the
+ribs is smoothed in a way that gives the appearance of there
+being no masonry in the construction. One can hardly judge
+the ceiling, therefore, by its present appearance, which is not
+further improved by the green wash with which some of the
+clerestory windows are covered.</p>
+
+<p>The general appearance of the choir suffers pitiably from
+the ill-advised restoration of 1848 and the following years.
+Before that time its aspect must have been curious and encumbered;
+but the judicious removal of the pews and galleries,
+and the restoration of the truncated oak canopies of the stalls,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span>would have made matters right at a small cost, and without
+the destruction of any old woodwork. As it was, everything
+was ruthlessly swept away. The tabernacled stalls, which
+eighteenth-century vandalism had respected, vanished utterly
+before the restoring mania of the Gothic revivalist, even their
+traditional position and order being changed.</p>
+
+<p>The result is just what might have been expected. The
+place has been completely modernised. Chilly stone canopies
+cover the stalls; they are of the kind of workmanship which
+forty years ago was considered excellent. That is to say, they
+are covered with frigid, ungainly, and pompous ornament, cut
+with mechanical regularity, and without one trace of feeling or
+one line of beauty from beginning to end. Below, and between
+them, the choir is encumbered, much as it was before 1848,
+with rows of stalls, which are continued in the presbytery
+almost up to the tawdry brass altar-rails. Two more pale
+ghosts of medieval art front each other in complacent parody
+of the work their makers could not even copy&mdash;the pulpit and
+the bishop's throne. The former is Early Victorian; the latter
+is worse, it is a restoration of Perpendicular work so relentless
+that not a sign of the original conception remains. Plate-glass
+fills the tracery at the sides, and the door is a piece of solid
+swinging stone. On the completion of this terrible work,
+the restorers seem to have felt dimly the want of colour,
+which previously had been so abundant. They therefore
+proceeded to furnish with that peculiar musty red which used
+to cast a gloom over our childhood&mdash;red cushions on the
+seats, red cushions on the desks, red hassocks on the floor,
+red edges to the books, hot red in the bishop's throne, dull
+red on the altar, before the altar, and behind the altar, it is
+all red but the chilly white stone, and the all-pervading woodwork
+of the seats, which adds the muddy gloom of oak that
+has been stained and varnished to the miserable poverty of the
+whole.</p>
+
+<p>The cause of all this desolation was just the ignorance of its
+promoters as to the functions of a cathedral. The choir was
+looked upon as a select church for the leading families of the
+town, and the seats in it were appropriated; the nave was a
+vast empty space that was never used for worship at all.
+Hence the organ on the screen, hence the setting back of the
+stalls, so that the choir might be widened, and more seats
+&quot;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span>rammed, jammed, crammed,&quot; to use Freeman's indignant
+words, into the space. Instead of the long continuous range
+of stalls which formerly existed, there are now groups of five
+under each arch, with the result that ten of the prebendaries
+are without accommodation. Such is the heavy legacy of blunders
+with which the dean and chapter are burdened. It will take
+many a year before the choir can be redeemed from its
+unfortunate state; but the present arrangement of the altar
+is a great improvement on its position only a few years ago,
+and no doubt similar measures will in time completely efface
+the traces of 1850.</p>
+
+<p>Of the old woodwork the <a name="III_10_1" id="III_10_1"></a><b>Misericords</b> have alone escaped
+destruction. Sixty-four of these remain, fifty of which belonged
+to the prebendal stalls of the upper row, though they were
+removed from their proper position at the restoration. Sixty
+of the seats are now in the lower rows of the stalls, the other
+four are preserved in the library. It is enough to say of them
+that no finer examples of wood-carving can be seen in England.
+The following description of the wonderfully fresh and varied
+subjects was supplied by Mr St. John Hope for a paper read
+by Canon Church before the <i>Society of Antiquaries</i> in March
+1896:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p><i>South side, first row</i>.&mdash;1, a goat (broken); 2, a griffin fighting with
+a lion(?); 3, a man in hood and drawers riding with his face to the
+tail of a barebacked horse; 4, a hawk preying on a rabbit; 5, a mermaid
+(unfinished); 6, two popinjays in a fruit tree; 7, an ape carrying a basket
+of fruit on his back (broken); 8, a double-bodied monster; 9, a dog-headed
+griffin; 10, two goats butting (unfinished); 11, a monkey holding
+an owl (unfinished); 12, two dragons interlocked and biting each other's
+tails; 13, an ewe suckling a lamb (unfinished); 14, a wyvern and a horse
+fighting. <i>South side, second row</i>.&mdash;15, a mermaid suckling a lion; 16, a
+man holding a cup? (broken), sitting on the ground, and disputing with
+another man holding a pouch; 17, a cat preying on a mouse (unfinished);
+18, a monster with bat's wings; 19, a griffin devouring a lamb; 20, a
+puppy biting a cat; 21, a man in a contorted position upholding the seat;
+22, a serious-looking dog; 23, a cat playing a fiddle; 24, a man seated on
+the ground and thrusting a dagger through the head of a dragon with
+feathered wings; 25, bust of a bishop, in amice, chasuble, and mitre
+(unfinished); 26, a peacock in his pride; 27, a fox preaching to four geese,
+one of which has fallen asleep (broken); 28, a cock crowing. <i>North side,
+first row</i>.&mdash;29, a lion dormant; 30, a dragon with expanded wings, asleep;
+31, a man with his left eye closed, wearing a cloak and squatting on the
+ground with his hands on his knees; 32, a fox running off with a goose in
+his mouth; 33, head of a man with donkey's ears; 34, two monsters with
+male and female human heads, caressing (unfinished); 35, a man on his
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span>back upholding the seat with his right hand and right foot; 36, a lion with
+the ears of an ass; 37, a hawk scratching its head; 38, a sleeping cat
+(unfinished); 39, a woman with dishevelled hair and agonised expression,
+crouching on the ground with the right hand on her shoulder, the other
+extended; 40, a dragon with hairy belly biting his back; 41, two ducks
+addorsed, one with his beak open; 42, two dragons fighting (unfinished);
+43, a bat's head (unfinished). <i>North side, second row</i>.&mdash;44, head of a man
+with bushy hair and beard, with a lion's leg growing out of each side;
+45, a man in tunic and hood, lying on his side and clasping his hands;
+46, a man in girded tunic, with his head downwards, upholding the seat
+with his back and left hand; 47, head of a lady with hair in a caul on each
+side, covered with a veil confined by an ornate fillet; 48, a gentle-looking
+lion; 49, a bat displayed; 50, head of an angel, with amice round neck and
+expanded wings; 51, a lion; 52, two doves about to drink from a ewer
+standing in a basin (unfinished); 53, a squirrel with a collar round his
+neck, trying to escape from a monkey who holds him by a cord; 54, a
+wood-pigeon feeding; 55, a man riding on a lion, to whose buttocks he is
+applying a whip; 56, a boar and a cat with cloven feet, walking in opposite
+directions; 57, an eagle displayed (unfinished); 58, head and shoulders of
+a man who upholds the seat with his hands; 59, a rabbit regardant; 60, a
+two-legged beast regarding its tail, which is formed of three oak-leaves on
+one stem. <i>In the Library</i>.&mdash;61, a man in hood and loose tunic, kneeling
+on the ground and thrusting a spear down the throat of a dragon; 62, a
+boy in gown, with long, wavy hair, lying on his side and drawing a thorn
+out of his left foot (of coarse late seventeenth-century work); 63, a dove
+or pigeon feeding her young; 64, a sorrowful-looking king sitting cross-legged
+on a cushion between two rampant griffins, who are secured by
+straps buckled round their necks.</p></blockquote>
+
+<p><b>Glass in the Choir.</b>&mdash;Over the high altar is a superb
+specimen of the Jesse window. It is so intricate, that at first
+nothing can be distinguished in the glow of jewelled colour
+but the twining branches of the vine, and a little time is needed
+to enter into the spirit of a window that is all the more enduring
+for not being very obvious. The following excellent
+description by Canon Church (in a sermon preached in the
+cathedral on May Day 1890) will make the legend easy to
+decipher:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the central light are the foremost figures of the Bible
+story. At the base is the recumbent figure of Jesse with
+name inscribed, with head resting on hand as in meditation.
+From that figure, as from the vine stem, issues upward the
+leading shoot, bearing upon it the figures of the Virgin Mother
+crowned with ruby nimbus, and the Holy Child with gold
+nimbus, both under a golden canopy. Above, in line, is the
+Crucifixion. On either side, the waving tendrils of the vine
+shoots intertwine themselves in rings of light round figures of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span>those who prepared the way for the advent of the Word
+Incarnate. On the lower tier, in line with Jesse, are, we
+may believe, the ancestors of Jesse. Amminadab and Obed
+are inscribed on two of the pedestals&mdash;others are nameless.
+Stately figures they are in face and form, in flowing mantles of
+green, and ruby and gold, like Arab chiefs, some with the
+Arab head-covering such as is worn to-day&mdash;figures such as
+some artist in the last crusading host might have seen and designed,
+so different from the conventional portraiture of Bible
+characters.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the second tier are the Kings and Prophets chosen to
+represent the heralds of the Babe of Bethlehem, the Word
+Incarnate. Three kings&mdash;David with his 'immortal harp of
+golden wires'; Solomon, with Temple model in his hand, in
+robes of emerald, and ruby, and gold, are on either side of the
+central Figures; and Jechonias, the link in the pedigree
+between the royal David and the captive exile. Three Prophets&mdash;Abraham,
+misplaced indeed in order of time, but most fitly
+in place as 'the father of the faithful, unto whom and through
+whom the gospel was before preached to the Gentiles' (Gal.
+iii. 8); Hosea, and Daniel. All these are clad in the magnificence
+of Oriental drapery, the colours of each pair on either
+side of the central light answering like to like. Some are
+looking upward, some are pointing with outstretched hand
+towards The Child, towards the Crucified One.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There in central light in the mid-panel of the window is
+the Virgin Mother and the Holy Child, The Child born in
+Bethlehem the home of Jesse, not in David's royal Palace, the
+flowering shoot of the stem of Jesse. Now from His throne
+on His Mother's knee He looks out over the world and as
+with outstretched arms to embrace. A ray of white light on
+the Mother's head gives a natural halo of purity to Her 'the
+highly favoured' 'with grace replete,' whom all generations
+have called 'blessed,' as she looks down wondering on the
+Holy Child.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A subdued and sadder colour seems to veil the subject of
+the highest panel in the central light. There is the green Cross
+in the background, and upon it are affixed the attenuated arms
+and the bent form of the Crucified&mdash;the head drooping on the
+breast. On either side of the Cross stand, the sorrowing
+Mother on the right, in attitude of calm resignation, very
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span>different from the conventional garb of mourning, and the
+exaggerated expression of grief in so many paintings; on the
+other hand St. John, in sadder colours and the gloom of grief.
+Again above, in two of the smaller six-cusped lights, are figures
+rising from the tomb, and in the two at the side are angels
+blowing trumpets calling to judgment. At the head and apex
+of the window are outstretched wings as of the Holy Spirit like
+the Dove brooding over the world re-created by the Word made
+Flesh, giving Himself for our redemption.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The clerestory windows contained a figure under a canopy
+in each of the lower lights. Four of these old windows remain.
+One light in the north-east window contains a St. George, thus
+described by Mr C. Winston (<i>Arch. Soc., Bristol vol</i>.): &quot;He is
+clad in a surcoat which reaches to the knee. He wears a
+helmet, avant and rerebras, shin-pieces and sollerets of plate,
+or rather cuir boulli; the rest of his person is defended with
+mail, on his shoulders are aiglettes.&quot; In the next window are
+St. Egidias with very distended ears, and St. Gregory in a tiara.
+There are also two modern windows; a glaring one by Willement
+has St. Dunstan and St. Benignus, who were both
+abbots of Glastonbury and St. Honorius; another, by Bell,
+has Augustine, Ambrose, and Athanasius.</p>
+
+<p><a name="III_11" id="III_11"></a><b>The Aisles of the Choir</b> are entered from the transepts
+by ogee arches, which have crockets and finials, and are flanked
+by a pair of pinnacles on either side. The aisles are of the same
+character as the choir itself, as they were vaulted when the
+choir vault was made, and new windows of the Decorated style
+were inserted in the western bays as well as in the newer part.
+There is a stone bench along the aisles on both sides, and on
+the north side some very fine specimens of Early English
+carving lie on the bench. The vaulting is lierned with four
+bosses at each intersection. The foliage of the third group of
+capitals on the north side consists of a single leaf which runs
+horizontally round the caps.</p>
+
+<p>Two old wooden doors, with fine hinges, close the entrance
+to the presbytery on the north and south sides.</p>
+
+<p>The body of Bishop Jocelin lies buried in the midst of the
+choir, where he was laid in the place of honour as a founder.
+Bishop Godwin relates that the tomb was &quot;monstrously
+defaced&quot; in his time, and all traces of the burying-place were
+lost until, in 1874, an ancient freestone coffin was found under
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span>the pavement in the midst of the choir. Its covering stone
+had been broken, and the bones within disturbed; but on its
+discovery the stone was renewed, and the inscription <i>Jocelinus
+de Welles, Ep</i>. 1242 cut on it.</p>
+
+<p><a name="III_12" id="III_12"></a><b>The South-East Transept</b> is the chapel of St. John the
+Evangelist, but it is mainly occupied by a stove, one of those
+characterised by Mr Freeman as &quot;the most hideous stoves
+with which human perversity ever disfigured an ancient building.&quot;
+Odds and ends are also kept here, in accordance with
+the extraordinary idea, not yet quite extinct, that a chapel is a
+place where rubbish may be shot. There is, nevertheless, a
+decorated piscina in the east wall to remind one of its former
+purpose. Against the south wall is the tomb of the learned
+<i>Dean Gunthorpe</i> (1472-98), who built the present Deanery, and
+gave to the cathedral a silver image of our Lady, 158 oz. in
+weight. His initials occur on the panels, I.G. on a blue
+ground, and also his arms, which include guns, in allusion to
+his name. There are traces of colour, especially a strong light
+blue on the panels. Unless one has good nerves, it is
+advisable not to look at the window, which was given by the
+students of the Theological College under Canon Pindar, its
+first Principal. The middle of this unfortunate chapel is
+encumbered with a monument to <i>Dean Jenkyns (ob.</i> 1854),
+the ornamentation of which may be taken as marking the
+lowest point to which the debasement of Gothic design has
+descended. A row of tiles round it serves to make it more
+conspicuous, and its unhappy prominence is further secured by
+a low brass railing of unutterably bad workmanship. It was
+Dean Jenkyns who restored the choir, and Professor Freeman
+remarks that on his tomb &quot;is written, with an unconscious
+sarcasm, <i>Multum ei debet ecclesia Wellensis</i>,&quot; words which, he
+slily points out, seem to be borrowed from Lucan's address to
+Nero, the destroyer of Rome, <i>Multum Roma tamen debet</i>, etc.</p>
+
+<p><b>Monuments in the South Choir Aisle.</b>&mdash;Besides two
+of the thirteenth-century effigies of earlier bishops, there are in
+this aisle two ancient monuments of great interest. In the
+second bay is the tomb of <i>Saint William Bytton</i> (1267-1274),
+a low slab of Purbeck marble, with the figure of a bearded
+and fully-vested bishop, in the act of benediction, cut upon
+it. This is the oldest incised slab in England; and it was at
+this tomb that the offerings were made which helped to finish
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span>the church. Godwin says that &quot;many superstitious people
+(especially such as were troubled with the tooth-ake) were
+wont (even of late yeeres) to frequent much the place of his
+buriall, being without the North [a mistake for south] side
+of the Quier, where we see a Marble stone, having a pontificall
+image graven upon it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It may have once been more raised than now, and four
+small plugged holes in the masonry of the wall opposite suggest
+the existence of some arrangement in connection with the
+devotions here. In the restoration of 1848 the tomb was
+discovered between the second and third piers of the south
+choir aisle. It is thus described by Mr J.R. Clayton, an eye-witness
+on the occasion:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;On the coffin being opened in the presence of Dean
+Jenkyns, it contained a skeleton laid out in perfect order,
+every bone in its right place; an iron ring, and a small wooden
+pastoral staff in two fragments; a leaden tablet, 10 in. by 3-1/3,
+with inscription most beautifully rendered in Lombardic
+characters.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span><i>Hic jacet Willelmus de Button secundus Bathoniensis</i><br /></span>
+<span><i>et Wellensis episcopus sepultus XII.</i><br /></span>
+<span><i>die Decembris anno domini MCCLXXIIII</i>.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It was noted at the same time that &quot;the teeth were absolutely
+perfect in number, shape, and order, and without a trace of
+decay, and hardly any discoloration.&quot; From this one would
+infer that the saint was famous in his lifetime for his beautiful
+teeth, and that it was for this reason that his aid came to be
+invoked after his death by those suffering from toothache. It
+is certainly curious that men now living should have discovered
+his teeth to be still in such perfect preservation. His contemporaries
+would, no doubt, have called it a miracle.</p>
+
+<p>A little farther east is the remarkable tomb of <i>Bishop
+Beckington</i>, surrounded by an exquisite iron screen of the same
+period. Its canopy formerly projected into the choir, being
+large enough to form a small chantry; but, when the choir was
+so stupidly restored, the canopy was dragged from its place, and
+set up in St. Calixtus' chapel, where it still is (p. 99,) a hard-looking
+stone screen being built between the tomb and the
+choir in its stead. The tomb is divided into two parts, the
+arcade which forms the canopy of the lower effigy supporting
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span>the slab on which rests the figure of the bishop. The carving
+is very beautiful, and the delicately-wrought wings of the angels,
+which spread over the arches so as to fill the spandrels, are
+especially fine. Traces of colour are strong on the tomb,
+as they are on the canopy from which it has been divorced, so
+that one can form some little idea of what the whole must have
+been like in its first magnificence.</p>
+
+<p>The effigy of the bishop rests upon it, the old and wrinkled
+face (best seen from within the choir) bearing deep traces
+of that active public life which did so much for the city
+and the church. Below, in strange contrast to the gorgeous
+vestments, which have still the remnants of the painted
+pattern on them, lies a corpse, almost a skeleton, in its open
+shroud. At first one's feeling is that of repulsion, but it is
+lessened when we remember that Beckington himself had the
+tomb made, and consecrated it before a vast concourse of
+people, saying mass for his own soul, for those of his parents,
+and of all the faithful departed in the January of 1452. Thus
+for thirteen years did this great and famous prelate live with his
+tomb standing as a witness to all that, under those sumptuous
+robes of office which we are told he wore at its consecration,
+he knew himself to be but as other men, and could wait
+humbly for his end.</p>
+
+<p>A little farther east is a large and rather clumsy effigy of <i>Bishop
+Harewell (ob.</i> 1386), whose name and arms are suggested, in
+the playful fashion of the time, by two hares at his feet.
+Harewell is known to have been a portly man.</p>
+
+<p>To the west of Beckington's monument an altar tomb in
+reddish alabaster has been placed in memory of <i>Lord Arthur
+Hervey,</i> the late bishop, with an effigy by Mr Brock. It may
+be hoped that it is the last of its kind, since there is little room
+for more tombs, and great need of other and more useful forms
+of memorial.</p>
+
+<p><i>Bishop Drokensford's</i> tomb, at the entrance to the south-east
+transept, is of unusual design, the ogee heads of its panels
+being through-cut from side to side. Only the bases remain of
+its canopy, which was taken down in 1758, as it was thought
+to be in danger of falling. There is a good deal of colour on
+the tomb; the chasuble is red with green lining, its orphreys are
+painted on the stone. The apparel is also painted on the alb,
+the orphreys and ornaments on the mitre, and a lozenge-shaped
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span>pattern on the cushion. Two shields are emblazoned over and
+over again on the spandrels, the ground being alternately red
+and green with white sprays of foliage; the coat with four
+swans' heads, couped and addorsed, is Drokensford's. He
+was bishop when Dean Godelee's great works were going on,
+and he gave money towards building the central tower.</p>
+
+<p><b>Monuments of the North Choir Aisle</b>.&mdash;One of the
+Early English effigies, which were made probably by Bishop
+Jocelin, lies here, with a modern inscription, to <i>Bishop Giso</i>.
+There are four others, to <i>&AElig;thelwyn, Leofric, Duduc</i>, and
+<i>Burwold</i>, all having the same characteristics, in the ambulatory
+chapels and opposite aisle. Graceful and solemn as
+they are, they seem rough in outline, as if they were carved by
+a hand used to calculating for the distant views of the west
+front, and almost weather-worn, by the side of the more highly-finished
+effigies in marble and alabaster which are near them.
+In the year 1848, when these monuments were set back and
+placed on their present ugly bases, they were found to contain
+boxes with bones therein, and leaden tablets with the name of
+each bishop inscribed upon them.</p>
+
+<p>A different monument is that of <i>Ralph of Shrewsbury</i>
+(<i>ob</i>. 1363), whose marble effigy, scored by the names of long-departed
+vandals, affords a good example of the episcopal
+ornaments, the mitre, gloves, maniple, the apparel round the
+neck, and the vexillum round the crozier. The tomb formerly
+stood surrounded by a grating, in the midst of the presbytery,
+for Ralph was the &quot;finisher&quot; of the church. But it was afterwards
+moved, and, says Godwin, it &quot;lost his grates by the
+way.&quot; At the entrance to the little transept is the tomb of
+<i>Dean Forrest</i> (<i>ob</i>. 1446), similar to that of Drokensford in
+the opposite aisle, but more mutilated. The canopy is gone,
+but fragments of it are in the undercroft of the chapter-house.</p>
+
+<p><b>The North-East Transept</b> is the chapel of St. John
+Baptist, and contains a Decorated piscina. On its east wall is
+a sculpture of the Ascension, which formerly was fixed in the
+east cloister above the I.H.S. in the fourth bay. St. Andrew
+with his cross may be noticed among the Apostles. There are
+traces of blue in the background, and of red in one of the
+cloaks. Most noticeable among its monuments is the handsome
+marble sarcophagus and effigy <i>of Bishop Creyghton</i>, who
+gave the lectern. The figure is vested in cope, mitre, and alb,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span>a fact which is worth noting, as the bishop lived in the reign
+of Charles II. There is also an effigy of <i>John de Myddleton</i>
+or Milton, who, after being chancellor for a very short time,
+became a friar and died in 1337. The plain tomb of <i>Bishop
+Berkele</i> (<i>ob.</i> 1581) bears a curious inscription, which assumes
+more than the character of its subject would seem to warrant:
+<i>Spiritvs, ervpto, salvvs, gilberte novembre, carcere principis
+en(c) aethere barkle, crepat. a&ntilde;: d&atilde;t ista salutis</i>. Which may
+thus be translated, &quot;Thy soul is safe, Gilbert Barkley, having
+broken from its prison in the beginning of November, it speaks
+from the sky. These words give the year of its safety,&quot; The
+words referred to are in the middle part of the tomb&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2"><i>Vixi, videtis pr&aelig;mium:</i><br /></span>
+<span>83&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>Lvxi, redux quieascibus.</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Pro, captua gendo pr&aelig;sulis</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i2"><i>Septem per annos triplices</i><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The figures 83 at the side of <i>Vixi</i> and <i>Lvxi</i> suggested to Mr
+J. Parker that the letters stood also for figures thus&mdash;vi (6)
+xi (11) lv (55) xi (11), the total being 83, which was the age at
+which Berkeley died. The quatrain may be translated&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;I have lived, you see my reward:<br /></span>
+<span>I have shone, returning to my rest.<br /></span>
+<span>Having held the office of bishop<br /></span>
+<span>For seven times three years.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The east end of the north aisle forms a roomy chapel which
+is dedicated to St. Stephen, and contains a piscina of the same
+type as those in the neighbouring chapels. Its east window
+has five lights, and that in the side wall has three, with good
+reticulated tracery; the principal mouldings are already assuming
+the large flat hollow form which was to become characteristic
+of the Perpendicular style. The chapel of St. Catherine on
+the south side corresponds to it exactly.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image36" id="image36"></a>
+<a href="images/image36h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image36.jpg"
+	alt="Procession Path And Lady Chapel."
+	title="Procession Path And Lady Chapel." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><a name="III_13" id="III_13"></a><b>The Procession Path</b>, or, to use the uglier and more
+accurate word, the Retro-choir, is a rectangular space between
+these chapels and the transepts, on the north and south, and
+the Lady Chapel and presbytery on the east and west. This
+space is vaulted; and the vault is carried by four slender piers
+of Purbeck marble, with attached shafts, in the midst, by a group
+of Purbeck shafts on each of the two piers which lead into the
+Lady Chapel, and by the light blue Purbeck shafts of the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span>
+eastern arches of the presbytery. As two of the middle piers
+(which are set diagonally from north-east to south-west, and
+from south-east to north-west) are in a line with the pier-arches
+of the choir, while the other two, though in a line with those
+of the Lady Chapel (which themselves project into the Path),
+are without those of the choir, a complicated system of vaulting
+and a charming arrangement of piers is the result. Indeed, this
+exquisite group of piers has never been surpassed, and nothing
+can be found that better illustrates the subtlety and extreme
+refinement of the last stages of Gothic architecture at their
+best. At whichever point one stands fresh beauty is apparent.
+It is merely a device for connecting Lady Chapel with choir,
+while leaving a wide path free for processions, yet what a gem
+of perfection has been drawn from the need! As one sits at
+the corner near the south wall of the Lady Chapel, one can
+best appreciate the range of vaulting, which, though it is
+doubled here, is of the same height as that of the aisles,
+running faithfully round to cover the ambulatory which encircles
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span>
+the choir, while on either side the pillars soar upward to
+the higher vault of the Lady Chapel and the yet higher ceiling
+of the choir. Opposite are the painted fragments of glass in
+the north choir aisle, seen through the arches of the presbytery,
+and the windows over the range of tabernacle work in the
+choir itself. On the left the south aisle can be seen stretching
+onwards, across the bright break of the transept, to the west
+end, and on the right are the gorgeous windows of the Lady
+Chapel. Everywhere the slender pillars stand, and the mouldings
+branch away from their rich capitals, each doing its
+appointed work, calculated and exact, in what would seem at
+first but a lavish profusion of marble shaft and moulded stone.
+Yet we can hardly now imagine what it all was like before the
+richly-decked altars were torn down, the painted windows
+knocked to fragments, the canopies, tombs, and images defaced
+or destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>The vault is lierned with richly-carved bosses still warm
+with the marks of gilding; both on the bosses and the capitals
+the foliage is of the crumpled character suggestive of the oak-leaf.</p>
+
+<p>Unlike the piers of the Lady Chapel, the bases here are of
+marble, though the plinths are of stone. Two grotesque heads,
+lower than the bosses, at the north and south-western angles,
+hold three ribs in their mouths, the ribs, which end there in
+seeming futility, being used to cover an awkward corner of the
+vaulting.</p>
+
+<p><a name="III_14" id="III_14"></a><b>Glass in the Choir Aisles and Chapels.</b>&mdash;A good
+deal of glass in a more or less fragmentary condition
+survives in the eastern portion of the church. It is fine work
+of the first half of the fourteenth century. In the south aisles
+there is good glass in all the upper lights; the third window
+has later glass in the lower lights, which bears the date 1607,
+and consists of coats of arms and a series of small square
+pictures of foreign type. The east window of St. Catherine's
+chapel is composed of fragments fitted together at random; in
+the upper lights of the south window are rather coarse heads
+of St. Aldhelm, St. Erkenwald, and other saints: two of them
+should be noticed for the early form of papal tiara. In the
+corresponding chapel of St. Stephen both the east and north
+windows are the same, the north window even containing a
+second head of St. Erkenwald; the other saints are
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span>inscribed&mdash;&quot;St.
+Stephanas Papa&quot; (the Pope Stephen, who died 257),
+&quot;S. Blasii Epi&quot; (St. Blaise), and &quot;S. Marcellus Papa&quot;; in the
+topmost light of both windows is a small figure of Our Lord.</p>
+
+<p>In the north aisle, the first window (counting from the east)
+contains a St. Michael; the next a crucifix and a figure of St.
+Mary Magdalen, with some sixteenth-century coats (including
+the curious arms of Bishop Knight, p. <a href="#Page_87">87</a>) in the lower lights.
+Similar coats are in the third window, which has a figure of
+St. John Baptist. The fourth window contains modern glass
+erected in honour of Bishop Ken (p. <a href="#Page_157">157</a>), as a memorial to
+Dean Plumptre, who died in 1891. In the centre Ken is
+represented in full pontifical vestments, below him angels are
+supporting his arms impaled with those of the see; over his head
+is the favourite superscription of his letters, &quot;All glory be to God,&quot;
+and at his feet his rule of life &quot;<i>Et tu qu&aelig;ris tibi grandia?
+Noli qu&aelig;rere</i>&quot; (Jer. xlv. 5). The left-hand panels represent St.
+Paul teaching Timothy (because Ken wrote the &quot;Manual for
+Winchester Scholars,&quot; and the &quot;Exposition of the Catechism&quot;),
+Christ's charge to St. Peter; the right panels represent St.
+Paul before Agrippa and St. Peter in prison (because Ken was
+one of the seven bishops imprisoned by James II.). The two
+lower panels represent labourers going to their work singing
+<i>Benedicite</i>, and a priest and choristers chanting <i>Nunc Dimittis,</i>
+in allusion to Ken's morning and evening hymns.</p>
+
+<p><a name="III_15" id="III_15"></a><b>The Lady Chapel</b> was finished in 1326, before the
+presbytery was added to the present choir, and thus it belongs
+to the middle of the Decorated period. In plan it is octagonal,
+the three western sides consisting of the three arches by
+which it is opened to the rest of the church. It could, in
+fact, stand perfectly well as a detached building like the Lady
+Chapel at Gloucester, and doubtless it did so stand while the
+presbytery was a-building; but its connection with the church
+itself allows its apsidal west end to be cunningly combined
+with the beautiful pillars which support the vault of the
+ambulatory. The arrangement by which these three western
+sides project into the ambulatory is more easy to see than to
+describe; from the west side of the piers which support them
+spring the vaulting ribs of the retro-choir, while on the east
+side of the piers the shafts rise much higher up to carry the
+loftier vault of the Lady Chapel. As the chapel is not a perfect
+octagon like the chapter-house, but is elongated from east to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span>
+west, this vault was difficult to manage, and its lines are
+somewhat distorted in consequence. The vault springs from
+triple shafts between fine traceried windows of five lights, and
+its ribs meet in a boss containing a beautiful figure of our
+Lord seated on a throne with outstretched arms; the colour
+and gilding are well restored.</p>
+
+<p>Professor Willis said that &quot;the polygonal Lady Chapel and
+the vaulted work which connects it with the presbytery is a
+most original and unique piece of architecture, of pure and
+beautiful design.&quot; As to the first part of this sentence there
+can be no difference of opinion, and all will agree as to the
+fineness of the general effect of the chapel; yet there may well
+be two opinions as to the purity of the work. I confess that the
+following criticism (<i>Builder</i>, Aug. 1862) from a lecture of Mr
+E.W. Godwin seems to me to be not entirely without justification:&mdash;&quot;With
+the single exception of the way in which the vaulting
+is managed, I look upon this Lady Chapel as no better than
+the other work of the same date. There is a weakness about the
+constant recurrence of the same form in the tracery of the
+windows; the lines of the vault are, in some cases, clumsy to
+a degree; and the capitals have lost their constructional
+character altogether. The growth and vitality, the change and
+joyfulness, so visible in the earlier caps, especially those with
+figures, are no longer to be seen. Leaves are now stuck on;
+or, at the best, wreathed round the bell of the capital; and so
+the <i>function</i> of the capital&mdash;the upbearing principle&mdash;is lost.&quot;
+So much for its defects. The peculiar excellence of the
+chapel is that it gives that apsidal ending to the church
+which adds so much to its beauty both within and without,
+and yet does not interfere with the square end of the
+presbytery.</p>
+
+<p>The Lady Chapel has been fitted up for the use of the
+Theological College, and its furniture contrasts favourably with
+that of the choir. A litany desk, stalls, and credence-table in
+oak have recently been given, and a retable carved by Miss
+Neville; the altar cross, however, is too stunted for its position.
+The eagle lectern, in spite of its dark appearance, is modern,
+of Dean Goodenough's time. The doorway on the south side
+led to the old vestry, so wantonly destroyed in the present
+century: now that the chapel is in daily use the need of the
+vestry is much felt, and a cupboard in St. John's chapel has to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span>
+serve for a makeshift. The gas-brackets are of later and more
+pleasant work than those elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>Mr Ferrey discovered fragments of a reredos at the east end
+of the chapel, and set them up as best he could to form the
+present reredos: the original arrangement seems to be lost, for
+some of the pedestals are on the level of the floor, while some
+of the niches at the top are cut in half. Mr Ferrey restored
+the whole chapel at the same time, and paved it with tiles.</p>
+
+<p><b>Glass in Lady Chapel</b>.&mdash;The large windows of this
+chapel are all filled with beautiful fourteenth-century glass, but
+alas! in a marred condition. The side windows contain fragments
+packed together anyhow. The eastern window was
+made up out of old pieces by Willement at Dean Goodenough's
+restoration, and its colour almost completely spoilt by modern
+insertions. The harm, however, is not irreparable, for the
+figures are almost entirely genuine, and the bad effect is mainly
+due to Willement's blue background. A careful examination
+would easily separate the new from the old, and it would be
+quite easy at the present day to remove the bad work and
+replace it by glass that would carry out the old harmony of
+colour. The lower lights are filled with two tiers of figures in
+canopies, David and other patriarchs in the upper tier, and the
+following well-chosen series in the lower:&mdash;The Madonna in the
+midst, on her right the Serpent and Eve, on her left the Brazen
+Serpent and Moses. The upper lights of this window contain
+angels bearing the instruments of the Passion, which are unspoilt,
+as are also the busts of patriarchs in the north-east
+window, and of bishops in that on the south-east. Three of
+the topmost lights contain emblems of the Evangelists, the
+fourth is lost. One inscription remains, <i>Ista capella constructa
+est</i> ... but the date is gone.</p>
+
+<p>A tall and light monument stands between the Lady Chapel
+and St. Catherine's; its crocketed finials, filled with tracery,
+rise almost to the ceiling. The canopy is open at the sides
+and western end, but the eastern end forms a niche; this part
+has been restored in colour and gilding, it is powdered with
+<i>fleurs-de-lys,</i> and bears a shield containing the <i>Agnus Dei</i>. No
+other part shows any trace of colour. The base is much
+higher than that of an ordinary tomb, and the canopy seems
+to have been somewhat altered at Ferrey's restoration.</p>
+
+<p>The spot where the altar of St. Catherine and All Virgins
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span>
+stood is now &quot;Sacred to the memory of John Phelips Of
+Montacute in this county esquire. Descended from a line
+of ancestors, Whose names for two centuries and a half abound
+in the annals of the county, He succeeded at an early age to
+the paternal estates, And sustained the wonted hospitality of
+his house. He soon became a most active and intelligent
+magistrate,&quot; etc., etc.</p>
+
+<p><a name="III_16" id="III_16"></a><b>The Chapter-House Staircase</b> is entered by the doorway
+in the eastern aisle of the north transept. There are few
+things in English architecture that can be compared with it
+for strange impressive beauty; the staircase goes upward for
+eighteen steps and then part of it sweeps off to the chapter-house
+on the right, while the other part goes on and up till it
+reaches the chain-bridge; thus the steps lie, worn here and
+there by the tread of many feet, like fallen leaves, the last of
+them lost in the brighter light of the bridge. Here one is still
+almost within the cathedral, and yet the carts are passing underneath,
+and their rattle mixes with the sound of the organ within.</p>
+
+<p>The date of the staircase is clearly somewhere between that
+of the chapter-house and that of the church itself. It is later
+than the church, for it is built up against the transept buttresses,
+and it contains some of the best examples of simple geometrical
+tracery, while there are nothing but lancet windows in the
+church of Reginald and Jocelin. But the simple geometrical
+tracery of its two four-light windows prove that it was finished
+before the chapter-house was begun. The arches of these
+windows are rampant, to follow the level of the stairs; their
+beautiful circular tracery is massive, deeply-moulded, and filled
+with remnants of rich glass; their shafts of blue lias have
+naturalistic capitals which are in striking contrast both to the
+Early English carving in the church and the full Decorated of
+the chapter-house itself. Below the windows is a stone bench
+rising in steps with a foot-pace of similar construction; this
+arrangement adds much to the effect of the staircase, though it
+is marred by a modern hand-rail.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span></p>
+
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image37" id="image37"></a>
+<a href="images/image37h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image37.jpg"
+	alt="Steps Of Chapter-house Vestibule And Passage Over Chain Gate."
+	title="Steps Of Chapter-house Vestibule And Passage Over Chain Gate." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>Before the Chain Gate was made, the vestibule ended with a
+graceful window of four lights similar to those at the side. The
+upper part of the window remains, but the lower part is
+occupied by a Perpendicular doorway, and the whole now
+forms a screen which, by breaking the light, adds considerably
+to the charm of the staircase. Through this doorway, where
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span>
+they are cut away to allow the door to open, the steps
+continue for two stages, but in a narrower flight. Here the
+windows are Perpendicular, and the vaulted ceiling has given
+place to a wooden roof, for this is the Chain Gate, as light and
+pretty within as without. It was only an after-thought, a
+matter of convenience, thus to connect the chapter-house with
+the Vicars' Close, and the screen that now breaks the light had
+for a century and a half been the outside window, just as the
+blocked window of the transept had been the outer light for
+the fifty years before the staircase itself was thought of. It
+was just a practical matter-of-fact device; but what magnificent
+utilitarianism, what an inspired after-thought!</p>
+<p>The main gallery of the Chain Gate is shut off by a door
+which, if it were kept open, would make the prospect even
+more beautiful than it is. Two corbels which support the
+vaulting-shafts of the lower staircase should be noticed; they
+both represent figures thrusting their staves into the mouth of
+a dragon, but that on the east (wearing a hood and a leathern
+girdle round his surcoat) is as vigorous in action as the figure
+on the west side is feeble. A small barred opening in the top
+of the east wall lights a curious little chamber, which is reached
+from the staircase that leads to the roof.</p>
+
+<p><a name="III_17" id="III_17"></a><b>The Chapter-House</b> is entered by a double-arched doorway,
+the small vault between the arches having an odd boss
+composed of four bearded heads. There are marks in the
+wall which lead one to think that the doors were hung in a
+wooden screen under this vault. The old doors are now used
+in the house of the Principal of the College, where they were
+identified by Canon Church. They have little slits in them,
+through which those in the chapter-house could speak with
+those without, who no doubt waited for admittance on the
+stepped stone bench of the staircase. Grooves in the two inner
+shafts of the doorway seem to have been made for the insertion
+of some light screen, by which the entrance was divided into
+two passages for ingress and egress. The absence of doors
+certainly adds to the rather cold unfurnished appearance of
+the chapter-house in its present condition.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image38" id="image38"></a>
+<a href="images/image38h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image38.jpg"
+	alt="Chapter-House&mdash;Doorway."
+	title="Chapter-House&mdash;Doorway." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>The room itself (&quot;a glorious development of window and
+vault&quot; it has been called) is one of the best examples of that
+type of chapter-house which belongs mainly to the thirteenth
+century, and is a peculiar glory of English architecture. Of
+octagonal plan, its vaulting ribs branch out from sixteen
+Purbeck shafts which cluster round the central pillar, typifying
+the diocesan church with all its members gathered round its
+common father, the bishop. Each of the eight sides of the
+room is occupied by a window of four lights, with graceful
+tracery of an advanced geometrical type. These windows,
+which are among the finest examples of the period, have no
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span>
+shafts, but their arch mouldings are enriched with a continuous
+series of the ball-flower ornament. Most of the old glass, in
+which ruby and white are the predominant colours, remains in
+the upper lights.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image39" id="image39"></a>
+<a href="images/image39h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image39.jpg"
+	alt="Chapter-House&mdash;Interior."
+	title="Chapter-House&mdash;Interior." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>Under the windows runs an arcade which forms fifty-one
+stalls, separated into groups of seven by the blue lias vaulting-shafts
+at the angles, but in the side which is occupied by the
+doorway there are only two stalls, one on either side of the
+entrance. Two rows of stone benches are under the stalls,
+and there is a bench of Purbeck round the base of the central
+pier. The arcade strikes one as too shallow: its canopies,
+which rest on blue lias shafts, are ornamented with feathering,
+crockets, finials, and an interesting series of small heads.
+Some of the heads wear crowns, mitres, hoods, and square
+caps; others are grotesque, though I cannot detect the
+&quot;jesters&quot; to which some writers refer. Some of the heads
+have the same formal twist in the hair as those of the large
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span>
+corbels in the nave (p. <a href="#Page_81">81</a>). The heads on the side opposite
+the door are all (with the exception of one modern head in
+plaster) covered with the early form of papal tiara, a conical
+hat with a crown round its rim. On this side, in the middle
+stall, is the bishop's seat, and here are traces of colour; the
+little heads are still pretty with pink cheeks and painted eyes
+and hair, and above the canopy the saltire of St. Andrew is
+discernible.</p>
+
+<p>Thus the bishop still retained, at least in theory, the head-ship
+of the chapter. The dean sat on one side of him, the
+precentor on the other, and the rest in due order from the
+archdeacons and officers down to those in minor orders. Even
+the boys of the school were admitted to part of the meetings,
+and they stood on the floor round a desk which was in front of
+the chief pastor. &quot;There every morning,&quot; says Canon Church
+(<i>Chapters in Hist, of Wells</i>, p. 333), &quot;after the prayers of the
+third hour and the morning mass, the chapter of the whole
+body was held for the daily lection and commemoration of
+brethren departed, for maintaining discipline, hearing complaints,
+passing judgment, inflicting punishment; for ordering
+the services of the day and of the week&mdash;for sitting in council
+and drawing up statutes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Beautiful as is the general effect of the chapter-house, it
+must be admitted that its detail is inferior to that of the staircase,
+which is just one stage earlier in the development of
+architecture. Nor can its capitals be compared for a moment
+with those in the nave; the lighter form of structure doubtless
+calls for a lighter cap, but these are distinctly untidy in
+their decoration. The crockets are very near having that
+wholesale look which has caused nineteenth-century architects
+to make so much of this easily debased ornament. The
+arrangement, too, by which the fine doorway rises into a window
+of unmodified pattern seems a rather awkward compromise,
+especially as the line of the staircase roof cuts slantwise across
+the lights. One cannot help thinking that an earlier architect
+would have departed from his uniform pattern at this point,
+and have inserted a window or arcade better adapted to the
+position, with the addition, perhaps, of sculpture in the vacant
+space.</p>
+
+<p>Between the roof and the vault there is a curious chamber
+which reminds one of the crater of a volcano, and the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span>impression
+is increased by the sponge-like stone, which has some
+resemblance to tufa. The open arcade under the roof has
+served to keep the woodwork in remarkably sound condition.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image40" id="image40"></a>
+<a href="images/image40h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image40.jpg"
+	alt="Chapter-House&mdash;Vault."
+	title="Chapter-House&mdash;Vault." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><a name="III_18" id="III_18"></a><b>The Undercroft</b>.&mdash;Much of the external beauty of the
+chapter-house, as well as the charm of its staircase, is due to
+its unusual height above the ground. It rests upon a vaulted
+chamber or undercroft, which is popularly called the crypt,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span>
+though that term is not very accurate, as the chamber is not
+sunk underground, but stands almost on a level with the floor
+of the church. The innumerable springs in the soil of Wells
+do not, indeed, admit of a subterranean building. The undercroft
+was finished before the chapter-house staircase was begun;
+perhaps its walls were built at the end of Jocelin's episcopate;
+at any rate it was finished by 1286, and represents the last
+development of the Early English style. It was used as the
+treasury, where the vestments, ornaments, registers, and other
+precious things, both of the bishop and chapter, were kept,
+and, to increase the security of its massive walls, the sacristan
+had to sleep within them every night.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image41" id="image41"></a>
+<a href="images/image41h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image41.jpg"
+	alt="Chapter-House&mdash;Undercroft."
+	title="Chapter-House&mdash;Undercroft." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>It is reached by a dimly-lit, impressive passage, which is
+entered from the north choir aisle through a doorway with
+deeply-sunk mouldings and carved capitals. Two heads, slanting
+inwards in a rather awkward manner, support the curious
+pediment-shaped canopy over the doorway. At the commencement
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span>
+of this fine passage, just within the doorway, is a small
+vault supported on extremely odd corbels, as if the mason had
+taken advantage of the obscurity to wanton with his craft.
+One is a large head with enormous cheeks, apparently suffering
+from acute neuralgia; a handkerchief, under which a few
+comically-stiff curls escape, covers the head and is tied under
+the chin; another represents two dragons biting each other,
+with a head upside down beneath them; another, which reminds
+one of the worst eccentricities of modern crockery, is
+formed by a hand holding a foliated capital. I suppose that
+the head with swollen cheeks is really another testimony to St.
+William Bytton's power over the toothache. The undercroft
+itself was finished before 1286, perhaps some time before; but
+the more advanced sculpture of the passage looks as if that
+part were built in the &quot;toothache&quot; period&mdash;that is to say, some
+ten years or so after Bytton's death in 1274.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image42" id="image42"></a>
+<a href="images/image42h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image42.jpg"
+	alt="Chapter-House&mdash;Undercroft."
+	title="Chapter-House&mdash;Undercroft." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>Certainly the bosses of the vault in the passage beyond the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span>
+doorway are of a character that suggests the transition to
+Decorated which was in progress at this time. They are
+elaborate, and, with one exception, through-carved. The first
+from the door represents a head, the next an <i>Agnus Dei</i>, the
+next two grotesque heads joined together, then apparently the
+Serpent tempting Eve, then an ox, dragons, two small grinning
+heads, with animals apparently biting them on one side. The
+corbels are carved into heads, some crowned, others reversed
+with the shaft in their mouths. On the right-hand side, as
+one enters the undercroft, a pretty stone lantern projects from
+the wall; of the little mullions which form its face, one is set
+far enough from the wall to admit of the insertion of a lamp.</p>
+
+<p>Two heavy wooden doors at the entrance leave no doubt
+as to the purpose for which the undercroft was built. The
+outer door is the most massive; it is studded with nails, and
+has two great bolts and a huge lock: on the outer side a kind
+of escutcheon is formed round the keyhole by a heart-shaped
+piece of iron, surmounted by a cross; on the same side there is
+an iron bar, and the hook to hold it across the doorway. A
+deep hole has been worn in the pavement by the feet of those
+who pulled open the door. The inner door is lighter, and
+ornamented with beautiful elaborate hinges: on this side are
+deep sockets in the wall, into which the inner bars were run.</p>
+
+<p>In the undercroft itself the walls are impregnably thick, the
+windows narrow, with wide splays. The vaulting, somewhat
+later in style than the walls, is an admirable piece of construction,
+well-fitted to bear the weight of the lofty chamber
+above. It is also remarkable, Professor Willis points out, for
+the way in which the arches are disposed without the introduction
+of ribs. From the round shafts which are grouped
+about the octagonal pier in the centre spring the vaulting
+ribs, the extremities of which rest upon eight round pillars;
+and another set of vaulting ribs spans the space between
+these pillars and the eight walls, where they rest upon twelve
+shafts between the lancet windows. Could anything be more
+simple and secure in construction, and more varied in effect?</p>
+
+<p>Here, on one of the capitals and on a moulding near the
+door, we meet with the dog-tooth moulding usually so
+characteristic of the Early English style. The piscina in
+the doorway should be noticed for its carving of a dog
+gnawing a bone.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image43" id="image43"></a>
+<a href="images/image43h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image43.jpg"
+	alt="Section Of Chapter-house."
+	title="Section Of Chapter-house." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>A large aumbry is formed by a recess in the thickness
+of the wall. The parapeted structure opposite is a modern
+coal-hole, for which some other place might surely be found.
+There are several stone coffins in the undercroft, and a good
+many fragments of carved stone, some of which are very fine.
+Here also is a cope-chest of the usual shape, which allows the
+copes to be put away with only one fold. Near it there is a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span>
+large oblong chest covered with iron bands. An iron door
+which is also kept here is thus described by Mr H. Longden
+(<i>Arch&aelig;ological Journal</i>, 1890, p. 132): &quot;It is made of slabs
+of iron nailed to an oak frame-work, and liberally braced
+across with hinges and diagonal cross-straps, stiffening the
+door in the best way known at the time. This is not an
+iron-plated door, but an iron door; it is, in fact, a 'safe'
+door of the time, and is an uncommon instance. It must be
+remembered that the slabs of which this door is formed were
+all beaten out of lumps of iron, and that iron was not then
+made, as now, in plates, bars, or rods, but ... The lump
+of iron had to be heated and drawn out on the anvil at a great
+expenditure of time and labour. Much of the charm of old
+work arises from the irregularity of the shapes, never quite
+round, or square, or flat, which the iron took, and we miss
+this in the neat and mechanically-finished work of the present
+time.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<h2>
+<a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>
+CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+<h3>HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span>
+Legend, which in every ancient city is raised to the dignity
+of an article of faith, places the origin of Wells diocese in the
+remote past; and the visitor is required to believe that Ina,
+King of Wessex, the first great West Saxon lawgiver, the ruler
+who finally established the English supremacy in the south-west,
+was also the founder of the see of Wells. He is said
+to have planted a bishopric at Congresbury, and in 721 to
+have removed the see to Wells with the help of Daniel, the
+last British bishop. The story, however, rests upon no good
+foundation.</p>
+
+<p>Before the middle of the seventh century the heathen invaders
+were converted by St Birinus, and by the time of Ina
+Wessex was divided into the dioceses of Winchester and
+Sherborne, the latter including Somerset, Dorset, and part of
+Wiltshire. This was all that Ina did towards establishing the
+diocese of Wells; and it did not go very far, for the special
+boast of the diocese is that it consists of one county, Somerset,
+and of nothing else. And so it is that the honour of possessing
+Ealdhelm, the first bishop of Sherborne, who tramped
+about, an open-air preacher, in his diocese, belongs to Salisbury
+and not to Wells; although Doulting, where Ealdhelm fell
+sick and died sitting in the little wooden village church, is the
+very place whence afterwards the stone was quarried for the
+building of Wells Cathedral.</p>
+
+<p>It was under that great warrior, Edward the Elder, that the
+diocese of Sherborne was divided, and the Sumorsaetas received
+a bishop of their own, whose stool was placed in the church of
+St. Andrew at Wells.</p>
+
+<p>It is quite probable that the above tradition grew around
+Ina's name owing to his having really established a church
+with a body of priests attached to it; since we find in a
+charter of Cynewulf, dated 766, a mention of &quot;the minister
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span>
+near the great spring at Wells for the better service of God in
+the church of St. Andrew.&quot; This charter is probably spurious,
+but it may for all that enshrine an historical fact, especially as
+it does not pretend to the existence of a bishopric. If this be
+the case, then Edward, who wanted a fairly central church for
+a diocese which had no important town, must have found
+Wells very convenient for his purpose. For while Glastonbury,
+besides being in those days an island, had an abbot of its own,
+this little body of secular priests would be ready to receive the
+bishop as their chief, and to become his chapter. At all
+events, the year 909 saw Wells with a bishop of its own.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image44" id="image44"></a>
+<a href="images/image44h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image44.jpg"
+	alt="Specimens Of Capitals."
+	title="Specimens Of Capitals." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p><b>Aethelhelm</b> or <b>Athelm</b>, <i>Bishop of Somerset, or Wells</i>
+(909-914), a monk of Glastonbury according to tradition, was
+the first Somersetshire bishop; he is said to have been an
+uncle of St. Dunstan: he was made Archbishop of Canterbury
+in 914.</p>
+
+<p>It will be convenient to weave the history of the foundation
+of Wells with that of the bishops. So here, at the outset, the
+reader must bear in mind that from the beginning the cathedral
+church was served by &quot;secular&quot; clergy, by priests, that is, who
+were bound by no vows other than those of their ordination,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span>
+who did not live a community life, but had each his own
+house, and generally at this time his own wife and family.
+Wells Cathedral was not &quot;built by the monks,&quot; and its chapter
+was never composed of monks; though some of the bishops
+belonged to religious orders, it kept up a pretty constant rivalry
+with the &quot;regular&quot; clergy of Glastonbury and Bath. It belongs
+in fact, to the cathedrals of the old foundation, whose constitutions
+were not changed at the Reformation; and its chapter
+has continued in unbroken succession, from the days when
+Aethelhelm first presided over his little body of clergy in the
+church of St. Andrew, down to our own time. But at first that
+chapter was informal enough, nor was it finally incorporated
+and officered till the time of Bishop Robert in the twelfth
+century. The number of canons does not seem to have been
+fixed, though in the next century we hear of there being only
+four or five.</p>
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image45" id="image45"></a>
+<a href="images/image45h.jpg">
+<img src="images/image45.jpg"
+	alt="Specimens Of Capitals."
+	title="Specimens Of Capitals." />
+</a></div>
+
+<p>The next five bishops are all little more than names to us.
+<b>Wulfhelm</b> succeeded Aethelhelm in 914: also translated to
+Canterbury; <b>Aelfheah</b> (923), <b>Wulfhelm</b> (938), <b>Brithhelm</b>
+(956-973), and <b>Cyneward</b> (973-975).</p>
+
+<p><b>Sigegar</b> (975-977), a pupil of St. Dunstan, and abbot
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span>
+of Glastonbury, was succeeded, or perhaps supplanted, by
+<b>Aelfwine</b>, in 997-999.</p>
+
+<p><b>Aethelstan</b>, or <b>Lyfing</b>; translated to Canterbury 1013.</p>
+
+<p><b>Aethelwine</b> and <b>Brihtwine</b> shared the episcopate, either
+as rivals or coadjutors. Brihtwine was last in possession.
+<b>Merewit</b>, also called Brihtwine, succeeded in 1026.</p>
+
+<p><b>Duduc</b> (1033-1060), a German Saxon. Cnut had given
+him the estates of Congresbury and Banwell, which he left to
+the church of Wells; but Harold took possession of them.</p>
+
+<p><b>Gisa</b> (1060-1088), a Belgian from Lorraine, found his see
+in a sad condition: the church was mean, its revenues small,
+and its four or five canons were forced, he says, to beg their
+bread. He at once set to work to increase the revenues; and
+from Edward the Confessor, from his queen, Edith, then from
+Harold, and afterwards from William the Conqueror, he
+obtained various estates for the support of his canons.</p>
+
+<p>He also changed the way of living of the canons, and built
+a cloister, dormitory, and refectory, thereby forcing them
+to live a common life, much as if they were monks&mdash;an unpopular
+innovation which was supported by the appointment in
+the foreign fashion of a provost to be chief officer, the canons
+choosing for this post one Isaac of Wells.</p>
+
+<p><b>John de Villula</b>, <i>Bishop of Bath</i> (1088-1122), a rich
+physician of Tours. He put an end to the semi-monastic
+discipline of Gisa by pulling down his community buildings
+and erecting a private house of his own on the site. And he
+removed the see of Somersetshire from Wells to the Abbey of
+Bath.</p>
+
+<p><b>Godfrey</b> (1123-1135).</p>
+
+<p><b>Robert of Lewes</b> (1136-1166), the second founder of the
+cathedral; he made the constitution of the chapter, he rebuilt
+the old Saxon church, and he started Wells as a borough by
+the grant of its first charter of freedom. Of a Fleming family,
+though born in England, he was a monk from the Cluniac
+house of St. Pancras at Lewes; and to another and more
+famous Cluniac monk, Bishop Henry of Winchester, King
+Stephen's brother, he owed his advancement. In the very
+year of his consecration he began the recovery of Wells from
+the low estate in which John de Villula and his rapacious
+relatives had left it. He restored their property to the canons,
+and, in order to secure it, he divided it off from the property
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span>
+of the see by a charter of incorporation. He assisted at
+Henry II.'s coronation in 1154, and at the consecration of
+Thomas &agrave; Becket in 1162.</p>
+
+<p>Bishop Robert arranged the quarrel with Bath by settling
+that Bath should take precedence of Wells, but that the bishop
+should have his throne in both churches, and be elected by the
+two chapters conjointly.</p>
+
+<p>By the charter which incorporated the chapter of Wells,
+Robert also settled portions of the estate, or prebends, on the
+twenty-two canons, and founded the offices of dean, precentor,
+chancellor, treasurer, sub-dean, provost, and sub-chanter, all of
+which, except the two last, still exist.</p>
+
+<p>After an interval of eight years, <b>Reginald de Bohun</b> or
+<b>Fitz-Jocelin</b>, the Archdeacon of Sarum, was consecrated
+Bishop of Bath (1174-1191). Immediately afterwards he induced
+the monk who was soon to become famous as St. Hugh
+of Lincoln, to leave the Grande Chartreuse, and to come to
+England as prior of the first English charter-house. He built
+the greater part of the present nave transepts and choir; for
+this end he made large gifts to the fabric fund, and collected
+gifts from others. He also extended the privileges of the
+town, and increased both the endowment and the number of
+the prebends.</p>
+
+<p><b>Savaric</b>, <i>Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury</i> (1192-1205), a
+relation of the Emperor Henry VI. In 1191 he started
+with Richard I. for the Holy Land. At Messina, though
+not yet in priest's orders, he obtained private letters from
+the king sanctioning his appointment to any bishopric to
+which he might be elected. Bishop Reginald was a kinsman
+of his, and, on his election to Canterbury, he obtained
+the vote of the convent of Bath for Savaric. The Justiciar
+gave at once the royal sanction, in spite of the protests of
+the canons of Wells, who had not been consulted. Savaric
+had meanwhile wisely established himself at Rome, and was
+able to obtain the Pope's consent. He was consecrated
+priest one day and bishop the next, but he still remained
+abroad.</p>
+
+<p>Savaric, supported by the authority of King John, broke
+into Glastonbury with soldiers, starved and beat the
+monks, and, with great violence, established himself in
+possession.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span>
+His biography was compressed in a clever epigram:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;<i>Hospes erat mundo per mundum semper eundo,</i><br /></span>
+<span><i>Sic suprema dies fit sibi prima quies,</i>&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>admirably translated by Canon Bernard:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span>&quot;Through the world travelling, all the world's guest,<br /></span>
+<span>His last day of life was his first day of rest.&quot;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Yet he was the first to institute the daily mass of Our Lady,
+as well as that for the faithful departed, in Wells Cathedral.</p>
+
+<p><b>Jocelin Troteman de Welles</b>, <i>Bishop of Bath and
+Glastonbury,</i> and after 1219 <i>Bishop of Bath</i> (1206-1242), is,
+after Ken, the most famous of Wells worthies. He came from
+a local stock, and spent all his time and money on the cathedral
+church, first as canon, then as bishop for thirty-six years.
+In 1208, when Pope Innocent III. laid England under an
+interdict, the bishop published it in his own diocese, and
+then fled the country, leaving his estates to be seized by
+John. On John's submission to the Pope in 1213, he
+returned, and two years later stood by Stephen Langton at
+Runnymede, putting his name as Bishop of Bath and
+Glastonbury to <i>Magna Charta</i>. When John was dead it
+was Jocelin who administered the oath to Henry III. at
+his coronation.</p>
+
+<p>In 1219 Jocelin made terms with Glastonbury, which
+Savaric had seized, giving up the abbacy and the title in
+return for four manors. He founded a hospital, re-endowed
+the Lady mass which Savaric had instituted, increased the
+number of prebends (the estates, that is, which each maintained
+a canon) from thirty-five to fifty, provided houses for
+the canons, and a regular endowment for the vicars-choral,
+started a grammar school in addition to the choristers' school,
+and enclosed the bishop's park. But most of all is he famous
+for having rebuilt the church which Savaric's vagaries had let fall
+into dilapidation, and for having added to it the noble west
+front. So extensive were his repairs that in 1239 a reconsecration
+was necessary; and three years later he died, &quot;God,&quot;
+says old Fuller, &quot;to square his great undertakings, giving him
+a long life to his large heart.&quot; He was buried in the midst of
+the choir as a founder of the church; and as this interment
+marked out Wells as the chief church in the diocese, the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span>
+monks of Bath were not told of his death till after he had
+been buried.</p>
+
+<p><b>Roger</b>, <i>first Bishop of Bath and Wells</i> (1244-1247). On
+Jocelin's death in 1242, the monks of Bath made a last effort to
+recover the supremacy which had drifted from them. Contrary
+to the agreement which had been made, they pushed through
+their own candidate, Roger, without consulting with the Wells
+chapter, and snatched the regal sanction and papal confirmation
+for their nominee before the chapter of Wells could make
+a move. At last, the Pope, after much litigation, decreed
+that, in order to avoid any further vacancy, Roger's election
+should be confirmed, but that henceforth the chapter of Wells
+should have an equal voice in the election of the bishop, who
+was to use the title of Bath and Wells. Roger was buried
+in his old abbey of Bath; he was, however, the last bishop to
+be there interred. The words of Peter Heylin are henceforward
+true of the see:&mdash;&quot;The diocese of Bath and Wells, though it
+hath a double name, is one single bishopric. The bishop's seat
+was originally at Wells, where it still continues. The style of
+Bath came in but upon the bye.&quot;</p>
+
+<p><b>William Button</b> or <b>Bytton</b> (1248-1264).</p>
+
+<p><b>Walter Giffard</b> (1265-1266), a statesman-bishop, took the
+king's side, and, after the victory of Evesham, was rewarded with
+the chancellorship and the archbishopric of York.</p>
+
+<p><b>William Bytton (the Saint)</b> (1267-1274). When Robert
+of Kilwardy, provincial of the Dominicans, was made archbishop,
+he chose Bytton, on account of his saintliness, to
+consecrate him; and so great was the impression made by his
+holy life that he became the object of popular canonisation
+at his death. Miracles were worked at his tomb, and crowds
+flocked to it with offerings, especially such as were afflicted with
+toothache.</p>
+
+<p><b>Robert Burnell</b> (1275-1292), the greatest lawyer of his
+day, chancellor of Edward I.; built the hall of the episcopal
+palace.</p>
+
+<p><b>William of March or de Marchia</b> (1293-1302), had
+been treasurer in 1290. Two unsuccessful efforts were made
+to obtain his canonisation.</p>
+
+<p><b>Walter de Haselshaw</b> (1302-1308), successively canon,
+dean, and bishop.</p>
+
+<p>Under <b>John of Drokensford</b> (1309-1329) the chapter
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span>
+obtained a strong confirmation of their rights as the result of
+a violent quarrel with the bishop, who had claimed the power
+of visiting the churches under capitular jurisdiction.</p>
+
+<p><b>Ralph of Shrewsbury</b> (1329-1363), Chancellor of Oxford,
+put the finishing stroke to the constitution of the cathedral by
+founding the College of Vicars. He was a great supporter of
+the friars, and left them a third of his property. Among his
+good deeds he disafforested the royal hunting ground of
+Mendip, and thus did great service to the people, &quot;beef,&quot; as
+Fuller has it, &quot;being better pleasing to the husbandman's
+palate than venison.&quot; At his death he was buried in the
+place of honour before the high altar, for it was under him that
+the last great building operations in the church of Wells were
+completed.</p>
+
+<p><b>John Barnet</b> (1363-66), translated from Worcester, was
+soon again moved to Ely. After <b>John Harewell</b> (1367-86),
+who helped to build the south-west tower, and <b>Walter Skirlaw</b>
+(1386-88), <b>Ralph Erghum</b> (1388-1400) was translated
+from Salisbury, and founded at Wells the much-needed college
+for the fourteen chantry priests, which was destroyed under
+Edward VI., and of which the memory is preserved in &quot;College
+Lane.&quot; There were now, therefore, three distinct corporations
+at Wells&mdash;the Chapter, the College of Vicars, and the College
+of Chantry Priests. <b>Henry Bowett</b> (1401-1407) was promoted
+to York.</p>
+
+<p><b>Nicholas Bubwith</b> (1407-1424) is remembered by the
+almshouses at Wells which he endowed, by his provision for
+building the north-west tower, and by his chantry chapel. There
+was at this time another hospital called the Priory, which has
+now disappeared. He was one of the English envoys at the
+Council of Constance. Mandates were sent him by the archbishop
+for the prosecution of the Lollards, but there is no
+record of any proceedings having been taken, till <b>John
+Stafford</b> (1425-43) had succeeded him, when one William
+Curayn was compelled to abjure and receive absolution for
+some very reasonable heresies. Stafford was translated to
+Canterbury.</p>
+
+<p><b>Thomas Beckington</b>, or Bekynton (1443-65), was first
+tutor, then private secretary to Henry VI., and Keeper of the
+Privy Seal. His many works at Wells are noticed in our other
+chapters; in his will he states that he spent 6000 marks in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span>
+repairing and adorning his palaces. After his death, the mayor
+and corporation showed their gratitude by going annually to his
+tomb (p. <a href="#Page_125">125</a>) to pray for his soul.</p>
+
+<p><b>Robert Stillington</b> (1466-91) was a minister of Edward
+IV., and one of Richard III.'s supporters. Accused in 1487
+of helping Lambert Simnel, he was imprisoned at Windsor for
+the rest of his life. <b>Richard Fox</b> (1492-94), Keeper of the
+Privy Seal, translated to Durham. <b>Oliver King</b> (1495-1503),
+Chief Secretary of Henry VII. A dream moved Bishop
+Oliver in 1500, to rebuild Bath abbey in the debased Perpendicular
+style with which we are now familiar.</p>
+
+<p>The celebrated <b>Adrian de Castello</b> (1504-1518) obtained
+first Hereford and then Wells, as a reward for political services.
+As he never visited his diocese, his affairs were managed by
+another famous man, Polydore Vergil, who was archdeacon,
+and furnished the choir of Wells with hangings, &quot;flourished,&quot;
+says Fuller, &quot;with the laurel tree,&quot; and bearing an inscription,
+<i>Sunt Polydori munera Vergilii</i>. Adrian, who was born of
+humble parents at Cornuto in Tuscany, had been made a
+cardinal in 1503 by the infamous Pope Alexander VI., and
+both his archdeacon and himself are prominent figures in
+Italian history of the period.</p>
+
+<p><b>Cardinal Wolsey</b> (1518-23) was appointed to the see,
+which he held together with the archbishopric of York; he was
+therefore Bishop of Bath and Wells only in name, and was soon
+put in the enjoyment of the richer sees successively of Durham
+and Winchester. He was followed by <b>John Clerk</b> (1523-41)
+and <b>William Knight</b> (1541-47). The abbey of Bath was now
+suppressed, so that the bishop's seat was now at Wells alone,
+and (excepting that the style &quot;Bath and Wells&quot; remained) the
+see was restored to its original condition before John de Villula
+migrated to Bath.</p>
+
+<p><b>William Barlow</b> (1549-54) was translated from St. David's
+without even the form of a <i>conge d'elire</i>. In return for this and
+certain money payments he made over a large portion of the
+episcopal property to the greedy Duke of Somerset; he also
+secured the episcopal manor of Wookey for his own family.
+The other cathedral estates were similarly treated. Barlow fled
+at the accession of Mary, but was caught and imprisoned in
+1554. He had in Henry's time recanted some Lollard tracts
+which he had written, and now under Mary he recanted once
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span>
+more. On the accession of Elizabeth, he (p. <a href="#Page_81">81</a>) accepted the
+poorer see of Chichester.</p>
+
+<p><b>Gilbert Bourne</b> (1554-59) had been Bonner's chaplain.
+At Elizabeth's accession he was deprived and imprisoned in
+the Tower. After 1562 he was kept in nominal custody, and
+died in 1569.</p>
+
+<p><b>Gilbert Berkeley</b> (1560-1581) succeeded him. <b>Thomas
+Godwin</b> (1584-90), the historian of Wells, succeeded Berkeley.</p>
+
+<p>Another three years' vacancy was followed by the appointment
+of <b>John Still</b> (1593-1607). He and his successors, <b>James
+Montague</b> (1608-16), translated to Winchester, <b>Arthur Lake</b>
+(1616-26), a wise man and &quot;most blessed saint,&quot; were mostly
+occupied in the fight with Puritanism. William Laud was
+bishop here for two years (1626-28), but his history belongs to
+London and Canterbury, whither he was translated. <b>Leonard
+Mawe</b> (1628-29), <b>Walter Curll</b> (1629-32), translated to Winchester,
+and <b>William Piers</b> (1632-70) followed. The latter,
+who put down the Puritan &quot;lectures,&quot; and ordered all the altars
+in his diocese to be set against the east wall and railed in, lived
+to see all his work undone and then restored again at the
+accession of Charles II. <b>Robert Creyghton</b> (1670-72), who
+had been dean, succeeded him. He was a great musician
+(p. 113), and his gifts of ornaments to the cathedral have been
+already mentioned. <b>Peter Mews</b> (1673-1684) was translated
+to Winchester.</p>
+
+<p><b>Thomas Ken</b> (1685-90), the best and most famous of all
+the Somerset bishops, has left so great a name in the see, and
+figured in so many stirring events, that one can hardly believe
+that he was only given five years in which to use his influence
+upon history. Before he was made bishop, however, he had
+already given proof of that quiet courage which was more than
+once to thwart the will of princes. In 1679 he went to the
+Hague as chaplain to Mary, the wife of William of Orange.
+Here he expressed himself &quot;horribly unsatisfied&quot; with William's
+unkindness to his wife, and he incurred the Prince's anger by
+persuading Count Zulestein to marry a lady whom he had
+seduced. Soon after, when he was living at Winchester, he
+refused to allow the royal harbinger to use his prebendal house
+for the lodging of Nell Gwynn, on the occasion of Charles II.'s
+visit there in 1683. Charles, with characteristic generosity,
+thought all the more highly of him, and when he was told of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span>
+the vacant bishopric, said no one should have the see but &quot;the
+little black fellow who refused his lodging to poor Nelly.&quot;
+Before the year was over, Charles was on his death-bed, and
+summoned Ken to his side. The bishop persuaded the king to
+send the Duchess of Portsmouth from the room and to call in
+the Queen. He then absolved him, although Charles would
+not receive the communion.</p>
+
+<p>After the Monmouth rebellion (p. 17) he, with the Bishop
+of Ely, was sent to tell the Duke of his fate; he remained with
+the wretched man all through the night before his execution,
+and accompanied him on the scaffold. He then returned to
+his see, used all his influence on behalf of the unhappy peasants,
+and by his personal intervention, saved a hundred prisoners
+from death. He strongly opposed the Romanising policy of
+James II., and preached several sermons which had a large
+share in the formation of public opinion. He was one of the
+seven bishops who were committed to the Tower for petitioning
+the king against the order to the clergy to read the second
+Declaration of Indulgence. The incidents of that wonderful
+trial are familiar to all Englishmen, and it is notable that one
+of the richest dissenters in the city begged to have the special
+honour of giving security for the high church bishop of Bath
+and Wells.</p>
+
+<p>But when the revolution came, Ken was found among
+those who were called non-jurors, because they regarded their
+oath of allegiance to James as still binding. He was consequently,
+in 1690, deprived of his see. He made a public
+protest in the cathedral against his deprivation, and continued
+to sign himself <i>T. Bath and Wells</i>, but he had to live in retirement,
+and with an income of only &pound;20 a year. He died in
+1710, and was buried in Frome Church at sunrise, in allusion
+to his morning hymn (&quot;Awake, my soul, and with the sun&quot;),
+and to his habit of rising with the sun.</p>
+
+<p>Ken was in every way a great saint, and, like all the saints, he
+was distinguished by his love for the poor, and his care for
+their education. Among his customs it is recorded that he
+used to have twelve poor men to dine with him on Sundays,
+and that he was wont to go afoot in London when the other
+bishops rode in their coaches. He wrote many books, among
+them his &quot;Manual of Prayers for the Use of Winchester
+Scholars.&quot; &quot;His elaborate works,&quot; says Macaulay, &quot;have
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span>
+long been forgotten; but his morning and evening hymns
+are still repeated daily in thousands of dwellings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p><b>Richard Kidder</b> (1691-1703) became bishop on the
+deprivation of Ken, Dr Beveridge having declined the offer
+of a see, the rightful ruler of which had been unjustly removed.
+Kidder did not, however, long enjoy his usurped position;
+for, on the night of November 26th, 1703, a great storm&mdash;the
+same that destroyed Winstanley in his lighthouse on the
+Eddystone&mdash;blew down a stack of chimneys in the palace,
+and thus killed both the bishop and his wife as they lay
+abed.</p>
+
+<p><b>George Hooper</b> (1704-27), an old friend of Ken, was
+next offered the see, but he urged the reinstatement of the
+rightful pastor. Queen Anne offered to restore Ken to his
+bishopric, but he importuned Hooper to accept, and from
+that time ceased to sign himself by his diocesan title. Hooper
+had preceded Ken, in 1677, as Princess Mary's spiritual adviser
+at the Hague, where he had won her back to the services
+of the church, and he had also been with Ken at Monmouth's
+execution. Almost as lovable and holy, he was more learned
+than his friend.</p>
+
+<p>Hooper was succeeded by <b>John Wynne</b> (1727-43), <b>Edward
+Willes</b> (1743-73), and <b>Charles Moss</b> (1774-1802); all three
+were typical eighteenth-century prelates, rich and mostly non-resident.</p>
+
+<p><b>Richard Beadon</b> (1802-24), was translated from Gloucester.</p>
+
+<p><b>George Henry Law</b> (1824-45), a son of the Bishop of
+Carlisle, and brother of Lord Chief-Justice Ellenborough, was
+translated from Chester, and is said to have been an active
+prelate till his latter years. Hon. <b>Richard Bagot</b> (1845-54)
+came to Wells as a place of retirement after the worries which
+he had gone through, as Bishop of Oxford, during the
+Tractarian movement.</p>
+
+<p><b>Robert John</b>, <b>Lord Auckland</b>, was translated from
+Sodor and Man in 1854. At his death in 1869, he was
+succeeded by <b>Lord Arthur Charles Hervey</b>, who died
+in 1894. The present bishop is <b>Dr G.W. Kennion</b>, who
+was translated hither from the Australian diocese of Adelaide.</p>
+
+
+<div class="ctr">
+<a name="image46" id="image46"></a>
+<a href="images/image46h.png">
+<img src="images/image46.png"
+	alt="PLAN OF WELLS CATHEDRAL"
+	title="PLAN OF WELLS CATHEDRAL" />
+</a></div>
+
+<hr class="major" />
+<h2>
+<a name="TRANSCRIBERS_NOTE" id="TRANSCRIBERS_NOTE"></a>
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE</h2>
+<p>This book contains, in a few quotes from monumental inscriptions,
+some special characters that may not be available
+in all fonts. There are instances of the letters i, u, and o
+with macrons and u with breve. These have been rendered using the HTML
+entities for the Unicode characters: &#299;, &#363;, &#333;, and &#365;
+respectively. There are also single instances of the letters
+m and x with macron and two instances of letter n with macron.
+As there are no Unicode characters for these, they have been
+rendered as [=m], [=x] and [=n].</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral
+Church of Wells, by Percy Dearmer
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@@ -0,0 +1,5770 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of
+Wells, by Percy Dearmer
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Wells
+       A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See
+
+Author: Percy Dearmer
+
+Release Date: May 7, 2010 [EBook #32280]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BELL'S CATHEDRALS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Cortesi and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Wells Cathedral From St. Andrews Spring.]
+
+
+         THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF
+
+                  WELLS
+
+        A DESCRIPTION OF ITS FABRIC
+        AND A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE
+              EPISCOPAL SEE
+
+                  BY THE
+         REV. PERCY DEARMER, M.A.
+
+     [Illustration: Arms of the See]
+
+        WITH FORTY-SIX ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+
+       LONDON GEORGE BELL & SONS 1899
+
+       _First Published October 1898_
+     _Second Edition revised October 1899_
+
+          W.H. WHITE AND CO. LTD.
+
+         RIVERSIDE PRESS, EDINBURGH
+
+
+
+
+GENERAL PREFACE
+
+
+This series of monographs has been planned to supply visitors to the
+great English Cathedrals with accurate and well illustrated
+guide-books at a popular price. The aim of each writer has been to
+produce a work compiled with sufficient knowledge and scholarship to
+be of value to the student of Archaeology and History, and yet not too
+technical in language for the use of an ordinary visitor or tourist.
+
+To specify all the authorities which have been made use of in each
+case would be difficult and tedious in this place. But amongst the
+general sources of information which have been almost invariably found
+useful are:--(1) the great county histories, the value of which,
+especially in questions of genealogy and local records, is generally
+recognised; (2) the numerous papers by experts which appear from time
+to time in the Transactions of the Antiquarian and Archaeological
+Societies; (3) the important documents made accessible in the series
+issued by the Master of the Rolls; (4) the well-known works of Britton
+and Willis on the English Cathedrals; and (5) the very excellent
+series of Handbooks to the Cathedrals originated by the late Mr John
+Murray; to which the reader may in most cases be referred for fuller
+detail, especially in reference to the histories of the respective
+sees.
+
+                               GLEESON WHITE,
+                               E.F. STRANGE,
+                                 _Editors of the Series_
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S PREFACE
+
+
+The writer about cathedrals nowadays is one who, reaping where he has
+not sown, and gathering where he has not strawed, is indebted for most
+that he says to the patient labours of other and wiser men. Nowhere
+does one feel this more than at Wells. The admirable Somerset
+Archaeological Society has gone on accumulating information about the
+cathedral for more years than the present writer has lived. Professor
+Freeman produced twenty-eight years ago, in his "History of the
+Cathedral Church of Wells," a little book which has since been a model
+for all works of the kind, and of which one can still say that no one
+can understand all that is contained in the word "cathedral" unless he
+has read it. Yet since that book was written much fresh material has
+been discovered, and the theories then held as to the building of the
+cathedral have been in great measure disproved. To Canon C.M. Church,
+in his "Chapters in the Early History of Wells," and his papers read
+before the Somerset Society, we are indebted for most valuable
+statements of the new historical discoveries, and to his untiring
+kindness I am myself beholden to a greater extent than I can express.
+
+Wells so abounds in interesting detail, that the exigencies of space
+have made it necessary to curtail the last chapter, which contains the
+history of the diocese; a good deal of interesting matter has thus
+been cut from my original MS. of this chapter, and many bishops have
+been dismissed more summarily than they deserve. The need of dealing
+properly with the cathedral itself must be my apology for the baldness
+of this last chapter as it now stands. Those who desire a further
+acquaintance with the history of the diocese cannot do better than
+consult Mr Hunt's "Bath and Wells," in the excellent Diocesan
+Histories series of the Society for the Promotion of Christian
+Knowledge.
+
+To many other writers on the Cathedral Church of Wells,
+acknowledgments and references will be found scattered throughout the
+present volume. I must also express my thanks to Mr Philips, and
+Messrs Dawkes & Partridge of Wells, for permission to reproduce their
+photographs, and to Mr W. Heywood and Mr H.P. Clifford for their
+drawings.
+
+                                                       P.D.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+                                                     PAGE
+CHAPTER I.--History of the Church                       3
+
+CHAPTER II.--Exterior                                  20
+   West Front                                          21
+   Statuary, Central Doorway, the Tiers                30
+   Western Towers                                      44
+   Central Tower                                       47
+   North Porch                                         47
+   North Transept                                      51
+   Walls, Parapet                                      52
+   Chain Gate                                          52
+   Chapter-House                                       54
+   From the South-East                                 55
+   Cloister                                            58
+   Library                                             63
+   Museum                                              64
+   Vicar's Close                                       66
+   Bishop's Palace, Great Hall, Barn                   67
+   Deanery, Archdeaconry, etc., St. Cuthbert's         70
+
+CHAPTER III.--Interior                                 73
+   Nave, etc.                                          77
+       Capitals                                        79
+       Glass                                           84
+   Bubwith's Chapel                                    85
+   Sugar's Chapel                                      86
+   Pulpit, Lectern                                     87
+   Transepts                                           89
+      Capitals                                         89
+      Font, Monuments                                  95
+   Transepts Chapels--St. Martin, St. Calixtus,
+        St. David, Holy Cross                          98
+   Clock                                              105
+   Inverted Arches                                    107
+   Tower, Screen, Organ                               110
+   Choir                                              113
+      Misericords, Glass                              120
+   Choir Aisles, Monuments                            123
+   Eastern Transepts, Monuments                       124
+   Procession Path                                    128
+   Glass in Choir Aisles and Chapels                  130
+   Lady Chapel, Glass                                 133
+   Chapter-House Staircase                            134
+   Chapter-House                                      137
+   Undercroft                                         141
+
+CHAPTER IV.--History of the Diocese and Foundation    147
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+Wells Cathedral from St. Andrew's Spring              _Frontispiece_
+Arms of the See                                              _Title_
+The Cathedral from the South-East                                2
+The Cathedral in the Seventeenth Century                        15
+South Aisle of Nave                                             19
+West Front--Bishop of Aethelhelm                                22
+The West Front                                                  23
+Ornaments in the West Front                                 28, 29
+West Front--Christina                                           31
+The Central Tower from the South-East                           45
+The North Porch                                                 49
+The Bishop's Eye                                                53
+Doorway, South-East of Cloister                                 58
+East Walk of Cloister                                           59
+The Chain Gate, Entrance to Close, 1824                         65
+The Bishop's Palace                                             68
+The Nave                                                        75
+A Capital--The Fruit-stealer's Punishment                       79
+A Capital--Toothache                                            81
+Specimens of Capitals                         82, 83, 84, 148, 149
+View across Nave, showing Sugar's and Bubwith's Chapels         85
+Sugar's Chapel--The Lectern and Pulpit                          88
+Section of North Transept, and Elevation of South Transept      90
+Capitals in Transept                                            92
+The South Transept, from North Side of Nave                     93
+The Font                                                        95
+The Annunciation--Husse's Tomb                                 101
+Priest in Surplice--Husse's Tomb                               102
+The East End in 1823                                           103
+The Inverted Arches                                            109
+Choir, looking West                                            111
+Choir, looking East                                            115
+Procession Path and Lady Chapel                                129
+Steps Of Chapter-house Vestibule And Passage Over Chain Gate   135
+Chapter-House--Doorway                                         138
+Chapter-House--Interior                                        139
+Chapter-House--Vault                                           141
+Chapter-House--Undercroft                                 142, 143
+Section of Chapter-House                                       145
+PLAN                                                           160
+
+
+[Illustration: Wells From The South-East.]
+
+
+
+
+WELLS CATHEDRAL
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
+
+
+"The Gothic Cathedral," wrote Froude, an author who held no brief for
+the Gothic period, "is perhaps, on the whole, the most magnificent
+creation which the mind of man has as yet thrown out." The Cathedral
+Church of Wells, wrote Froude's predecessor in the same historical
+chair, is "the best example to be found in the whole world of a
+secular church, with its subordinate buildings." "There is no other
+place," Professor Freeman went on to say, "where you can see so many
+of the ancient buildings still standing, and still put to their own
+use." And surely there is no place better fitted to be their home than
+this beautiful old city of Wells, set in the midst of the fair western
+country, the land of Avalon and Camelot, of Athelney and Wedmore.
+
+This unique group of buildings does not, however, take us back earlier
+than the close of the Norman period. Of what existed before, we have
+but scant evidence. Tradition says that King Ina had, about the year
+705, founded at Wells a college of secular priests, and therefore a
+church of some sort. And when King Eadward the Elder, taking advantage
+of the peace which his father Alfred had secured, fixed, in 909, the
+new Somersetshire see by the fountain of St. Andrew at Wells, he seems
+to have chosen that little city because there already existed therein
+a church, large enough to serve as a cathedral in those times, and
+tended already by a body of secular canons. Now that the ancient
+church of St. Andrew was raised to this new dignity, it was probably
+in the tenth century rebuilt in stone, with plain round-headed
+windows, and perhaps a small unbuttressed tower to hold the bells;
+for, when Giso became bishop in the next century (1061-1088), he
+erected a whole cluster of quasi-conventual buildings, but we are not
+told that he found it necessary to rebuild the church, although he
+complained that he found it mean and its revenues small. Indeed, the
+fact that Giso was buried under an arch in the wall on the north side
+of the high altar, as his predecessor Duduc had been buried on the
+south side, shows that he had not rebuilt the church.
+
+On Giso's death, John de Villula at once swept away his buildings, and
+set up a bishop's house on their site. John, however, made Bath his
+cathedral church, and suffered the church of Wells to fall into the
+decay from which it was rescued by the first "Maker of Wells," Bishop
+Robert of Lewes.
+
+The active episcopate of Robert of Lewes (1136-66) was as important an
+era in the history of the church as in that of the chapter. In spite
+of the anarchy of Stephen's reign, Robert set steadily to work; and,
+while the neighbouring barons were battering each other's castles, the
+bishop reared the first great cathedral church of Wells. How much of
+the old Saxon building he left we cannot tell; but it was in a ruinous
+condition, and he may have pulled it completely down, or he may have
+left one part for later builders to deal with. In 1148 his new Norman
+church was consecrated, a massive round-arched building, its nave
+perhaps as large as the present one, and its choir under the tower
+with a small presbytery beyond. This date may be taken as the
+beginning of the present cathedral; for all the succeeding
+reconstructions followed the lines of Bishop Robert's church. Yet the
+Norman work has disappeared almost as completely as the Saxon, and the
+font is the only object which can be claimed as undoubtedly
+Romanesque. Of distinctly Norman mouldings there are none in the
+church, and only a few fragments in other places. Seldom has one of
+those strong Norman buildings so utterly vanished from sight. But many
+stones dressed in the Norman fashion can still be traced by the expert
+in the eastern part of the church (p. 74), having been no doubt used
+up again by the later workmen; and there may be masses of undisturbed
+masonry hidden in the walls.
+
+Bishop Robert, as we know from one of his charters, did something also
+for the order of his church. Mammon had gradually encroached upon the
+sacred precincts, and the markets had come to be held in the
+"vestibule," and in the church itself; the busy hum of the buyers and
+sellers marred the quiet of God's house, and disturbed the people at
+their devotions. Strong measures were necessary, and the bishop
+ordered the market to be held at some distance from the church, while
+at the same time, as an act of grace, he remitted the tolls that were
+due to him as lord of the manor. Thus did he lay the foundation of the
+liberties of Wells city while securing the sanctity of Wells
+Cathedral.
+
+According to Bishop Godwin (1616), and the anonymous fifteenth century
+MSS., called in Wharton's _Anglia Sacra_ the "Canon of Wells," there
+was a blank in the history of the church between Bishop Robert, who
+consecrated the Norman building in 1148, and Bishop Jocelin, whose
+episcopate lasted from 1206 to 1242. Godwin, who exaggerated a passage
+from the "Canon of Wells" (which that writer had produced by
+exaggerating a single sentence of a preamble of Jocelin, p. 7),
+declared that Jocelin found the church "as ready to fall," and "pulled
+down the greatest part of it, to witte, the west ende, and built it
+anew from the very foundation." This became the accepted view. But the
+documents recently brought to light through the labours of those who
+unearthed and deciphered the MSS. in possession of the chapter, have
+proved that the energetic Bishop Reginald, so far from letting the
+church go into ruin during his episcopate (1174-1191), did in reality
+rebuild it himself. Much travelled, conversant with all kinds of
+churches and cities in an age of great building operations, he was not
+the sort of man to neglect his cathedral. And, as a matter of fact, he
+is proved to have begun the present church by a charter recently
+found, which is of a date prior to 1180, and therefore belongs to the
+early years of his episcopate. In this important document, recognising
+his duty to provide "that the honour due to God should not be
+tarnished by the squalor of His house," he arranges in full chapter
+for a munificent grant in support of the fabric, until the work be
+finished[1]. Another charter of Reginald's time, which conveys a
+private gift to the church, alludes to "the admirable structure of the
+rising church," thus testifying to the successful progress of the
+bishop's plan during his own lifetime. The part which he built, there
+can be little doubt, included the three western bays of the choir
+(which then formed the presbytery), the transepts, north porch, and
+the eastern bays of the nave. That is to say, on entering the church
+one is looking upon Reginald's work, and not Jocelin's; for, although
+the rest of the nave was completed by Jocelin, it was done in
+accordance with Reginald's original plan.
+
+It is of great importance to remember this fact, since until recently
+the nave, with the other parts just mentioned, was attributed by
+Professor Willis, Professor Freeman, and most authorities to Jocelin.
+Willis, indeed, bowed to what was then thought to be documentary
+evidence against his own judgment; for he declared the work to be of a
+style much earlier than that of Jocelin's time (p. 73). Now we know
+almost to a certainty that the bulk of the cathedral belongs neither
+to the late Norman period of Robert, nor to the Early English of
+Jocelin, but to the period just between the two, that of Reginald de
+Bohun.
+
+During the episcopate of Reginald's immediate successor Savaric
+(1192-1205), something further may have been done to the nave. But
+there was small opportunity for church building during this bishop's
+wandering and litigious life; and all we know for certain is that,
+owing no doubt to the civil war, the intolerable exactions of papal
+legates, and the quarrel with Glastonbury, the cathedral church of
+Wells had fallen into a state of dilapidation when Jocelin became
+bishop in 1206; and that it remained in this condition till King John
+was dead: for Jocelin was an exile abroad, the property of the see was
+confiscated, and its income paid yearly into the king's purse.
+
+From the year 1218, when the land was again at peace, and a profitable
+arrangement had been come to with the monks of Glastonbury, Jocelin
+devoted himself to the fabric and chapter of Wells, up to the year of
+his death in 1242. Grants of money and of timber, which are extant,
+show that by 1220 the work was recommenced, and that it was in
+progress in 1225. By 1239 the church was sufficiently advanced to be
+dedicated.
+
+Jocelin and his brother Hugh (afterwards Bishop of Lincoln) were
+natives of the city they loved so well. They had both lived through
+Reginald's episcopate--Jocelin as canon and Hugh as archdeacon of
+Wells. After, when they rose to high positions as judges, and became
+honourably rich, Hugh, who built much in Lincoln Cathedral, gave
+largely of his great wealth to Jocelin for Wells, and Jocelin himself
+spent all that he had upon the place where he had been brought up from
+infancy.
+
+Thus Jocelin was in a real sense a "maker of Wells." But he was not
+the only maker, for he must share the honour with two other master
+builders--Robert, whose work is entirely gone, and Reginald, whose
+work remains. He did not, as Godwin led us to suppose, pull down and
+rebuild the whole church. But he loyally carried on the work of his
+predecessor, and he executed the great work which has been always
+rightly attributed to him, the present west front; this he joined to
+Reginald's unfinished nave by building the three western bays in
+strict accordance with the earlier style. The front belongs to the
+fully-developed Early English style in which Salisbury is built,
+agreeing exactly with the date of the consecration of the church by
+Jocelin in 1239,--as was pointed out by Professor Willis, who was
+puzzled by the great difference in its style from that of the nave,
+which was then thought to belong to the same period. We know that
+Jocelin was a frequent visitor to Salisbury while Bishop Poore was
+building it; and thus all the lines of evidence combine to support the
+unshaken tradition that Jocelin was the author of the west front.
+
+A month before his death in 1242, Jocelin de Wells put forth a charter
+for the increased endowment of the cathedral staff; and it was because
+of a few chance words in the preamble that he came to be credited with
+the construction of the whole. Having found the church in danger of
+ruin, runs the passage, by reason of its age _aedificare coepimus et
+ampliare--in qua adeo profecimus--quod ipsam consecravimus_. This,
+which need mean nothing more than extensive building operations, is
+the sole foundation for the tradition that Jocelin pulled down the old
+church and built a new one.
+
+The condition of the church at the end of the thirteenth century is
+thus described by Professor Freeman[2]:
+
+"By the end of the thirteenth century we may look upon the church of
+Wells as at last finished. It still lacked much of that perfection of
+outline which now belongs to it, and which the next age was finally to
+give to it. Many among that matchless group of surrounding buildings
+which give Wells its chief charm, had not yet arisen. The church
+itself, with its unfinished towers, must have had a dwarfed and
+stunted look from every point. The Lady Chapel had not yet been
+reared, with its apse alike to contrast with the great window of the
+square presbytery above it, and to group in harmony with the more
+lofty chapter-house of its own form. The cloister was still of wood.
+The palace was still undefended by wall or moat. The Vicars' Close and
+its chain-bridge had not yet been dreamt of. Still, the church, alike
+in its fabric and its constitution, may be looked on as having by this
+time been brought to perfection ... The nave, recast in forms of art
+such as Ina and Eadward, such as Gisa and Robert, had never dreamed
+of, with the long range of its arcades and the soaring sweep of its
+newly-vaulted roof, stood, perfect from western door to rood-loft,
+ever ready, ever open, to welcome worshippers from city and village,
+from hill and combe and moor, in every corner of the land which looked
+to Saint Andrew's as its mother church. The choir, the stalls of the
+canons, the throne of the Bishop, were still confined within the
+narrow space of the crossing; but that narrow space itself gave them a
+dignity which they lost in later arrangements. For the central
+lantern, not yet driven to lean on ungainly props, with the rich
+arcades of its upper stages still open to view, still rose, in all the
+simple majesty of its four mighty arches, as the noblest of canopies
+over the choir below."
+
+"The eastern ending of the presbytery was," Mr Freeman proceeds, "rich
+with the best detail of the thirteenth century, as can be learnt from
+the fragments built up in the chapel of the Vicars' Close, and lying
+about in the undercroft of the chapter-house, which are in the full
+Early English style of the west front. The existing choir aisle walls
+prove that a procession-path ran behind the high altar, with most
+likely a chapel beyond it."
+
+"The thirteenth century," he concludes, "had done its great creative
+work, and had left to future ages only to improve and develop
+according to the principles which the thirteenth century had laid
+down. That is to say, the thirteenth century had done for the local
+church of Wells what it did for England, what it did for Europe, and
+for the world."
+
+The choir, however, was not so cramped as Mr Freeman thought, for it
+included one bay of the nave, as we now know from a notice of the
+making of Haselshaw's tomb, which was dug at the entrance to the
+choir; and, indeed, the marks where the screen was fixed are still
+visible on the piers at this point. From the top of the screen the
+great rood looked down the nave, and on each side of the doorway stood
+an altar, that on the north dedicated to Our Lady, that on the south
+to St. Andrew. The aisles of the choir were also screened off from the
+nave, and outside their gates were two more altars--St. Saviour's on
+the north, and St. Edmund's on the south. Thus the nave, where men
+were ever coming and going, walking and talking, and in laxer times
+buying and selling as well, was quite shut off from the more sacred
+places. Yet here, too, were altars and shrines, and here came the
+processions on Sundays and holidays.
+
+Within the choir the chapter said their offices, the dean and
+precentor facing east in their returned stalls, and the other
+dignitaries in their allotted places, with the junior canons, vicars,
+and those in minor orders below them, and the boys on the lowest forms
+of all. Just beyond these stalls was the bishop's throne; and east of
+the tower the presbytery stood open, with the tombs of the early
+bishops, on either side, under the arches. The rest of the space
+enclosed within the screen belonged more especially to the clergy; the
+north transept was probably used as a chapter-house, when the
+undercroft was yet unfinished, and its western aisle was used as the
+chapter library. The chamber leading to the undercroft was the vestry,
+and the stout walls of the octagon, when it was finished, protected
+the vestments and treasures of the cathedral.
+
+It is worth while to call to mind the kind of service for which the
+church was built, with its aisles and chapels and screen. The usual
+Sunday procession started from the north door of the presbytery,
+preceded by two thurifers with censers, went round behind the
+presbytery, the priest in his cope asperging the altars on his way,
+then down the south choir aisle, and through the south transept into
+the cloister. In the cloister-cemetery, the priest, with his
+ministers, said the prayers for the dead, and then rejoined the
+procession in the cloister Lady Chapel, where the first station was
+made. Thence the procession returned to the great rood in the nave,
+and there made the second station, the bidding-prayer being given out
+to the people from the rood-screen, after which it re-entered the
+choir. But on special occasions the ritual was increased; as, for
+instance, at the procession of palms on Palm Sunday, or the Corpus
+Christi Day procession, which is thus described by Mr J.D.
+Chambers[3]: "The procession, some time before the mass, should
+assemble in order at the step of the Choir (_i.e._ in the Presbytery),
+a priest in Albe and silk Cope carrying the Corpus Christi in a
+tabernacle or feretory under a canopy of silk raised over him and it
+on four staves, borne by four clerks in Albes and Tunicles, with
+lighted tapers. It should go out of the Choir down the Nave, and out
+at the West Door of the Church, round the Church and Cloisters as on
+Ascension Day"--_i.e._ round the outside of the whole church,
+beginning with the north side and returning round the east end, and
+through the cloister to the west door again, and thus back into the
+nave. The colours of the vestments at Wells followed in the main the
+custom of the neighbouring diocese of Sarum, but with some local
+variations, such as are set down in the _Consuetudinary_ which
+Archbishop Laud had copied from the late thirteenth-century MS. Indigo
+and white were used on St. John's Day and on the Dedication Festival;
+in Advent, indigo; at Passiontide, red, and on Palm Sunday, "except
+one cope of black for the part of Caiaphas" at the singing of the
+Passion; red, too, on Maunday Thursday, but with a banner of white.
+Red was also used for Easter, Pentecost, and throughout the Sundays
+after Trinity; while for Virgin Martyrs, red was mixed with white.
+This mixture of colours was probably effected by the cantors wearing
+different coloured copes; thus for confessors saffron _(croceus)_ was
+mixed with green, _sicut honestius et magis proprie possunt adaptari
+festo_; but St. Julian and some others had all saffron, while a few,
+like St. Benedict, had all indigo. White is comparatively little in
+evidence, but it was used at Christmas, and for commemorations of the
+Blessed Virgin. Black was used for the commemoration of the dead.
+
+To this vision of stately pomp, and changing colour, we must add in
+our mind's eye the many chapels with their woven tapestries of flowers
+and beasts and birds, their rich ornaments and sacred associations;
+the majestic rood upon the screen, and the rich altars that stood
+before it; the almost constant succession of services that went on
+behind it, where the canons (each with his own book and candle) and
+their vicars sat, and the pyx hung over the high altar; the sound of a
+little bell from one of the chapels where mass was being said, the
+glimmer of a hanging lamp, the gleam of a silver image, the shrines
+here and there, with their frequent visitors; and, as years went on,
+the subdued light from the gorgeous painted windows (that over the
+high altar glowed then from east to west without obstructing organ),
+the frescoes on some of the walls, the green and red and gold of the
+later monuments; and over all the trail of incense and the sound of
+prayer.
+
+After Jocelin's death the works came to a standstill, for the
+sufficient reason that the chapter was "overburdened with an
+intolerable debt," owing to the enormous expense of the litigation
+with Bath Abbey over Bishop Roger's election (p. 153). This, however,
+was the last attempt of the rival cathedral of St. Peter; and the
+debt, which was at its worst in 1248 (the year after Roger's death),
+was bravely met by a contribution of a fifth of the income of each
+prebend, as well as by gifts and obits; so that towards the end of
+William Bytton's episcopate the debt was nearly cleared, and in 1263
+Bytton made over the sequestrations of vacant benefices to the fabric
+fund.
+
+In 1248 an earthquake had done much damage, shaking down the _tholus_
+(either the vault, or the stone capping) of the central tower, as we
+learn from Matthew Paris _(Hist. Angl._ iii. 42). Accordingly, in
+1263, preparations were made for further building; and in 1286 we hear
+of a chapter meeting, summoned by Dean Thomas Bytton, whereat the
+canons bind themselves to give one-tenth of their prebends for five
+years, "to the finishing of the works now a long time begun (_jam diu
+incepta_), and to repair what needed reparation in the old works."
+
+The reparation here mentioned refers in all probability to the roof
+and piers of the transepts and eastern part of nave, damaged by the
+fall of the _tholus_. The famous western capitals of the transepts,
+with their frequent representations of the miseries of toothache, must
+refer to the second William Bytton, who had died in 1274, and whose
+tomb became famous for its dental cures (p. 125). No doubt, the
+offerings at the shrine of this local saint helped considerably to
+swell the funds for the building operations.
+
+The works "now a long time begun" can hardly be anything else than the
+chapter-house undercroft, the outer walls of which may have been built
+some forty years before. Professor Willis, who had access to the
+document, decided, on architectural evidence, that the undercroft must
+have been already completed at this time, and his view may be safely
+accepted (_Arch. Inst._, "Bristol" vol., p. 28). The passage to the
+undercroft would seem to be the first result of the chapter's
+undertaking; its ornament is of a more advanced type than that of the
+undercroft itself, and one of its carved heads is swollen as by the
+toothache, and tied in a handkerchief. There can be little or no doubt
+that the "finishing" of the old works included also the building of
+the chapter-house staircase, and, when that was finished, the raising
+of the chapter-house itself (the _nova structura_ of the old
+documents) upon the undercroft. The full Decorated style of the
+chapter-house is separated by a considerable interval from the late
+Early English of the undercroft, while that of the staircase, which is
+geometrical Decorated of a character not very far removed from Early
+English, must have been built before the chapter-house itself was
+begun.
+
+The self-sacrificing spirit of the chapter was supplemented by the
+offerings which flowed in from the growing practice of endowing altars
+for requiem services, as well as from the shrine of St. William
+Bytton; and the building activity continued for the next fifty years
+till the church had been brought, in all save its western towers, to
+its final state of perfection. After the staircase to the
+chapter-house had been completed, about the year 1292, the walls of
+the chapter-house itself were built, probably by Bishop William de
+Marchia (1293-1302) who seems to have covered it in with a temporary
+roof.
+
+Dean John de Godelee (1306-1333) was the last great builder of the
+church of Wells. The power of the bishop in his own church is already
+declining, as that of the chapter rises, and it is the dean now who
+organises the works. In 1315 the central tower was raised, and by 1321
+it was being roofed in. By 1319 the chapter-house was finished;
+Godelee, with William Joy, the master-mason, had probably worked out
+the old drawings and built the windows and vaulted roof. Next the Lady
+Chapel must have been begun, for by 1326 it was finished. Somewhere
+about this time the parapet, which adds so much to the external beauty
+of the church, was also made.
+
+But the raising of the central tower had, ere this, brought disaster.
+In 1321 there was a grant from the clergy of the Deanery of Taunton in
+aid of the roofing of the "new _campanile_"; in 1338 a convocation was
+summoned because the church of Wells was so _totaliter confracte et
+enormiter deformate_ that the instant and united action of its members
+was required to save it (_cf._ Willis in _Som. Proc._ 1863). The
+adding of the Decorated portion to the tower increased the weight so
+much that the four great piers sank into the ground, dragging the
+masonry with them and causing rents to appear at the apex of the
+arches. The situation was most dangerous: it was met by the careful
+repairing of the torn masonry and the construction of those inverted
+arches which are so familiar a feature of the church.
+
+Yet the work proceeded very rapidly under a great bishop, who for the
+time eclipsed the rising power of the deans. Ralph of Shrewsbury
+(1329-63) carried on the work of Dean Godelee, and in the early years
+of his episcopate entirely reconstructed the choir. The scheme seems
+to have been contemplated as early as 1325; for in that year each
+dignitary arranged to pay for his own stall in the refitting of the
+choir, because the old stalls had become "ruinous and misshapen." In
+any case, it was Ralph who added the three new bays of the presbytery
+which are so curiously joined to the old presbytery of Reginald, and
+with it form the present eastern limb of the church. He then
+constructed the beautiful retro-choir which connects the presbytery
+with the Lady Chapel. The vaulting of the choir and the construction
+of the great east window would appear to have been undertaken at a
+later period of his episcopate; for the ceiling is of a more advanced
+style than the lower work, and the tracery of the window is half
+Perpendicular. When Bishop Ralph died, in 1363, he was buried in the
+place of honour in front of the high altar, as the founder of the
+choir which he had finished.
+
+The finishing touches were given to the cathedral when Bishop Harewell
+(_ob._ 1386) gave two-thirds of the cost of the south-western or
+Harewell Tower, and when the executors of Bishop Bubwith (_ob._ 1424)
+finished the companion tower on the north-west.
+
+The other efforts of the fourteenth and fifteenth century builders
+were given to those subordinate buildings which are the peculiar glory
+of Wells. Even so magnificent a prelate as Beckington did nothing to
+the actual fabric of the Cathedral (unless his tomb be so considered),
+for the simple reason that there was really nothing for him to do.
+Ralph of Shrewsbury had, besides his work in the church, finished the
+palace (which Jocelin had begun and Burnell had enriched with the hall
+and chapel) by the moat, walls, and gate-house. He had also begun the
+Vicars' Close, of which the chapel was built by Bubwith, but the
+executors of Beckington recast it in its present form. After
+Beckington had employed his energies in erecting the beautiful
+gateways with which his name is always associated, Dean Gunthorpe
+(_ob._ 1498) built the deanery.
+
+The following interesting eulogy of Bishop Beckington and his church
+was written in the form of a Latin dialogue by Chaundler, who was
+Chancellor of Wells in 1454:--
+
+"You might more properly call it a city than a town, as you would
+yourself understand more clearly than day if you could behold all its
+intrinsic splendour and beauty. For that most lovely church which we
+see at a distance, dedicated to the most blessed Apostle of the
+Almighty God, St. Andrew, contains the episcopal chair of the worthy
+Bishop. Adjoining it is the vast palace, adorned with wonderful
+splendour, girt on all sides by flowing waters, crowned by a
+delectable succession of walls and turrets, in which the most worthy
+and learned Bishop Thomas, the first of that name, bears rule. He has
+indeed at his own proper pains and charges conferred such a splendour
+on this city, as well by strongly fortifying the church with gates and
+towers and walls, as by constructing on the grandest scale the palace
+in which he resides and the other surrounding buildings, that he
+deserves to be called, not the founder merely, but rather the
+splendour and ornament of the church."
+
+[Illustration: The Cathedral. (From a Seventeenth Century Print.)]
+
+The Reformation period left the cathedral cold and barren within, but
+interfered little with its fabric; the only serious piece of
+destruction (p. 57) being that of the magnificent Lady Chapel by the
+Cloister, in 1552, by Sir John Gates, "a greate puritan, Episcopacie's
+common Enemy." In other respects it was what Freeman calls a period of
+systematic picking and stealing; as witness this passage from
+Nathaniel Chyles:--"The Great Duke of Somersett, Unkle to Edward the
+Sixt (whose title proved very fatall to this place and Bishopwrick)
+was not only contented to get most of the mannours Lands and
+possessions belonging to this Bishopwrick settled upon him and his
+posteritie, but at last even the palace itselfe also." But the palace
+and some of the property were recovered after Somerset's execution.
+
+The bishop's palace suffered the ruin of Burnell's magnificent hall
+through the prevalent lust for gain. Sir John Harrington writes in
+terms of pardonable indignation:--"I speak now only of the spoil made
+under this Bishop [Barlow]; scarce were five years past after Bath's
+ruins, but as fast went the axes and hammers to work at Wells. The
+goodly hall covered with lead ... was uncovered, and now this roof
+reaches to the sky. The Chapel of Our Lady, late repaired by
+Stillington, a place of reverence and antiquity, was likewise defaced,
+and such was their thirst after lead (I would they had drunk it
+scalding) that they took the dead bodies of bishops out of their
+leaden coffins, and cast abroad the carcases scarce thoroughly
+putrified."
+
+During the Commonwealth the choir was closed, and Dr Cornelius Burges,
+who was appointed "Preacher" at the cathedral, bought the bishop's
+palace and deanery for his private property. He, of course, despoiled
+the palace, "pulling off not only the Lead thereoff," says Chyles,[4]
+"but taking away also the Timber, and making what money he could of
+them, and what remained unsold he removed to the Deanery improving
+that out of the Ruins of the palace, leaving only bare Walls." At the
+Restoration Burges was ejected, after a good deal of litigation, and
+Bishop Piers returned to the ruins of his palace. Burges' sermons had
+never been popular with the people of Wells, who annoyed him by
+walking up and down the cloisters "all sermon time." When the trial
+for his ejectment came on he published his "Case," in which he
+justified his buying Church lands by alleging that he had lent the
+State L3490, and, having a wife and ten children to provide for, he
+took such land, etc. as the only means of repayment. Five of the
+canons' houses were also obtained from Cromwell's Commissioners by the
+Corporation of Wells, one or two of which were pulled down and sold
+for old stone.
+
+At the Restoration, the canons were at great expense to restore the
+church from the ruinous condition into which it had fallen in Puritan
+times, and they were liberally helped in their extremity by the clergy
+and laity of the diocese. Says Chyles (_c._ 1680): "Since his
+Majestie's and Churche's happy and blessed Restoration, what betweene
+the Bishopp, the Deane, and Deane and Chapter, our Church and Quire is
+once more in a beautifull and comely habitt (which God continue) such
+as neither the Church of Rome has reason to upbraid us with a slovenly
+or clownish Service, nor the Puritan and Nonconformist with a gaudy or
+Superstitious. The good old Bishopp [W. Piers], who weather'd out that
+Storme, and was restored to what was his Owne, gave those silk
+Hangings which beautifie the Altar within the Railes." Dean Creyghton
+gave the glass in the west window, the organ and the brass lectern,
+and Dr Busby, who was treasurer of Wells as well as head-master of
+Westminster, gave the silver-gilt alms dish and restored the library,
+lengthening it by the addition of the southern part.
+
+Chyles tells us, too, that there was morning and evening prayer in the
+"Vicars' Chapell in Close Hall," at six, forenoon and afternoon, in
+winter, and seven in summer, in addition to the cathedral services at
+the "canonical howers." Before his time there had been only a morning
+sermon on Sundays, and, in the afternoon, "the whole Cathedrall" had
+been in the habit of going to St. Cuthbert's, returning with the mayor
+and his brethren for the cathedral prayers at four; "but since his
+Majesty's Restoracion one likewise in the Afternoones here is preached
+by the said prebends _in theire turns_. Soe that here the Sermonizing
+people may have their Bellyfull of preaching and forbeare crying out,
+_They are starved for want of the Word_ and calling our clergy _Dumb
+Doggs_."
+
+This time of peace did not last long, for in 1685 the whole of
+Somerset was up in Monmouth's rebellion. The duke's followers came to
+Wells, turned the cathedral into a stable, tore the lead off the roof
+for bullets, pulled down several of the statues, broached a barrel of
+beer on the high altar, and would have destroyed the altar itself, had
+not Lord Grey, one of their leaders, defended it with his sword. Dr
+Conan Doyle's description of the scene in his novel, _Micah Clarke_
+(p. 292), is so vivid that it is well worth referring to.
+
+The long and heavy peace which followed was marked by the gradual
+pewing up of the choir and presbytery, and the intrusion of
+pretentious monuments. Then, in our own times, came the revival,
+bringing evil as well as good in its train. In 1842 the restoration of
+the nave, transepts, and Lady Chapel was commenced at the instance of
+Dean Goodenough, by Mr Benjamin Ferrey. He removed the thick layers of
+whitewash which had been ingeniously applied to conceal the sculpture;
+and the long rows of marble tablets which had disfigured the aisles
+were shifted to the cloisters, whence, it may be hoped, they will one
+day make a further journey towards oblivion.
+
+The restoration of the choir by Mr Salvin, which lasted from 1848 to
+1854, was unfortunately of a less blameless character. It was the
+period of the Great Exhibition, when art reached the lowest depths to
+which it has sunk in the history of the world.
+
+We need not dwell upon the result; few restorations are more marked
+with the complacent ignorance of that strange time. The old pews and
+galleries in the choir, which had hidden the very capitals of the
+piers, were indeed removed, but with them the medieval stalls were
+destroyed and replaced by work of indescribable imbecility. No real
+improvement in the choir of Wells is now possible till every trace of
+Dean Jenkyns' restoration is swept away; but, alas! what he destroyed
+can never be recovered.
+
+In 1868 the report of Mr Ferrey[5] upon the west front was presented,
+and shortly afterwards the work of repair was begun under his
+direction. The report showed how extensive was the decay, and how
+great the danger of complete ruin unless steps were taken to protect
+the old work; and the work of repair was carried out with care and
+reverence; though even here irreparable harm was done by the
+substitution of the modern "slate pencils" for the old blue lias
+shafts. Since then, many small matters have been attended to with
+varying success. The Lady Chapel has been decently furnished and the
+east end slightly improved. Much still remains to be done; but the
+best motto at the present day is _festina lente_, and the safest rule
+is to be progressive in all enrichment by removable furniture, and
+conservative, very conservative, in all structural alteration. If the
+hand of the restorer can now be stayed, the words will still be true
+of Wells, which M. Huysmans used of another church:--_Ces siecles
+s'etaient reunis pour apporter aux pieds du Christ l'effort surhumain
+de leur art, et les dons de chacun etaient visibles encore._
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+   [1] _Somerset Proceedings_, 1888, ii. 5.
+
+   [2] _History of the Cathedral_, p. 98.
+
+   [3] _Divine Worship in England_, p. 195.
+
+   [4] Book ii. c. 2.
+
+   [5] _Inst. Arch._ 1870.
+
+
+[Illustration: South Aisle Of Nave. (See p. 83.)]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE EXTERIOR
+
+
+"In England," wrote Mr J.H. Parker, in his _Glossary_, "Wells affords
+the most perfect example of a cathedral with all its parts and
+appurtenances. It was," he continues, after an enumeration of the
+parts of the church, "a cathedral proper, and independent of any
+monastic foundation, but with a separate house for each of its
+officers, either in the Close or in the Liberty adjoining to it. The
+bishop's palace was enclosed by a separate moat and fortified, being
+on the south side of the cloister, from which it is separated by the
+moat; the houses for the dean and for the archdeacon are on the north
+side of the Close, with some of the canons' houses; the organist's
+house is at the west end, adjoining to the singing-school and the
+cloister; the precentor's house is at the east end, near the Lady
+Chapel. The vicars-choral have a close of their own adjoining to the
+north-east corner of the canons' close, with a bridge across through
+the gate-house into the north transept; they were a collegiate body,
+with their own chapel, library, and hall." One need only add that all
+these sentences can still, with one exception, be read in the present
+tense to show that Wells possesses a beauty and interest which gives
+it an unique place among cathedral foundations. There is no other
+cathedral city in which so many of the old ecclesiastical buildings
+remain, or on which the modern world has made so little impression.
+The church itself, in Fergusson's opinion perhaps the most beautiful,
+though one of the smallest in England, is but one part of a "group of
+buildings, which," wrote Professor Freeman, "as far as I know, has no
+rival, either in our own island or beyond the sea." The little city to
+which these buildings belong is itself worthy of them, almost a part
+of them, so quiet and venerable is it, so picturesque in its lovely
+setting of green hills.
+
+Were size the main distinction of a church, Wells would sink
+comfortably into the second class; even in some of its best features
+it has many rivals, but the peculiar charm and glory of Wells lies (to
+quote again from Freeman's _History_) "in the union and harmonious
+grouping of all. The church does not stand alone; it is neither
+crowded by incongruous buildings, nor yet isolated from those
+buildings which are its natural and necessary complement. Palace,
+cloister, Lady Chapel, choir, chapter-house, all join to form one
+indivisible whole. The series goes on uninterruptedly along that
+unique bridge, which, by a marvel of ingenuity, connects the church
+itself with the most perfect of buildings of its own class, the
+matchless vicars' close. Scattered around we see here and there an
+ancient house, its gable, its windows, or its turret, falling in with
+the style and group of greater buildings, and bearing its part in
+producing the general harmony of all." Thus, in the first place, the
+group of buildings must be looked at as a whole from the north, from
+the east, from the south-east; then the superb, unrivalled picture
+from the rising ground on the Shepton Mallet road,[1] outside the
+city, must be seen, and, when this little journey has been made, the
+most hurried visitor must find time at least to peep into the vicars'
+close, and walk round the moat of the palace. After some such general
+impression has been gained, the study of the exterior of the church
+will naturally begin with that part which is a peculiar distinction of
+Wells Cathedral--the west front.
+
+The WEST FRONT of Wells has been universally admired. Long ago, old
+Fuller wrote--"The west front of Wells is a masterpiece of art indeed,
+made of imagery in just proportion, so that we may call them _vera et
+spirantia signa_. England affordeth not the like." This verdict is but
+repeated by modern writers; the front is "quite unrivalled," says
+Fergusson, and comparable only to Rheims and Chartres. Mr Hughes, in
+Traill's _Social England_, goes farther and says[2] that "nothing fit
+to rank with it was then being done in Northern Europe--for the
+monumental porches of France, formerly supposed to be contemporary,
+are now recognised as of a later date."
+
+[Illustration: West Front. Bishop Aethelhelm (103). Drawn by H.P.
+Clifford.]
+
+But there has been a discordant note in the general chorus of praise.
+Professor Freeman, whose admiration for nearly everything in Wells was
+so intense, could find little to praise in the west front of the
+cathedral.[3] "It is doubtless," he wrote, "the finest display of
+sculpture in England; but it is thoroughly bad as a piece of
+architecture. I am always glad when I get round the corner, and can
+rest my eye on the massive and simple majesty of the nave and
+transepts. The west front is bad because it is a sham--because it is
+not the real ending of the nave and aisles, but a mere mask, devised,
+in order to gain greater room for the display of statues ... The front
+is not the natural finish of the nave and aisles; it is a blank wall
+built up in a shape which is not the shape which their endings would
+naturally assume. It is therefore a sham; it is a sin against the
+first law of architectural design, the law that enrichment should be
+sought in ornamenting the construction ... not in building up anything
+simply for the sake of effect." He then proceeds to criticise the way
+in which the windows and doorways "are stowed away as they best may
+be," as if they were felt to be mere interruptions to the lines of
+sculpture.
+
+[Illustration: The West Front.]
+
+This latter objection to the doorways had often been made before, only
+that the "rabbit-holes on a mountain side" of earlier critics became
+"mouse-holes" with Mr Freeman. Mr E.W. Godwin, in a lecture in 1862,
+had also found fault with the crowding in of the niches over the
+central doorway, which he declared to be in the highest degree clumsy;
+with the bald appearance given by the shallowness of the reveals in
+the principal windows; and with the way in which "the solid work of
+the base suddenly crops up at the very summit of the two central
+buttresses, not altogether unlike the dog-kennel of modern Gothic."
+
+Of these criticisms the most serious is Mr Freeman's general charge of
+unreality. But why should not a stone screen be erected for the
+display of statuary before the west end of a church, just as lawfully
+as behind the high altar? And, if a screen may be allowed as an end in
+itself, standing simply as a thing of beauty to glorify a building of
+which it is not a structural part, then the front of Wells may stand,
+like the reredos of Winchester, as the noblest example of its kind. It
+has no need to simulate lofty aisles which do not exist, for it
+covers, not the aisles, but the faces of the great towers themselves;
+and, as a consequence, the portion of really blank wall which
+stretches from them to the central gable is so small as to be more
+than justified by the cohesion it gives to the whole. The whole effect
+is singularly broad, but so is the space it covers within; for this
+breadth is legitimately attained by the happy device of planting the
+western towers beyond the aisles.
+
+The massive front of Wells stands, therefore, on its own merits as a
+west front, and not merely a west end--a great stone screen that, so
+far from pretending to be a regular termination of the nave and
+aisles, is actually carried, in all its sculptured magnificence, round
+the sides of the two towers upon which it so frankly depends. It is a
+screen built at a period different from, and, we may now safely
+assume, later than, that of the nave, and built for the exhibition of
+a noble legend in stone, which has ever since been the glory of a
+county famed for its splendid churches.
+
+Taking it then for what it is, and remembering that the lower tiers
+were once filled with statuary, can we regret that the doorways
+themselves were subordinated to the one grand design of accommodating
+this great multitude of silent teachers? The great doorways of French
+churches are magnificent in themselves, but that is surely no reason
+why we should make it an axiom that a front cannot be fine unless it
+have a great doorway. Striking as the effect of these foreign
+entrances may be, there is no structural reason why a door should be
+of an unwieldy size out of all proportion to the stature of the people
+who use it, so that a smaller door has to be cut for ordinary use out
+of the real door. It certainly, as even at Amiens, limits the
+sculptor's opportunities; and in a country like England, where doors
+can only be kept open for a few weeks in the year, great doorways
+would be as inappropriate as closed doors are forbidding. As a matter
+of fact, the usual entrance to Wells Cathedral in Jocelin's time was
+not from the west, but through the cloister and the south porch. And
+the central entrance of the west was made impressive, not by its size,
+but by the exquisite nature of its carving, and the blue and scarlet
+and gold with which it was coloured. It was not insignificant then. It
+had the prominence of a jewel. Moreover, in French churches, where the
+exterior is sacrificed to the internal effect, there is some wisdom in
+concentrating attention upon the doorway. But in English churches--and
+in Wells, perhaps, more than any other English church--the exteriors
+are perfect in themselves, and the visitor need not be tempted to
+hurry to their portals. After all, if the rabbit-holes on a
+mountain-side looked as large as quarries, the mountain would not look
+like a mountain.
+
+There are, moreover, three faults in the front as it now stands which
+cannot be attributed to its maker. In the first place, it is
+undoubtedly a little formal, a little square, and this defect is
+particularly marked in the photographs which one sees everywhere.
+Unfortunately this picture, which is too small to show the detail,
+gives no idea whatever of the general external effect of the church.
+It gives the impression that Wells Cathedral is a glorified wall,
+because the photograph cannot show the other parts upon which the
+front depends. The architect, no doubt, intended the towers to be
+carried higher or surmounted with spires, and though no trace of any
+stone erection has been found on the tops of the present towers, they
+may once have been crowned with wooden spires covered with lead or
+shingle. One need hardly say how vast a difference such lofty towers
+as exist at Laon Cathedral, or spires like those of Lichfield, would
+make in the effect of the front. They would also account for the great
+size of the buttresses, which seem to have been built with a view to
+sustaining a great weight.
+
+A disagreeable impression is also caused by the row of hip-knobs along
+the coping of the central gable, and the pinnacle in their midst. This
+collection of curiosities was probably added in the seventeenth
+century, and the pinnacle may have been taken from one of the denuded
+buttresses of the Lady Chapel to replace the gable cross which must
+have originally stood here: at all events it is a later addition, as
+was proved by an examination of the masonry. It would be an act of
+justice to the memory of Jocelin if these trivial excrescences were
+removed.
+
+Perhaps one is even more distressed on first seeing the front by a
+third fault--the weak and stringy effect of the long, thin, dark,
+marble shafts. For this the restorer, Mr Benjamin Ferrey, must bear
+the blame. He complained with justice that the original blue lias
+shafts, when they were decayed, had been replaced by the ordinary
+Doulting stone.[4] But, unhappily, he did not go back to the original
+material, but fitted the whole front with a complete set of shafts of
+Kilkenny marble, which is at once dark and cold. They absolutely
+refuse to blend with the old, warm, grey stone, and stand out, stark
+and stiff, like an array of gigantic slate pencils. Mr Ferrey was
+possessed with the idea that the blue lias shafts (having only lasted
+for a paltry half-dozen centuries) were not durable enough for the
+work. He therefore used this marble, which, doubtless, will stand in
+increased obtrusiveness when every stone of the cathedral has decayed.
+He further was impressed with the strange notion that the hideous
+Kilkenny marble is of the same colour as the exquisitely delicate grey
+of the blue lias. The result is a sad warning to all restorers not to
+be more clever than the original architect.
+
+Let us, then, try to imagine the west front with its empty lowest tier
+filled with graceful figures, its gable in its first simplicity and
+surmounted by a cross, its towers of Early English form crowned with
+lofty spires, its delicate shafts of their original material, and its
+ranges of figures "all gorgeous in their freshly-painted hues of blue
+and scarlet and purple and gold." Then we shall have some idea of the
+front of Wells as Jocelin meant it to be and to remain.
+
+[Illustration: Ornaments In The West Front.]
+
+As for the colour, its effect can be gathered from the traces which
+survive. There is ultramarine, gold, and scarlet in the tympanum of
+the central doorway, where there are also the marks of metal fittings.
+Ferrey found a deep maroon colour on the figures of the Apostles, and
+a dark colour painted with stars in the Resurrection tier. One of the
+chief glories of the front is the faithful care which is given
+throughout to the smaller features. The mouldings (a succession of
+rounds and hollows) are most bold and effective; the carving of the
+foliage in caps and canopies, tympana, pedestals, and terminals is
+singularly beautiful and free. This impression is deepened by a minute
+examination; indeed, it is almost a matter of regret that some of the
+finest work is at such a height as to be almost impossible to see; for
+in all the earlier work at Wells the Lamp of Sacrifice burns brightly.
+Mr Ferry pointed out an instance, which may be given here, of the care
+with which minor matters were thought out:--In order that the lowest
+tier might not look weak and yet might provide a sufficient shadow for
+the statues, the backs of the niches are set at a slightly recessed
+angle in the centre, and thus an effect of strength is given to the
+angular jambs. Indeed, there may be differences of opinion as to the
+general design of the west front, but there can be none as to the
+supreme excellence of its detail. It is beyond doubt the most rich
+example of Early English work to be found anywhere. The crown of its
+glories, the justification of its form, did it need justification, are
+the frail statues which line it, tier upon tier.
+
+[Illustration: Ornaments In The West Front.]
+
+Vertically the west front is divided into three main parts--the
+centre, containing the three lancet windows of the nave and the main
+doorway, is surmounted by a gable receding in stages with a pinnacle
+at either angle; and the two lateral towers, the lower portion of
+which form one continuous screen with the centre, broken only by the
+boldly projecting buttresses, of which each division possesses two.
+Horizontally the front divides itself naturally into four parts--the
+plain base, which is high enough to contain the full height of the
+small north and south doorways. One of the stones in this division,
+about the level of the eye, and near the middle, which has evidently
+been moved from some other place, bears the inscription, _Pur lalme
+Johan de Putenie priez et trieze jurs de_ ... Next is an arcade of
+niches interspersed with windows, the space above being pierced by
+quatrefoils. The third division contains the three lancet windows, the
+forms of which are repeated on the north and south, breaking the line
+of the two historical tiers of niches which, with the Resurrection
+tier, adorn this main division of the front. A bold string course
+marks it off firmly and decisively from the fourth and upper division,
+in which the three parts of the front become separate, the towers at
+each side and the stepped gable, flanked by two graceful Early English
+pinnacles, in the middle. The statuary is mainly confined to the
+arcading of the second division, to the buttresses of the third, with
+its continuous cornice of the Resurrection tier, and to the gable
+front of the fourth; but the amount of it is largely increased by the
+fact that the work is carried round three sides of the north-western
+tower, which only touches the church on one side. The niches on the
+sides of the south-western tower are almost empty.
+
+THE STATUARY.--The statuary is not only the finest collection of
+medieval sculpture to be found in England; but, separately, the
+figures are with few exceptions finer than any others in this country,
+while some of them are almost as beautiful as the greatest
+masterpieces in Italy or France. It is strange that here, at the
+outset of the Gothic period, the chief characteristics of the old
+Greek spirit should be so apparent, the same restraint, the same
+simplicity, the same exquisite appreciation of light and flowing
+drapery: in other things there is difference enough, the form is less
+perfect, the action is less free, though there is a deeper sentiment
+and a higher power of spiritual expression; but in the essentials of
+sublime statuary there is a singular agreement.
+
+And, strange though it seems, it may well be that in these statues one
+must look for the first signs of the influence of the Renaissance in
+England. Romanesque work has but just died out, and already the old
+spirit, destined in time to supplant the architecture which sprung
+from it, is at work again. While the statues were being cut at Wells,
+Niccola Pisano was reviving sculpture in Italy under the inspiration
+of classical examples; and there can be little doubt but that it was
+Italian sculptors who produced the statuary at Wells. Some of the
+figures on the northern part of the front have been found to be marked
+with Arabic numerals (_Somerset Proceedings_ 1888, i. 57, 62), and
+these numerals, which did not become common in England till the
+sixteenth century, were used in Italy long before, having been
+introduced by Bonacci of Pisa (a fellow-citizen of Niccola) in 1202.
+That they are found here before the middle of the century is a fairly
+conclusive proof that the workers were Italians, and very likely from
+Pisa itself. Jocelin, indeed, was English, but he had been in exile
+from 1208 to 1213, when he had ample opportunity of studying the work
+of the Italian artists. Pleasant as it would be to our national pride,
+we can hardly believe that Englishmen produced what seems to be the
+earliest example of such magnificent and varied sculpture in
+north-western Europe. At Jocelin's death, in 1242, when the work had
+been going on for some thirty years, Niccola Pisano was in his prime,
+Cimabue was two years old, and forty years had yet to elapse before
+the rival sculpture of Amiens Cathedral was executed.
+
+[Illustration: West Front: Christina (185). Drawn by H.P. Clifford.]
+
+Mr Ruskin, whose admiration of the work at Amiens is so intense, has
+given almost as high praise to the sculpture at Wells, and has
+presented sets of photographs of the statuary to various art schools.
+The verdict of enthusiastic approval is, in fact, unanimous. Flaxman,
+to his credit, in spite of his classicalism, was one of the first to
+draw attention to the work. Whoever was the general designer of the
+whole arrangement, he deserves as great praise as the sculptors
+themselves. There must have been several sculptors, both because no
+one man could have carved three hundred and fifty subjects (of which
+one hundred and fifty-two are life-size or colossal), and because a
+certain number of the figures in the fourth and fifth tiers are of
+obviously inferior design. But one master-mind must have conceived and
+directed the work. The height and lightness which is given to the
+gable by the tall row of the Apostles, the solemn prominence of the
+figure of our Lord above, the rich cornice-like effect of the small
+Resurrection tier, the difference in height between the fourth and
+fifth tiers, the concentration of the three lower tiers, the breadth
+which the seated figures give to the face of the buttresses, the
+arrangement of the statues and groups round the buttresses, which
+makes it impossible for them all to be seen at once, all show that one
+mind was busy, carefully subordinating the parts to the whole.
+
+It may well have been Jocelin himself who planned the subject-matter
+of the statuary with such admirable breadth and balance of mind. It is
+easy to produce sermons in stones, easy to sermonise in very many
+ways; but Jocelin did not preach. He just tried to embody the
+Christian spirit at work in the world: God made manifest in man, the
+great truth of the Incarnation; and this he did in what we should call
+the most modern manner, though in truth it is medieval as well as
+modern. He did not conceive of Christianity as confined within the
+covers of the Bible, but he took all history, as he knew it, the
+patient education of man in the Old Testament, the fulfilment of man's
+aspirations and God's purpose in the New, from the birth of our Lord
+to the founding of the Church, and the continuation of this church up
+to his own time, with especial regard to the heroes, saints and rulers
+of the Church of England. He made a "kalendar for unlearned men,"
+which is both a _Biblia Pauperum_ and _Annales Angliae_, because the
+annals of England were to him a new Bible. "Slowly the Bible of the
+race is writ," a modern writer has said, "each age, each kindred, adds
+a word to it." That was the spirit of Jocelin's design; only that,
+through the pomp of mighty kings and fair women and honoured bishops,
+he looked to the naked truth of the judgment time, when mitres and
+crowns would remain but as signs of an awful responsibility, and the
+divine justice, so tried, so obscured on earth, would be vindicated
+before the angels who are quick to do God's will, and the twelve plain
+men who turned the mighty currents of the world. Such was the spirit
+of a man who lived in the days of St. Francis and St. Louis, Stephen
+Langton and Roger Bacon.
+
+Before commencing a detailed description of the statuary, one must
+refer to Professor Cockerell, R.A., whose enthusiastic love of the
+work led him to construct a theory which he published in 1851, as an
+_Iconography of the West Front_. There can be little doubt that he was
+right in his general idea; there can be equally little doubt that he
+was wrong in nearly every application of it. Everyone now, for
+instance, takes it for granted that the south side of the front is
+mainly "spiritual," devoted to ecclesiastics, while the north is
+"temporal"; and that the whole of the fourth and fifth tiers do
+represent certain leading historical figures. But when we read
+Cockerell's reasons for identifying these figures we recoil in dismay.
+His knowledge of history is superficial, of costume he knows practically
+nothing; his drawings are as inaccurate as his imagination is fertile,
+and he states as obvious facts the wildest conjectures. Further
+reference will be found to his book in our description of the fourth
+and fifth tiers. It was at least an honest labour of love, and
+Cockerell deserves the honour, as he had to endure the disadvantages,
+of being the first in the field.
+
+The CENTRAL DOORWAY may be taken before the lowest tier. Its soffit
+contains an evident addition, as if the architect felt that it needed
+emphasising by some enrichment. In the first of its four
+deeply-wrought mouldings a series of niches, five on each side, with
+small delicately-carved figures, has been inserted, evidently after
+the arch was made; they are cut from a different stone (white lias),
+and are skilfully fitted and grooved into the back of the large sunk
+moulding. They add considerably to the effect of the arch, although
+all the heads of the figures have been destroyed. It is characteristic
+of Cockerell's random method of conjecture, that he declared these
+figures to be representations of the Ten Commandments.
+
+1. The tympanum under the arch and above the double opening of the
+doorway contains a quatrefoil, in which is a noble sculpture of the
+Madonna and Child. The head of the Mother and the upper half of the
+Child are gone, but the drapery that remains is of quite perfect grace
+and dignity. A serpent is under the feet of the Madonna, who is
+sitting on a throne; angels censing are on either side without the
+quatrefoil. A good deal of the old colour which once gave this central
+group a peculiar brilliancy can still be traced on this protected
+sculpture; the background was ultramarine, the mouldings red and gold.
+The figures were also gilded in part, and there are marks on the wall
+to show that a metal nimbus was once attached to it.
+
+2. In a canopy above the arch is another sculpture of equal beauty,
+though, owing to its more exposed position, the treatment is a little
+broader. It represents the coronation of Our Lady; both the heads and
+all the hands are gone. The two figures are both seated on one long
+bench, and our Lord leans forward to place the crown upon his Mother's
+head.
+
+
+THE TIERS.
+
+In order to avoid any possible mistake I have taken each tier from
+right to left, specifying the gaps, windows, and buttresses, to
+facilitate identification, and commencing with the lowest tier. I have
+also numbered the figures afresh, because of the confusion which has
+hitherto caused great waste of time to every one who has attempted to
+identify them. Cockerell's numbers are the only ones that are at all
+accurate (and he omits the two figures on the extreme south of the
+fourth and fifth tiers); but, as he recommenced his enumeration with
+each series, they are not much use for purposes of identification.
+There are mistakes and omissions in the enumeration of the
+photographs, there are mistakes in the album in the cathedral library,
+the photographs in the South Kensington Museum are hopelessly muddled,
+and even the descriptions of the restorer, Mr Ferrey, are so arranged
+that it takes days to identify them, while some of them elude one's
+efforts altogether. I have, therefore, numbered the statues and groups
+in a continuous order from bottom to top, so that comparison with
+photographs will in the future be easy. In the case of work most of
+which can only be seen from a distance, the study of photographs is
+absolutely necessary for a full appreciation of their beauty, more
+especially as in very many cases the photographs reveal the form which
+the accidents of discoloration have partly concealed. Mr Phillips of
+10 Market Place has an almost complete set of admirable photographs,
+which he was enabled to take when the scaffolding was up for the
+restoration of 1870-73: it is these which Mr Ruskin has so much
+admired.
+
+As there are so many statues, some of inferior interest and beauty, I
+have ventured to put an asterisk (*) to those which I think no one
+should fail to see; and, in almost every case, I have but echoed the
+general verdict.
+
+THE LOWEST TIER.--This tier contains sixty-two niches, forty-three of
+which are empty, so fatally convenient has their position been for the
+iconoclast. Of those which remain nearly all are on the north side of
+the tower, so that at first sight the tier seems to be quite empty.
+The loss here has been the greater because the figures were of the
+finest kind, as well as the most easily seen: those remaining are
+certainly of the most exquisite loveliness. Cockerell's theory that
+this tier represents the heralds of the gospel, prophets and
+missionaries, has nothing to support it.
+
+It seems to me not unlikely that the tier was devoted to some of the
+most popular saints in the calendar; the position, so near the
+passer-by, would have suited this arrangement, and the front must have
+been singularly deficient in saints if it were otherwise. The figures
+which remain, a group of deacons, a group of bearded figures holding
+books, and of women bearing religious attributes, might well stand for
+saints.
+
+3. _South Tower._ Male figure, much decayed, held by metal clamps.
+
+4. Male figure, much decayed, held by metal clamps.
+
+_Rest of figures missing along west front up to_--
+
+5. _North Tower._ Male figure, much decayed, holds book.
+
+6. A similar figure.
+
+_Missing._
+
+7. _North Buttress._ Male figure, which held some drapery in front.
+
+8. _North Buttress._ Male figure, holding a vessel in right hand
+covered with a cloth, the end of which was in left hand. [Cockerell
+calls this St. Augustine, erroneously supposing this cloth to be the
+pallium.]
+
+9. Beautiful female figure,* drapery resembling a chasuble; hands
+gone.
+
+10. Female figure with flowing hair; hands gone.
+
+11. Female figure, wimple round head, in left hand holds a vessel,
+right hand is on the edge of the vessel, the fingers dipping in.
+
+12. Female figure,* hood over head, holds in right hand the foot of a
+chalice, and with her left the fold of her dress in front.
+
+13. Tall male figure, bearded, holding closed book; in good
+preservation.
+
+14. Male figure, bearded; hands gone.
+
+15. _Buttress._ Male figure, bearded, with flowing hair; hands gone.
+
+16. _Buttress._ Male figure, bearded, holding open book in left hand;
+upper part moulding away.
+
+17. Deacon* in dalmatic, alb, amice, holding open book in left hand,
+right hand gone; drapery is wonderfully fine. (This and the remaining
+figures are tonsured and shaven.)
+
+18. Deacon,* a beautiful figure, (apparently in dalmatic), amice; left
+hand gone.
+
+19. Deacon, in girded alb, ends of girdle hanging down, wears the
+folded chasuble (very rare in art) over left shoulder, maniple; holds
+book with both hands.
+
+_Missing._
+
+20. _Buttress._ Deacon, in girded alb, amice, stole over left
+shoulder, book in left hand. Besides ends of girdle, end of a stole is
+visible on left side, as if a crossed stole had first been carved and
+this end forgotten.
+
+21. _Buttress._ Deacon,* stole worn over left shoulder, maniple, but
+no amice and no girdle; wears instead of alb a surplice with full
+sleeves--an unusual combination.
+
+SECOND TIER.--The next tier (22-53) consists of thirty-two
+quatrefoils, some of which are now empty. The rest contain half-length
+figures of angels, holding crowns, mitres, scrolls, or drapery in
+their hands.
+
+THIRD TIER.--This, which we may call the Bible Tier, consists of
+forty-eight quatrefoils, ranged close above the quatrefoils of the
+second tier, and broken in the centre by the larger sculpture of the
+Coronation of the Virgin (2). The subjects are all from the Bible,
+those on the south from the Old Testament, dealing with the first
+things, while those on the north and on the north and east sides of
+the northern tower are from the New Testament, and represent the life
+and mission of our Lord. The iconoclasts seem to have concentrated
+their attention on those earlier New Testament groups, which would
+contain the figure of our Lady, and they have made the Crucifixion
+almost unrecognisable. The figures are about two feet high.
+
+_Empty._
+
+54. The Death of Jacob.
+
+55. Isaac blessing Jacob, who leans over him.
+
+56. Meeting of Isaac and Rebecca, probably.
+
+57. Noah sacrificing on Ararat. Very fine.
+
+58. The Ark. A curious structure, raised pyramidally in four tiers,
+with open arcades, in which birds and beasts are seen. Below is the
+Flood.
+
+59. Noah building the Ark.* He is in workman's dress, and wears a cap;
+he is working at a bench, beneath which are his tools. Behind is the
+ark, and an "Early English" tree.
+
+60. God decreeing the Deluge.* In great wrath Jehovah approaches a man
+who sits pensively on a hill-side: from behind the man's head springs
+a demon. The figure of Jehovah is admirably expressed.
+
+_Empty._
+
+61. Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac, who is bound on a bundle of
+wood. Cockerell called this the Sacrifice of Cain, which certainly
+suits its position better.
+
+62. Adam delves and Eve spins. Fine.
+
+_Empty._
+
+63. Jehovah in the Garden. A draped figure, addressing two figures
+naked and ashamed.
+
+64. The Temptation. The serpent's body is coiled round the tree near
+Adam, and his head hovers above with an apple in the mouth. Adam is
+already eating the fruit.
+
+65. God placing Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
+
+66. The Creation of Eve.
+
+67. The Creation of Adam. The figure of the Almighty in each of these
+three is magnificent, especially in the last.
+
+_Empty._
+
+OVER CENTRAL DOORWAY. 2. Coronation of the Virgin (p. 34).
+
+_Here follow eighteen New Testament subjects._
+
+68. St. John the Evangelist*; he is winged. A book rests on the back
+of an eagle. The idea of inspiration could not be more finely
+expressed.
+
+_Empty._ (Perhaps the Annunciation was here.)
+
+_Empty._ (Perhaps the Visitation.)
+
+69. The Nativity. Mutilated.
+
+_Empty._
+
+_Empty._
+
+_Empty._
+
+_Empty._
+
+_Empty._
+
+_Empty._
+
+70. Christ among the Doctors: the Holy Child is a very small figure on
+a pedestal. A most expressive group.
+
+71. St. John Baptist, clothed in camels' hair, in the wilderness. (An
+angel appearing from the clouds, broken off since 1862. The fragment
+is now in No. 72).
+
+72. Figures in critical attitudes. Perhaps the Sermon on the Mount.
+
+_Empty._
+
+73. Christ in the Wilderness, probably.
+
+74. Figures in intent attitudes. Perhaps the Mission of the Apostles.
+
+75. Five figures seated at a table. Perhaps the Anointing of Christ's
+feet.
+
+76. Figure on a Mount surrounded by many figures. Perhaps the Feeding
+of the Five Thousand. NORTH SIDE OF TOWER.
+
+77. Christ, sitting, with other figures. Perhaps the Feeding of the
+Four Thousand.
+
+78. The Transfiguration.* A fine composition, two of the Apostles
+crouching in the foreground.
+
+79. The Entry into Jerusalem. Under the city gate two men strew
+clothes and branches: from the walls and tower many people are
+looking.
+
+80. The Betrayal. Chief priest with mitred head-dress in centre:
+winged devil holds up the train of right figure. On left a figure
+holds open a money-box.
+
+81. The Last Supper.* The Virgin kneels to receive the Communion from
+her Son: St. John's head rests on His bosom. The drapery is very fine.
+Underneath are a bottle and a basket.
+
+_Empty._
+
+82. Christ before Pilate.
+
+83. Christ bearing the Cross. Mutilated.
+
+84. The Elevation of the Cross. Much mutilated.
+
+85. The Deposition. Much mutilated.
+
+_Empty._
+
+86. The Resurrection. An angel on either side, guards below.
+
+87. Pentecost: the Birthday of Holy Church. A dignified group of
+figures.
+
+FOURTH AND FIFTH TIERS.--The fourth and fifth tiers contained at least
+120 figures (about a dozen of which are gone), varying in height from
+7 ft. 10 in. to 8 ft. 1 in., a few running as high as 8 ft. 10 in.
+They no doubt represent the kings, bishops, and heroes of English
+history from Egbert to Henry II. Cockerell was probably right in his
+general interpretation of the series, but it is easy to prove that he
+is wrong in many of the names he gives. It is not so easy to suggest
+any better, and therefore his names have stuck to the figures, since
+people naturally like to know them by something more interesting than
+a number. I shall therefore adopt his nomenclature, with the admission
+that equally good grounds could be given in almost every case for some
+other theory. Besides Mr Ferrey's account (_Inst. Brit. Arch._, 1870),
+quoted in inverted commas, Cockerell's descriptions, inaccurate as
+they are, have been consulted, and also Mr Planche's criticism of
+Cockerell.
+
+The word _Buttress_ means that the figure (generally a sitting one) is
+on the west face of the buttress in question. Bishops ("Bp."), unless
+otherwise stated, wear the usual vestments--mitre, chasuble, dalmatic,
+tunicle, stole, maniple, alb, and apparelled amice. Kings ("K.") and
+Queens ("Q.") wear crowns. A favourite attitude is described as
+"holding cord"; this cord being the lace or cord of the mantle, which
+crossed the chest and prevented that garment from falling off the
+shoulders. The mantle seems to have had an uncomfortable tendency to
+slip down, and thus it became a habit constantly to pull the cord
+forward, whence the frequency of this attitude. This cord was wrongly
+described by Cockerell as a necklace, with which it has, of course, no
+connection. The word "trampling" refers to another common feature in
+these tiers; kings are generally represented as trampling on a small
+figure under their feet, to signify their success over their enemies.
+The figures of the fifth tier are rather taller than those of the
+fourth. The first twenty figures on our list, those of the fourth tier
+up to King Ina, may represent the twenty bishops of the diocese from
+Athelm to Jocelin, in direct order, since the corresponding series of
+the fifth tier contains figures which cannot be those of bishops. I
+have, however, kept to Cockerell's names to avoid confusion.
+
+
+FOURTH TIER.--88. _South Tower_--_Buttress_--Sitting Bp.; much
+decayed, supported by metal clamps.
+
+89. Bp. Savaric. Much defaced, head grotesquely so.
+
+90. Bp. Robert. Much defaced, head grotesquely.
+
+_Missing._
+
+91. _Buttress._ Bp. Reginald de Bohun, sitting; somewhat decayed.
+
+92. Bp. Ethelweard, good drapery, well--preserved; no hair or beard.
+
+93. Sighelm, good drapery, well-preserved; ring of curly hair and
+beard.
+
+94. Alfry, in hood; large curly beard.
+
+95. Etheleage, monastic dress, cowl and scapular; large curly beard.
+
+96. Bp. Asser. Short and stout figure, in attitude of benediction.
+
+97. Bp. Heahmund. Short and stout figure, in attitude of benediction.
+
+98. _Buttress._ Bp. Wolfhelm. Fine seated figure, in attitude of
+benediction.
+
+99. Bp. Ealhstan. Stout common-place figure; rather mutilated.
+
+100. Bp. Wilbert. Stout common-place figure; rather mutilated.
+
+101. Bp. Denefrith. Stout common-place figure; better preserved.
+
+102. Bp. Ethelnod. Stout common-place figure; better preserved.
+
+103. _Buttress._ Bp. Aethelhelm, first Bishop of Wells* (reproduced on
+p. 22). Noble figure, sitting in attitude of benediction.
+
+104. Bp. Herewald, in attitude of benediction.
+
+105. Bp. Forthere, head bent slightly forward.
+
+106. Bp. Ealdhelm. A fine figure. _Central Window (South)._
+
+107. K. Ina, looking over right shoulder, hand gone. (These central
+figures, Ina and Ethelburga, are supposed to be of later date than the
+rest.) _Central Window._
+
+108. Q. Ethelburga. Wears the long kirtle with girdle, from which are
+hung an ink-bottle and aulmoniere. _Central Window (North)._
+
+109. K. Egbert, trampling, bearded; cloak falls in a graceful sweep
+from right to left.
+
+110. K. Ethelwulf, bearded. A very short figure, but raised on high
+stone (crouching figure?) higher than the others.
+
+111. K. Ethelbald; decayed.
+
+112. _Buttress._ K. Edgar, sitting, flat cap on head.
+
+113. K. Ethelbert, smooth face, trampling; apparently holds fragment
+of sceptre in right hand, cord of mantle with left.
+
+114. K. Ethelred I., smooth face, trampling, gracefully draped cloak,
+holds fragment of sceptre apparently in right, and something
+indistinct in left hand.
+
+115. K. Edwy, left arm raised, holding cloak, which is over right
+shoulder.
+
+116. K. Edward the Martyr, bearded, holding cup (his usual symbol) in
+left hand, trampling. This is one of the most likely ascriptions.
+
+117. _Buttress._ K. Edmund, sitting, right arm uplifted, left resting
+on knee. Fast decaying.
+
+118. K. Ethelred the Unready, bearded, short figure, trampling, but
+the trampled figure leans easily on its elbow.
+
+119. K. Cnut, bearded, short figure, trampling, but the trampled
+figure is apparently still struggling.
+
+120. Q. Osburga,* in long supertunic, with ample sleeves, falling in
+folds over the feet. The tight sleeve of her kirtle appears on left
+arm, which holds cord of mantle. Head and neck in the wimple which was
+not in thirteenth century distinctive of nun's dress. Book in right
+hand.
+
+121. Q. Emma, in flowing supertunic with ample sleeves, and wimple;
+hands gone.
+
+122. Harold I., no head covering, trampling; hands touching girdle.
+
+123. Harthacnut, like II old, but hands and part of face gone.
+
+124. _Buttress._ K. Edred, sitting, right hand on knee, left raised to
+cord, drapery crossed.
+
+125. Q. Edgitha, mantle falls round over left foot.
+
+126. Edmund Ironside.* Knight in surcoat over chain armour, hauberk
+but no helmet; right arm and left hand gone, but head turned to left
+and attitude is that of drawing or sheathing his sword.
+
+127. Harold. Knight, hauberk and surcoat of mail, cylindrical helmet,
+shield on left side; delapidated.
+
+128. _North Side of Tower. Buttress._ Edward the Confessor, in cap;
+sitting in attitude of judgment (Planche), left hand resting on right
+ankle, this leg being crossed over left knee.
+
+129. Prince Richard.* Crowned figure of great beauty, bearded, head
+slightly bent to left with a melancholy expression; hands gone.
+
+130. Robert Curthouse,* bearded, the right hand draws aside part of
+the surcoat, exposing right leg in curious hose; left leg covered by
+surcoat.
+
+131. K. Rufus,* bearded, right hand holds cord of mantle, left holds
+border of mantle across his body.
+
+132. Q. Matilda, flowing hair, holds mantle in left hand.
+
+133. Emperor Henry, crowned, holds cord of mantle, with right hand
+fingering end of his girdle.
+
+134. K. Stephen, right hand holds cord of mantle, left on girdle.
+
+135. K. Henry II., end of cloak thrown over shoulder, holds the fold
+with both hands; in good preservation.
+
+136. _Buttress._ K. William the Conqueror, sitting in menacing
+attitude, elbows projecting, and hands upon knees.
+
+137. Prince Henry. A dignified figure; hands gone.
+
+138. Prince Geoffrey. Beautiful figure, head gone, holds cord of
+mantle, loose sleeves, and good drapery. (Ferrey is wrong in calling
+this a female figure.)
+
+139. Q. Maude the Good, flowing hair, left hand on girdle of
+supertunic, dress fastened at neck with "a beautiful jewel" (Ferrey).
+
+140. Adelais. Graceful figure, with flowing hair.
+
+141. _Buttress._ K. Henry I., sitting in defiant attitude, right arm
+akimbo, left knee raised, foot on pedestal.
+
+_Missing._
+
+_Missing._
+
+_Missing._
+
+142. K. John.* A beautiful figure.
+
+143. Henry III., no crown, standing, but right knee raised to suit the
+weathering of aisle roof.
+
+
+FIFTH TIER.--144. _South Tower. Buttress on the south side._ Sitting
+Bp., supported by metal clamps.
+
+145. Bp. J. de Villula; hands gone, much decayed, clamped.
+
+146. Bp. Gisa; hands gone.
+
+147. Bp. Duduc*; right hand gone, book in left.
+
+148. _Buttress._ Bp. Lyfing; decayed.
+
+149. Bp. Merewit; hands gone.
+
+150. Bp. Brihtwine; hands gone.
+
+151. Aethelwine. Fine figure with long wavy beard spreading at end,
+hood and mantle, aulmoniere at girdle.
+
+152. Burwold, tall bearded figure in hood, satchel (?) hanging from
+girdle.
+
+153. Bp. Aelfwine.* Beautiful figure in cowl, curly hair and beard,
+finely draped habit with loose sleeves.
+
+154. Bp. Sigegar, book in left hand.
+
+155. _Buttress._ Bp. Brithelm, head turned to right; decayed.
+
+156. Bp. Cyneward.
+
+157. Bp. Wulfhelm. A fine figure.
+
+158. Bp. Elfege. A fine figure.
+
+159. Edfleda, flowing hair, in supertunic or surcoat with long and
+wide sleeves, head covered with veil, which hangs behind, no wimple.
+Nothing conventual to suggest Edfleda.
+
+160. _Buttress._ K. Edward the Elder. Fine figure, right hand on
+knees, left on cord of mantle.
+
+_Missing._
+
+161. Edgitha. Very tall figure, right hand on cord, left holds end of
+veil.
+
+_Missing._
+
+_Central Window (South)._
+
+162. Q. Edgiva, kirtle only, with crown and veil, no wimple.
+
+_Central Window._
+
+163. Ethilda. Wears supertunic over her kirtle, veil and wimple.
+
+_Central Window (North)._
+
+164. Hugh. A sword hangs from his girdle on left side.
+
+165. Elgiva.
+
+166. Q. Edgiva; hands gone.
+
+167. _Buttress._ K. Ethelstan, defiant attitude, right foot on stool,
+wears brooch.
+
+168. K. Charles the Simple. A squat figure with very big head,
+trampling.
+
+169. Otho, close-fitting tunic, over which is mantle with handsome
+fastening.
+
+_Missing._
+
+170. Guthrum. Knight in surcoat, mail hauberk and chausses, shield on
+left side.
+
+171. _Buttress._ K. Alfred, seated; both hands gone, front decayed,
+and clamped.
+
+172. Earl of Mercia.* Knight in helmet with cross-slit, holding right
+hand up and shield upon left arm; the surcoat turned over below the
+waist shows a suit of mail. Well preserved.
+
+173. St. Neot (more probably St. Decuman, as St. Neot was not
+beheaded). Bp. holding with both hands the upper part of his head,
+which has been cut off across the brows.
+
+174. Ethelfleda,* the Lady of the Mercians. A striking and beautiful
+figure with flowing hair, long veil hanging below the waist,
+supertunic held by brooch, but without sleeves, the tight sleeves of
+her kirtle being visible to the shoulders.
+
+175. Ethelward. Woman with flowing hair, veil; hands gone.
+
+176. Grimbald. Priest; hands gone.
+
+177. St. Elfege, Archb.; hands gone; a noble figure.
+
+178. _Buttress._ St. Dunstan, upper part decayed.
+
+179. Turketul. Short figure, trampling, in very pointed cloak, big
+head in cap.
+
+180. John Scotus.* A beautiful figure, with exquisitively fine drapery
+that looks as thin as gauze.
+
+_Missing._
+
+181. _North Side of Tower.--Buttress._ Robert, Archbishop of
+Canterbury, standing, holding book in right hand, left hand gone; no
+mitre.
+
+182. Q. Elgiva, drapery falls from left shoulder, is folded over right
+arm; book in left hand.
+
+183. Q. Edgitha. Tall, gaunt figure; veil falls in long folds to knee,
+right arm close to side, left hand holds cord.
+
+184. Q. Edburga, circlet round head, brooch on her breast, holds
+drapery in right hand.
+
+_Missing._
+
+_Missing._
+
+185. Christina, Abbess of Romsey.* Beautiful female figure, holding
+box in left hand: "her dress is peculiar": one end of veil is caught
+over right shoulder, the other falls down in front on right side (p.
+31).
+
+186. Wulston of Winchester, bearded, "with distended ears"; right hand
+gone.
+
+187. _Buttress._ Archb. Aldred of York, sitting; "mitre modern," it is
+conical in shape.
+
+188. Edgar Atheling. Knight, spurred, in surcoat only, with sword
+girded outside, no mail, but close-fitting cap and fillet on head: the
+fillet was used for the large cylindrical helmet to rest on. He
+carries what may be a palmer's hat (Cockerell points out that Edgar
+went on a pilgrimage); but Planche says it must be a small Saxon
+buckler, as pilgrims did not carry swords. It certainly looks like a
+hat.
+
+189. Robert the Saxon. Knight in hauberk, without mail, but feet
+spurred, cap on head, shield and sword.
+
+190. Falk of Anjou. Knight in hauberk and chausses of mail, hood of
+hauberk enclosing whole head except a portion of the face: on head is
+the thick fillet. He covers his body with a shield. His surcoat is
+deeply jagged.
+
+191. Robert of Normandy. Knight, in hauberk and complete suit of mail,
+in good preservation, shield with boss on it held down: he wears
+cyclindrical helmet, his eyes and nose being visible through the slit.
+
+192. _Buttress._ B. Roger of Salisbury, sitting, without mitre.
+
+_Missing._
+
+_Missing._
+
+193. Female figure, holding drapery with right arm, left hand on side.
+
+194. St. Nicholas, the patron saint of baptism, stands in water up to
+knees, holding a child in each arm. This ascription is approved by
+Planche. (He is commonly called by children "the pancake man," the
+conventional water suggesting round cakes).
+
+195. Female figure, in good preservation, but clamped in a sloping
+position, drapery good.
+
+THE RESURRECTION TIER.--The sixth tier (195-283) consists of a series
+of small canopies which run continuously under the cornice that
+finishes the main division of the front. Above and around, the
+spandrels are filled with beautiful foliage most boldly undercut. Each
+of the eighty-eight canopies (of which thirty are on the north side)
+contains a figure, or group of figures, representing the Resurrection
+of the dead. In spite of a rather defective anatomy, these figures are
+singularly impressive, "startling in significance, pathos, and
+expression," are Cockerell's words. They are naked--crowns, mitres,
+and tonsures alone remaining to distinguish their office. They awaken
+by degrees, heave up the lids of their tombs, and draw themselves up
+slowly, as if scarcely yet awake. Some sit in a strange dreamy posture
+with folded arms, some seem expectant, others are in attitudes of
+fear, hope, defiance, and despair. There are none of the grotesque
+accessories which are too common in ancient representations of this
+subject, but the awful feeling of a great awakening shivers along this
+range of naked, grey, stone figures. It is probably the earliest
+representation of the subject in art; it is certainly the most
+profound and spiritual.
+
+THE ANGELS' TIER.--This is immediately above the Resurrection Tier,
+and occupies the lower part of the gable only. The angelic figures
+stand in nine low niches with well-moulded trefoil heads that rested
+on blue lias shafts; the two niches on the returns of the buttresses
+also contain angels, which are represented as blowing trumpets. In all
+probability the nine figures symbolise the nine orders of the heavenly
+hierarchy, and I have ventured to give the names which the attributes
+and position suggest to my mind as the most likely. Mr Ferrey's
+account is quoted in inverted commas: it must be remembered that he
+had the advantage of a close inspection from the scaffolding.
+
+284. Thrones. "Angel holding an open book," two wings, long robe,
+facing to his right.
+
+285. Cherubim. "Seraph," with four wings, "apparently holding a
+banner," decayed.
+
+286. Seraphim. "Seraph," with four wings, "entirely feathered, with
+bare legs and feet," face gone.
+
+287. Dominations. "Angel wearing a helmet," in vigorous attitude, two
+wings, "too dilapidated to make out what its attributes are."
+
+288. (_Central Figure_). Powers. "Beautifully robed, holding a
+sceptre," two wings: the dress is very ample and majestic.
+
+289. Virtues. "Robed in a short tunic, with an ornamental border, the
+legs are encased in armour," wears "a jewelled cap," two wings.
+
+290. Principalities. "A Seraph, entirely feathered, holding a vessel
+shaped like a bowl," with flames issuing out of it, the legs and feet
+being also enveloped in "wavy lines of flames: probably the avenging
+angel"; four wings.
+
+291. Archangels. "Apparently holding a crown in the right and left
+hands, close to his breast," long robe covering the feet; two wings.
+
+292. Angels. "Carrying a regal or small hand organ," in left hand,
+four wings, decayed; apparently bearing a wand in right hand.
+
+THE APOSTLES' TIER.--The next tier, that of the Apostles, who are thus
+raised above the angels, contains twelve figures of imposing design,
+later in style than the rest of the statuary. The figures are hollowed
+out at the back so as to press less heavily on the tier beneath. The
+arrangement of these niches is very happily managed, so as to avoid
+any monotony in the range of twelve similar niches; for, besides the
+natural division formed by the small attached shafts between the
+figures, an additional projecting shaft in every third division forms
+the tier into four large bays with three figures in each. The capitals
+of these niches are remarkable, the graceful foliage being disposed in
+a very free manner, in some cases growing upwards, in others bent
+down, but always true to the outline of the capital. Of the figures
+themselves the central one, in the place of honour, and taller than
+the rest, is St. Andrew. The others are not all so easy to name, the
+attributes of some having disappeared; and, although Cockerell gave
+names to them all (some of which were certainly wrong), we may content
+ourselves with the following list, which at least is accurate so far
+as it goes:--
+
+293. No symbol in hand, which is covered with drapery. (Carter's
+drawing represents a staff or spear, but he is quite unreliable,
+though it is occasionally possible that the attributes he draws did
+exist when he saw the figures a century ago.)
+
+294. Book (?) in right hand, a vessel or bag of cylindrical form is
+apparently suspended from the left arm. Perhaps St. Matthew with his
+purse.
+
+295. Holds something, which may be the fuller's club, in which case
+the figure is that of St. James the Less; forked beard.
+
+296. Club (?) in hand, long curly hair and beard. There is something
+near the knee, which may be a palmer's hat. (Carter drew this figure
+as St. Bartholomew with knife and skin.)
+
+297. Carter drew this figure as St. Peter with the keys.
+
+298. St. Andrew with his cross; he is so tall that his head fills the
+upper portion of the canopy.
+
+299. St. John holding the chalice, which has large bowl and short
+stem; wavy hair. This is the only figure not bearded.
+
+300. St. James the Greater. Staff in right hand, large satchel on left
+side hung from hand over right shoulder, book in left hand (the book
+of the Gospels with which St. James is always represented, in addition
+to the pilgrim's stiff and scrip). He wears a high cap.
+
+301. Perhaps St. Paul (who is often represented among the Twelve),
+with sword and book.
+
+302. St. Philip holds drapery in right hand. Ferrey says the five
+loaves can be distinguished.
+
+303. Long hair and head-dress like a veil bound by a fillet round the
+brows, forked beard, book in left hand, girdle.
+
+304. This figure occasioned much controversy, owing to Carter having
+drawn it with a crown. Cockerell therefore attributed it to St. Peter,
+and said that the crown showed Bishop Jocelin's papistical tendencies!
+Planche scoffed at this, remarking with truth that none of the
+Apostles are ever represented with crowns, but he caused even greater
+confusion by suggesting that the figure stood for a Saxon king, and
+that the tier, in spite of the Apostolic number, did not represent the
+twelve Apostles. If he had looked at the actual figures instead of
+Carter's drawings he would have seen that there is no crown at all. In
+the photographs this is still clearer, the Apostle's head being
+evidently covered by nothing more imposing than his own long hair or a
+veil like that of the preceding figure.
+
+THE UPPERMOST TIER.--The whole magnificent series was fitly crowned by
+this group (305), of which only the lower part of the central figure
+remains. That, however, sufficiently attests the noble character of
+the rest: it represents our Lord seated in glory within a
+vesica-shaped niche. The feet are pierced. It seems to have been
+mutilated by Monmouth's followers, for it still bears the marks of
+their bullets. The two figures in the niches on either side must also
+have been destroyed at this time, for they are shown in a print in
+Dugdale's _Monasticon_. Ferrey cannot have seen this print when he
+suggested that the figures were of angels censing, for they are there
+given as representing Our Lady (new covenant) and John Baptist (old
+covenant).
+
+THE WESTERN TOWERS.--The projection of these towers beyond the aisles
+of the nave gives its great breadth to the west front, which is 147
+feet across, as against the 116 feet of the almost contemporary
+cathedral of Amiens, which is twice its height. It is an unusual
+arrangement, of which there is no exactly similar example except at
+Rouen. Above the screen the towers are Perpendicular, the southern
+tower having been completed towards the end of the fourteenth, and the
+northern at the beginning of the fifteenth century. They are thus
+later additions to the original design of the front, and make it more
+difficult for us to realise the effect that was first intended.
+
+These two towers are very nearly alike, but the southern, or Harewell,
+tower is some forty years the earlier of the two, and belongs to the
+earliest days of the Perpendicular style, Bishop Harewell having died
+in 1386. The northern tower was built with a sum of money left for the
+purpose by Bishop Bubwith, who died in 1424, and his arms are carved
+high up on a buttress upon the north side, those on the west being a
+modern copy. In one of its two western niches is a figure of the
+bishop in prayer. Both the towers have two belfry windows on each
+side, tiny battlements, and a stair-turret on the outer western angle;
+in both the buttresses are carried up, with but slight reduction in
+bulk, two-thirds of their height and then finished with small
+pinnacles. There are, however, certain slight differences between the
+two towers; their height is not exactly equal, and there are no niches
+on the earlier one. The south tower contains a peal of eight bells;
+that on the north is traditionally considered "rotten," but to all
+appearance it is sound enough.
+
+[Illustration: The Central Tower From The South-east.]
+
+THE CENTRAL TOWER is Early English to the level of the roof. The two
+upper stages are Decorated, but there is a curious inter-mixture of
+styles in them, owing to the repairs that were made after the
+settlements of 1321. The chapter seemed determined to allow no
+possibility of another accident, for besides the inverted arches and
+buttresses of the interior, the original high narrow windows of the
+upper part of the tower have been fortified by later insertions, by
+way of bonding and stiffening the structure, which had been so
+endangered by the sinking of its piers below. There are, however, no
+signs of any rents in the Decorated part. The tower has square angular
+turrets, and is divided vertically into three main compartments, each
+division being marked by a small pinnacle, and the turrets by large
+compound pinnacles. It is an interesting tower to ascend, the rents in
+the wall being plainly discernible; and from the summit there is a
+fine view of Wells and of the valley in which the city stands.
+
+The NORTH PORCH is perhaps the finest piece of architecture at Wells,
+though it generally receives far less attention than it deserves. It
+is certainly the oldest part of the church, and must have been the
+first work which Bishop Reginald undertook, about 1185; in style it
+retains much of the Norman influence. The mouldings of the noble
+entrance arch are numerous and bold, and twice the Norman zig-zag
+occurs, though enriched with leaves in a manner that suggests the
+coming Gothic. A weather moulding, exquisitely carved with deeply
+undercut foliage, covers the arch. Its capitals on the east side
+contain figures among their leaves representing the martyrdom of St.
+Edmund the King: the first three of the caps have the saint in the
+midst, crowned, and transfixed with a number of conventionally-arranged
+arrows, and his enemies, two on either side, drawing their bows; the
+fourth cap shows an executioner cutting off the saint's head; in the
+fifth the head is found by the wolf; the sixth has been partly cut
+away, but the body of the wolf and the heads of two figures remain.
+
+In the spandrels above are two square panels containing a cockatrice,
+and another strange beast. The gable is filled with an arcade, the
+central member of which is corbelled off to make room underneath for
+three little lancet windows which light the parvise chamber within.
+The buttresses of the porch have slender shafts at the angles, which
+are finished off with foliage of a remarkably free and graceful kind;
+it should be noticed as an example of those subtle touches that are so
+abundant in this porch. On the buttresses are pinnacles with an
+arcade, at the top of which little openings cast a shadow that gives a
+lightness to the whole effect. A smaller pinnacle is at the apex of
+the gable, and underneath it an ornament of twisted foliage.
+
+Nothing could well surpass the interior of this porch; the delicacy,
+and refinement which are shown in every detail are the more amazing
+when we consider that the architect and his masons had only just
+emerged from the large methods of Norman building. A range of three
+arcades on either side is divided in the midst by three shafts boldly
+detached from the pear-shaped moulding round which they are grouped.
+These shafts carry the ribs of the groined vault, and divide the porch
+into two square bays. Their capitals are very boldly undercut, and
+bear distinct traces of Romanesque influence; indeed, the volutes of
+the cap on the west side give it almost the appearance of a very
+freely-carved Corinthian capital. Those at the angles are of like
+fashion, except that on the north-east, which has fuller and freer
+foliage, wherein stands a man shooting with his bow at a bird, the
+whole most vigorously conceived.
+
+[Illustration: The North Porch.]
+
+In the uppermost arcade the little touch of foliage that is worked on
+to the junction of the mullions (which are made up of four pear-shaped
+mouldings) illustrates the love of delicate things that is so
+characteristic of this architect. Below is a projecting double arcade,
+behind which, against the wall, is a third row of arches: the outer
+mouldings intersect and the abaci of the outer caps are finished off
+in a carefully restrained curl of foliage; those on the soffit are
+deeply undercut, by means of which a very black shadow is secured. All
+the capitals are carved with the stiff-leafed foliage; and in the
+spandrels are grotesque beasts, full of character. The string-course
+below is finished with dragons who bend round and swallow the end of
+the string, their tails (on the west side) twisting right along the
+moulding. It is significant of the free way in which the masons were
+employed, that the carving varies very much on the two sides. The
+grotesques in the spandrels above mentioned are finest on the east
+side, but the dragons of the string course are best on the west side,
+where their expressions, as they bite the moulding, are full of life
+and humour. On this western side, too, the foliage which fills the
+spandrels of the lowest arcade is at its best; it is indeed the purest
+and truest piece of decorative work in the whole cathedral. Each
+moulding in this beautiful porch, from the filleted ribs of the groins
+to the bands round the shafts, and the moulded edge of the stone
+bench, is most carefully thought out, and adapted to its position, in
+a way that every architect will appreciate. The double doorway which
+leads into the church has an unusual and most effective moulding on
+its jambs, very large and simple, with slight projections worked upon
+it: the inner moulding of the enclosing arch, however, is a boldly
+projecting zig-zag, the supporting capitals of which have two figures,
+one in a cope, the other a bishop in a very pointed chasuble. The
+central pillar is of much later date. Above is a square recess filled
+with later masonry, where perhaps a figure was once inserted.
+
+Most happily, the North Porch has been spared from the restorer's
+hand. It is a unique and most beautiful example of early work; any
+restoration of it would practically destroy it, and would be an
+unpardonable crime. The hungry eye of the modern vandal is sure to
+seize on this piece of virgin work, sooner or later; for its very
+purity will tempt him. We only hope that when that day comes the
+Chapter will be faithful to their trust.
+
+The GABLE END of the north transept, which must be very near to the
+north porch in date, is a very similar example of the early work. It
+is flanked by turrets which are capped with pinnacles; both turrets,
+pinnacles and wall are rich with arcading, the effect of which is
+especially charming in the gable, where, by a happy device, the
+weather moulding is made to curve suddenly over the two topmost
+arches, filling the angle at the apex of the coping, and leaving a
+little space between it and the two arches to be occupied by foliage.
+
+The general character of the WALLS is distinctly Transitional; the
+buttresses are almost as low, broad, shallow and massive as in Norman
+work; and the windows, though now filled with Perpendicular tracery,
+are so broad that, were they but round-headed, they would look more
+Norman than much real Norman work.
+
+The richness of exterior effect is much increased by a most graceful
+Decorated PARAPET, which is carried all round the church on the wall
+of both nave and aisles. As for the masonry as a whole, with the
+exception of the west front nothing could be sounder and more
+skilfully executed. Mr Britton's opinion was that "perhaps there is
+not a church in the kingdom of the same age where the stone has been
+so well chosen, better put together, and where it remains in so
+perfect a state: this deserves the particular notice and study of
+architects."[5]
+
+The CHAIN GATE, one of the peculiar glories of Wells, is really a
+bridge over the roadway, built by Bishop Beckington and his executors,
+to connect the chapter-house staircase with the vicars' close. Freeman
+spoke of it as a "marvel of ingenuity," yet perhaps its excellence
+consists rather in its simplicity. A covered way was needed to the
+close, but the road lay between, and so a bridge was built; the bridge
+had to rest on something: three arches were therefore made, one large
+for carts, and two small for foot-passengers; a further space had to
+be spanned between the road and the staircase: the bridge was
+therefore continued on the same level, but, as the ground here was
+lower, the arch on this side was built on a lower level. Furthermore,
+the two ends of the bridge not being exactly opposite to one another,
+the bridge had to turn at a slight angle where it reaches the road. It
+is just such simple adaptation of means to an end that gave his chance
+to a medieval architect; it is this that gives what is called its
+picturesqueness to an ancient town, it is this that makes nature so
+picturesque. A modern architect would have built his bridge in a
+straight line across the road, and have pulled down something to avoid
+the irregularity; he would not have had the sense of proportion which
+alone was needed to make utility supremely beautiful. The builder of
+the Chain Gate just used his opportunities to their very best. He saw
+that but a small thing was wanted, that the close must not be dwarfed;
+so he kept the work little and delicate, rich and light: he made its
+chief beauty to lie in its _bijou_ character. Yet he preserved its
+dignity by the wide opening of the central arch, the height of which
+is emphasised by the smallness of the two arches on either side. But
+although the two small arches effect so much by their contrast with
+the large one, the harmony of the gateway is preserved by the
+panelling above them which marks this part of the bridge off from the
+rest. On the south of the gate is a blank wall, supported by a
+buttress which was wanted here, and so here was put. On the south of
+the buttress is the lower arch which is so admirable a foil both to
+the height of the main gateway and the delicacy of the windows. A
+correctly-minded architect would not have tolerated this blank wall
+and irregularly-placed arch; but substitute what you will for the
+wall, or alter the height of the arch, or replace both by an arcade,
+and the dignity of the little gateway is gone. It may further be
+noticed that the builder kept the upper and lower stages very
+distinct, and made the upper storey as clearly a bridge as the lower
+is a gateway: the charming little windows run in a continuous range
+over blank wall, gate, and all, but they are grouped closer together
+over the gate. A battlemented parapet finishes the top of the bridge.
+Niches are placed in the midst of the two windows over the gate; they
+contain graceful statues of St. Andrew and other saints. In the wide
+moulding of the string course there are angels, curiously placed in a
+horizontal position, as well as the stags' heads of Beckington's arms.
+
+[Illustration: The Bishop's Eye.]
+
+Passing under the Chain Bridge a good view of the CHAPTER-HOUSE is
+obtained. It is a massive, buttressed octagon, the lower stage marked
+by the small broad barred windows of the undercroft, the next by the
+rather squat traceried windows of the house itself, while under the
+cornice is an open arcade. The gargoyles are interesting. A parapet,
+different in design and inferior to that of the church itself,
+finishes the building. From this part of the road, there is a good
+view of the cathedral in one of its most characteristic aspects;--the
+Lady Chapel, the low buildings of the north-eastern transept and
+retro-choir, the chapter-house in the foreground, all lying on ground
+below the level of the road, and over the Chain Bridge a glimpse of
+the north transept gable and the north-west tower.
+
+A queer corner, hidden by a thick tree, is formed between the
+chapter-house and the choir aisle; in spite of the obscure position, a
+fine gargoyle of the head and shoulders of a man, carved in unusually
+colossal proportions, is placed here at a low altitude, to carry off
+the water that must gather at the junction of aisle with undercroft
+passage. Through the walls that rise high on either side a capital
+glimpse of the tower can be had.
+
+From the same road, opposite the prebendal house (now allotted to the
+Principal of the Theological College), which has a picturesque
+Perpendicular doorway with a window above, the grouping of the Lady
+Chapel with the rest of the church can be well seen.
+
+The rich and light appearance of the EAST END is due not only to the
+charm of its tracery, which contrasts so well with the network of the
+Lady Chapel windows, and to the parapet which rises slightly in the
+centre, but also to the three lights which pierce the gable; of these
+the upper is diamond-shaped, and thus the masonry that is left has the
+appearance of a stout Y cross.
+
+FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.--One of the most interesting views of the
+exterior is from the lovely grass-plot on the east of the cloisters,
+where once stood the cloister Lady Chapel, and where the vicars were
+formerly buried. It is being again used as a cemetery, which is
+unfortunate, since there are few things more irreligiously dismal than
+a modern burial-ground, and already a cluster of marble and granite
+monuments has arisen to spoil one of the most peaceful and unspoilt
+places in Wells. If monuments there must be (and why need we so
+advertise the dead?), let them at least be quiet and humble and
+beautiful: those ostentatious erections of hard and polished stone
+ruin the grey walls before which they stand; their frigid materials
+are too obtrusive for Christian modesty, too enduring for human
+memory. May we not yet hope that this spot will be spared the fate of
+the cloister garth?
+
+From here the Lady Chapel is well seen as quite a separate building,
+joined to the rest of the church only in its lower part, and with its
+own parapet round all its eight sides; its form harmonises most
+charmingly with the square presbytery behind it, and with the lofty
+chapter-house, like itself octagonal. A further beauty is added by the
+solitary flying buttress which stands out at the south-eastern corner;
+though certain rents in the southern wall show that the buttress was
+built for reasons of the gravest utility. On the south side of the
+chapel there is a little door, covered by what looks at first like a
+kind of porch, but it is really the passage of a small vestry (p. 132)
+which was built up against the wall; the roof of the vestry was a
+little higher than that of the passage, and must have leant against
+the wall just under the window, as is proved by its gargoyle near the
+passage door. This vestry was fatuously destroyed in the early part of
+this century by an official who did not even know that it was medieval
+work till the soundness of the masonry proved almost too much for his
+workmen.
+
+The junction between the earlier and the later presbytery is well seen
+from here--too well seen, in fact, for it is awkwardly managed. The
+later choir windows, with their crocketed ogee hood-moulds, are a good
+feature, and so are the flying buttresses; but the high-pitched roof
+of the earlier aisle is discontinued at the break in order to give
+room for these windows and buttresses; and the effect of this sudden
+termination of an aisle roof half-way along a building is not
+pleasant. In the earlier part, too, the later windows have been
+clumsily inserted some distance below the Early English dripstone, as
+if only the internal effect had been considered. The same may also be
+said of the window in the south transept gable: the gable, by the way,
+is a much plainer affair than that of the north transept.
+
+Here stood the two CLOISTER LADY CHAPELS, but unfortunately their
+sites were not marked on the grass after the excavations were finished
+three years ago. Thus nothing can be seen from here of the earlier
+chapel, and, of the later, only the doorway and the Perpendicular
+panelling against the cloister which marks its western end, and the
+commencement of the walls. A small quatrefoiled hagioscope may be
+noticed in the library above the cloister; it, no doubt, commanded a
+view of the high altar of the chapel.
+
+The earlier _Capella B.M.V. juxta claustrum_ is often referred to in
+the chapter documents, and was a favourite centre of devotion. It
+became a kind of family chapel for the numerous clan of Byttons, after
+the first bishop of that name was buried there; it was also sometimes
+used as a chapter-house. The Early English doorway which led to it can
+still be seen in the cloister wall, on the right of the present
+doorway; it is partly covered by an I.H.S. of later date, made with
+the instruments of the Passion. The excavations of 1894, when the
+foundations were laid bare under Mr Buckle's direction, showed that
+this chapel consisted originally of a plain oblong building, earlier
+even than the north porch in date (_i.e._ before 1185), which was
+afterwards (c. 1275) enlarged by the addition of an aisle on either
+side. The excavations showed that arches were used at this time to
+replace the western part of the older walls, and thus to throw the
+ancient chapel open to its new aisles. The original chapel, then, if
+it was not actually part of Bishop Gisa's buildings, spared when John
+de Villula destroyed Gisa's cloister, seems to have been built not
+long after Gisa's time, and at least on the site of Gisa's chapel.
+This would account for its orientation, which was in a more northerly
+direction than that of the cathedral, and probably was the same as
+that of the pre-Norman church. Excellent plans of the foundations both
+of this and the later chapel are to be found in the _Somerset
+Proceedings_ for 1894, where the whole matter is discussed in detail
+by Canon Church and Mr Edmund Buckle.
+
+The later chapel on this site was built by _Bishop Stillington_
+(1466-91): it followed the orientation of the cathedral, and was of
+much larger size than the former building, being about 107 ft. in
+length. It consisted of a nave, transepts and choir, with fan-tracery
+vault, of which some fragments have been lately fixed in the cloister
+wall. Most profusely ornamented and panelled within, as can be seen by
+the west end against the cloister wall, it is considered to have been
+the _chef d'oeuvre_ of the Somerset Perpendicular, surpassing even
+Sherborne and St. Mary, Redcliffe.
+
+But its glory was not to be for long. Stillington was buried in this
+"goodly Lady Chapell in the Cloysters," says Godwin, "but rested not
+long there; for it is reported that divers olde men, who in their
+youth had not onely scene the celebration of his funeral, but also the
+building of his tombe, chapell, and all did also see tombe and chapell
+destroyed, and the bones of the Bishop that built them turned out of
+the lead in which they were interred." This was in 1552, when Bishop
+Barlow and the chapter made a grant to that barbarous scoundrel, Sir
+John Gates, of "the chappie, sett, lyinge and beynge by the cloyster
+on the south syde of the said Cathedral Church of Wells, commonly
+called the Ladye Chapple, with all the stones and stonework, ledde,
+glasse, tymbre, and iron ... the soyle that the sayd chappie standeth
+upon only excepted." The condition was that the rubble should be all
+cleared away, and the ground made "fayre and playn," within four
+years; but before this period had elapsed, Sir John's head had gone
+the way of the Lady Chapel.
+
+[Illustration: Doorway, South-east Of Cloister.]
+
+The CLOISTER in its more prominent features is Perpendicular, having
+been rebuilt in the fifteenth century. Nevertheless the outer walls
+are of Jocelin's date, together with the doorway leading into the
+palace (see illustration on this page); and the lower part of the east
+cloister wall, including the two small doorways therein, is said by Mr
+Buckle to be undoubtedly earlier than Jocelin's time, and contemporary
+with the north porch, _c._ 1185. Thus we have still the original plan
+at least of the thirteenth-century cloisters. This plan is
+characteristic of a non-monastic church, where the cloister is not the
+centre of a common life, but merely an ornamental convenience which
+might or might not be added, and when added might be of any fashion
+that was desired. There is no walk on the north side, no refectory or
+dormitory, and the plan is not square, as would be the case with a
+conventual building, but an irregular parallelogram, while the eastern
+walk is built up against the south end of the transept instead of
+against its western wall.
+
+[Illustration: East Walk Of Cloister.]
+
+The inner part of Jocelin's cloister was probably a wooden penthouse
+like that of Glastonbury. At all events, it has entirely disappeared.
+The eastern alley was built by the executors of Bishop Bubwith, who
+died in 1424. That on the west, with its rooms, was built by
+Beckington (1443-65) and his executors. That on the south was
+completed soon after by Thomas Henry, the treasurer. Beckington, by
+the way, showed a reckless disregard of the earlier work by carrying
+his cloister right up against the south-west tower, and completely
+concealing the beautiful arcading of that part. Beckington's
+executors, in the time of Bishop Stillington, also built the singing
+school over the western cloister. Bubwith's executors built the
+northern part of the library over the eastern cloister; but the
+southern part was added at a later date. The square windows were
+inserted later still by the famous Dr Busby, about 1670. The fourteen
+bays of lierned vaulting over the east alley, and one on the south,
+were executed in 1457-8 by John Turpyn Lathamo, at the cost, we find
+from the fabric roll, of 3/4d. per foot, or L6, 11s. 3d. for the
+whole, though an additional ten shillings was presented to him for his
+diligence.
+
+Each alley consists of thirteen bays in the Perpendicular style; the
+windows are now all unglazed, of six lights, with transoms and
+tracery; between the windows are buttresses to support the rooms
+above, which extend, however, only over the east and west alleys.
+Turpyn's vaulting is of a curiously decadent character, which reminds
+one of the Jacobean Gothic of Oxford and Cambridge. The ribs spread at
+the start to enclose a trefoiled panel, and they curve into one
+another when they meet at the bosses. In the rest of the south walk,
+however, the bosses are square, and receive the ribs in the usual
+manner; in the west walk they are still square, and more varied in
+their ornament, bearing Beckington's initials, arms, and rebus,
+arranged in several different ways. Beckington's arms, which occur
+also on the gateways, are argent on a fess azure, between in chief
+three bucks' heads caboshed gules, and in base as many pheons sable, a
+bishop's mitre or. His rebus is a fire _beacon_ lighted, a _tun_
+holding the fire.
+
+Two small stone pent-houses, of which the purpose is uncertain, are
+built up against the windows of the fourth and sixth bays of the
+eastern alley. The vault of this alley was built without reference to
+the fine Early English doorway into the transept, one side of which it
+hides, the weather moulding being cut away. This doorway is mentioned
+in an Act of the Chapter of 1297, but it was probably made by Jocelin
+before he built the cloister wall, which comes uncomfortably near to
+the door, as if it were an afterthought. The companion doorway from
+the western alley, which was the usual entrance to the cathedral in
+the thirteenth century, has been similarly defaced by the vault. Three
+annual fairs used to be held in the cemetery, till Bishop Reginald set
+apart for the purpose the new ground which is still the market-place.
+The traditional entrance to the church by this south-western porch may
+have been due to the fact that the citizens gathered for secular
+business on the south-western side. At the south end of the eastern
+alley is the Early English bishop's doorway, which no doubt led
+straight to the palace in the days when there was no moat to obstruct
+this route. The door was originally hung to open inwards; a beautiful
+moulding was destroyed to hang it in its present position. There is a
+bracket of later date over this doorway.
+
+The cloister-garth, which is hideous with modern tombstones, is
+traditionally called the _Palm Churchyard_, no doubt because of the
+yew which grows there. Yew trees, so common in churchyards, are still
+commonly called palms, because their branches were used for the
+procession on Palm Sunday. This churchyard was anciently the
+burial-place of the canons, the ground east of the cloister (now used
+again as a cemetery) being reserved for the vicars, while the space
+before the west front was the lay burial-ground.
+
+An admirably contrived _dipping-place_ was still standing in the Palm
+churchyard, near the second bay of the east cloister, within the
+memory of living persons, but now no trace of it remains above ground.
+A water-course, held within a channel of carefully-worked masonry,
+runs under the eastern cloister from St. Andrew's well, and passes on
+to fall ultimately into the old mill-stream. The oblong building over
+it that formed the dipping-place was entered at the south end, and a
+few steps (with aumbries for the linen at either side) led to the
+washing-place at the little stream. An arch covered this spot, where
+the water ran through two low arches on either side and was bridged in
+the midst by a pavement. The place was used for washing linen, and the
+water required for the cathedral was drawn here before the modern
+supply pipes were introduced.
+
+THE LIBRARY is over the east walk of the cloister, and is entered from
+the south transept. It is a charming old-world place, full of ancient
+volumes, many of which are of great interest. A passage runs from end
+to end, along the east side of the long room, the other side being
+mainly occupied by the old desks, benches and bookcases, which project
+at right angles to the wall, many of the book-chains still hanging on
+them. There are said to be over three thousand volumes, including the
+bulk of Bishop Ken's library, a collection of early editions of his
+works, and his copy of Bishop Andrewe's "Devotions." There are also
+several books (including one Aldine "Aristotle") with MS. notes and
+autograph of Erasmus. The collection of old charters, which have
+recently been made to throw so much light on the history of the
+cathedral, is also preserved here. Some of the most interesting
+charters are displayed in glass cases; one of them, Edgar's grant to
+Ealhstane, is specially venerable for the signature of St.
+Dunstan--_Ego Dunitan Ep._--which occurs third among the witnesses to
+the document.
+
+Two precious relics of medieval times are also kept here. One, which
+is generally called a lantern, was till lately hung in the undercroft.
+There is no trace of its ever having been used as a lantern, and it is
+probably the wooden _canopy of the pyx_ which hung before the high
+altar. The Blessed Sacrament was in medieval times reserved, not in a
+tabernacle, but in a hanging pyx of precious metal; and this graceful
+wooden canopy probably contained the pyx. There are only two other
+possible examples of the pyx-canopy (at Milton Abbas and Tewkesbury),
+and both are of later date than this, which is thirteenth century.
+Woodwork of this period is so rare that, even were it not a
+pyx-canopy, it would be of extreme interest. It is cylindrical in
+form, divided into three storeys of open tracery, and crowned with a
+cresting of three-lobed leaves. Its height is 3 ft. 111/4 in., its
+internal diameter 141/2 inches. It is made of oak, certain parts of a
+later restoration being of deal. Mr St. John Hope (_Proc. of Soc. of
+Antiquaries_, 1897), thus enumerates the traces of colour: "The whole
+of the body and its upper and lower rings have been painted red, with
+gold flowers or other devices upon the transverse bands. The slender
+dividing shafts seem to have been coloured blue. The leaves of the
+cresting have apparently been painted white, but the circular boss in
+the middle of each leaf was entirely red." Two pairs of iron rods,
+with a ring and swivel hook, serve to suspend it in a steady position.
+
+The other relic is the thirteenth-century _crozier_ which was recently
+found in a tomb in the cathedral, and probably belongs to the time of
+Savaric, though there is no evidence, beyond its style, for describing
+it as his crozier. It was dug up in a stone coffin in the western
+burial-ground of the cathedral in the time of Dean Lukin (1799-1812).
+It is thus described in the _Catalogue_ of the Burlington Fine Arts
+Club exhibition of enamels, June 1897: "A complete crozier, [the
+staff] wooden (modern), with enamelled head one foot in length.
+Limoges, thirteenth century. The volute is a serpent with blue scales
+and serrated crest, enclosing a winged figure of St. Michael and a
+dragon studded with turquoises. The knop is encased in pierced
+repousse open work formed of dragons, and the socket ornamented with
+thirteenth-century foliated scrolls in these slightly spiral bands,
+separated by jewelled dragons whose tails form three rings under the
+knop." St. Michael is represented in the act of attacking the dragon
+with his spear.
+
+A little MUSEUM has been formed in one of the rooms over the western
+cloister. It contains a collection of seals, Mr Buckle's plans of the
+cloisters and the Cloister Lady Chapel excavations, and many other
+objects of interest.
+
+The principal buildings in connection with the cathedral are the
+vicars' close, the bishop's palace, the deanery, the archdeaconry, and
+the canon's houses. There are also Beckington's fine gates,--the Chain
+Gate by the vicars' close, Brown's, or the Dean's Gate, near the
+deanery, the Penniless Porch, leading from the Market Place to the
+cathedral; and the Bishop's Eye, leading from the Market Place to the
+palace.
+
+[Illustration: The Chain Gate, Entrance To Close, 1824]
+
+Most deservedly famous is the unrivalled VICARS' CLOSE, which contains
+the houses built by Bishop Ralph and his successors for the
+vicars-choral. Passing through the gate, one sees the two long ranges
+of quiet and lovely houses, fronted by their little gardens, with a
+roadway betwixt them. Nothing can surpass this arrangement for its
+peaceful seclusion and constant charm, not even the square quadrangles
+and cloisters of Oxford, and yet, so convenient is it, that no better
+model could be chosen should there ever come any general return to the
+old collegiate life; for a settlement, for a model factory, one can
+imagine nothing better even now. There are forty-two houses,
+twenty-one on either side: each consisted originally of two rooms, one
+above the other, with a staircase; for the vicars were single men. Now
+that the vicars-choral are married, many of them live in the town, but
+all the theological students are lodged here, and there are always a
+few rooms to be let to those visitors who are wise enough to stay in
+this charming place.
+
+The tall chimneys rise up through the eaves of the little houses;
+octagonal at the top, they are perforated like a lantern, with two
+openings on each side. On them are shields bearing the arms of the
+see, of Bishop Beckington and his executors, Swan, Sugar, and Pope,
+sugar-loaves and swans abounding in the decoration.
+
+At the farther end of the close is the tiny chapel (finished by
+Bubwith, and finally consecrated in 1489, after Beckington had added
+the wooden ceiling and the chamber above), where compline is still
+said by the theological students. It is one of the most beautiful
+things in Wells--a jewel, like so much of its period--and it has been
+well decorated in sgraffitto and colour by Mr Heywood Sumner. An
+interesting feature of its exterior is that some of the old Early
+English carving was worked in with the masonry of the wall, by way of
+decoration, and very effective it is. A passage at the side leads to
+the Liberty, where are some of the prebendal houses.
+
+Over the entrance, and leading into the bridge of the Chain Gate, are
+the hall and its offices, which are approached by a fine staircase. In
+the hall is a painting of much interest, which represents Bishop Ralph
+seated on his throne, the vicars kneeling before him; the petition
+which he holds runs--_Per vicos positi villae, Pater alme rogamus, Ut
+simul uniti, te, Dante domos maneamus_; and the answer, which has the
+episcopal seal, is--_Vestra petunt merita, Quod sint concessu petita:
+Ut maneatis ita, Loca fecimus hic stabilita._ On the right are
+seventeen figures with ruffles, evidently added in Elizabethan times;
+corresponding inscription has also been added--_Quas primus struxit_,
+etc.
+
+There is also a pulpit over the fireplace, which is large, with good
+mouldings and an inscription, _In vestris prec[=i] habeat^s
+comedat[=u] do[=m] Ricard[=u] Pomroy quem salvet Ihs. Amen_. On the
+hearth are a pair of fine fire-dogs.
+
+Just outside the entrance to the vicars' close is a beautiful ORIEL
+WINDOW, which has been much copied in modern times. It springs from a
+corbelled head, from which foliate four cinquefoiled panels. The
+window now has only three square-headed lights, the centre one being
+large. Under its sills are rich panels, and it is capped by a slight
+crenelated cornice with a boldly-carved drip, from which springs a
+conical roof surmounted by a fleur-de-lys.
+
+The beautiful BISHOP'S PALACE was mainly built by Jocelin, who died in
+1242. It consists of three sides of a quadrangle, the bishop's house
+being on the east, the chapel on the south, the kitchen and offices
+running alongside the moat on the north: on the west side there was
+formerly a gate-tower and a wall having a cloister within which led to
+chapel and hall. In addition to these buildings the great hall, now in
+ruins--forming, with the walls and outhouses, an outer court--was
+built to the south-west of the chapel. The whole group of buildings
+stands on a piece of ground, rich with trees, surrounded by a lovely
+old wall and moat, the single approach being by the bridge and the
+gate-house, which has Renaissance windows and retains the slit for the
+portcullis and the drawbridge-chains. Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury
+constructed the gate-house and fortifications, which form an irregular
+pentagon, with a bastion at each angle, and an extra one in the
+south-east side. The bastion in the western angle (on the south of the
+gate-house) contains two storeys, of which the lower, called the
+cow-house or stock-house, was used as a prison for criminous clerks.
+The moat is fed by a stream from St. Andrew's well hard by.
+
+[Illustration: The Bishop's Palace.]
+
+The palace itself is a most interesting example of medieval
+architecture, and remains very much in its original condition. It is
+oblong in plan, and divided lengthwise by a solid wall, running
+through both storeys from end to end, at about one third of its width;
+the long outer chamber formed by this wall on the ground floor is
+divided into the entrance hall of three bays (containing a fireplace,
+_temp._ Henry VIII.), and the passages to staircase and to chapel at
+either end. The wider chamber within the wall is lighted by plain
+lancet windows, and has a row of slender Purbeck pillars down the
+middle, which, with the corbels on the wall, carry a groined vault:
+this, the "crypt," or undercroft, was probably used as a storage-room;
+it is now the dining-room. To the north of this hall is a square
+chamber with a pillar in the centre; and to the east of the chamber a
+small room projects beyond the ground plan of the building, with a
+space at one end (probably a closet) now walled up.
+
+On the first floor the great chamber (68 by 28 feet) stood over the
+undercroft, while on its north was the bishop's private room, both
+open to the roof, and to the east of this, his private chapel. The
+gallery above the entrance hall was formerly divided into three
+chambers, the two larger of which Mr Buckle thinks were used as a
+lobby and a wardrobe. The windows in the gallery were restored by Mr
+Ferrey in 1846, but nothing is new except the marble shafts and bases.
+The two windows at the north end of the great chamber are evidently
+later additions, as they have fully developed bar-tracery, while the
+other windows in the chamber consist of pairs of trefoil-headed
+windows with a quatrefoil in plate tracery above them.
+
+The GREAT HALL, which is now but a beautiful ruin, was built by Bishop
+Burnell, who died 1292. It was a magnificent chamber, 115 feet by 591/2,
+with high traceried windows. It was divided into nave and aisles
+by rows of pillars to carry the roof and the passage at the west end
+led between buttery and pantry to the kitchen; over these rooms was a
+large solar, and on the north side a porch with staircase at the side
+leading to the solar. Both hall and palace are well and fully
+described by Mr Buckle in the _Somerset Proceedings_ for 1888. Bishop
+Barlow had the hall dismantled, employing Sir John Gates for the
+purpose; the walls, however, were left standing until Bishop Law's
+time, when they were partly demolished in order to make the ruin more
+"picturesque."
+
+The chapel is very similar in style to the hall, and was built very
+shortly afterwards; it is at present defaced by bad decoration and
+fittings. The carving is very fine and varied; some of the capitals
+retain the old stiff-leaf foliage, while in some the leaves grow
+freely round the bell in the Decorated manner. The vaulted ceiling is
+also an excellent example of the transitional work of the period. The
+west window is of later date, and has been twice restored--once by
+Bishop Montague (1608-16), and again in the present century. On the
+north side, at some height from the ground, are the indications of
+what may have been a gallery used as a private pew.
+
+Bishop Beckington (1443-66) added the northern block of buildings, now
+considerably altered, the kitchen and various offices, _le botrye,
+cellarium, le bakehous, ad lez stues ad nutriendos pisces_, in William
+of Worcester's words, as well as the gate now called the Bishop's Eye,
+_aliam portam ad introitum de le palays_, and the parlour (_parlurum_)
+and guest-chambers adjoining the kitchen. This block lies very
+prettily alongside the moat.
+
+Unfortunately the palace, which had so wonderfully escaped the brutal
+adaptations of the eighteenth-century architect, was restored in 1846
+by Mr Ferrey, and its west front completely altered. The upper storey,
+the porch, the buttresses were all added by Mr Ferrey; not to mention
+the tower at the north and the turret at the south, and the
+conservatory. Bishop Bagot, at whose order the work was done, also
+rebuilt the kitchen and offices; in fact, he did what he could to
+destroy the unique character and beauty of a block of buildings
+without parallel anywhere.
+
+THE BISHOP'S BARN, which stands in a field near the palace is
+remarkable for its length (110 ft. by 251/2) and the number of its
+buttresses. Simple in character, stately in proportions, it is a
+striking instance of the perfect sense of fitness which marked the
+medieval builders: in fact, it is the exact opposite to what a modern
+builder would erect if asked to provide a barn in the Gothic style.
+
+THE DEANERY, rebuilt by Dean Gunthorpe (1472-98), is an almost perfect
+specimen of a fifteenth-century house, in spite of the modern sash
+windows and other alterations which deface it. As at the palace, the
+principal apartments were on the first floor; and of these the chief
+is the hall, an excellent example of the more comfortable late
+medieval arrangement. Two handsome oriel windows with vaults of
+fan-tracery are at the upper end, not quite opposite to each other,
+where the sideboards used to stand; and at the lower end a stone arch
+carries a small music-gallery, with three small windows opening to the
+hall. Under this arch is the lavatory, a stone niche, in which a small
+cistern was suspended, with a drain at the bottom; so that the diners
+could put their hands under the tap of the little cistern as they
+passed into dinner.
+
+Over the hall are guest chambers with fine windows; and behind the
+partition at the back of the dais is another chamber with a large
+window, which Mr J.H. Parker thought to have been the chapel.
+
+Fuller description of the various ecclesiastical buildings can be
+found in Mr Parker's paper in the _Somerset Proceedings_ for 1863.
+
+THE ARCHDEACONRY was built in the time of Edward I., but the front of
+the house has been entirely modernised. The hall is larger than that
+of the deanery, and occupies the whole height of the building, having
+a very fine early fifteenth-century open timber roof.
+
+THE CHOIRMASTER'S HOUSE, at the east end of the cathedral, is a fairly
+perfect example of a fifteenth-century house, retaining its beautiful
+porch unspoiled. The roof and upper part of the windows of the hall
+remain, but are disguised and concealed by modern partitions. It is
+now the residence of the Principal of the Theological College.
+
+An organist's house once communicated with the singing-school, which
+is over the western cloister; it was much defaced in the eighteenth
+century, and entirely removed a few years ago.
+
+THE CANONS' HOUSES, which lie in the Liberty to the north of the
+cathedral, have been either entirely rebuilt, or much spoilt by
+alterations.
+
+THE SCHOOLHOUSE is partly of the fourteenth century, with wings added
+in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; it retains some features of
+interest.
+
+BISHOP BUBWITH'S ALMSHOUSE is near St. Cuthbert's Church. It was much
+spoilt in the fifties: the original plan was a great hall, with a
+chapel at the end of it, and cells along the side for the almsmen.
+These cells were open at the top so that there was plenty of fresh
+air, and if an almsman became ill or infirm, he could hear the service
+chanted daily in the chapel without leaving his bed. At the west end
+of the hall is a building of two storeys built by the bishop's
+executors, given to the citizens of Wells as a Guildhall, and used for
+that purpose till about 1779. Here is preserved a very fine money
+chest of the fifteenth century, painted with a scroll pattern, and
+resting on a stand inscribed with curious doggerel of the date 1615.
+
+ST. CUTHBERT'S CHURCH, which is kept open during the daytime, is thus
+described by Mr J.H. Parker in the _Builder_ for 1862 (p. 655):--
+
+"It was originally a cruciform church of the thirteenth century with a
+central tower, and with aisles to the nave; but of the church all that
+remains in the original state is a part of the north aisle. The
+central tower has been removed, the church entirely rebuilt in the
+fifteenth century. The pillars and arches of the nave have been
+rebuilt in the fifteenth century also, and the pillars lengthened
+considerably. The arches, with their dripstones, preserved and used
+again on the taller pillars, and most of the capitals have had the
+foliage cut off. The aisle walls, the clerestory, and roof, are all
+Late Perpendicular, about the time of Henry VII.; but the beautiful
+west tower is evidently earlier than the clerestory and roof, and has
+the mark of the old roof on the east side of it, coming below the
+present clerestory. This fine tower, which is certainly one of the
+finest of its class, and which Mr Freeman considers, I believe, to
+rank only second to one other [Wrington], is said to have been built
+in the time of Bishop Bubwith, or about 1430; and this appears to me
+probable. The character of the work is rather Early Perpendicular, and
+the groined vault under the belfry appears to be an imitation of the
+Decorated vault of the cathedral."
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+   [1] The road should be followed for about a quarter of a mile out
+       of the town; at this point a path leads over a stile and through
+       a coppice to the best point of view.
+
+   [2] Vol. i. 421.
+
+   [3] _History of the Cathedral_, 125.
+
+   [4] The Doulting stone, of which the cathedral is built, comes
+       from the St. Andrew's quarry at the little village of
+       Doulting, where Bishop Ealdhelm died. It is inferior oolite,
+       and very like Bath stone, which is the greater oolite. The
+       exterior shafts were blue lias, and those within either blue
+       lias or Purbeck marble, though there are one or two shafts of
+       red Draycot stone in the western responds of the nave.
+
+   [5] _Cathedrals_, iv. 98.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE INTERIOR
+
+
+The earlier architecture of Wells Cathedral presents so many puzzles,
+that the most skilled experts have differed widely both from each
+other, and, as we know now, from the truth. There are four distinct
+varieties of Early English work, covering a period of about a century
+from the time of Bishop Reginald, whose episcopate began in 1174; and
+yet, until Mr Bennett deciphered the old charters, which have at
+length settled the problem, all the work was attributed to Jocelin,
+for nothing was known of Reginald's building, and some of the best
+judges were even convinced that the west front was built before the
+nave. The difficulty was mainly caused by the unusual character of the
+architecture of the nave; "unlike that of any ordinary English
+building, and belonging to a style on the whole fifty years earlier"
+than the west front, as Professor Willis said, who gave it a name of
+its own, and called it the Somerset style. Thus the theory came to be
+that two bodies of masons had been employed--an ordinary English
+company for the front, and a local Somerset company for the nave,
+transepts and choir, who worked in a local variation of the prevalent
+Early English style. In this way, an attempt was made to overcome the
+difficulty of attributing to Jocelin work which Mr Willis had himself
+pronounced to be "only a little removed from the early Norman style."
+Mr Freeman, too, had allowed that the north porch might be earlier
+than Jocelin; and, long before, Britton had said that there would be
+little hesitation in ascribing the church to the transitional period
+of Henry II. (1154-89) on architectural evidence, were it not for
+Godwin's assertion, that Jocelin had entirely pulled down the old
+church and built a fresh one.
+
+But now we have got behind Godwin, and have found from contemporary
+evidence that Bishop Reginald commenced the present church. Thus we
+are able to divide the Early English work into no less than four
+periods, (1) The three western arches of the choir, with the four
+western bays of its aisles, the transepts, and the four eastern bays
+of the nave, which are Reginald's work (1174-1191), and so early as to
+be still in a state of transition from the Norman. It is a unique
+example of transitional building, and Willis calls it "an improved
+Norman, worked with considerable lightness and richness, but
+distinguished from the Early English by greater massiveness and
+severity." The characteristics of this late twelfth-century work are
+bold round mouldings, square abaci, capitals, some with traces of the
+classical volute, others interwoven with fanciful imagery that reminds
+us of the Norman work of Glastonbury; while in the north porch, which
+must be the earliest of all, we even find the zig-zag Norman moulding.
+(2) The rest of the nave, which was finished in Jocelin's time--that
+is to say, in the first half of the thirteenth century--preserves the
+main characteristics of the earlier work, though the flowing
+sculptured foliage becomes more naturalistic, and lacks the quaint
+intermingling of figure subjects. (3) The west front, which is
+Jocelin's work, and alone can claim to be of pure Early English style.
+(4) The chapter-house crypt, which is so late as to be almost
+Transitional, though, curiously enough, it contains the characteristic
+Early English dog-tooth moulding which is found nowhere else except in
+the west window. From this, we reach the Early Decorated of the
+staircase, the full Decorated of the chapter-house itself, the later
+Decorated of the Lady Chapel, the transitional Decorated of the
+presbytery, and the full Perpendicular of the western towers.
+
+Much of the masonry in the transepts, choir, choir aisles, and even in
+the eastern transepts, bears the peculiar diagonal lines which are the
+marks of Norman tooling. This does not, of course, prove that any part
+of Bishop Robert's church is standing, for medieval builders were
+notoriously economical in using up old masonry, but it does show that
+there are more remains of his work in the building than was generally
+supposed. A characteristic feature in this Norman tooling is that if a
+rule be laid along its lines, they will be found to be very slightly
+curved, a feature which is due to the fact that Norman masons dressed
+their stones with the broad curved blade of an axe.
+
+[Illustration The Nave.]
+
+The plan of the church is remarkably complete, symmetrical, and
+well-proportioned. Nave, transepts, choir, each flanked with its
+aisles, combine to form with the Lady Chapel and chapter-house a
+cathedral church which, though not of the first magnitude, is the most
+complete and typical in England. The ground plan itself, as set out in
+all technical severity on page 160, possesses an unusual attraction
+for the eye. It is free both from mutilation and excrescences; and yet
+all the picturesque external grouping, and internal mystery, which the
+afterthoughts of Gothic architects so often lend to a building, are
+secured, in the case of Wells, by the carefully-placed chapter-house
+and the beautiful arrangement of the Lady Chapel. The transepts of the
+choir are very happily carried far enough east to be internally
+subordinate to this chapel, which arrangement, with the apsidal form
+of the chapel itself, adds much to the beautiful proportions of the
+church. A third transept is given to the west end of the nave by the
+two towers.
+
+The length of Wells Cathedral from east to west is 383 feet within the
+walls, and 415 without. The length of the nave is 161 feet, its
+breadth 82 feet, and its height 67 feet. The length of the choir is
+117 feet, and its height 73 feet. The transepts are 135 feet within
+and 150 feet without.
+
+THE NAVE.--The general effect of the nave is that of length rather
+than height, and this is mainly due to the continuous arcade of the
+triforium which leads the eye from end to end of the building instead
+of from floor to roof. If this be compared with the older work in the
+transepts, it will be seen at once by how simple a device this radical
+change in the effect has been produced. Instead of being carried down
+right across the triforium, as in the transepts, the triple vaulting
+shafts are cut off above the arcade so as to be little more than
+corbels, and the space thus gained is used to give one additional
+opening to each bay of the triforium. In the transepts the triforium
+is composed of pairs of lancet arches separated by vaulting shafts,
+the triforium of each bay being a distinct composition over its pier
+arch; but by the time the architect had come to the nave, a new idea
+had occurred to him, and he made the triforium in one continuous
+arcade, unbroken from east to west, evidently with the deliberate
+intention of producing a horizontal rather than a vertical effect. The
+arrangement has undoubtedly a character of its own, and "there is no
+nave in which the eye is so irresistibly carried eastward as in that
+of Wells."
+
+In spite of this method of securing an effect of length, the builders
+managed to make the most of the small height of their church. The
+manner in which this was done forms an interesting example of the
+subtle feeling of proportion which early architects possessed. The
+clerestory was made unusually lofty, and the comparative lowness of
+the triforium both adds to the soaring effect and prevents the
+horizontal appearance being overmastering. This is increased by the
+bold vaulting of the ceiling, and the way in which the lantern arches
+fit into the vault.
+
+But, homogeneous as the nave appears, a little examination will
+clearly reveal the break which marks the separation between the late
+twelfth-century work of Reginald de Bohun and the thirteenth-century
+continuation of Jocelin. The earlier work, as we have seen, consisted
+of the four eastern bays, which, with the present ritual choir and
+transepts, formed Reginald's church; and, as a matter of fact, at the
+fifth bay (the next bay westward of the north porch) the marks of
+change are so evident that all writers upon the cathedral have based
+their theories upon it. The earlier masonry in the spandrels on the
+east of this point consists of small stones indifferently set: the
+later masonry is made up of larger blocks more carefully laid
+together; in the earlier part there are small heads at the angles of
+the pier arches, in the later there are none, while the small heads in
+the angles of the earlier triforium arcade give place to larger heads
+in the later; the tympana, which fill the heads of the lancets in this
+arcade, also are mainly ornamented in the earlier part with grotesque
+beasts, while in the later they contain foliage, with two exceptions.
+Again, the medallions which decorate the spaces above the triforium
+are sunk in the earlier masonry, but, in the later, they are flush
+with the surface and not so deeply carved. Even more noticeable is the
+difference in the capitals, those of the western bays being lighter,
+freer, and more undercut, though less interesting and hardly as
+beautiful as those of the earlier part. With the exception of these
+differences, however, which are doubtless due to the freedom enjoyed
+by medieval workmen, the original design of the nave was faithfully
+adhered to, the square abaci, even, being retained, though the
+circular abacus had become a leading characteristic of the true Early
+English of Jocelin's period. Certainly it is an unusual instance of an
+architect deliberately setting himself to complete the works of an
+earlier period in faithful accordance with the original plan; and we
+may well be grateful to him for his modesty.
+
+[Illustration: A Capital--the Fruit-stealer's Punishment.]
+
+All the carving is most interesting and beautiful: the caps and
+corbels of the vaulting-shafts; the little heads at the angles of the
+arches, which are vivid sketches of every type of contemporary
+character; and the carvings in the tympana, above referred to, which
+are best in the seventh, eighth, and ninth bays (counting from the
+west end), those on the north excelling in design and execution, while
+those on the south are more grotesque. But the CAPITALS of the piers
+are the best of all, and the most hurried visitor should spare some
+time for the study of these remarkable specimens of sculpture,
+vigorous and life-like, yet always subordinated to their architectural
+purpose. Those in the transepts are perhaps the best (p. 89), but the
+following in the nave should not be missed:--
+
+_North Side, sixth Pier._--(By north porch) Birds pluming their wings:
+Beast licking himself: Ram: Bird with human head, holding knife (?).
+
+_Eighth Pier._--Fox stealing goose, peasant following with stick:
+Birds pruning their feathers: (Within Bubwith's chapel) Human monster
+with fish's tail, holding a fish: Bird holding frog in his beak, which
+is extremely long and delicate.
+
+_Ninth Pier._--Pedlar carrying his pack on his shoulders, a string of
+large beads in one hand.
+
+Toothless monster, with hands on knees.
+
+_South side, seventh Pier._--Birds with human heads, one wearing a
+mitre.
+
+_Eighth Pier._--Peasant, with club, seized by a lion: Bird with
+curious foliated tail: (Within St. Edmund's chapel) Owl: Peasant with
+mallet (?).
+
+The lofty clerestory windows are divided into two lights by
+Perpendicular tracery of late fourteenth or early fifteenth century
+date, which extends to the level of the passage, the lower part being
+filled with masonry. The windows were not, however, altered in shape
+when the tracery was inserted. In the tracery are very slight traces
+of the old glass.
+
+The triforium passage is capacious enough to form a large tunnel,
+which gives a good effect to its lancet openings. The small iron
+rings, which are prominent enough to be rather tiresome to the eye,
+were recently inserted for the use of those engaged in cleaning the
+walls. Within the passage additional arches may be seen, inserted to
+strengthen the arcade at the commencement of the later work and in
+other places.
+
+The groined ceiling has carved bosses at the intersection of its ribs.
+The red pattern is a restoration of the old design which was found on
+the removal of the whitewash, but the restorer seems to have missed
+the right tints.
+
+There is a music-gallery in the clerestory of the sixth bay on the
+south side; it is composed of three panels with quatrefoils containing
+plain shields, and is finished with an embattled cornice. Another
+gallery, perhaps for an organ, must have been supported by the two
+noticeable brackets on the spandrels of the fourth bay of the same
+side. One may conjecture that it was of wood, and was reached from the
+triforium. The brackets are carved in the shape of very large heads of
+a bishop and a king, both supported by smaller heads, and of an
+extremely benevolent expression. The hair of the king has that curious
+formal twist with which we are familiar on playing-cards. As some of
+the small heads in the chapter-house have the same style of hair,
+these two brackets probably belong to the end of the thirteenth
+century.
+
+[Illustration: A Capital--toothache.]
+
+Sir John Harrington in the _Nugae Antiquae_ (ii. 148) says of these
+two heads that "the old men of Wells had a tradition, that, when there
+should be such a king and such a bishop, then the church should be in
+danger of ruin." At the time of the Reformation it was noticed that
+the head of the king bore a certain resemblance to Henry VIII., and
+that the king held in his hands a child falling, who, it was said,
+could be none other than Edward VI. The peculiarity of the bishop's
+figure is that he has women and children about him. "This fruitful
+bishop, they affirmed, was Dr Barlow (p. 156), the first married
+bishop of Wells, and perhaps of England. This talk being rife in Wells
+in Queen Mary's time, made him rather affect Chichester at his return
+than Wells, where not only the things that were ruined but those that
+remained, served for records and remembrances of his sacrilege."
+
+The west end of the nave is covered in its lower portion by an arcade
+of five arches with Purbeck shafts, the middle one being wider than
+the rest, to contain the two smaller arches of the doorway. The three
+lancet windows were re-modelled in Perpendicular times by the
+insertion of the triple shafts, which have the casement mouldings and
+angular caps of the period; but the dog-tooth moulding of the arches,
+the medallions in the spandrels, and the little corbel heads of the
+Early English work remain. A Perpendicular parapet along the sill of
+the window marks the gallery which, pierced through the splays,
+carries the triforium passage round the end of the nave. A string
+course runs along the bottom of this gallery and forms the bases of
+the triple shafts; the bases are supported on corbels which die off
+upon the sloping wall below. This wall conceals a curious gallery, the
+purpose of which is not known; it is entered by steps from the
+triforium, and lighted by round openings which can be seen in the
+central quatrefoils of the west front; when these quatrefoils were
+filled with sculpture it would have been difficult to detect the
+existence of the dark gallery.
+
+[Illustration: Specimens Of Capitals.]
+
+Two small transepts at the west end of the nave are formed by the
+western towers, which project in this church beyond the aisles. These
+transepts are connected with the aisles by an arch, the lower part of
+which is closed by wooden doors. That on the north was used as a
+chapel of the Holy Cross, and of late years as the consistory court:
+it is now the choir-boys' vestry; that on the south served as a porch
+in the days when the usual entrance to the church was by the Early
+English doorway which leads into it from the cloister; it is now
+appropriated to the bell-ringers. They are both of strikingly
+different style to the rest of the interior, as they were built in
+pure Early English style, at the same time as the west front, of which
+the towers form, of course, an integral part. Their shafts are of blue
+lias, the capitals richly carved; their groined vaults have a circular
+opening to admit to the upper storey of the tower, which has its
+corbels ornamented with foliage, although they cannot be seen. Over
+the doorway in the south chapel an arcade is curiously fitted into the
+available space beneath the vault.
+
+[Illustration: A Capital.]
+
+THE AISLES OF THE NAVE (see p. 19) are of the same character as the
+nave itself, the later part having been resumed at about the same
+time, and at the same place. Among the capitals the following in the
+north aisle may be specially mentioned:--
+
+_Fifth Shaft._--Peasants carrying sheep, etc., a dog in the midst.
+
+_Ninth Shaft._--Man in rough coat, which falls before and behind
+rather like a chasuble, carrying foliage on his back. A very good
+figure.
+
+_Tenth Shaft._--(By arch of vestry) Man carrying what seems to be a
+hod of mortar and a mason's mallet.
+
+_Opposite side of arch_, at end of the string course: Peasant in hood
+carrying a staff. On the caps opposite are two heads with tongues on
+their teeth (see p. 92).
+
+The windows, both of these aisles and those of the transepts, were
+filled with Perpendicular tracery at about the same time as the
+clerestory windows. The date of this addition must have been before
+Bishop's Bubwith's time, for the library which that prelate built over
+the cloister blocks the south window of the west aisle of the south
+transept. A stone bench runs along all the aisles.
+
+[Illustration: Specimens Of Capitals.]
+
+GLASS OF THE NAVE, TRANSEPTS, AND AISLES.--Most of the glass of the
+west window was collected abroad, during his exile, by Bishop
+Creyghton, while he was yet dean (1660-70). The main part of it is
+devoted to the life and death of St. John Baptist, and is of excellent
+early sixteenth-century work, for under the fantastic figure of the
+executioner is the inscription _Sancti Johannis Decollatio_ 1507. The
+two other lights containing the large figures of King Ina and Bishop
+Ralph are, however, of later date, and to judge by their costume they
+should belong to Creyghton's own time; moreover, on the southern one
+are Creyghton's arms. Apparently the compositions at the extreme top
+and bottom of the middle light are much later; a little handbook on
+the cathedral by Mr John Davies, the verger in 1814, states that the
+then dean and chapter re-arranged and restored the window in 1813;
+these additions must belong to that time, and according to him they
+were brought from Rouen. Their ugly reds and blues certainly do not
+blend with the earlier glass, as do the figures of Ina and Ralph, but
+considerably mar the mellow and delicate effect of the whole. There
+are only a few slight fragments of old glass in the other windows.
+There are also two modern windows at the west end of the aisles.
+
+[Illustration: View Across Nave, Shewing Sugar's And Bubwith's
+Chapels.]
+
+BISHOP BUBWITH'S CHANTRY CHAPEL.--Two chantry chapels stand opposite
+each other under the ninth pier-arches of the nave. They are alike in
+general characteristics, though there is an interval of sixty years
+between them. The chantry of Bishop Bubwith (_ob._ 1424), who built
+the north-west tower, is formed by a hexagonal screen between the
+piers, the three eastern sides being filled with a reredos that gives
+the chapel a square appearance within. The screen is composed of the
+most light and elaborate tracery, its corners surmounted by a crest;
+it is open above, but has a rather coarsely-carved canopy over where
+the altar stood. Doorways, whose jambs are too delicately carved to
+have ever carried doors, give free access and a clear view of the
+interior from either side. Altogether it was an ideal place for votive
+Celebrations, when but few worshippers were present. The niches over
+the altar have been hacked level with the wall, and the little pillar
+piscina is also defaced. The triple shafts of the pier at the western
+end are corbelled off, the corbel being carved with Bubwith's arms
+(argent, a fess engrailed sable between twelve holly leaves vert, 4,
+4, 4, and 4, arranged in quadrangles) impaled with those of the see.
+The altar here was formerly dedicated to St. Saviour.
+
+SUGAR'S CHANTRY.--In the ninth bay of the nave, on the south side, is
+the chantry of Treasurer Hugh Sugar. Before its erection, the altar of
+St. Edmund of Canterbury, who was canonised in 1246, stood here; and
+perhaps, when it comes to be used again, it will be maintained in
+honour of that most attractive scholar saint. Speaking of these
+chantries, which were endowed in such profusion in the later Middle
+Ages, Canon Church (_Somerset Proceedings_, 1888, ii. 103) says: "The
+belief in the communion of saints, living and dead, and the desire for
+continued remembrance after death, and for the intercessions of the
+living, led practically to the endowment of chantries and obits,
+whereby not only was the church enriched, and the services of many
+priests provided for, but also attachment to the church of their
+fathers was greatly strengthened, as being the common home of the dead
+and the living." That attachment, one would think, is hardly likely to
+be revived by this beautiful chapel and its fellow being put to base
+uses. At present it serves as a kind of booking-office, where visitors
+deposit their sixpences and sign their names, while the other is
+stored with hassocks, and becomes the resting-place of any brooms,
+pails, and dustpans that are in use.
+
+St. Edmund's (or Sugar's) chapel is hexagonal, like that of Bishop
+Bubwith, but its tracery, frieze, and reredos are more elaborate. The
+canopy over the altar is vaulted with lace-like fan-tracery. Five
+niches, now empty of their figures, form the reredos; their sumptuous
+pedestals and canopies are in excellent condition. Attached to the
+frieze without, on either side, are six demi-angels, with delicate
+wings and extremely curly hair, bearing shields, with representations
+of the Five Wounds, the Lily of the Annunciation, between angels'
+wings; the arms of the see (a plain saltire surmounting a pastoral
+staff in pale between two keys addorsed, the bows interlaced on the
+dexter, and a sword erect on the sinister); the arms of Glastonbury
+Abbey (a cross flory, in dexter chief a demi-virgin with child
+proper), the arms of the vicars (a saltire), the initials H.S., and
+Sugar's arms, originally a "canting coat," three sugar-loaves, and in
+chief a doctor's cap. Sugar's initials and arms also occur under the
+canopy. It is the fashion to consider this chapel inferior to its
+fellow, merely because it is later in date, but a little impartial
+study will show that it is much the better of the two. The tracery,
+though less uncommon, is more graceful, that over the doorway
+especially being far better contrived; the cornice is better
+proportioned, and is not spoilt by the untidy trail of foliage which
+runs round that of Bubwith's chapel; the canopy, too, fits in with the
+curve of the tracery, while that of the others projects clumsily
+across it.
+
+THE PULPIT.--From the west end of this chapel steps lead into the
+stone pulpit which adjoins it. This pulpit was built in Henry VIII.'s
+reign, by Bishop Knight, who died in 1547. It is a low, but
+well-proportioned, structure, resting on a basement, and fronted with
+panelled pilasters; it is surmounted by an entablature. In front are
+the bishop's curious arms, which occur more distinctly in the glass of
+the north choir aisle--Per fess, in chief a demi-eagle with two heads
+and sans wings issuing from a demi-rose conjoined to a demi-sun in
+splendour in base. On the frieze is the inscription--_preache. thov.
+the. worde. be. fervent. in. season. and. ovt. of. season. reprove.
+rebvke. exhorte. w^t. all. longe. svfferyng. &. doctryne. 2. Tim[=o]._
+A board along the top, covered with red baize, impairs its beauty at
+present.
+
+[Illustration: Sugar's Chapel--the Lectern And Pulpit.]
+
+THE LECTERN, which stands near, is composed of a massive double desk,
+surmounted by ornamental work, containing the arms of the see. It
+rests upon a ball and turned stem and base, and is entirely of brass.
+Bishop Creyghton, who had it made when he was yet dean, inscribed it
+on both desks with his arms and this legend:--_Dr. Rob^{t.} Creyghton
+upon his returne from fifteen years Exile, w^{th} o^r Soveraigne Lord
+Kinge Charles y^e 2^{d.} made Deane of wells, in y^e yeare 1660, gave
+this Brazen Deske, w^{th} God's holy worde thereon to the saide
+Cathedrall Church._ The Bible referred to still rests upon it, bearing
+the same date; it is bound up with the Prayer Book, and contains
+initial letters and a frontispiece, but it stops at the book of Job.
+
+Opposite the lectern are two sixteenth-century panelled wooden stalls,
+with round finials, all bearing the same device on both sides--a Tudor
+rose with _I.H.S._ in the centre, and the letters _m.d.l.i.i._ (1552)
+on the five petals. These excellent examples of simple and effective
+woodwork were found amongst some lumber in 1846, and now form part of
+the temporary choir stalls that are used for the nave services.
+
+On the south side of Bubwith's chapel, and partly covered by it, is a
+slab, 10 ft. long, covering the grave of Bishop Haselshaw, with the
+inscription, _Walterus de Haselshaw Ep. 1308_. On the west of Sugar's
+chapel, another slab bears the inscription, _Radulphus Erghum Ep.
+1401_. In a slab near the entrance to the choir there is the matrix for
+a brass of a lady, with mitred head-dress of the period, _c._ 1460,
+beneath a canopy. The style suggests that it may belong to Lady Lisle,
+whose tomb possibly stood here.
+
+THE TRANSEPTS are both of the same architectural character, and were
+evidently built before the nave. They have less ornament, the
+medallions and the carved tympana of the nave being alike absent,
+although there are the same small heads at the angles of the pier
+arches. The triforium, too, is different; each bay consists of two
+large openings, devoid of ornament, instead of three narrower ones,
+and is separated from the next bay by the vaulting-shaft which reaches
+down to the string-course of the pier arch (see p. 77). Some of the
+carved work, however, of the capitals and corbels is of a later date
+than that of the nave, which may be due to the capitals having been
+left uncut till after the nave was finished, or to damage done by the
+fall of the _tholus_ in 1248. Apparently the corbels of the vaulting
+shafts are later than those of the nave, they are certainly more
+elaborate. Of the capitals those on the west side of both transepts
+are of one style and abound in representations of the toothache. The
+capitals on the east side are different from those on the west of the
+third pier on this side of the south transept, and that is of a style
+that suggests the Decorated period. Those on the west are certainly
+the best, and some of the following are the finest in the church, and
+perhaps in England:--
+
+NORTH TRANSEPT, _first Pier._--(Inside the Priest Vicars' vestry) A
+prophet (?) with scroll on which there is no name: Man carrying goose.
+(Outside) Head with tongue on teeth.
+
+_Second Pier._--Aaron, writing his name on a scroll: Moses with the
+tables of stone.
+
+_Third Pier._--Woman with a bandage across her face.
+
+Above this cap the corbel consists of a seated figure, naked, with
+distorted mouth and an agonised expression.
+
+[Illustration: Section of North Transept, and Elevation of South
+Transept.]
+
+SOUTH TRANSEPT, _second Pier_ (from the south end).--Two men are
+stealing grapes, one holds the basket full, the other plucks grapes,
+holding a knife in his other hand: The farmers in pursuit, one carries
+a spade and the other a pitchfork: The man with the fork, a vigorous
+figure, catches one thief: The man with the spade hits the other
+(whose face is most woe-begone) on the head (illust. p. 79).
+
+_Third Pier._--Woman pulling thorn out of her foot: Man with one eye,
+finger in his mouth: Baboon head: Cobbler; this figure shows very
+plainly the method of shoemaking at this time; the cobbler, in his
+apron, sits with the shoe on one knee, his strap passes over the knee
+and round the other foot, his foot is turned over so as to present the
+side and not the sole to the strap: Woman's head with long hair.
+
+_Fourth Pier._--Head perfectly hairless: "Elias P." (the prophet) with
+hand on cheek as if he too has the toothache: Head in hood, with
+tongue on the one remaining tooth.
+
+It may be well here to say a word about the general classification of
+these earlier capitals, since their date is a matter of great
+architectural interest. I would venture to divide them into five
+groups--
+
+1. Those of the three western bays of the choir: simple carved foliage
+of distinctly Norman character, as in the north porch: these belong to
+the time of Reginald (1174-1191).
+
+2. The four eastern bays of the nave and its aisles. Some of these may
+belong to the first period, though later than the choir: they are more
+advanced in the foliage, and teem with grotesque birds and beasts.
+Some, however, of the caps in these bays are of quite different
+character (p. 80); they contain _genre_ subjects of perfectly
+naturalistic treatment, very different to the St. Edmund of the north
+porch capital, but exactly similar to the figure caps of the
+transepts. They must therefore have been carved later than the death
+of Saint William Bytton.
+
+3. The western bays of the nave. These, which are of much less
+interest, belong to the period of Jocelin's reconstruction
+(1220-1242). They are characteristic examples of rich stiff-leaf
+foliage, freer than that of the earlier work, but much less varied and
+without either human figures or grotesques.
+
+4. On the eastern range of transept piers. These would seem also to
+come within Jocelin's period, with the exception of the third pier of
+the south transept.
+
+5. On the western range of transept piers (p. 89), with which must be
+classed those later caps already referred to in the nave under group
+2. Their date is settled by the fact that they abound in unmistakable
+representations of the toothache. Now Saint William Bytton died in
+1274, and his tomb became immediately famous for cures of this malady.
+In 1286 the chapter decided to repair the old work, no doubt because
+the offerings at his tomb had brought money to the church; this part
+of the church had been damaged ever since the fall of the _tholus_ in
+1248. The caps must therefore have been carved during the episcopate
+of Burnell (1275-1292). Mr Irvine, indeed, suggests that the figure of
+the woman taking a thorn ("bur") from her foot may contain a reference
+to Bishop Burnell. The undercroft passage, with its curious corbels
+and bosses, was probably also a part of the old work then completed,
+as it contains one "toothache" head. Although the introduction of such
+finished figure-subjects into the capitals suggests this lateness of
+date, they are still completely Early English in style, and a great
+gulf is fixed between them and the Decorated caps of the chapter-house
+begun by Burnell's successor, William de Marchia (1293-1302).
+
+[Illustration: The South Transept From North Side Of Nave.]
+
+[Illustration: Capitals In Transept]
+
+THE FONT is of peculiar interest as the one surviving relic of Bishop
+Robert's Norman church. Whether it also stood in the still earlier
+Saxon church is still an open question: it is as likely to be of
+pre-Norman as of Norman date, and the fact that whatever ornament
+there may have been in the spandrels of its shallow arcades has been
+hacked off, makes conjecture unsafe. Its unusual position in the south
+transept may be due to the Bishop Giso's quasi-conventual buildings on
+the south of the church, which would have made this transept the most
+common entrance to the cathedral at the time of the Conquest. A
+Jacobean cover rests upon the font, and with it forms a charming
+combination of pre-Gothic and post-Gothic Romanesque design.
+
+[Illustration: The Font. (Drawn by W. Heywood.)]
+
+At the south end of the south transept is the tomb of Bishop _de
+Marchia_ (_ob._ 1302). The effigy lies in a recess, and is covered
+with a canopy of three bays, the ogival arches, finished in sumptuous
+crockets and finials, painted red and gold, the spandrels being
+alternately green and red, powdered with a little pattern, the cusps
+and mouldings scarlet and crimson and green and gold, with a dark
+colour in the shadows. The effigy of the bishop is one of the best in
+the cathedral, but even more lovely are the three little figures so
+charmingly supported on foliage at the back of the tomb--two angels
+and a bishop between them. The heads of these three figures have been
+wickedly destroyed, but parts of the chains of the angels' censers
+remain. Of the two beautiful angels which hold the cushion the heads
+fortunately remain. Along the plinth of the tomb are six heads which
+are quite unique in their treatment; three are bearded (one of these
+is bald); one is shaven, tonsured, and turned half round in a
+strangely naturalistic manner; another is also shaven, and the
+remaining head is that of a woman in a veil. Two large faces are
+carved on the east and west ends of the tomb, both with long wavy
+hair--one of a woman, the other with a wavy beard. The central boss of
+the vaulting is carved with five roses, which are coloured green,
+their foliage, like all the foliage in this tomb, being gilt on a red
+ground with the red edges showing. The little angels at the back had
+gilded robes with red lining, and blue wings; the little bishop wore a
+red chasuble with green (or blue) dalmatic, and red tunicle over his
+white alb; the lappets of his mitre, which have survived, were red,
+and traces of dark blue are on his shoes: there seem to have been
+patterns on the various vestments, and the colours can still be seen
+where their sleeves overlapped. Modern lettering has been cut across
+the back of the tomb and coloured, by way of contrast to the ancient
+work.
+
+Under the battlemented cornice of the curtain-wall to the west a row
+of heads is painted in fresco on a red ground, which seems to be part
+of the same scheme with the curious heads on the plinth of de
+Marchia's tomb: one of these, a woman in a dark-coloured hood, is
+especially distinct. No doubt, the whole wall was originally painted.
+The sill of the window over the tomb seems to have been used for some
+special purpose: there is a passage cut through the splay of the
+window, through which the sill may be reached, which is not the case
+with the corresponding window of the north transept. The passage is
+reached from a staircase concealed behind the curtain-wall, which is
+reached by an ogee-headed doorway (with cusps in the head, finial, and
+two small heads to its very beautiful mouldings). This staircase also
+leads to a chamber on the level of the passage, but on the west side:
+the interior of the chamber can be seen from the ground, as its old
+wooden door is kept open. It is supposed by some to have been a
+watching chamber in connection with the tomb. There can, indeed, be
+little doubt that these arrangements had something to do with de
+Marchia's tomb, or that the ornamented doorway in the curtain wall of
+the same date as the tomb, together with the frescoes on the wall,
+were connected with the strong efforts that were made at this time for
+his canonisation. Perhaps the sill was used for the display of his
+relics, and the chamber was the ordinary resting-place of the
+reliquary, for which purpose the door and the absence of windows would
+have fitted it.
+
+Next to de Marchia's tomb on the other side, the monument of Joan
+Viscountess _Lisle_ (_ob._ 1463) gives a good illustration of the
+change of architecture in a hundred and fifty years. The crockets are
+less free, and straight lines and square members abound; the fine ogee
+curve of its single arch is weakened by the rather weedy cusps, its
+shafts have become tiny mouldings, and their capitals mere knops. It
+is coloured, too, all over, in green and red and yellow, but heavily
+in comparison with its neighbour. The colour has been unusually well
+preserved, owing to the fact that the tomb was plastered over, and not
+discovered till 1809. There is no effigy, but a brass of apparently
+recent date bears this inscription:--_Hic jacet Joanna Vicecomitilla
+de Lisle una filiarum et haeredum Thomae Chedder, armiger quae fuit
+uxor Joannis Vicecomitis de Lisle, filii et haeredis Joannis Comitis
+Salopiae et Margaretae u[=x] ejus unius filiarum et haeredum Ricardi
+comitis Warwici et Elizabethae uxoris ejus filiae et haeredis Thomae de
+Berkley militis, domini de Berkeley, quae obiit xv^{mo} die mensis Julii
+A[=n][=n] D^i MCCCCLXIII._ Lady Lisle's husband was killed at the
+battle of Chastillon (1453), when he was serving under his father, the
+famous Earl of Shrewsbury. The painted designs above the three niches
+should be noticed, and also those of the moulding and fleurs-de-lys at
+the side. The monument was evidently used as a chantry chapel; but it
+did not originally stand here. The brass by the north side of the
+screen (p. 89) may mark the site.
+
+The eastern aisles of the transepts are divided off into chapels by
+two Perpendicular stone screens, that of the south transept having a
+doorway in it for each chapel. These chapels are thus dedicated,
+beginning from the south--St. Martin, St. Calixtus, St. David, Holy
+Cross. From the last-named chapel the chapter-house is reached through
+an Early English doorway, and a similar doorway (now partly blocked by
+Biconyll's tomb) led from St. Martin's to a small building, supposed
+to have been a vestry, which once stood outside. In the south transept
+there are also--a small door to the tower, a small door with ogee head
+(p. 96), a rather larger doorway with modern lintel leading to the
+library (two shafts just above this door have been cut off, and faces
+very roughly cut on their extremities by way of corbel), and the large
+doorway leading to the cloister. The principal windows belong to the
+original work, having been merely filled with Perpendicular tracery.
+The windows of the south-east aisle contain Decorated tracery, but the
+tracery of the north-east aisle is not good.
+
+The western aisle of the south transept is open; that of the north
+transept is cut off by a Perpendicular stone screen, which is solid in
+the southern bay, and through carved in the northern. The latter is,
+however, boarded up, and used as the vestry of the priest-vicars, the
+other being the vestry of the vicars-choral. From the priest-vicars'
+vestry a door leads into a small chamber now used for the water
+supply, and over the doorway there is a small and pretty figure of a
+woman under a little niche.
+
+There are a very few fragments of Early Perpendicular glass in some of
+the upper lights of the nave and transept windows. There are also two
+modern windows at the west end of the nave, and one in the south
+transept, of which I have been unable to discover the actual
+designers' names.
+
+TRANSEPT CHAPELS.--ST. MARTIN'S, where the obits of Savaric and
+Jocelin were celebrated, is separated by a solid Perpendicular screen
+from the adjoining chapel of St. Calixtus. It is now used as the
+canons' vestry. Partly blocking the old Early English doorway is the
+tomb of _Biconyll_, who was chancellor in 1454. His will, with a good
+deal of information about him, is given in the _Somerset Proceedings_
+for 1894, by Mr A.S. Bicknell, a descendant. The name was originally
+Bykenhulle (A.S. for Beacon Hill), and has been spelt in forty-seven
+different ways. His effigy lies on the tomb, dressed in cassock, long
+surplice, and _cappa nigra_ or choral cope. The ends of the almuce can
+be seen in the opening of the cope, and its hood hangs over the
+shoulders.
+
+ST. CALIXTUS' chapel is enclosed on the side of the choir aisle by
+part of the beautiful ironwork from Beckington's tomb. The doors of
+this and St. Martin's chapel are also made from the same iron screen.
+Within the chapel, and near the screen, in strange contrast to it,
+stands one of those indescribable stoves which disfigure the church,
+its chimney, as usual, driven through the vault. The east end of the
+chapel is occupied by the canopy which formed part of Bishop
+_Beckington's_ tomb till the restoration of 1850, when it was, by an
+inexcusable act of vandalism, taken down and fixed up in this place
+(p. 125). This canopy did not cover the tomb, but stood at its foot so
+as to form the eastern part of a chantry chapel, the tomb being on its
+south side and the iron screen enclosing it where it jutted into the
+choir on the north side. It will be noticed that its northern angle
+was sloped off so as not to present an awkward corner on the side of
+the choir. The reredos, for such it really is, is a most elaborate and
+charming piece of work; "pretty" is perhaps the word that describes it
+best, if "pretty" be taken in its very best sense. Here there is
+nothing of the suave grace of de Marchia's tomb, nothing of the vigour
+and truth of the transept capitals, nothing of the noble delicacy of
+the north porch, which was a delicacy of intellect, while this is a
+delicacy of execution. It is certainly decadent; even by the side of
+Sugar's chapel it is over-refined and a thought effeminate, but, with
+the colour that still covers it fresh and bright, it must have had all
+the fascination of a splendid piece of jewellery, where profusion of
+ornament is more desired than structural grace. The cornice is
+particularly rich with a finely-carved vine ornament, and with two
+angels, their long outstretched wings minutely feathered, who bear
+shields having representations of the sacred wounds. The tabernacle
+work behind the altar is gone, like the altar itself, with the
+exception of the small niches which formed the sides of the central
+composition, but the little canopy of the central niche remains to
+give us a slight idea of its workmanship. The short wings of the
+reredos have panels and traceried openings, and, on the south, a
+piscina which looks almost too tiny to be real. The top has a toy-like
+vault of fan-tracery with little pendants.
+
+On the south side of St. Calixtus' chapel is _Dean Husse's_ alabaster
+tomb (_ob._ 1305), which bears some of the best carved work in the
+cathedral. The effigy itself is good: it represents the Dean clad in
+the same choir vestments as the figures on the panels below. These
+panels should on no account be missed. The first on the left
+represents the Annunciation with a grace that is not less delightful
+for the strain of exaggeration which pervades it. The Blessed Virgin
+(see illustration on p. 101), a lovely figure in long, close-fitting
+kirtle and mantle thrown gracefully over her shoulders, turns round
+from the desk at which she is kneeling, and throws out her arms with a
+quaint gesture of surprise; her crown and nimbus are both of enormous
+size. A very small Gabriel dashes down from the top corner, bearing a
+scroll which takes up the whole of the panel; he is preceded by a Dove
+with very long rays. The next three panels (passing over these with
+shields) contain three figures of clergy, two of which hold books, and
+all their short staves. They wear the cassock, long surplice, and a
+long, graceful choral cope, somewhat like the modern academic gown in
+shape, the rounded ends of the hooded almuce reach to the knee and are
+held at the chest by a cord with tassels. There is no better
+representation of medieval choir vestments in existence than these
+three figures. The last panel is a curious representation of the
+Eternal Father holding the crucifix; this remarkable figure has a
+_very_ long face, great masses of curly hair, a huge crown, and _very_
+long hands.
+
+The two chapels of the north transept can only be reached through the
+choir aisle, no doubt because the way to the chapter-house was through
+them. The first was probably ST DAVID'S chapel. Here should be noticed
+the capital of the easternmost shaft of the second transept pier--a
+head with curly hair and handsome smiling face. This shaft is
+corbelled off, and the corbel through carved in the shape of a lizard
+eating the leaves of a plant with berries thereon; it is a charming
+study. The tomb of Bishop _Still_ (1543-1607) in this chapel is under
+a handsome canopy of warm-coloured marbles, with black columns and
+red, blue, and gold decoration. The effigy is dressed in rochet and
+chimere, over which is a red robe lined with white fur; a ruff is
+round the neck, a close-fitting black cap covers the head and part of
+the ears, and the rochet is finished at the wrists with a plain black
+band.
+
+In the chapel of the HOLY CROSS the monument of the intruding Bishop
+_Kidder_, Ken's successor (p. 158, _ob._ 1703), stands on the site of
+the altar, whither it has been removed from its original position on
+the south side of the choir. Standing in all its chilly
+pretentiousness so near to Still's tomb, it well illustrates the
+immense decline in monumental art which took place during the
+seventeenth century. The bishop's daughter, who erected the monument,
+is represented reclining, as, with one arm outstretched, she looks at
+two urns which are supposed to contain the ashes of her father and
+mother; underneath is a very long Latin inscription.
+
+[Illustration: The Annunciation--Husse's Tomb.]
+
+Against the north wall and close to the entrance to the chapter-house
+stands the tomb of Bishop _Cornish_ (_ob._ 1513). He was chancellor
+and precentor of Wells, and suffragan bishop under Bishop Fox of Bath
+and Wells and Bishop Oldham of Exeter, his title being Bishop of
+Tenos. Part of the inscription remains:--_Obiit supradictus d[)u]s
+Thomas Tinensis Ep[)u]s tercio die mensis Julii anno ... MCCCCCXIII
+Cujus Anime p_[_ropitietur Deus A_]_men_. The three panels on the
+front bear shields--T with a sheaf of corn, Cornish's arms (on a
+chevron between three birds' heads erased a mitre) and C with a sheaf
+of corn; on the side panel are the arms of the chapter, the arms, that
+is, of the see without the pastoral staff. Against the wall within the
+canopy are some matrices of small brasses, in which the kneeling
+figure of a bishop, a scroll, and two plates for inscriptions can be
+traced.
+
+[Illustration: Priest In Surplice--Husse's Tomb.]
+
+From several peculiarities in Cornish's tomb, I am convinced that it
+was also used as the _Easter Sepulchre_, where the Host was laid
+during the concluding days of Holy Week. These sepulchres were often
+made in connection with a tomb, and the usual place for them was
+somewhere on the north side of the choir. The position here in the
+chapel of the Holy Cross (which is an appropriate dedication) would be
+particularly convenient for the purpose. The chapel was easily reached
+by the clergy without their having to go into the public part of the
+church; it was thus as safe a place as the choir itself, and at the
+same time was much more open to the people, who could pay their
+devotions from the transept, and through the open stone screen could
+see the candles burning round the sepulchre.
+
+[Illustration: The East End In 1823.]
+
+Just where it could be best seen from the transept, on the eastern end
+of the upper storey of the tomb under the canopy, is a carving of the
+Resurrection. A wide arch is cut in the stone; within this is carved a
+square opening, not through-cut, but farther recessed, to represent
+the mouth of the sepulchre; in front of the square recess is the
+figure of Christ, issuing from the tomb, clad only in a long mantle,
+which He holds across His body; the hair is long, the face mutilated,
+and the hands gone. At the left is the kneeling figure of a bishop,
+the head gone, but part of the staff remaining in the hands. There is
+a great crack (now filled with mortar) round these two figures, as if
+the attack of the iconoclasts had been made with heavy tools. A
+pedestal at the right-hand corner of the square recess seems a later
+insertion, as it is loose and does not exactly fit; probably it was
+added soon after the tomb was made, to hold a small silver figure of
+an angel, or of a soldier, as there is a little hole (now filled with
+mortar) at a height above it convenient for rivetting a metal figure.
+
+The Sepulchre proper would have consisted of a small coped chest, in
+shape like a reliquary, round which would be painted the incidents of
+the Passion. The slab of the tomb, being without the usual recumbent
+effigy, would have formed the place on which this "coffer" rested,
+this being the usual method when a tomb was used for the purpose. On
+Good Friday, the Host, often in a specially-made pyx, was with much
+ceremony laid in the coffer, together with the altar-cross, and there
+was kept, surrounded by candles and guarded by watchers, till Easter
+Day. We know that there was a special provision at Wells for one
+candle to burn continuously within the Sepulchre "_I cereus in
+sepulchro cum corpori Dominico qui continue ardebit donec Matutinae
+cantentur in die Paschae_" (_MS. Harl._ 1682, _fo._ 5). There is a
+small hole in the east wall of this chapel, close to the tomb and a
+little below the level of of the slab whereon the coffer would have
+rested; this may have held a sconce or some ornament. But the _cereus
+in sepulchro_ was probably a large candle within the chapel, and in
+accordance with general usage, there would have been other candles
+burning upon cressets. There are two other holes in the north wall, a
+few inches to the east of the top of the tomb, which may have held
+rods for the curtains that were used in much profusion for the
+adornment of Easter sepulchres. While the coffer stood on the slab it
+would have hidden the carving of the Resurrection; but on its removal
+on Easter Day, the carving would have stood in full view of the
+people, bright, no doubt, with colour and surrounded by lights. It
+will further be noticed that the tomb stands eighteen inches away from
+the east wall, the space being now filled with modern masonry; this
+was probably in order to leave ample room for the sacred ministers in
+their vestments; had it stood close against the wall the ceremonial
+could not have been conveniently carried out.
+
+Near the tomb is the doorway, with a fine old oak door, which leads
+into the chapter-house; and above the tomb is a window which was
+blocked up when the vestibule was built, and a bracket set in the
+masonry.
+
+THE CLOCK is a great favourite with visitors, who generally congregate
+in the north transept at the striking of the hour and laugh gently to
+one another when the quaint performance is over. "Jack Blandiver"
+(this is the name given him by the country people for some
+undiscovered reason) kicks his bell at each quarter in the most
+life-like manner, his feet trembling afterwards with the exertion; but
+at the hour, after Jack has sounded his four quarters, as the big bell
+begins to toll, the four "knights" above the clock rush round in
+contrary directions, and charge each other with so much ferocity that
+one unfortunate is felled at each encounter, and has barely time to
+recover his upright position before he is again and again knocked down
+with resounding clatter upon his horse's back. The other three fight
+twenty-four times a day unscathed.
+
+The clock was thus described by Mr Octavius Morgan, F.R.S., in the
+_Archaeological Journal_ for 1883:
+
+"In the Cathedral of Wells is what remains of the ancient clock which
+once belonged to Glastonbury Abbey. This very curious timepiece is
+said to have been originally executed by Peter Lightfoot, a monk of
+the abbey, but at the cost of Adam de Sodbury, who was promoted to the
+abbacy in 1322. It appears to have been originally placed in the south
+transept of Glastonbury Abbey Church, where it continued till the
+Dissolution, when, tradition says, it was carried to Wells and placed
+in the north transept of the cathedral with all its belongings--viz.
+the figure which strikes the quarters with his heels on two little
+bells within the church, and the two "knights" which perform the same
+service with their battle axes on the outside. The inside figure
+strikes the hour on a bell before him with a battle-axe in his hands.
+The face of the dial is 6 feet in diameter, contained in a square
+frame, the spandrels of which are filled with angels holding in their
+hands the head of a man; the outer circle is painted blue, with gilt
+stars scattered over it, and is divided into twenty-four parts,
+corresponding with the twenty-four hours; the horary numbers are in
+black-letter characters on circular tablets, and mark the hours from
+twelve at noon to midnight, and from thence to midnight again (noon
+and midnight being marked by a cross instead of a numeral). The hour
+index, a large gilt star or sun, is attached to the machinery behind a
+second circle which conceals all except the index. On the second
+circle are marked the minutes, indicated by a smaller star; a third
+and lesser circle contains the numbers of the days of the month, which
+is marked by a point attached to a small circular opening in the
+plate, through which the phases of the moon are shown. On the opposite
+side is a female figure, with the motto _Semper peragrat Phoebe_.
+
+"An arched pediment surmounts the whole, with an octagonal projection
+from its base like a gallery, capped with a row of battlements,
+forming a cornice to the face of the clock. A panelled and
+battlemented turret is fixed in the centre, round which four figures
+mounted on horses revolve in opposite directions, as if charging at a
+tournament, when set in motion by a communication with the clockwork,
+to be made at pleasure; these are commonly called _knights_, but their
+costume is only that of ordinary persons. The movement is at a
+distance from the dial, and connected with it by a long horizontal
+rod; the dial work was close at the back of the dial. The revolving
+figures on horseback are moved by a separate weight, and are set in
+motion by the freeing of a detent. The old boarding at the back [in
+the vestry of the vicars-choral] is painted black, with a diaper
+scroll of foliage with red and white roses. The female figure on the
+dial, representing the moon, is always kept upright by a balance
+weight; the quarter-boys inside, who strike the quarters, are much
+later, having _knee-breeches_.
+
+"The outside dial has now two hands; it was once like a star with only
+one hand. The bells outside are struck by two figures in armour,
+_temp._ Henry VIII., probably put up when it was removed from
+Glastonbury.
+
+"The clock seems to have remained without alteration after it was then
+put up, till the present modern movement, made by Thwaites & Reed of
+Clerkenwell, was, in the time of Dean Goodenough, substituted for it,
+and the old original movement was taken and deposited in the crypt
+under the chapter-house, where it remained uncared for, for many
+years, during which time, 1853, I visited and examined it, made notes
+of it, and took drawings of it. The great wheel has ninety teeth, and
+the pinion, a lantern-pinion, had nine leaves, or rather bars; the
+second wheel had sixty teeth; the remainder of the works were all
+disjointed and bent, and remained unheeded." The whole is now fitted
+together, and in a going condition, in the mechanical museum at South
+Kensington.
+
+The _Antiquary_ for August 1897 ("Some Mediaeval Mechanicians")
+reminds us that, as the clock was in constant use at Glastonbury for
+about 250 years, and then at Wells for another 250 years, and as the
+old movement is now still working at the South Kensington, "as though
+its life were interminable"--it is probably the oldest piece of
+working mechanism extant.
+
+The same article says of these old works: "It will give an idea of the
+labour involved, when it is stated the mechanism of the clock occupies
+a space of about 5 feet cube (125 cubic feet), that the structure is
+wholly of forged iron; that the numerous wrought-iron wheels, some of
+which are nearly 2 feet in diameter and about 1/2 inch thick, besides
+having to be made truly circular and concentric, had all their teeth
+cut out and trimmed to workable shape by hand; and that the heavy
+wrought-iron frames, etc., are fastened entirely by means of mortise,
+tenon, and colter, no screws being used in the whole structure. The
+pinions are of the lantern form, with octagonal cheek-plates on square
+spindles, and the pendulum of modern form beats seconds."
+
+THE INVERTED ARCHES.--Undoubtedly the first thing that the stranger
+notices in Wells Cathedral, and the last that he is likely to forget,
+is the curious contrivance by which the central tower is supported. Of
+the three pairs of arches (the upper arch resting inverted upon the
+lower) which stretch across the nave and each of the transepts, that
+in the nave is seen at once, and lends a unique character to the whole
+church. At first these arches give one something of a shock, so
+unnecessarily frank are they, so excessively sturdy, so very English,
+we may think. They carry their burden as a great-limbed labourer will
+carry a child in a crowd, to the great advantage of the burden, and
+the natural dissatisfaction of the crowd. In fact, they seem to block
+up the view, and to deform what they do not hide.
+
+That is the first impression, but it does not last for long.
+Familiarity breeds respect for this simple, strong device, which
+arrested the fall of the tower in the fourteenth century, and has kept
+its walls ever since in perfect security, so that the great structure
+has stood like a rock upon the watery soil of Wells for nearly seven
+centuries, with its rents and breaks just as they were when the damage
+was first repaired. The ingenuity, too, of these strange flying
+buttresses becomes more and more evident; the "ungainly props" are
+seen to be so worked into the tower they support, that they almost
+seem like part of the original design of the first builders. One
+discovers that it is the organ, and not the arches, that really blocks
+the view, and one marvels that so huge a mass of masonry can look so
+light as to present, with the great circles in the spandrels where the
+arches meet, "a kind of pattern of gigantic geometrical tracery."
+Indeed, I think no one who has been in Wells a week could wish to see
+the inverted arches removed.
+
+Professor Willis, who had made a most careful investigation of the
+masonry, thus describes the cause and the construction of the inverted
+arches (_Somerset Proceedings, 1863, i. 21_):
+
+"It is evident that the weight of the upper storey of the tower
+completed in 1321 had produced fearful settlements, the effects of
+which may still be seen in the triforium arches of the nave, and
+transepts next to the tower, which are dragged downwards and deformed,
+partly rebuilt, filled up, and otherwise exhibiting the signs so often
+seen under central towers, of a thorough repair. The great piers of
+the tower are cased and connected by a stone framework, which is
+placed under the north, south, and west tower-arches, but not under
+the east. This framework consists of a low pointed arch, upon which
+rests an inverted arch of the same form, so as to produce a figure
+somewhat resembling a St. Andrew's cross, to use the happy phrase
+applied by Leland to a similar contrivance introduced for a similar
+reason [but at a later date] into the central tower arches of
+Glastonbury." To this description there only needs to be added a
+mention of the circles which occupy the spandrels, and help to prevent
+the whole structure from seeming a mere inert mass of masonry. To
+appreciate the work fully, it should be looked at from some spot, such
+as the north-east corner of the north transept, whence the three great
+pairs of arches can be seen together. The effect from here is very
+fine, especially when the nave is lighted up, and strong shadows are
+cast. The extreme boldness of the mouldings, the absence of shafts and
+capitals and of all ornament, give them a primitive vigour, and their
+great intermingling curves, which contrast so magnificently with the
+little shafts of the piers beyond, seem more like a part of some great
+mountain cavern than a mere device of architectural utility.
+
+[Illustration: The Inverted Arches, From The North Transept.]
+
+At the same time as the arches were built, flying buttresses were
+inserted further to secure the tower, and they can be seen blocking up
+the triforium and clerestory of those bays, in nave, choir, and
+transepts, which adjoin it. Other repairs were necessary, for the
+pier-arches of the same bays in nave and transepts were completely
+shattered, and had to be replaced by the present ones, the
+queer-looking capitals of which contrast so oddly with the earlier
+work. It is instructive, also, to compare the lightness of these
+fourteenth-century mouldings with the boldness of those, wrought at
+exactly the same time, of the great inverted arches.
+
+THE TOWER.--Besides its inverted arches and other signs of repair, the
+tower is mainly noticeable for its Perpendicular fan-tracery vault of
+fifteenth-century date. This vault hides the lantern with its arcades,
+and thus destroys one of the elements of distance and mystery which,
+before the advent of the more prosaic Perpendicular period, had been a
+characteristic of Gothic architecture. Nothing else but the desire for
+uniformity can account for this unjustifiable addition; for there can
+have been no intention of hanging bells in the lantern when there were
+already two western bell-towers. The lantern, with its cracked
+masonry, can be seen during the ascent of the tower (p. 47).
+
+The shafts of the eastern tower arches were corbelled off at some
+height from the ground, in order to allow the stalls of the first
+ritual choir to be set flat against the wall. This shows that Bishop
+Reginald, when he rebuilt the church, kept to the old Romanesque
+arrangement and made his choir under the tower, reserving his three
+bays of what is now the choir for the presbytery--a very dignified
+arrangement. The square holes for fixing the wooden screen of this
+earlier choir can still be traced on the aisle walls in a line with
+the ninth piers of the nave.
+
+THE SCREEN was built in the fourteenth century; but Salvin altered and
+spoilt it by bringing forward the middle portion to carry the
+unsightly organ. Mr Freeman objected very strongly to the choir being
+shut off from the nave by this screen, and urged the authorities to
+pull it down and throw the whole church open from end to end. The
+remedy suggested by Mr St. John Hope, on the other hand, is that a
+second screen should be erected under the western arch of the tower,
+against which the nave or rood altar should stand, with seats for the
+choir on either side. Such a screen as this was certainly used in
+conventual churches, and would be more in accord with the spirit of
+medieval architecture, which was content to sacrifice the grandeur of
+great space in order to gain the qualities of seclusion and mystery,
+and inexhaustible variety.
+
+Two things, at least, are certain. The long-established custom of
+crowding the Sunday congregation into the choir should be abolished,
+and the organ should be modified or removed. Magnificent Sunday
+services could be held in the nave, either with a second screen and
+altar or without a screen at all; but, as the former plan could be
+tried without any destruction of old work, it should be tried first.
+
+[Illustration: Choir, Looking West.]
+
+As for the organ, the cathedral will always be defaced while it
+remains as a whole in the midst of the screen. Musical experts could
+no doubt distribute it so that it would no longer be an offence to the
+eye, and yet would sound more effectively than at present. Perhaps
+galleries for the swell, pedal, and great organs might be built above
+the pier-arches in the western bay of the choir on either side, and
+the consol, with the choir organ, might remain on the screen. Some
+fragments of tabernacle work on the triforium level would thus be
+hidden, but it is unremarkable work, exactly similar to that of the
+adjoining bays, and, moreover, it was so blocked and patched when the
+tower was strengthened that it would not be a disadvantage to hide it.
+As it is, the organ, unsightly in shape, and garishly painted, blocks
+up the view of the splendid east window, and makes the nave a mere
+vestibule to the choir. The inverted arches are generally thought to
+block up the church, but were the organ removed it would be found that
+they do not.
+
+THE ORGAN is a modern instrument by Willis. Dean Creyghton, a musician
+whose services are still sung in the cathedral, built the old organ in
+1664, and S. Green of London repaired it in 1786, but only one
+diapason remains of the old stops. The case also disappeared, the
+present one being among the ugliest in England. There are three
+manuals; thirteen speaking stops on the great organ, ten on the swell,
+nine on the choir, and eight on the pedal organ. The swell organ is
+rather small, but has been recently improved; the pedal organ is the
+best feature of the instrument. The wind is supplied by hydraulic
+machinery. There are four pneumatic pistons, six couplers, and seven
+composition pedals. The organist now sits on the south side, so that
+he can see his choristers, whether they sing in the choir or the nave.
+
+THE CHOIR.--The western part of the choir should be particularly
+noticed. For, while the three eastern bays which form the presbytery
+are Late Decorated, the three western bays of the choir are
+twelfth-century work of Bishop Reginald's time, being, in fact, the
+oldest part of the interior. That they were finished before Reginald's
+other work in the transepts and nave is not only likely from the
+general custom of medieval architects, but is made probable by the
+carving of the capitals, which is less advanced than that in any other
+part of the church.
+
+It will be noticed, however, that, though the three arches remain of
+the earlier bays, the two easternmost _piers_ of the old part are
+Decorated, like those in the three later bays; and some of their arch
+mouldings have been cut away in order to fit the new capitals. The
+reason for this peculiar combination of a new pier with an old arch is
+an interesting one. The original pier marked the east end of
+Reginald's church, and it was taken from under its arch because, being
+at the junction of the east wall with the side walls, it was a large
+compound pier quite unfitted to stand as one of an arcade. The three
+bays then formed the presbytery of the church, and the choir was
+placed, Norman fashion, under the tower. A further evidence of this
+being the original east end of the church is presented by the two
+early buttresses outside at this point, which are much wider than any
+of the others. But there must have been an ambulatory beyond the east
+end of the old church, since Reginald's work is carried a bay farther
+east in the choir aisles. There may, too, have been a small chapel
+beyond.
+
+Speaking of the contrast between the three early bays and the later
+work, Freeman says: "The new work, though exceedingly graceful, is
+perhaps too graceful; it has a refinement and minuteness of detail
+which is thoroughly in place in a small building like the Lady Chapel,
+but which gives a sort of feeling of weakness when it is transferred
+to a principal part of the church of the full height of the building.
+The three elder arches are all masculine vigour; the three newer
+arches are all feminine elegance; but it strikes me that feminine
+elegance, thoroughly in its place in the small chapels, is hardly in
+its place in the presbytery."
+
+Certainly, the mouldings of the later arches will not bear comparison
+with those of the earlier. The suave strength of the transitional
+mouldings forms a most instructive contrast to the less effective
+minuteness of the decadent work. The same is true of the capitals:
+those of the later period have little architectural significance, and
+many of them are further weakened by the fact that not the capital
+only, but the adjoining part of the shaft as well, is cut out of white
+stone.
+
+With the exception, however, of the three pier-arches themselves,
+there are few signs of the twelfth-century work. For, when the new
+presbytery was finished, the clerestory over the old arches was
+altered, and the triforium cased with tabernacle work (though not in
+quite so rich a style), so as to bring them into harmony with the
+fourteenth-century work, and to fit them to carry the new vault. The
+tabernacle work of the presbytery must have been completed first; for
+no attempt was made to keep it at the same level with the old part,
+which, when the builders determined to adapt it to the new, caused a
+very marked break at the juncture.
+
+[Illustration: CHOIR, LOOKING EAST. PROCESSION PATH AND LADY PATH
+BEYOND.]
+
+There is, strictly speaking, no triforium, the space being occupied by
+the rather florid tabernacle work, the effect of which is, of course,
+considerably impaired by the absence of statuary. The niches in the
+presbytery are deeper than those in the choir; they spring direct from
+the pier-arches, having no spandrel, and they contain richly-foliated
+brackets, which rest on triple shafts. This part is also marked by
+triple vaulting shafts of Purbeck, which are carried down to the
+floor.
+
+The clerestory windows contain flowing tracery of an advanced and not
+very good type. In some the plain mullions are carried on through the
+head of the window and intersect each other.
+
+Above the tabernacle work of the east end is the east window of seven
+lights, the last bit of the fourteenth-century reconstruction, the
+last flicker of Decorated freedom. Its curious tracery is still
+beautiful, doubly so for the glass it enshrines, but the rule and
+square of Perpendicular domination have already set their mark upon
+it; the two principal mullions run straight up to the window-head, and
+part of the tracery between them is rectangular.
+
+The inhabitants of Wells are, or were, exceedingly proud of the
+"vista" into the procession-path and Lady Chapel, which is afforded by
+the three dainty pointed arches of the east end. So proud were they
+that they would suffer nothing to stand behind the high altar but a
+low stone wall, barely higher than the altar itself, an arrangement
+which, it is hardly necessary to point out, defeated its own end by
+reducing the whole effect to absolute baldness. Mr Freeman wisely
+pointed out the need of a respectable reredos, remarking that the
+original founders never dreamed of the Lady Chapel acting as a
+"peep-show to the choir." A Lady Chapel, he added, was built specially
+not to be peeped into, but to be a thing apart from the great whole of
+the church, from the high altar westward. After a while, a reredos was
+offered to the church, and approved by Mr J.D. Sedding, who was then
+the cathedral architect; but there was much opposition, and the scheme
+was dropped. Dean Plumptre, with characteristic temerity, went so far
+as to appeal to the witness of the _vox populi_ that the open view was
+the best. Since then, wiser counsels have prevailed, and a curtain
+(small and dingy, it is true, but still a curtain) now hangs behind
+the altar. While giving a measure of dignity to the east end, it, of
+course, emphasises, as every architect must have known that it would,
+the charm of the "peep" into the chapels beyond.
+
+A larger reredos would further enhance the peculiar charm of the east
+end. There can, indeed, be little doubt that the ancient reredos was
+of tabernacle work, so as to carry on the effect of niches of the
+triforium storey. Their present disconnectedness can be no part of the
+original plan, and a reredos full of statues, which was high enough to
+group adequately with the rich canopies above could have been the only
+way to secure dignity and unity of effect. Till an architect is found
+capable of mastering so delicate a problem of proportion as such a
+reredos must present, we may well be content with a larger and
+brighter curtain. The low east wall, with its ugly cresting, warns us
+not to embark too rashly upon modern stonework.
+
+The lierned stone vault, with its heavy, angular ribs, is of a very
+unusual kind. Mr Freeman described it as "a coved roof, such as we are
+used to in woodwork in this part of England, only with cells cut in it
+for the clerestory windows." The restorers have gilded the bosses, but
+the space between the ribs is smoothed in a way that gives the
+appearance of there being no masonry in the construction. One can
+hardly judge the ceiling, therefore, by its present appearance, which
+is not further improved by the green wash with which some of the
+clerestory windows are covered.
+
+The general appearance of the choir suffers pitiably from the
+ill-advised restoration of 1848 and the following years. Before that
+time its aspect must have been curious and encumbered; but the
+judicious removal of the pews and galleries, and the restoration of
+the truncated oak canopies of the stalls, would have made matters
+right at a small cost, and without the destruction of any old
+woodwork. As it was, everything was ruthlessly swept away. The
+tabernacled stalls, which eighteenth-century vandalism had respected,
+vanished utterly before the restoring mania of the Gothic revivalist,
+even their traditional position and order being changed.
+
+The result is just what might have been expected. The place has been
+completely modernised. Chilly stone canopies cover the stalls; they
+are of the kind of workmanship which forty years ago was considered
+excellent. That is to say, they are covered with frigid, ungainly, and
+pompous ornament, cut with mechanical regularity, and without one
+trace of feeling or one line of beauty from beginning to end. Below,
+and between them, the choir is encumbered, much as it was before 1848,
+with rows of stalls, which are continued in the presbytery almost up
+to the tawdry brass altar-rails. Two more pale ghosts of medieval art
+front each other in complacent parody of the work their makers could
+not even copy--the pulpit and the bishop's throne. The former is Early
+Victorian; the latter is worse, it is a restoration of Perpendicular
+work so relentless that not a sign of the original conception remains.
+Plate-glass fills the tracery at the sides, and the door is a piece of
+solid swinging stone. On the completion of this terrible work, the
+restorers seem to have felt dimly the want of colour, which previously
+had been so abundant. They therefore proceeded to furnish with that
+peculiar musty red which used to cast a gloom over our childhood--red
+cushions on the seats, red cushions on the desks, red hassocks on the
+floor, red edges to the books, hot red in the bishop's throne, dull
+red on the altar, before the altar, and behind the altar, it is all
+red but the chilly white stone, and the all-pervading woodwork of the
+seats, which adds the muddy gloom of oak that has been stained and
+varnished to the miserable poverty of the whole.
+
+The cause of all this desolation was just the ignorance of its
+promoters as to the functions of a cathedral. The choir was looked
+upon as a select church for the leading families of the town, and the
+seats in it were appropriated; the nave was a vast empty space that
+was never used for worship at all. Hence the organ on the screen,
+hence the setting back of the stalls, so that the choir might be
+widened, and more seats "rammed, jammed, crammed," to use Freeman's
+indignant words, into the space. Instead of the long continuous range
+of stalls which formerly existed, there are now groups of five under
+each arch, with the result that ten of the prebendaries are without
+accommodation. Such is the heavy legacy of blunders with which the
+dean and chapter are burdened. It will take many a year before the
+choir can be redeemed from its unfortunate state; but the present
+arrangement of the altar is a great improvement on its position only a
+few years ago, and no doubt similar measures will in time completely
+efface the traces of 1850.
+
+Of the old woodwork the MISERICORDS have alone escaped destruction.
+Sixty-four of these remain, fifty of which belonged to the prebendal
+stalls of the upper row, though they were removed from their proper
+position at the restoration. Sixty of the seats are now in the lower
+rows of the stalls, the other four are preserved in the library. It is
+enough to say of them that no finer examples of wood-carving can be
+seen in England. The following description of the wonderfully fresh
+and varied subjects was supplied by Mr St. John Hope for a paper read
+by Canon Church before the _Society of Antiquaries_ in March 1896:--
+
+   _South side, first row._--1, a goat (broken); 2, a griffin
+   fighting with a lion(?); 3, a man in hood and drawers riding with
+   his face to the tail of a barebacked horse; 4, a hawk preying on
+   a rabbit; 5, a mermaid (unfinished); 6, two popinjays in a fruit
+   tree; 7, an ape carrying a basket of fruit on his back (broken);
+   8, a double-bodied monster; 9, a dog-headed griffin; 10, two
+   goats butting (unfinished); 11, a monkey holding an owl
+   (unfinished); 12, two dragons interlocked and biting each other's
+   tails; 13, an ewe suckling a lamb (unfinished); 14, a wyvern and
+   a horse fighting. _South side, second row._--15, a mermaid
+   suckling a lion; 16, a man holding a cup? (broken), sitting on
+   the ground, and disputing with another man holding a pouch; 17, a
+   cat preying on a mouse (unfinished); 18, a monster with bat's
+   wings; 19, a griffin devouring a lamb; 20, a puppy biting a cat;
+   21, a man in a contorted position upholding the seat; 22, a
+   serious-looking dog; 23, a cat playing a fiddle; 24, a man seated
+   on the ground and thrusting a dagger through the head of a dragon
+   with feathered wings; 25, bust of a bishop, in amice, chasuble,
+   and mitre (unfinished); 26, a peacock in his pride; 27, a fox
+   preaching to four geese, one of which has fallen asleep (broken);
+   28, a cock crowing. _North side, first row._--29, a lion dormant;
+   30, a dragon with expanded wings, asleep; 31, a man with his left
+   eye closed, wearing a cloak and squatting on the ground with his
+   hands on his knees; 32, a fox running off with a goose in his
+   mouth; 33, head of a man with donkey's ears; 34, two monsters
+   with male and female human heads, caressing (unfinished); 35, a
+   man on his back upholding the seat with his right hand and right
+   foot; 36, a lion with the ears of an ass; 37, a hawk scratching
+   its head; 38, a sleeping cat (unfinished); 39, a woman with
+   dishevelled hair and agonised expression, crouching on the ground
+   with the right hand on her shoulder, the other extended; 40, a
+   dragon with hairy belly biting his back; 41, two ducks addorsed,
+   one with his beak open; 42, two dragons fighting (unfinished);
+   43, a bat's head (unfinished). _North side, second row._--44,
+   head of a man with bushy hair and beard, with a lion's leg
+   growing out of each side; 45, a man in tunic and hood, lying on
+   his side and clasping his hands; 46, a man in girded tunic, with
+   his head downwards, upholding the seat with his back and left
+   hand; 47, head of a lady with hair in a caul on each side,
+   covered with a veil confined by an ornate fillet; 48, a
+   gentle-looking lion; 49, a bat displayed; 50, head of an angel,
+   with amice round neck and expanded wings; 51, a lion; 52, two
+   doves about to drink from a ewer standing in a basin
+   (unfinished); 53, a squirrel with a collar round his neck, trying
+   to escape from a monkey who holds him by a cord; 54, a
+   wood-pigeon feeding; 55, a man riding on a lion, to whose
+   buttocks he is applying a whip; 56, a boar and a cat with cloven
+   feet, walking in opposite directions; 57, an eagle displayed
+   (unfinished); 58, head and shoulders of a man who upholds the
+   seat with his hands; 59, a rabbit regardant; 60, a two-legged
+   beast regarding its tail, which is formed of three oak-leaves on
+   one stem. _In the Library._--61, a man in hood and loose tunic,
+   kneeling on the ground and thrusting a spear down the throat of a
+   dragon; 62, a boy in gown, with long, wavy hair, lying on his
+   side and drawing a thorn out of his left foot (of coarse late
+   seventeenth-century work); 63, a dove or pigeon feeding her
+   young; 64, a sorrowful-looking king sitting cross-legged on a
+   cushion between two rampant griffins, who are secured by straps
+   buckled round their necks.
+
+GLASS IN THE CHOIR.--Over the high altar is a superb specimen of the
+Jesse window. It is so intricate, that at first nothing can be
+distinguished in the glow of jewelled colour but the twining branches
+of the vine, and a little time is needed to enter into the spirit of a
+window that is all the more enduring for not being very obvious. The
+following excellent description by Canon Church (in a sermon preached
+in the cathedral on May Day 1890) will make the legend easy to
+decipher:--
+
+"In the central light are the foremost figures of the Bible story. At
+the base is the recumbent figure of Jesse with name inscribed, with
+head resting on hand as in meditation. From that figure, as from the
+vine stem, issues upward the leading shoot, bearing upon it the
+figures of the Virgin Mother crowned with ruby nimbus, and the Holy
+Child with gold nimbus, both under a golden canopy. Above, in line, is
+the Crucifixion. On either side, the waving tendrils of the vine
+shoots intertwine themselves in rings of light round figures of those
+who prepared the way for the advent of the Word Incarnate. On the
+lower tier, in line with Jesse, are, we may believe, the ancestors of
+Jesse. Amminadab and Obed are inscribed on two of the pedestals--others
+are nameless. Stately figures they are in face and form, in flowing
+mantles of green, and ruby and gold, like Arab chiefs, some with the
+Arab head-covering such as is worn to-day--figures such as some artist
+in the last crusading host might have seen and designed, so different
+from the conventional portraiture of Bible characters.
+
+"In the second tier are the Kings and Prophets chosen to represent the
+heralds of the Babe of Bethlehem, the Word Incarnate. Three
+kings--David with his 'immortal harp of golden wires'; Solomon, with
+Temple model in his hand, in robes of emerald, and ruby, and gold, are
+on either side of the central Figures; and Jechonias, the link in the
+pedigree between the royal David and the captive exile. Three
+Prophets--Abraham, misplaced indeed in order of time, but most fitly
+in place as 'the father of the faithful, unto whom and through whom
+the gospel was before preached to the Gentiles' (Gal. iii. 8); Hosea,
+and Daniel. All these are clad in the magnificence of Oriental
+drapery, the colours of each pair on either side of the central light
+answering like to like. Some are looking upward, some are pointing
+with outstretched hand towards The Child, towards the Crucified One.
+
+"There in central light in the mid-panel of the window is the Virgin
+Mother and the Holy Child, The Child born in Bethlehem the home of
+Jesse, not in David's royal Palace, the flowering shoot of the stem of
+Jesse. Now from His throne on His Mother's knee He looks out over the
+world and as with outstretched arms to embrace. A ray of white light
+on the Mother's head gives a natural halo of purity to Her 'the highly
+favoured' 'with grace replete,' whom all generations have called
+'blessed,' as she looks down wondering on the Holy Child.
+
+"A subdued and sadder colour seems to veil the subject of the highest
+panel in the central light. There is the green Cross in the
+background, and upon it are affixed the attenuated arms and the bent
+form of the Crucified--the head drooping on the breast. On either side
+of the Cross stand, the sorrowing Mother on the right, in attitude of
+calm resignation, very different from the conventional garb of
+mourning, and the exaggerated expression of grief in so many
+paintings; on the other hand St. John, in sadder colours and the gloom
+of grief. Again above, in two of the smaller six-cusped lights, are
+figures rising from the tomb, and in the two at the side are angels
+blowing trumpets calling to judgment. At the head and apex of the
+window are outstretched wings as of the Holy Spirit like the Dove
+brooding over the world re-created by the Word made Flesh, giving
+Himself for our redemption."
+
+The clerestory windows contained a figure under a canopy in each of
+the lower lights. Four of these old windows remain. One light in the
+north-east window contains a St. George, thus described by Mr C.
+Winston (_Arch. Soc., Bristol vol._): "He is clad in a surcoat which
+reaches to the knee. He wears a helmet, avant and rerebras,
+shin-pieces and sollerets of plate, or rather cuir boulli; the rest of
+his person is defended with mail, on his shoulders are aiglettes." In
+the next window are St. Egidias with very distended ears, and St.
+Gregory in a tiara. There are also two modern windows; a glaring one
+by Willement has St. Dunstan and St. Benignus, who were both abbots of
+Glastonbury and St. Honorius; another, by Bell, has Augustine,
+Ambrose, and Athanasius.
+
+THE AISLES OF THE CHOIR are entered from the transepts by ogee arches,
+which have crockets and finials, and are flanked by a pair of
+pinnacles on either side. The aisles are of the same character as the
+choir itself, as they were vaulted when the choir vault was made, and
+new windows of the Decorated style were inserted in the western bays
+as well as in the newer part. There is a stone bench along the aisles
+on both sides, and on the north side some very fine specimens of Early
+English carving lie on the bench. The vaulting is lierned with four
+bosses at each intersection. The foliage of the third group of
+capitals on the north side consists of a single leaf which runs
+horizontally round the caps.
+
+Two old wooden doors, with fine hinges, close the entrance to the
+presbytery on the north and south sides.
+
+The body of Bishop Jocelin lies buried in the midst of the choir,
+where he was laid in the place of honour as a founder. Bishop Godwin
+relates that the tomb was "monstrously defaced" in his time, and all
+traces of the burying-place were lost until, in 1874, an ancient
+freestone coffin was found under the pavement in the midst of the
+choir. Its covering stone had been broken, and the bones within
+disturbed; but on its discovery the stone was renewed, and the
+inscription _Jocelinus de Welles, Ep._ 1242 cut on it.
+
+THE SOUTH-EAST TRANSEPT is the chapel of St. John the Evangelist, but
+it is mainly occupied by a stove, one of those characterised by Mr
+Freeman as "the most hideous stoves with which human perversity ever
+disfigured an ancient building." Odds and ends are also kept here, in
+accordance with the extraordinary idea, not yet quite extinct, that a
+chapel is a place where rubbish may be shot. There is, nevertheless, a
+decorated piscina in the east wall to remind one of its former
+purpose. Against the south wall is the tomb of the learned _Dean
+Gunthorpe_ (1472-98), who built the present Deanery, and gave to the
+cathedral a silver image of our Lady, 158 oz. in weight. His initials
+occur on the panels, I.G. on a blue ground, and also his arms, which
+include guns, in allusion to his name. There are traces of colour,
+especially a strong light blue on the panels. Unless one has good
+nerves, it is advisable not to look at the window, which was given by
+the students of the Theological College under Canon Pindar, its first
+Principal. The middle of this unfortunate chapel is encumbered with a
+monument to _Dean Jenkyns_ (_ob._ 1854), the ornamentation of which may
+be taken as marking the lowest point to which the debasement of Gothic
+design has descended. A row of tiles round it serves to make it more
+conspicuous, and its unhappy prominence is further secured by a low
+brass railing of unutterably bad workmanship. It was Dean Jenkyns who
+restored the choir, and Professor Freeman remarks that on his tomb "is
+written, with an unconscious sarcasm, _Multum ei debet ecclesia
+Wellensis_," words which, he slily points out, seem to be borrowed
+from Lucan's address to Nero, the destroyer of Rome, _Multum Roma
+tamen debet_, etc.
+
+MONUMENTS IN THE SOUTH CHOIR AISLE.--Besides two of the
+thirteenth-century effigies of earlier bishops, there are in this
+aisle two ancient monuments of great interest. In the second bay is
+the tomb of _Saint William Bytton_ (1267-1274), a low slab of Purbeck
+marble, with the figure of a bearded and fully-vested bishop, in the
+act of benediction, cut upon it. This is the oldest incised slab in
+England; and it was at this tomb that the offerings were made which
+helped to finish the church. Godwin says that "many superstitious
+people (especially such as were troubled with the tooth-ake) were wont
+(even of late yeeres) to frequent much the place of his buriall, being
+without the North [a mistake for south] side of the Quier, where we
+see a Marble stone, having a pontificall image graven upon it."
+
+It may have once been more raised than now, and four small plugged
+holes in the masonry of the wall opposite suggest the existence of
+some arrangement in connection with the devotions here. In the
+restoration of 1848 the tomb was discovered between the second and
+third piers of the south choir aisle. It is thus described by Mr J.R.
+Clayton, an eye-witness on the occasion:
+
+"On the coffin being opened in the presence of Dean Jenkyns, it
+contained a skeleton laid out in perfect order, every bone in its
+right place; an iron ring, and a small wooden pastoral staff in two
+fragments; a leaden tablet, 10 in. by 3-1/3, with inscription most
+beautifully rendered in Lombardic characters.
+
+    _Hie jacet Willelmus de Button secundus Bathoniensis
+    et Wellensis episcopus sepultus XII.
+    die Decembris anno domini MCCLXXIIII_."
+
+It was noted at the same time that "the teeth were absolutely perfect
+in number, shape, and order, and without a trace of decay, and hardly
+any discoloration." From this one would infer that the saint was
+famous in his lifetime for his beautiful teeth, and that it was for
+this reason that his aid came to be invoked after his death by those
+suffering from toothache. It is certainly curious that men now living
+should have discovered his teeth to be still in such perfect
+preservation. His contemporaries would, no doubt, have called it a
+miracle.
+
+A little farther east is the remarkable tomb of _Bishop Beckington_,
+surrounded by an exquisite iron screen of the same period. Its canopy
+formerly projected into the choir, being large enough to form a small
+chantry; but, when the choir was so stupidly restored, the canopy was
+dragged from its place, and set up in St. Calixtus' chapel, where it
+still is (p. 99,) a hard-looking stone screen being built between the
+tomb and the choir in its stead. The tomb is divided into two parts,
+the arcade which forms the canopy of the lower effigy supporting the
+slab on which rests the figure of the bishop. The carving is very
+beautiful, and the delicately-wrought wings of the angels, which
+spread over the arches so as to fill the spandrels, are especially
+fine. Traces of colour are strong on the tomb, as they are on the
+canopy from which it has been divorced, so that one can form some
+little idea of what the whole must have been like in its first
+magnificence.
+
+The effigy of the bishop rests upon it, the old and wrinkled face
+(best seen from within the choir) bearing deep traces of that active
+public life which did so much for the city and the church. Below, in
+strange contrast to the gorgeous vestments, which have still the
+remnants of the painted pattern on them, lies a corpse, almost a
+skeleton, in its open shroud. At first one's feeling is that of
+repulsion, but it is lessened when we remember that Beckington himself
+had the tomb made, and consecrated it before a vast concourse of
+people, saying mass for his own soul, for those of his parents, and of
+all the faithful departed in the January of 1452. Thus for thirteen
+years did this great and famous prelate live with his tomb standing as
+a witness to all that, under those sumptuous robes of office which we
+are told he wore at its consecration, he knew himself to be but as
+other men, and could wait humbly for his end.
+
+A little farther east is a large and rather clumsy effigy of _Bishop
+Harewell_ (_ob._ 1386), whose name and arms are suggested, in the
+playful fashion of the time, by two hares at his feet. Harewell is
+known to have been a portly man.
+
+To the west of Beckington's monument an altar tomb in reddish
+alabaster has been placed in memory of _Lord Arthur Hervey,_ the late
+bishop, with an effigy by Mr Brock. It may be hoped that it is the
+last of its kind, since there is little room for more tombs, and great
+need of other and more useful forms of memorial.
+
+_Bishop Drokensford's_ tomb, at the entrance to the south-east
+transept, is of unusual design, the ogee heads of its panels being
+through-cut from side to side. Only the bases remain of its canopy,
+which was taken down in 1758, as it was thought to be in danger of
+falling. There is a good deal of colour on the tomb; the chasuble is
+red with green lining, its orphreys are painted on the stone. The
+apparel is also painted on the alb, the orphreys and ornaments on the
+mitre, and a lozenge-shaped pattern on the cushion. Two shields are
+emblazoned over and over again on the spandrels, the ground being
+alternately red and green with white sprays of foliage; the coat with
+four swans' heads, couped and addorsed, is Drokensford's. He was
+bishop when Dean Godelee's great works were going on, and he gave
+money towards building the central tower.
+
+MONUMENTS OF THE NORTH CHOIR AISLE.--One of the Early English
+effigies, which were made probably by Bishop Jocelin, lies here, with
+a modern inscription, to _Bishop Giso_. There are four others, to
+_AEthelwyn, Leofric, Duduc_, and _Burwold_, all having the same
+characteristics, in the ambulatory chapels and opposite aisle.
+Graceful and solemn as they are, they seem rough in outline, as if
+they were carved by a hand used to calculating for the distant views
+of the west front, and almost weather-worn, by the side of the more
+highly-finished effigies in marble and alabaster which are near them.
+In the year 1848, when these monuments were set back and placed on
+their present ugly bases, they were found to contain boxes with bones
+therein, and leaden tablets with the name of each bishop inscribed
+upon them.
+
+A different monument is that of _Ralph of Shrewsbury_ (_ob._ 1363),
+whose marble effigy, scored by the names of long-departed vandals,
+affords a good example of the episcopal ornaments, the mitre, gloves,
+maniple, the apparel round the neck, and the vexillum round the
+crozier. The tomb formerly stood surrounded by a grating, in the midst
+of the presbytery, for Ralph was the "finisher" of the church. But it
+was afterwards moved, and, says Godwin, it "lost his grates by the
+way." At the entrance to the little transept is the tomb of _Dean
+Forrest_ (_ob._ 1446), similar to that of Drokensford in the opposite
+aisle, but more mutilated. The canopy is gone, but fragments of it are
+in the undercroft of the chapter-house.
+
+THE NORTH-EAST TRANSEPT is the chapel of St. John Baptist, and
+contains a Decorated piscina. On its east wall is a sculpture of the
+Ascension, which formerly was fixed in the east cloister above the
+I.H.S. in the fourth bay. St. Andrew with his cross may be noticed
+among the Apostles. There are traces of blue in the background, and of
+red in one of the cloaks. Most noticeable among its monuments is the
+handsome marble sarcophagus and effigy _of Bishop Creyghton_, who gave
+the lectern. The figure is vested in cope, mitre, and alb, a fact
+which is worth noting, as the bishop lived in the reign of Charles II.
+There is also an effigy of _John de Myddleton_ or Milton, who, after
+being chancellor for a very short time, became a friar and died in
+1337. The plain tomb of _Bishop Berkele_ (_ob._ 1581) bears a curious
+inscription, which assumes more than the character of its subject
+would seem to warrant: _Spiritvs, ervpto, salvvs, gilberte novembre,
+carcere principis en(c) aethere barkle, crepat. an: dat ista salutis._
+Which may thus be translated, "Thy soul is safe, Gilbert Barkley,
+having broken from its prison in the beginning of November, it speaks
+from the sky. These words give the year of its safety," The words
+referred to are in the middle part of the tomb--
+
+        _Vixi, videtis praemium:
+    83 Lvxi, redux quieascibus.
+        Pro, captua gendo praesulis
+        Septem per annos triplices_
+
+The figures 83 at the side of _Vixi_ and _Lvxi_ suggested to Mr J.
+Parker that the letters stood also for figures thus--vi (6) xi (11) lv
+(55) xi (11), the total being 83, which was the age at which Berkeley
+died. The quatrain may be translated--
+
+    "I have lived, you see my reward:
+    I have shone, returning to my rest.
+    Having held the office of bishop
+    For seven times three years."
+
+The east end of the north aisle forms a roomy chapel which is
+dedicated to St. Stephen, and contains a piscina of the same type as
+those in the neighbouring chapels. Its east window has five lights,
+and that in the side wall has three, with good reticulated tracery;
+the principal mouldings are already assuming the large flat hollow
+form which was to become characteristic of the Perpendicular style.
+The chapel of St. Catherine on the south side corresponds to it
+exactly.
+
+[Illustration: Procession Path And Lady Chapel.]
+
+THE PROCESSION PATH, or, to use the uglier and more accurate word, the
+Retro-choir, is a rectangular space between these chapels and the
+transepts, on the north and south, and the Lady Chapel and presbytery
+on the east and west. This space is vaulted; and the vault is carried
+by four slender piers of Purbeck marble, with attached shafts, in the
+midst, by a group of Purbeck shafts on each of the two piers which
+lead into the Lady Chapel, and by the light blue Purbeck shafts of the
+eastern arches of the presbytery. As two of the middle piers (which
+are set diagonally from north-east to south-west, and from south-east
+to north-west) are in a line with the pier-arches of the choir, while
+the other two, though in a line with those of the Lady Chapel (which
+themselves project into the Path), are without those of the choir, a
+complicated system of vaulting and a charming arrangement of piers is
+the result. Indeed, this exquisite group of piers has never been
+surpassed, and nothing can be found that better illustrates the
+subtlety and extreme refinement of the last stages of Gothic
+architecture at their best. At whichever point one stands fresh beauty
+is apparent. It is merely a device for connecting Lady Chapel with
+choir, while leaving a wide path free for processions, yet what a gem
+of perfection has been drawn from the need! As one sits at the corner
+near the south wall of the Lady Chapel, one can best appreciate the
+range of vaulting, which, though it is doubled here, is of the same
+height as that of the aisles, running faithfully round to cover the
+ambulatory which encircles the choir, while on either side the pillars
+soar upward to the higher vault of the Lady Chapel and the yet higher
+ceiling of the choir. Opposite are the painted fragments of glass in
+the north choir aisle, seen through the arches of the presbytery, and
+the windows over the range of tabernacle work in the choir itself. On
+the left the south aisle can be seen stretching onwards, across the
+bright break of the transept, to the west end, and on the right are
+the gorgeous windows of the Lady Chapel. Everywhere the slender
+pillars stand, and the mouldings branch away from their rich capitals,
+each doing its appointed work, calculated and exact, in what would
+seem at first but a lavish profusion of marble shaft and moulded
+stone. Yet we can hardly now imagine what it all was like before the
+richly-decked altars were torn down, the painted windows knocked to
+fragments, the canopies, tombs, and images defaced or destroyed.
+
+The vault is lierned with richly-carved bosses still warm with the
+marks of gilding; both on the bosses and the capitals the foliage is
+of the crumpled character suggestive of the oak-leaf.
+
+Unlike the piers of the Lady Chapel, the bases here are of marble,
+though the plinths are of stone. Two grotesque heads, lower than the
+bosses, at the north and south-western angles, hold three ribs in
+their mouths, the ribs, which end there in seeming futility, being
+used to cover an awkward corner of the vaulting.
+
+GLASS IN THE CHOIR AISLES AND CHAPELS.--A good deal of glass in a more
+or less fragmentary condition survives in the eastern portion of the
+church. It is fine work of the first half of the fourteenth century.
+In the south aisles there is good glass in all the upper lights; the
+third window has later glass in the lower lights, which bears the date
+1607, and consists of coats of arms and a series of small square
+pictures of foreign type. The east window of St. Catherine's chapel is
+composed of fragments fitted together at random; in the upper lights
+of the south window are rather coarse heads of St. Aldhelm, St.
+Erkenwald, and other saints: two of them should be noticed for the
+early form of papal tiara. In the corresponding chapel of St. Stephen
+both the east and north windows are the same, the north window even
+containing a second head of St. Erkenwald; the other saints are
+inscribed--"St. Stephanas Papa" (the Pope Stephen, who died 257), "S.
+Blasii Epi" (St. Blaise), and "S. Marcellus Papa"; in the topmost
+light of both windows is a small figure of Our Lord.
+
+In the north aisle, the first window (counting from the east) contains
+a St. Michael; the next a crucifix and a figure of St. Mary Magdalen,
+with some sixteenth-century coats (including the curious arms of
+Bishop Knight, p. 87) in the lower lights. Similar coats are in the
+third window, which has a figure of St. John Baptist. The fourth
+window contains modern glass erected in honour of Bishop Ken (p. 157),
+as a memorial to Dean Plumptre, who died in 1891. In the centre Ken is
+represented in full pontifical vestments, below him angels are
+supporting his arms impaled with those of the see; over his head is
+the favourite superscription of his letters, "All glory be to God,"
+and at his feet his rule of life "_Et tu quaeris tibi grandia? Noli
+quaerere_" (Jer. xlv. 5). The left-hand panels represent St. Paul
+teaching Timothy (because Ken wrote the "Manual for Winchester
+Scholars," and the "Exposition of the Catechism"), Christ's charge to
+St. Peter; the right panels represent St. Paul before Agrippa and St.
+Peter in prison (because Ken was one of the seven bishops imprisoned
+by James II.). The two lower panels represent labourers going to their
+work singing _Benedicite_, and a priest and choristers chanting _Nunc
+Dimittis,_ in allusion to Ken's morning and evening hymns.
+
+THE LADY CHAPEL was finished in 1326, before the presbytery was added
+to the present choir, and thus it belongs to the middle of the
+Decorated period. In plan it is octagonal, the three western sides
+consisting of the three arches by which it is opened to the rest of
+the church. It could, in fact, stand perfectly well as a detached
+building like the Lady Chapel at Gloucester, and doubtless it did so
+stand while the presbytery was a-building; but its connection with the
+church itself allows its apsidal west end to be cunningly combined
+with the beautiful pillars which support the vault of the ambulatory.
+The arrangement by which these three western sides project into the
+ambulatory is more easy to see than to describe; from the west side of
+the piers which support them spring the vaulting ribs of the
+retro-choir, while on the east side of the piers the shafts rise much
+higher up to carry the loftier vault of the Lady Chapel. As the chapel
+is not a perfect octagon like the chapter-house, but is elongated from
+east to west, this vault was difficult to manage, and its lines are
+somewhat distorted in consequence. The vault springs from triple
+shafts between fine traceried windows of five lights, and its ribs
+meet in a boss containing a beautiful figure of our Lord seated on a
+throne with outstretched arms; the colour and gilding are well
+restored.
+
+Professor Willis said that "the polygonal Lady Chapel and the vaulted
+work which connects it with the presbytery is a most original and
+unique piece of architecture, of pure and beautiful design." As to the
+first part of this sentence there can be no difference of opinion, and
+all will agree as to the fineness of the general effect of the chapel;
+yet there may well be two opinions as to the purity of the work. I
+confess that the following criticism (_Builder_, Aug. 1862) from a
+lecture of Mr E.W. Godwin seems to me to be not entirely without
+justification:--"With the single exception of the way in which the
+vaulting is managed, I look upon this Lady Chapel as no better than
+the other work of the same date. There is a weakness about the
+constant recurrence of the same form in the tracery of the windows;
+the lines of the vault are, in some cases, clumsy to a degree; and the
+capitals have lost their constructional character altogether. The
+growth and vitality, the change and joyfulness, so visible in the
+earlier caps, especially those with figures, are no longer to be seen.
+Leaves are now stuck on; or, at the best, wreathed round the bell of
+the capital; and so the _function_ of the capital--the upbearing
+principle--is lost." So much for its defects. The peculiar excellence
+of the chapel is that it gives that apsidal ending to the church which
+adds so much to its beauty both within and without, and yet does not
+interfere with the square end of the presbytery.
+
+The Lady Chapel has been fitted up for the use of the Theological
+College, and its furniture contrasts favourably with that of the
+choir. A litany desk, stalls, and credence-table in oak have recently
+been given, and a retable carved by Miss Neville; the altar cross,
+however, is too stunted for its position. The eagle lectern, in spite
+of its dark appearance, is modern, of Dean Goodenough's time. The
+doorway on the south side led to the old vestry, so wantonly destroyed
+in the present century: now that the chapel is in daily use the need
+of the vestry is much felt, and a cupboard in St. John's chapel has to
+serve for a makeshift. The gas-brackets are of later and more pleasant
+work than those elsewhere.
+
+Mr Ferrey discovered fragments of a reredos at the east end of the
+chapel, and set them up as best he could to form the present reredos:
+the original arrangement seems to be lost, for some of the pedestals
+are on the level of the floor, while some of the niches at the top are
+cut in half. Mr Ferrey restored the whole chapel at the same time, and
+paved it with tiles.
+
+GLASS IN LADY CHAPEL.--The large windows of this chapel are all filled
+with beautiful fourteenth-century glass, but alas! in a marred
+condition. The side windows contain fragments packed together anyhow.
+The eastern window was made up out of old pieces by Willement at Dean
+Goodenough's restoration, and its colour almost completely spoilt by
+modern insertions. The harm, however, is not irreparable, for the
+figures are almost entirely genuine, and the bad effect is mainly due
+to Willement's blue background. A careful examination would easily
+separate the new from the old, and it would be quite easy at the
+present day to remove the bad work and replace it by glass that would
+carry out the old harmony of colour. The lower lights are filled with
+two tiers of figures in canopies, David and other patriarchs in the
+upper tier, and the following well-chosen series in the lower:--The
+Madonna in the midst, on her right the Serpent and Eve, on her left
+the Brazen Serpent and Moses. The upper lights of this window contain
+angels bearing the instruments of the Passion, which are unspoilt, as
+are also the busts of patriarchs in the north-east window, and of
+bishops in that on the south-east. Three of the topmost lights contain
+emblems of the Evangelists, the fourth is lost. One inscription
+remains, _Ista capella constructa est_ ... but the date is gone.
+
+A tall and light monument stands between the Lady Chapel and St.
+Catherine's; its crocketed finials, filled with tracery, rise almost
+to the ceiling. The canopy is open at the sides and western end, but
+the eastern end forms a niche; this part has been restored in colour
+and gilding, it is powdered with _fleurs-de-lys,_ and bears a shield
+containing the _Agnus Dei_. No other part shows any trace of colour.
+The base is much higher than that of an ordinary tomb, and the canopy
+seems to have been somewhat altered at Ferrey's restoration.
+
+The spot where the altar of St. Catherine and All Virgins stood is now
+"Sacred to the memory of John Phelips Of Montacute in this county
+esquire. Descended from a line of ancestors, Whose names for two
+centuries and a half abound in the annals of the county, He succeeded
+at an early age to the paternal estates, And sustained the wonted
+hospitality of his house. He soon became a most active and intelligent
+magistrate," etc., etc.
+
+THE CHAPTER-HOUSE STAIRCASE is entered by the doorway in the eastern
+aisle of the north transept. There are few things in English
+architecture that can be compared with it for strange impressive
+beauty; the staircase goes upward for eighteen steps and then part of
+it sweeps off to the chapter-house on the right, while the other part
+goes on and up till it reaches the chain-bridge; thus the steps lie,
+worn here and there by the tread of many feet, like fallen leaves, the
+last of them lost in the brighter light of the bridge. Here one is
+still almost within the cathedral, and yet the carts are passing
+underneath, and their rattle mixes with the sound of the organ within.
+
+The date of the staircase is clearly somewhere between that of the
+chapter-house and that of the church itself. It is later than the
+church, for it is built up against the transept buttresses, and it
+contains some of the best examples of simple geometrical tracery,
+while there are nothing but lancet windows in the church of Reginald
+and Jocelin. But the simple geometrical tracery of its two four-light
+windows prove that it was finished before the chapter-house was begun.
+The arches of these windows are rampant, to follow the level of the
+stairs; their beautiful circular tracery is massive, deeply-moulded,
+and filled with remnants of rich glass; their shafts of blue lias have
+naturalistic capitals which are in striking contrast both to the Early
+English carving in the church and the full Decorated of the
+chapter-house itself. Below the windows is a stone bench rising in
+steps with a foot-pace of similar construction; this arrangement adds
+much to the effect of the staircase, though it is marred by a modern
+hand-rail.
+
+Before the Chain Gate was made, the vestibule ended with a graceful
+window of four lights similar to those at the side. The upper part of
+the window remains, but the lower part is occupied by a Perpendicular
+doorway, and the whole now forms a screen which, by breaking the
+light, adds considerably to the charm of the staircase. Through this
+doorway, where they are cut away to allow the door to open, the steps
+continue for two stages, but in a narrower flight. Here the windows
+are Perpendicular, and the vaulted ceiling has given place to a wooden
+roof, for this is the Chain Gate, as light and pretty within as
+without. It was only an after-thought, a matter of convenience, thus
+to connect the chapter-house with the Vicars' Close, and the screen
+that now breaks the light had for a century and a half been the
+outside window, just as the blocked window of the transept had been
+the outer light for the fifty years before the staircase itself was
+thought of. It was just a practical matter-of-fact device; but what
+magnificent utilitarianism, what an inspired after-thought!
+
+[Illustration: Steps Of Chapter-house Vestibule And Passage Over Chain
+Gate.]
+
+The main gallery of the Chain Gate is shut off by a door which, if it
+were kept open, would make the prospect even more beautiful than it
+is. Two corbels which support the vaulting-shafts of the lower
+staircase should be noticed; they both represent figures thrusting
+their staves into the mouth of a dragon, but that on the east (wearing
+a hood and a leathern girdle round his surcoat) is as vigorous in
+action as the figure on the west side is feeble. A small barred
+opening in the top of the east wall lights a curious little chamber,
+which is reached from the staircase that leads to the roof.
+
+THE CHAPTER-HOUSE is entered by a double-arched doorway, the small
+vault between the arches having an odd boss composed of four bearded
+heads. There are marks in the wall which lead one to think that the
+doors were hung in a wooden screen under this vault. The old doors are
+now used in the house of the Principal of the College, where they were
+identified by Canon Church. They have little slits in them, through
+which those in the chapter-house could speak with those without, who
+no doubt waited for admittance on the stepped stone bench of the
+staircase. Grooves in the two inner shafts of the doorway seem to have
+been made for the insertion of some light screen, by which the
+entrance was divided into two passages for ingress and egress. The
+absence of doors certainly adds to the rather cold unfurnished
+appearance of the chapter-house in its present condition.
+
+[Illustration: Chapter-House--Doorway.]
+
+The room itself ("a glorious development of window and vault" it has
+been called) is one of the best examples of that type of chapter-house
+which belongs mainly to the thirteenth century, and is a peculiar
+glory of English architecture. Of octagonal plan, its vaulting ribs
+branch out from sixteen Purbeck shafts which cluster round the central
+pillar, typifying the diocesan church with all its members gathered
+round its common father, the bishop. Each of the eight sides of the
+room is occupied by a window of four lights, with graceful tracery of
+an advanced geometrical type. These windows, which are among the
+finest examples of the period, have no shafts, but their arch
+mouldings are enriched with a continuous series of the ball-flower
+ornament. Most of the old glass, in which ruby and white are the
+predominant colours, remains in the upper lights.
+
+[Illustration: Chapter-House--Interior.]
+
+Under the windows runs an arcade which forms fifty-one stalls,
+separated into groups of seven by the blue lias vaulting-shafts at the
+angles, but in the side which is occupied by the doorway there are
+only two stalls, one on either side of the entrance. Two rows of stone
+benches are under the stalls, and there is a bench of Purbeck round
+the base of the central pier. The arcade strikes one as too shallow:
+its canopies, which rest on blue lias shafts, are ornamented with
+feathering, crockets, finials, and an interesting series of small
+heads. Some of the heads wear crowns, mitres, hoods, and square caps;
+others are grotesque, though I cannot detect the "jesters" to which
+some writers refer. Some of the heads have the same formal twist in
+the hair as those of the large corbels in the nave (p. 81). The heads
+on the side opposite the door are all (with the exception of one
+modern head in plaster) covered with the early form of papal tiara, a
+conical hat with a crown round its rim. On this side, in the middle
+stall, is the bishop's seat, and here are traces of colour; the little
+heads are still pretty with pink cheeks and painted eyes and hair, and
+above the canopy the saltire of St. Andrew is discernible.
+
+Thus the bishop still retained, at least in theory, the head-ship of
+the chapter. The dean sat on one side of him, the precentor on the
+other, and the rest in due order from the archdeacons and officers
+down to those in minor orders. Even the boys of the school were
+admitted to part of the meetings, and they stood on the floor round a
+desk which was in front of the chief pastor. "There every morning,"
+says Canon Church (_Chapters in Hist, of Wells_, p. 333), "after the
+prayers of the third hour and the morning mass, the chapter of the
+whole body was held for the daily lection and commemoration of
+brethren departed, for maintaining discipline, hearing complaints,
+passing judgment, inflicting punishment; for ordering the services of
+the day and of the week--for sitting in council and drawing up
+statutes."
+
+Beautiful as is the general effect of the chapter-house, it must be
+admitted that its detail is inferior to that of the staircase, which
+is just one stage earlier in the development of architecture. Nor can
+its capitals be compared for a moment with those in the nave; the
+lighter form of structure doubtless calls for a lighter cap, but these
+are distinctly untidy in their decoration. The crockets are very near
+having that wholesale look which has caused nineteenth-century
+architects to make so much of this easily debased ornament. The
+arrangement, too, by which the fine doorway rises into a window of
+unmodified pattern seems a rather awkward compromise, especially as
+the line of the staircase roof cuts slantwise across the lights. One
+cannot help thinking that an earlier architect would have departed
+from his uniform pattern at this point, and have inserted a window or
+arcade better adapted to the position, with the addition, perhaps, of
+sculpture in the vacant space.
+
+Between the roof and the vault there is a curious chamber which
+reminds one of the crater of a volcano, and the impression is
+increased by the sponge-like stone, which has some resemblance to
+tufa. The open arcade under the roof has served to keep the woodwork
+in remarkably sound condition.
+
+[Illustration: Chapter-House--Vault.]
+
+THE UNDERCROFT.--Much of the external beauty of the chapter-house, as
+well as the charm of its staircase, is due to its unusual height above
+the ground. It rests upon a vaulted chamber or undercroft, which is
+popularly called the crypt, though that term is not very accurate, as
+the chamber is not sunk underground, but stands almost on a level with
+the floor of the church. The innumerable springs in the soil of Wells
+do not, indeed, admit of a subterranean building. The undercroft was
+finished before the chapter-house staircase was begun; perhaps its
+walls were built at the end of Jocelin's episcopate; at any rate it
+was finished by 1286, and represents the last development of the Early
+English style. It was used as the treasury, where the vestments,
+ornaments, registers, and other precious things, both of the bishop
+and chapter, were kept, and, to increase the security of its massive
+walls, the sacristan had to sleep within them every night.
+
+[Illustration: Chapter-House--Undercroft.]
+
+It is reached by a dimly-lit, impressive passage, which is entered
+from the north choir aisle through a doorway with deeply-sunk
+mouldings and carved capitals. Two heads, slanting inwards in a rather
+awkward manner, support the curious pediment-shaped canopy over the
+doorway. At the commencement of this fine passage, just within the
+doorway, is a small vault supported on extremely odd corbels, as if
+the mason had taken advantage of the obscurity to wanton with his
+craft. One is a large head with enormous cheeks, apparently suffering
+from acute neuralgia; a handkerchief, under which a few
+comically-stiff curls escape, covers the head and is tied under the
+chin; another represents two dragons biting each other, with a head
+upside down beneath them; another, which reminds one of the worst
+eccentricities of modern crockery, is formed by a hand holding a
+foliated capital. I suppose that the head with swollen cheeks is
+really another testimony to St. William Bytton's power over the
+toothache. The undercroft itself was finished before 1286, perhaps
+some time before; but the more advanced sculpture of the passage looks
+as if that part were built in the "toothache" period--that is to say,
+some ten years or so after Bytton's death in 1274.
+
+[Illustration: Chapter-House--Undercroft.]
+
+Certainly the bosses of the vault in the passage beyond the doorway
+are of a character that suggests the transition to Decorated which was
+in progress at this time. They are elaborate, and, with one exception,
+through-carved. The first from the door represents a head, the next an
+_Agnus Dei_, the next two grotesque heads joined together, then
+apparently the Serpent tempting Eve, then an ox, dragons, two small
+grinning heads, with animals apparently biting them on one side. The
+corbels are carved into heads, some crowned, others reversed with the
+shaft in their mouths. On the right-hand side, as one enters the
+undercroft, a pretty stone lantern projects from the wall; of the
+little mullions which form its face, one is set far enough from the
+wall to admit of the insertion of a lamp.
+
+Two heavy wooden doors at the entrance leave no doubt as to the
+purpose for which the undercroft was built. The outer door is the most
+massive; it is studded with nails, and has two great bolts and a huge
+lock: on the outer side a kind of escutcheon is formed round the
+keyhole by a heart-shaped piece of iron, surmounted by a cross; on the
+same side there is an iron bar, and the hook to hold it across the
+doorway. A deep hole has been worn in the pavement by the feet of
+those who pulled open the door. The inner door is lighter, and
+ornamented with beautiful elaborate hinges: on this side are deep
+sockets in the wall, into which the inner bars were run.
+
+In the undercroft itself the walls are impregnably thick, the windows
+narrow, with wide splays. The vaulting, somewhat later in style than
+the walls, is an admirable piece of construction, well-fitted to bear
+the weight of the lofty chamber above. It is also remarkable,
+Professor Willis points out, for the way in which the arches are
+disposed without the introduction of ribs. From the round shafts which
+are grouped about the octagonal pier in the centre spring the vaulting
+ribs, the extremities of which rest upon eight round pillars; and
+another set of vaulting ribs spans the space between these pillars and
+the eight walls, where they rest upon twelve shafts between the lancet
+windows. Could anything be more simple and secure in construction, and
+more varied in effect?
+
+Here, on one of the capitals and on a moulding near the door, we meet
+with the dog-tooth moulding usually so characteristic of the Early
+English style. The piscina in the doorway should be noticed for its
+carving of a dog gnawing a bone.
+
+[Illustration: Section Of Chapter-house.]
+
+A large aumbry is formed by a recess in the thickness of the wall. The
+parapeted structure opposite is a modern coal-hole, for which some
+other place might surely be found. There are several stone coffins in
+the undercroft, and a good many fragments of carved stone, some of
+which are very fine. Here also is a cope-chest of the usual shape,
+which allows the copes to be put away with only one fold. Near it
+there is a large oblong chest covered with iron bands. An iron door
+which is also kept here is thus described by Mr H. Longden
+(_Archaeological Journal_, 1890, p. 132): "It is made of slabs of iron
+nailed to an oak frame-work, and liberally braced across with hinges
+and diagonal cross-straps, stiffening the door in the best way known
+at the time. This is not an iron-plated door, but an iron door; it is,
+in fact, a 'safe' door of the time, and is an uncommon instance. It
+must be remembered that the slabs of which this door is formed were
+all beaten out of lumps of iron, and that iron was not then made, as
+now, in plates, bars, or rods, but ... The lump of iron had to be
+heated and drawn out on the anvil at a great expenditure of time and
+labour. Much of the charm of old work arises from the irregularity of
+the shapes, never quite round, or square, or flat, which the iron
+took, and we miss this in the neat and mechanically-finished work of
+the present time."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+HISTORY OF THE DIOCESE.
+
+
+Legend, which in every ancient city is raised to the dignity of an
+article of faith, places the origin of Wells diocese in the remote
+past; and the visitor is required to believe that Ina, King of Wessex,
+the first great West Saxon lawgiver, the ruler who finally established
+the English supremacy in the south-west, was also the founder of the
+see of Wells. He is said to have planted a bishopric at Congresbury,
+and in 721 to have removed the see to Wells with the help of Daniel,
+the last British bishop. The story, however, rests upon no good
+foundation.
+
+Before the middle of the seventh century the heathen invaders were
+converted by St Birinus, and by the time of Ina Wessex was divided
+into the dioceses of Winchester and Sherborne, the latter including
+Somerset, Dorset, and part of Wiltshire. This was all that Ina did
+towards establishing the diocese of Wells; and it did not go very far,
+for the special boast of the diocese is that it consists of one
+county, Somerset, and of nothing else. And so it is that the honour of
+possessing Ealdhelm, the first bishop of Sherborne, who tramped about,
+an open-air preacher, in his diocese, belongs to Salisbury and not to
+Wells; although Doulting, where Ealdhelm fell sick and died sitting in
+the little wooden village church, is the very place whence afterwards
+the stone was quarried for the building of Wells Cathedral.
+
+It was under that great warrior, Edward the Elder, that the diocese of
+Sherborne was divided, and the Sumorsaetas received a bishop of their
+own, whose stool was placed in the church of St. Andrew at Wells.
+
+It is quite probable that the above tradition grew around Ina's name
+owing to his having really established a church with a body of priests
+attached to it; since we find in a charter of Cynewulf, dated 766, a
+mention of "the minister near the great spring at Wells for the better
+service of God in the church of St. Andrew." This charter is probably
+spurious, but it may for all that enshrine an historical fact,
+especially as it does not pretend to the existence of a bishopric. If
+this be the case, then Edward, who wanted a fairly central church for
+a diocese which had no important town, must have found Wells very
+convenient for his purpose. For while Glastonbury, besides being in
+those days an island, had an abbot of its own, this little body of
+secular priests would be ready to receive the bishop as their chief,
+and to become his chapter. At all events, the year 909 saw Wells with
+a bishop of its own.
+
+[Illustration: Specimens Of Capitals.]
+
+AETHELHELM or ATHELM, _Bishop of Somerset, or Wells_ (909-914), a monk
+of Glastonbury according to tradition, was the first Somersetshire
+bishop; he is said to have been an uncle of St. Dunstan: he was made
+Archbishop of Canterbury in 914.
+
+It will be convenient to weave the history of the foundation of Wells
+with that of the bishops. So here, at the outset, the reader must bear
+in mind that from the beginning the cathedral church was served by
+"secular" clergy, by priests, that is, who were bound by no vows other
+than those of their ordination, who did not live a community life, but
+had each his own house, and generally at this time his own wife and
+family. Wells Cathedral was not "built by the monks," and its chapter
+was never composed of monks; though some of the bishops belonged to
+religious orders, it kept up a pretty constant rivalry with the
+"regular" clergy of Glastonbury and Bath. It belongs in fact, to the
+cathedrals of the old foundation, whose constitutions were not changed
+at the Reformation; and its chapter has continued in unbroken
+succession, from the days when Aethelhelm first presided over his
+little body of clergy in the church of St. Andrew, down to our own
+time. But at first that chapter was informal enough, nor was it
+finally incorporated and officered till the time of Bishop Robert in
+the twelfth century. The number of canons does not seem to have been
+fixed, though in the next century we hear of there being only four or
+five.
+
+[Illustration: Specimens Of Capitals.]
+
+The next five bishops are all little more than names to us. WULFHELM
+succeeded Aethelhelm in 914: also translated to Canterbury; AELFHEAH
+(923), WULFHELM (938), BRITHHELM (956-973), and CYNEWARD (973-975).
+
+SIGEGAR (975-977), a pupil of St. Dunstan, and abbot of Glastonbury,
+was succeeded, or perhaps supplanted, by AELFWINE, in 997-999.
+
+AETHELSTAN, or LYFING; translated to Canterbury 1013.
+
+AETHELWINE and BRIHTWINE shared the episcopate, either as rivals or
+coadjutors. Brihtwine was last in possession. MEREWIT, also called
+Brihtwine, succeeded in 1026.
+
+DUDUC (1033-1060), a German Saxon. Cnut had given him the estates of
+Congresbury and Banwell, which he left to the church of Wells; but
+Harold took possession of them.
+
+GISA (1060-1088), a Belgian from Lorraine, found his see in a sad
+condition: the church was mean, its revenues small, and its four or
+five canons were forced, he says, to beg their bread. He at once set
+to work to increase the revenues; and from Edward the Confessor, from
+his queen, Edith, then from Harold, and afterwards from William the
+Conqueror, he obtained various estates for the support of his canons.
+
+He also changed the way of living of the canons, and built a cloister,
+dormitory, and refectory, thereby forcing them to live a common life,
+much as if they were monks--an unpopular innovation which was
+supported by the appointment in the foreign fashion of a provost to be
+chief officer, the canons choosing for this post one Isaac of Wells.
+
+JOHN DE VILLULA, _Bishop of Bath_ (1088-1122), a rich physician of
+Tours. He put an end to the semi-monastic discipline of Gisa by
+pulling down his community buildings and erecting a private house of
+his own on the site. And he removed the see of Somersetshire from
+Wells to the Abbey of Bath.
+
+GODFREY (1123-1135).
+
+ROBERT OF LEWES (1136-1166), the second founder of the cathedral; he
+made the constitution of the chapter, he rebuilt the old Saxon church,
+and he started Wells as a borough by the grant of its first charter of
+freedom. Of a Fleming family, though born in England, he was a monk
+from the Cluniac house of St. Pancras at Lewes; and to another and
+more famous Cluniac monk, Bishop Henry of Winchester, King Stephen's
+brother, he owed his advancement. In the very year of his consecration
+he began the recovery of Wells from the low estate in which John de
+Villula and his rapacious relatives had left it. He restored their
+property to the canons, and, in order to secure it, he divided it off
+from the property of the see by a charter of incorporation. He
+assisted at Henry II.'s coronation in 1154, and at the consecration of
+Thomas a Becket in 1162.
+
+Bishop Robert arranged the quarrel with Bath by settling that Bath
+should take precedence of Wells, but that the bishop should have his
+throne in both churches, and be elected by the two chapters
+conjointly.
+
+By the charter which incorporated the chapter of Wells, Robert also
+settled portions of the estate, or prebends, on the twenty-two canons,
+and founded the offices of dean, precentor, chancellor, treasurer,
+sub-dean, provost, and sub-chanter, all of which, except the two last,
+still exist.
+
+After an interval of eight years, REGINALD DE BOHUN or FITZ-JOCELIN,
+the Archdeacon of Sarum, was consecrated Bishop of Bath (1174-1191).
+Immediately afterwards he induced the monk who was soon to become
+famous as St. Hugh of Lincoln, to leave the Grande Chartreuse, and to
+come to England as prior of the first English charter-house. He built
+the greater part of the present nave transepts and choir; for this end
+he made large gifts to the fabric fund, and collected gifts from
+others. He also extended the privileges of the town, and increased
+both the endowment and the number of the prebends.
+
+SAVARIC, _Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury_ (1192-1205), a relation of
+the Emperor Henry VI. In 1191 he started with Richard I. for the Holy
+Land. At Messina, though not yet in priest's orders, he obtained
+private letters from the king sanctioning his appointment to any
+bishopric to which he might be elected. Bishop Reginald was a kinsman
+of his, and, on his election to Canterbury, he obtained the vote of
+the convent of Bath for Savaric. The Justiciar gave at once the royal
+sanction, in spite of the protests of the canons of Wells, who had not
+been consulted. Savaric had meanwhile wisely established himself at
+Rome, and was able to obtain the Pope's consent. He was consecrated
+priest one day and bishop the next, but he still remained abroad.
+
+Savaric, supported by the authority of King John, broke into
+Glastonbury with soldiers, starved and beat the monks, and, with great
+violence, established himself in possession.
+
+His biography was compressed in a clever epigram:--
+
+    "_Hospes erat mundo per mundum semper eundo,
+    Sic suprema dies fit sibi prima quies,_"
+
+admirably translated by Canon Bernard:
+
+    "Through the world travelling, all the world's guest,
+    His last day of life was his first day of rest."
+
+Yet he was the first to institute the daily mass of Our Lady, as well
+as that for the faithful departed, in Wells Cathedral.
+
+JOCELIN TROTEMAN DE WELLES, _Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury,_ and
+after 1219 _Bishop of Bath_ (1206-1242), is, after Ken, the most
+famous of Wells worthies. He came from a local stock, and spent all
+his time and money on the cathedral church, first as canon, then as
+bishop for thirty-six years. In 1208, when Pope Innocent III. laid
+England under an interdict, the bishop published it in his own
+diocese, and then fled the country, leaving his estates to be seized
+by John. On John's submission to the Pope in 1213, he returned, and
+two years later stood by Stephen Langton at Runnymede, putting his
+name as Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury to _Magna Charta_. When John
+was dead it was Jocelin who administered the oath to Henry III. at his
+coronation.
+
+In 1219 Jocelin made terms with Glastonbury, which Savaric had seized,
+giving up the abbacy and the title in return for four manors. He
+founded a hospital, re-endowed the Lady mass which Savaric had
+instituted, increased the number of prebends (the estates, that is,
+which each maintained a canon) from thirty-five to fifty, provided
+houses for the canons, and a regular endowment for the vicars-choral,
+started a grammar school in addition to the choristers' school, and
+enclosed the bishop's park. But most of all is he famous for having
+rebuilt the church which Savaric's vagaries had let fall into
+dilapidation, and for having added to it the noble west front. So
+extensive were his repairs that in 1239 a reconsecration was
+necessary; and three years later he died, "God," says old Fuller, "to
+square his great undertakings, giving him a long life to his large
+heart." He was buried in the midst of the choir as a founder of the
+church; and as this interment marked out Wells as the chief church in
+the diocese, the monks of Bath were not told of his death till after
+he had been buried.
+
+ROGER, _first Bishop of Bath and Wells_ (1244-1247). On Jocelin's
+death in 1242, the monks of Bath made a last effort to recover the
+supremacy which had drifted from them. Contrary to the agreement which
+had been made, they pushed through their own candidate, Roger, without
+consulting with the Wells chapter, and snatched the regal sanction and
+papal confirmation for their nominee before the chapter of Wells could
+make a move. At last, the Pope, after much litigation, decreed that,
+in order to avoid any further vacancy, Roger's election should be
+confirmed, but that henceforth the chapter of Wells should have an
+equal voice in the election of the bishop, who was to use the title of
+Bath and Wells. Roger was buried in his old abbey of Bath; he was,
+however, the last bishop to be there interred. The words of Peter
+Heylin are henceforward true of the see:--"The diocese of Bath and
+Wells, though it hath a double name, is one single bishopric. The
+bishop's seat was originally at Wells, where it still continues. The
+style of Bath came in but upon the bye."
+
+WILLIAM BUTTON or BYTTON (1248-1264).
+
+WALTER GIFFARD (1265-1266), a statesman-bishop, took the king's side,
+and, after the victory of Evesham, was rewarded with the
+chancellorship and the archbishopric of York.
+
+WILLIAM BYTTON (THE SAINT) (1267-1274). When Robert of Kilwardy,
+provincial of the Dominicans, was made archbishop, he chose Bytton, on
+account of his saintliness, to consecrate him; and so great was the
+impression made by his holy life that he became the object of popular
+canonisation at his death. Miracles were worked at his tomb, and
+crowds flocked to it with offerings, especially such as were afflicted
+with toothache.
+
+ROBERT BURNELL (1275-1292), the greatest lawyer of his day, chancellor
+of Edward I.; built the hall of the episcopal palace.
+
+WILLIAM OF MARCH OR DE MARCHIA (1293-1302), had been treasurer in
+1290. Two unsuccessful efforts were made to obtain his canonisation.
+
+WALTER DE HASELSHAW (1302-1308), successively canon, dean, and bishop.
+
+Under JOHN OF DROKENSFORD (1309-1329) the chapter obtained a strong
+confirmation of their rights as the result of a violent quarrel with
+the bishop, who had claimed the power of visiting the churches under
+capitular jurisdiction.
+
+RALPH OF SHREWSBURY (1329-1363), Chancellor of Oxford, put the
+finishing stroke to the constitution of the cathedral by founding the
+College of Vicars. He was a great supporter of the friars, and left
+them a third of his property. Among his good deeds he disafforested
+the royal hunting ground of Mendip, and thus did great service to the
+people, "beef," as Fuller has it, "being better pleasing to the
+husbandman's palate than venison." At his death he was buried in the
+place of honour before the high altar, for it was under him that the
+last great building operations in the church of Wells were completed.
+
+JOHN BARNET (1363-66), translated from Worcester, was soon again moved
+to Ely. After JOHN HAREWELL (1367-86), who helped to build the
+south-west tower, and WALTER SKIRLAW (1386-88), RALPH ERGHUM
+(1388-1400) was translated from Salisbury, and founded at Wells the
+much-needed college for the fourteen chantry priests, which was
+destroyed under Edward VI., and of which the memory is preserved in
+"College Lane." There were now, therefore, three distinct corporations
+at Wells--the Chapter, the College of Vicars, and the College of
+Chantry Priests. HENRY BOWETT (1401-1407) was promoted to York.
+
+NICHOLAS BUBWITH (1407-1424) is remembered by the almshouses at Wells
+which he endowed, by his provision for building the north-west tower,
+and by his chantry chapel. There was at this time another hospital
+called the Priory, which has now disappeared. He was one of the
+English envoys at the Council of Constance. Mandates were sent him by
+the archbishop for the prosecution of the Lollards, but there is no
+record of any proceedings having been taken, till JOHN STAFFORD
+(1425-43) had succeeded him, when one William Curayn was compelled to
+abjure and receive absolution for some very reasonable heresies.
+Stafford was translated to Canterbury.
+
+THOMAS BECKINGTON, or Bekynton (1443-65), was first tutor, then
+private secretary to Henry VI., and Keeper of the Privy Seal. His many
+works at Wells are noticed in our other chapters; in his will he
+states that he spent 6000 marks in repairing and adorning his palaces.
+After his death, the mayor and corporation showed their gratitude by
+going annually to his tomb (p. 125) to pray for his soul.
+
+ROBERT STILLINGTON (1466-91) was a minister of Edward IV., and one of
+Richard III.'s supporters. Accused in 1487 of helping Lambert Simnel,
+he was imprisoned at Windsor for the rest of his life. RICHARD FOX
+(1492-94), Keeper of the Privy Seal, translated to Durham. OLIVER KING
+(1495-1503), Chief Secretary of Henry VII. A dream moved Bishop Oliver
+in 1500, to rebuild Bath abbey in the debased Perpendicular style with
+which we are now familiar.
+
+The celebrated ADRIAN DE CASTELLO (1504-1518) obtained first Hereford
+and then Wells, as a reward for political services. As he never
+visited his diocese, his affairs were managed by another famous man,
+Polydore Vergil, who was archdeacon, and furnished the choir of Wells
+with hangings, "flourished," says Fuller, "with the laurel tree," and
+bearing an inscription, _Sunt Polydori munera Vergilii_. Adrian, who
+was born of humble parents at Cornuto in Tuscany, had been made a
+cardinal in 1503 by the infamous Pope Alexander VI., and both his
+archdeacon and himself are prominent figures in Italian history of the
+period.
+
+CARDINAL WOLSEY (1518-23) was appointed to the see, which he held
+together with the archbishopric of York; he was therefore Bishop of
+Bath and Wells only in name, and was soon put in the enjoyment of the
+richer sees successively of Durham and Winchester. He was followed by
+JOHN CLERK (1523-41) and WILLIAM KNIGHT (1541-47). The abbey of Bath
+was now suppressed, so that the bishop's seat was now at Wells alone,
+and (excepting that the style "Bath and Wells" remained) the see was
+restored to its original condition before John de Villula migrated to
+Bath.
+
+WILLIAM BARLOW (1549-54) was translated from St. David's without even
+the form of a _conge d'elire_. In return for this and certain money
+payments he made over a large portion of the episcopal property to the
+greedy Duke of Somerset; he also secured the episcopal manor of Wookey
+for his own family. The other cathedral estates were similarly
+treated. Barlow fled at the accession of Mary, but was caught and
+imprisoned in 1554. He had in Henry's time recanted some Lollard
+tracts which he had written, and now under Mary he recanted once more.
+On the accession of Elizabeth, he (p. 81) accepted the poorer see of
+Chichester.
+
+GILBERT BOURNE (1554-59) had been Bonner's chaplain. At Elizabeth's
+accession he was deprived and imprisoned in the Tower. After 1562 he
+was kept in nominal custody, and died in 1569.
+
+GILBERT BERKELEY (1560-1581) succeeded him. THOMAS GODWIN (1584-90),
+the historian of Wells, succeeded Berkeley.
+
+Another three years' vacancy was followed by the appointment of JOHN
+STILL (1593-1607). He and his successors, JAMES MONTAGUE (1608-16),
+translated to Winchester, ARTHUR LAKE (1616-26), a wise man and "most
+blessed saint," were mostly occupied in the fight with Puritanism.
+William Laud was bishop here for two years (1626-28), but his history
+belongs to London and Canterbury, whither he was translated. LEONARD
+MAWE (1628-29), WALTER CURLL (1629-32), translated to Winchester, and
+WILLIAM PIERS (1632-70) followed. The latter, who put down the Puritan
+"lectures," and ordered all the altars in his diocese to be set
+against the east wall and railed in, lived to see all his work undone
+and then restored again at the accession of Charles II. ROBERT
+CREYGHTON (1670-72), who had been dean, succeeded him. He was a great
+musician (p. 113), and his gifts of ornaments to the cathedral have
+been already mentioned. PETER MEWS (1673-1684) was translated to
+Winchester.
+
+THOMAS KEN (1685-90), the best and most famous of all the Somerset
+bishops, has left so great a name in the see, and figured in so many
+stirring events, that one can hardly believe that he was only given
+five years in which to use his influence upon history. Before he was
+made bishop, however, he had already given proof of that quiet courage
+which was more than once to thwart the will of princes. In 1679 he
+went to the Hague as chaplain to Mary, the wife of William of Orange.
+Here he expressed himself "horribly unsatisfied" with William's
+unkindness to his wife, and he incurred the Prince's anger by
+persuading Count Zulestein to marry a lady whom he had seduced. Soon
+after, when he was living at Winchester, he refused to allow the royal
+harbinger to use his prebendal house for the lodging of Nell Gwynn, on
+the occasion of Charles II.'s visit there in 1683. Charles, with
+characteristic generosity, thought all the more highly of him, and
+when he was told of the vacant bishopric, said no one should have the
+see but "the little black fellow who refused his lodging to poor
+Nelly." Before the year was over, Charles was on his death-bed, and
+summoned Ken to his side. The bishop persuaded the king to send the
+Duchess of Portsmouth from the room and to call in the Queen. He then
+absolved him, although Charles would not receive the communion.
+
+After the Monmouth rebellion (p. 17) he, with the Bishop of Ely, was
+sent to tell the Duke of his fate; he remained with the wretched man
+all through the night before his execution, and accompanied him on the
+scaffold. He then returned to his see, used all his influence on
+behalf of the unhappy peasants, and by his personal intervention,
+saved a hundred prisoners from death. He strongly opposed the
+Romanising policy of James II., and preached several sermons which had
+a large share in the formation of public opinion. He was one of the
+seven bishops who were committed to the Tower for petitioning the king
+against the order to the clergy to read the second Declaration of
+Indulgence. The incidents of that wonderful trial are familiar to all
+Englishmen, and it is notable that one of the richest dissenters in
+the city begged to have the special honour of giving security for the
+high church bishop of Bath and Wells.
+
+But when the revolution came, Ken was found among those who were
+called non-jurors, because they regarded their oath of allegiance to
+James as still binding. He was consequently, in 1690, deprived of his
+see. He made a public protest in the cathedral against his
+deprivation, and continued to sign himself _T. Bath and Wells_, but he
+had to live in retirement, and with an income of only L20 a year. He
+died in 1710, and was buried in Frome Church at sunrise, in allusion
+to his morning hymn ("Awake, my soul, and with the sun"), and to his
+habit of rising with the sun.
+
+Ken was in every way a great saint, and, like all the saints, he was
+distinguished by his love for the poor, and his care for their
+education. Among his customs it is recorded that he used to have
+twelve poor men to dine with him on Sundays, and that he was wont to
+go afoot in London when the other bishops rode in their coaches. He
+wrote many books, among them his "Manual of Prayers for the Use of
+Winchester Scholars." "His elaborate works," says Macaulay, "have long
+been forgotten; but his morning and evening hymns are still repeated
+daily in thousands of dwellings."
+
+RICHARD KIDDER (1691-1703) became bishop on the deprivation of Ken, Dr
+Beveridge having declined the offer of a see, the rightful ruler of
+which had been unjustly removed. Kidder did not, however, long enjoy
+his usurped position; for, on the night of November 26th, 1703, a
+great storm--the same that destroyed Winstanley in his lighthouse on
+the Eddystone--blew down a stack of chimneys in the palace, and thus
+killed both the bishop and his wife as they lay abed.
+
+GEORGE HOOPER (1704-27), an old friend of Ken, was next offered the
+see, but he urged the reinstatement of the rightful pastor. Queen Anne
+offered to restore Ken to his bishopric, but he importuned Hooper to
+accept, and from that time ceased to sign himself by his diocesan
+title. Hooper had preceded Ken, in 1677, as Princess Mary's spiritual
+adviser at the Hague, where he had won her back to the services of the
+church, and he had also been with Ken at Monmouth's execution. Almost
+as lovable and holy, he was more learned than his friend.
+
+Hooper was succeeded by JOHN WYNNE (1727-43), EDWARD WILLES (1743-73),
+and CHARLES MOSS (1774-1802); all three were typical eighteenth-century
+prelates, rich and mostly non-resident.
+
+RICHARD BEADON (1802-24), was translated from Gloucester.
+
+GEORGE HENRY LAW (1824-45), a son of the Bishop of Carlisle, and
+brother of Lord Chief-Justice Ellenborough, was translated from
+Chester, and is said to have been an active prelate till his latter
+years. Hon. RICHARD BAGOT (1845-54) came to Wells as a place of
+retirement after the worries which he had gone through, as Bishop of
+Oxford, during the Tractarian movement.
+
+ROBERT JOHN, LORD AUCKLAND, was translated from Sodor and Man in 1854.
+At his death in 1869, he was succeeded by LORD ARTHUR CHARLES HERVEY,
+who died in 1894. The present bishop is DR G.W. KENNION, who was
+translated hither from the Australian diocese of Adelaide.
+
+[Illustration: PLAN OF WELLS CATHEDRAL.]
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
+
+
+1. Words and phrases which were italicized in the original have been
+   surrounded by underscores ('_') in this version. Words or phrases
+   which were bolded have been rendered in ALL CAPITALS.
+
+2. Obvious printer's errors have been corrected without note.
+
+3. Inconsistencies in hyphenation or the spelling of proper names, and
+   dialect or obsolete word spelling, have been maintained as in the
+   original.
+
+4. The original of this text contains characters not available in
+   the Latin-1 character set. These occur only in quotations from
+   monumental inscriptions. The characters have been coded as
+   follows. The notation [=x] means "letter x with a macron above."
+   There are instances of macrons over i, u, m, n, o and x. The
+   notation [)u] means "letter u with a breve"; it occurs twice.
+
+5. The caret is used to show the superscript for abbreviations (i.e.
+   Rob^t is Rob with a superscript small t in the original text, an
+   abbreviation for Robert). If multiple letters are superscripted,
+   they are surrounded by curly braces (i.e. w^{th}).
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral
+Church of Wells, by Percy Dearmer
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