THE EAST END. Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo.THE EAST END.
In spite of the fact that the east end has been almost entirely rebuilt, it is a remarkably good example of Late Decorated work, and it would be difficult to find its equal in England.
The wall of the north aisle is higher than the south aisle, because of a passage between the staircases. The buttressesdo not rise above the parapet, and are finished off with richly-panelled gables, ornamented with crockets and finials.
The end of the south aisle is decorated with corbels and parapet, like the choir, and with pinnacled buttresses.
On the south side of theChoirthe first three bays from the east end are practically the same as those on the north side.
The remaining windows, including those of St. Catherine's Chapel on the east of the south transept, are Early English, but of later date and not so pleasing as the others. Instead of two lights they are furnished with three; some of these have small circular openings in the spandrels over the mullions filled with stained glass.
The fifth compartment (against which a vestry was formerly built) shows traces of a door, and over that a passage, probably connected originally with some of the conventual buildings.
The grotesque gargoyles, "these wild faces, these images of beasts and men carved upon spouts and gutters," are very vigorously executed.
The windows on the south side of the clerestory are without the trefoil which ornaments the base of those on the north side.
The blank window next to the tower is also wanting; in other respects the clerestory presents the same features as on the north.
South Transept.—The chapter-house and cloisters formerly adjoined the south transept, and there was probably an entrance from the chapter-house leading down a flight of stairs into the transept. Billings says: "The modern casing at the base of the end of the transept (about 12 ft. high) shews the height of theCloisters: and the doorway above, the level of the chapter-house floor. From this it would seem that the cathedral was entered at the south transept from the chapter-house by a flight of steps."
The foundation of the south wall having been shaken by the removal of the remains of the conventual buildings, massive buttresses were added, and a very richly sculptured doorway inserted between them (1856). It was designed by Mr. Christian and is the principal entrance to the Cathedral. Its character is that of the late work of the choir, and is somewhat out of keeping with this distinctively Norman portion of the building.
The window over the entrance is of the same date.
The west side of the transept is lighted by two plain round-headed windows, not quite central.
The outer moulding of the window arch of the south transept clerestory has billet ornament. Above this is a corbel table of heads and mouldings which interferes with the upper window mouldings. The transept compartments differ from those of the nave by the addition of a flat buttress between each, which consequently breaks the continuity of the corbel table.
As the side of the nave was covered by the conventual buildings it was of plainer character than the north, and had no buttresses between the windows.
The clerestory is exactly the same as on the north.
The foundations of the old west wall are behind one of the prebendary's houses to the west of the nave.
The west end, as it stands at present, was restored by Mr. Christian.
A local sandstone was used in the construction of the building: grey, or white in the Norman portion, and red in the other parts. This red sandstone is not so good for exterior as for interior work, because it is liable to perish by the action of the weather.
THE NAVE, SOUTH SIDE.THE NAVE, SOUTH SIDE.
The cathedral now consists of part of the original nave (the two eastern bays only) with aisles; and north and south transepts without aisles, but with a chapel on the east side of the south transept; the central tower; and the choir with north and south aisles and ambulatory or retro-choir.
TheNave.—Entering by the modern doorway on the north, we are at once in the fragmentary nave, of Early Norman work. Its present length is about 38 feet and width about 60 feet. In 1645 the Scots destroyed about 100 feet of the nave, and it has never been rebuilt. This mutilation has had a serious effect upon the proportions of the building, and induces a feeling of want of balance. The open timber roof, raised to the original height, was substituted at the restoration for a flat ceiling which had been put up at a previous "embellishment" of the cathedral. Bishop Walkelin made use of similar roofs in Winchester Cathedral (1070-1097).
The triforium (1140-50) has in each compartment a semi-circular arch entirely without ornament.
The clerestory consists of three arches supported by columns with carved capitals; the centre arch, which is larger than the other, is lighted at the back by a round-headed window.
We may say that the nave is
They are massive circular columns nearly six feet in diameter, and support semi-circular arches. The capitals of those on the south side are carved with leaf ornament; the rest are plain. Against the wall between each arch is a semi-circular engaged shaft reaching to the base of the triforium. The arches near the tower have been partly crushed owing to the shifting of the tower piers caused by faulty foundations. About 1870 the west end of the nave was restored by Mr. Christian.The window is filled with glass, in memory of the Rev. C. Vernon Harcourt, canon and prebendary of Carlisle (d. 1870).
One of the south aisle windows—the "Soldiers'" window—is in memory of men and officers of the 34th (or Cumberland) [**Transcriber's note: corrected typo, close parentheses] Regiment, who fell in the Crimea, and in India during the mutiny. Three Old Testament warriors appear in stained glass—Joshua, Jerubbaal ("who is Gideon"), and Judas Maccabeus. The battle-torn fragmentary regimental colours hang from the arch opposite. Just beneath this window a doorway (now blocked up) formerly led from the cloisters into the nave.
Up to the year 1870 the nave was used as a parish church. The cathedral from its beginning as the priory church, in accordance with a very common practice of the Augustinian body, contained two churches belonging to two separate bodies quite independent of each other.
The choir and transepts formed the priory church, in the possession of the prior and canons until the dissolution of the monastery, when it passed to the dean and chapter. The nave formed the parish church of St. Mary, and belonged to the parishioners. After the civil wars it was cut off from the transepts by a stone wall, and furnished with galleries and a pulpit. A new church to accommodate the parishioners having been built in the abbey grounds in 1870, all these additions were removed, and the nave was restored to the cathedral, adding greatly to the general effect. An interesting event in the history of the parish church was the marriage of Sir Walter Scott to Miss Carpenter on the 24th December 1797.
He had made the acquaintance of Miss Carpenter at Gilsland in July while touring in the Lake district. She had "a form that was fashioned as light as a fay's, a complexion of the clearest and lightest olive; eyes large, deep-set, and dazzling, of the finest Italian brown; and a profusion of silken tresses black as the raven's wing." Scott was strongly attracted to her, and within six months she became his wife.
A tombstone under the west window shows the matrix of what was once a magnificent brass.
TheFont, standing on a fine marble flooring close to the west window, has bronze figures of St. John Baptist, the Virgin and Child, and St. Philip. It was designed by Sir A. Blomfield, and presented by Archdeacon Prescott 1891.
LONGITUDINAL SECTION, NORTH.LONGITUDINAL SECTION, NORTH.
TheOrgan.—The former organ built by Avery, London, has been given to Hexham Abbey Church. The present one extends from one side of the eastern tower arch to the other. It was built by Willis (1856), and the diaper work was executed by Hardman. About the year 1877 it was enlarged at a cost of nearly £1000.
North Transept.—The transept is very lofty and very dark. It is about 22 feet wide, and its length from north to south is nearly 114 feet.
Standing near the entrance to the north choir aisle, looking southwards and across the nave, a capital general view of the remains of the Norman portion of the cathedral can be obtained.
This end of the transept was rebuilt after the fire of 1292. Having been greatly injured by another fire that broke out about a hundred years later, Bishop Strickland rebuilt it (1400-19.) During the restoration of the cathedral it was once again rebuilt.
On the west side is a Norman arch, the entrance to the north aisle of the nave. The sinking of the tower piers has partly crushed it out of shape. The portion of an arch visible above, acts as a buttress to the tower arches. To the right is a late thirteenth-century window filled with glass in memory of the Rev. Walter Fletcher, Chancellor of Carlisle (died 1846). This window exhibits plate tracery—tracery cut, as it were, out of a flat plate of stone, without mouldings, not built up in sections. It is the transitional link between the lancet and tracery systems.
The doorway in the corner communicates with the transept roof.
The north window is very large, and is filled with stained glass in memory of five children of A.C. Tait, Dean of Carlisle, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury. They all died of scarlet fever in the short space of five weeks, 6th March to 9th April 1858.
This end of the transept was till quite recently railed off, and used as the consistory court of the Chancellor of Carlisle.
Originally the transept had a chapel on the eastern side opening with a single arch, similar to St. Catherine's Chapel in the south transept.
The opening to the north choir aisle is Decorated in style;above this is a portion of an arch for buttressing the tower-arches.
VIEW ACROSS THE TRANSEPTS IN 1840. From Billings.VIEW ACROSS THE TRANSEPTS IN 1840.
To the right is the blocked-up entrance of the old Norman choir aisle, an exact counterpart of the present south choir aisle entrance.
The roof is now an open timber one of the original pitch.
Near the north-east pier of the tower is a well, completely covered over. This, it is said, was done by a former dean, on the supposition that the well, or the water, in some occult fashion, affected the music in the cathedral.
TheTowerwas rebuilt by Bishop Strickland (1400-19), who used the Norman piers, and placed upon them other columns of about the same length. The Early Norman piers have square-fluted capitals and are a little higher than the arches of the nave. The added columns have capitals carved with birds and foliage, and are carried up to the arches of the tower. This rebuilding was rendered necessary by the shifting of its foundations. The piers sank nearly one foot, and the arches near them have been to some extent distorted. Springs of water are said to run across the transept from north to south, and this may explain the sinking, which probably happened before the erection of the present choir.
Clustered columns uphold the transept arches, but the western and eastern arches are supported on each side by a single column terminating in a bracket at about the level of the base of the triforium. This was arranged so as to increase the width of the passage between the piers from the choir to the nave.
The decoration of the eastern arch capitals consists of the badges of the Percy family—the crescent and fetterlock. Hotspur was Governor of the town and Warden of the Marches under Henry IV., and it is probable that he aided in the work of the bishop. The western arch capitals have, as decoration, the rose and escallop shell alternately—badges of the Dacres and Nevilles, who also may have been benefactors to the cathedral.
Across the north transept from the upper capitals is a depressed arch of stone with Perpendicular tracery.
South Transept.—With the exception of the wall itself, the south arm of the transept is modern. The ancient wall, eight feet thick, is quite suitable for a fortress. A richly-decorated modern doorway has been made, and above it is a window by Powell, representing the "Days of Creation."
PART OF SOUTH TRANSEPT AND ST. CATHERINES CHAPEL. From Billings.PART OF SOUTH TRANSEPT AND ST. CATHERINE'S CHAPEL.
The west wall is out of the perpendicular through the shifting of the tower piers, and the Norman arch, opening to the south aisle of the nave has also been distorted. To the left is a round-headed window, filled with glass in memory of the Rev. W. Vansittart, canon and prebendary of Carlisle 1824.
The triforium has a plain rounded opening.
The clerestory is very much like that of the nave, but is not so regular in construction, the architecture being merely massive and destitute of ornament, except in the case of the capitals, which are very sparingly decorated.
On the east side of the transept, the second arch from the doorway, is the entrance to the south choir aisle. It is Norman, ornamented with a simply executed but very pleasing zigzag: the capitals of the piers are cushioned. On the whole, it is much the same as the arch immediately opposite, opening on the south aisle of the nave.
All this side of the transept, with the exception of the small doorway (which was built a few years later), dates from about 1101.
St Catharine's Chapel.—Between the choir aisle entrance and the modern doorway is another Norman arch, which is the entrance to St. Catherine's Chapel—a chantry of Early Decorated style erected on the walls of a former Norman building.
Jefferson says: "In most large churches, altars, distinct from that in the chancel, were founded by wealthy and influential individuals, at which masses might be sung for the repose of the dead; the portion thus set apart, which was generally the east end of one of the aisles, was then denominated a chantry: in it the tomb of the founder was generally placed, and it was separated from the rest of the church by a screen. In the fourteenth century this custom greatly increased, and small additional side aisles and transepts were often annexed to churches and called mortuary chapels; these were used indeed as chantries, but they were more independent in their constitution, and in general more ample in their endowments. The dissolution of all these foundations followed soon after that of the monasteries.
"In the year 1422 Bishop Whelpdale at his death left thesum of £200, for the purpose of founding and endowing a chantry for the performance of religious offices for the souls of Sir Thomas Skelton, knight, and Mr. John Glaston, two gentlemen with whom he had been on terms of intimate friendship, and who were buried in the cathedral. Nicholson thinks it probable this was the chantry of St. Roch; its revenues were valued at £2, 14s. per annum.
ONE BAY OF THE NAVE.ONE BAY OF THE NAVE.
"There was another chantry dedicated to St. Cross; but the period at which, and the person by whom it was founded are not known. It was granted by Edward VI. 'with all messuages, lands, tenements, profits, and hereditaments belonging thereto,' valued at £3, 19s. per annum, to Henry Tanner and Thomas Bucher.
"The chapel of St. Catherine in the Cathedral of Carlislewas founded at an early period by John de Capella, a wealthy citizen, and endowed by him with certain rents, lands, and burgage houses. In the year 1366 a portion of its revenues being fraudulently detained, Bishop Appleby commanded the chaplains of St. Mary's and St. Cuthbert's to give public notice that the offenders were required to make restitution within ten days on pain of excommunication with bell, book, and candle. Its revenues, according to the rotuli, called the king's books, which were made up in the reign of Henry VIII., were valued at £3, 2s. 8d. per annum."[3]
Some very fine foliated brackets can be seen in the arch between this chapel and the choir aisle.
Dividing the chapel from the transept and aisle is some exquisite carved screen-work (Late Decorated) dating from the latter part of the fifteenth century, and attributed to Prior Gondibour. Its great beauty, and the skilful variations of the designs, will repay careful inspection. The chapel now serves as a vestry for the clergy: but it is to be regretted that it cannot add to the beauty of the cathedral by being utilised for its proper purpose.
The pointed doorway on the left, originally opened on to a well which was closed in the course of the restoration of the building. The position of Carlisle on the border making it liable to sudden attacks in early times, it is probable that the inhabitants may have taken sanctuary in the cathedral many a time, when a well of water would be of great advantage to the refugees.
Monuments in the Transepts.—North Transept. Near the entrance to the north choir aisle stands the altar-tomb of Prior Senhouse. It is covered with a slab of dark blue marble. An inscription runs thus: "The tomb of Simon Senhouse, Prior of Carlisle in the reign of Henry VII. The original inscription being lost, the present plate was substituted by the senior male branch of the Senhouse family, A.D. 1850. Motto, 'Lothe to offend.'"
It was on this tomb that the tenants of the priory were accustomed to pay their rents.
SCREEN—ST. CATHERINE;S CHAPEL. From Billings.SCREEN—ST. CATHERINE;S CHAPEL.
South Transept.—On a stone in the west wall (now covered with a pane of glass) is an inscription which was discovered in 1853. It is written in Norse runes, and is as follows:—
"Tolfihn yraita thasi rynr a thisi stain.""Tolfihn wrote these runes on this stone."
The runes are Norse, not Anglo-Saxon. The latter are not often found, but the former are scarcer still. The runes, perhaps, date from the eleventh century.
There is also a marble tablet containing a medallion likeness of George Moore.
"A man of rare strength and simplicity of character,of active benevolence and wide influence.A yeoman's sonhe was not born to wealthbut by ability and industry he gained it,and he ever used itas a steward of God and a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christfor the furtherance of all good works."
George Moore was born at Mealsgate, Cumberland, the 9th April 1806. He went to London in 1825. Two years later he was working for Fisher, Stroud & Robinson, lace merchants, as town traveller, and, soon after, as traveller in the north of England. He was so successful that he was nicknamed "The Napoleon of Watling Street." When he was twenty-three he accepted an offer from a firm of lace merchants, Groucock & Copestake, to become a partner. He gave up travelling for orders in 1841, but soon suffered in health. As a remedy he took to following the hounds, and later (in 1844) went on a three months' trip to America. On his return he started on his career of philanthropy which has made him famous. A few of the institutions for which he worked, and to which he contributed largely, may be mentioned; the Cumberland Benevolent Society, the Commercial Travellers' Schools, the British Home for Incurables, the Warehousemen and Clerks' Schools, the Royal Free Hospital, and the London City Mission. Various Cumberland charities found in him a generous supporter. He met with his death in Carlisle. Knocked down by a runaway horse, 20th November 1876, while on his way to attend a meeting of the Nurses' Institution, he died the next day from his injuries. The following was a favourite motto with him:—
THE CHOIR, LOOKING WEST. A. Pumphrey, Photo.THE CHOIR, LOOKING WEST.
There is a memorial tablet to Robert Anderson, "the Cumberland Bard," 1770-1833. Born in Carlisle, he had but little schooling, and at ten years of age he was earning wages as assistant to a calico printer; later, he was bound apprentice to a pattern-drawer in his native city. He went to London to pursue his calling, and he seems to have been led to attempt to write poetry through hearing some imitation Scottish songs sung at Vauxhall. He published his first volume in 1798, and his Cumberland Ballads in 1805. His verses, not altogether destitute of real poetry, are valuable for the pictures they give of obsolete manners and customs of the district.
TheChoir.—A low doorway in the eastern arch of the tower gives entrance to the choir. Some of the woodwork of the stalls fills the lower part of this arch, and the entrance has been placed towards the north, so as to open exactly on the centre of the choir. In point of beauty the choir compares favourably with any we possess in England, and the eye can rest upon it again and again with renewed satisfaction and delight. Its superb main arcade, with the boldly-designed and finely-carved capitals representing the twelve months of the year—unrivalled in this country; its handsome clerestory windows; its great east window (the pride of the cathedral); and, overhead, its richly-coloured roof, unique in shape, afford a combination not easily to be surpassed.
The choir is about 134 feet long, 34 feet 6 inches wide between the columns, and 72 feet 6 inches between the aisle walls.
The nave is not so wide by about 12 feet, and as the columns of both nave and choir on the south side are on the same line, the extra width is all on the north.
Looking westward, the view is marred by the tower arch not being in the centre of the west wall, in consequence of which there is an ugly space of blank wall between the arch and the north choir aisle.
There are eight bays, averaging about 18 feet in width.Those at the end, however, east and west, are not so wide. At the east they probably suffer from the intrusion of the east wall, which is about six feet thick. The western bays may have lost the space taken for the choir entrance. They have very acute arches, and at the west end rest on responds or half-piers against the tower walls. Those at the east end rest on brackets, and their mouldings lose themselves in the wall on each side of the great window.
The presbytery is reached by two steps from the choir, and the last bay but one (in which the altar stands) is raised three steps above the presbytery.
The main arcade practically dates from after the terrible fire in 1292. The arches escaped, and are splendid specimens of Early English, "of the Pointed style in all the purity of its first period." They were underbuilt with Early Decorated piers, while the capitals were finished at the same time as the triforium and clerestory (Late Decorated) 1350-1400.
The piers are not equal in diameter to those of the nave; they measure but five feet and a quarter. Each consists of eight clustered pillars of red sandstone. The four facing the cardinal points of the compass are larger than the intermediate ones, which are filleted. The base moulding is very deep and hollow. These piers support the Early English arches, with dog-tooth ornament large in the interior, small in the exterior. Altogether, these fine arches give a very pleasing impression of lightness and grace, and make us feel "the fascination of the Pointed style."
At the junctions of the arches are small grotesque heads very well executed. On the north side, where the presbytery begins, is a queen's head, and on the opposite side a figure with a dog's head.
There are altogether fourteen complete, and two half piers, the capitals of which are carved with foliage alone, or with the addition of winged monsters, birds, beasts, and human figures. Twelve of them represent the domestic and agricultural occupations of the months. The first capital on the south side (east end) shows a creature with a man's head, wings, and a tail terminating in the head of a serpent, which bites the monster on the temple. January is symbolised on the next one, and the series continues westward, then crosses over, and proceeds from west to east on the north side, finishing at the last pier but one.
ONE BAY OF THE CHOIR.ONE BAY OF THE CHOIR.
January.—A figure in a loose-fitting tunic, sitting down. He has three faces—two in profile—and is drinking with the right and left mouths. At his feet is a third vessel.
February.—A man in a loose tunic, and head closely wrapped up. He appears to suffer from cold, for his face is woe-begone, and he is sitting over a fire, holding out one boot upside down as if to drain water from it, while he lifts up one foot to catch the heat. The fireplace is very skilfully carved.
March.—A man, hood on head, digging with a spade at the foot of a leafless tree. Other decorations are, a squirrel, a bear with hands, birds, and a beast's body with a mitred head.
April.—A bare-legged man with his head tied up, pruning a tree. On this capital are also two figures half-human, half-bestial, clasping each other round the neck.
May.—A woman in a long gown holding in each hand a bunch of foliage, which she offers to a youngman clad in a tunic, with his hood thrown back. In addition there are three winged beasts with human heads, one mitred.
June.—A horseman, bareheaded, holding on his right hand a hawk, and bearing a branch of roses in his left hand. There are also some half-human figures, and men playing musical instruments. This capital is more elaborately carved than any of the others.
July.—A man mowing. In addition there are owls carrying mice in their mouths.
August.—A man working in a wheat-field. He wears a conical hat, and grasps a crutch with one hand while he holds a pruning hook in the other.
September.—A man reaping with a sickle.
October.—A man whose head is tied with a handkerchief; he is engaged in cutting grapes. A fox carrying off a goose is also vigorously carved on this capital.
November.—A man sowing grain from a basket. There is a stag on his right and a horse on his left hand.
December.—A man wearing a loose tunic, who is about to fell an ox which another man holds by the horns. In addition there is a man tending swine.
The last capital shows several heads, and a man sitting on a tree stump.
In each bay oftheTriforiumthere are three arches with curvilinear tracery. The principal mullions have octagonal bases. On account of their reduced width, the extreme eastern and western bays have only two arches.
The courses of stone above the base of the triforium are not by any means so smooth and well-proportioned as those beneath. The workmen do not seem to have been actuated by the spirit of those builders "in the elder days of Art" who
"... wrought with greatest careEach minute and unseen part,For the gods see everywhere."
THE CHOIR, LOOKING EAST, IN 1840. From Billings.THE CHOIR, LOOKING EAST, IN 1840.
TheClerestoryconsists of two planes. Each compartment on the face of the choir wall has three high-pitched arches, the middle one being higher than those at the side, and more than twice as wide in the opening. The eastern bay has only the central arch, while the western bay is blank.
The base is decorated with a low parapet pierced with quatrefoils, four in the centre, and two in each side opening. On the south, however, the quatrefoil decoration is slightly different. There are only three quatrefoils in the centre and two smaller ones on each side. This parapet is in great part a restoration, the original having been almost entirely removed, in the vain hope of admitting more light to the lower part of the choir.
In the other plane the windows are in triplets, three lights in the central and single lights on either side, decorated with flamboyant tracery.
The eastern bay has no side lights.
Although the windows seem to be all different, there are but six varieties, distributed as follows:
On the north side beginning at the east the design of the first window is not repeated. That of the next window occurs in the second window on the south side. The third and fifth are alike. The sixth and the last are like the fourth. The design of the seventh window does not occur again.
On the south side one new pattern appears in three windows—the first, fourth, and sixth from the east. The second is like the window opposite, and the third, fifth, and seventh are like the third on the north side.
Of all the windows the second from the east is the most beautiful.
Before 1764 they were filled with stained glass of which some remains are still to be seen. The trefoil heads above the mullions have a brown border with the insertion in some cases of a yellow diamond ornament, and in others of a crown.
TheRoof—This unique specimen of a waggon-headed ceiling, semi-circular in all its parts, is of oak. Bishop Welton began its construction about 1350. A plaster ceiling, put up in the year 1764, hid this fine timber roof until its removalin 1856. It was then found that enough remained of the original to allow a faithful restoration to be made. But the scheme of colouring—red and green upon white—was not copied. In its stead Owen Jones suggested another—a background of blue plentifully ornamented with golden stars.
TheSaturday Reviewis responsible for the statement—for the truth of which, however, it does not vouch—"that on the first occasion when Dean Close found himself beneath the roof, then glowing in all the brilliancy of modern painting and gilding, in semblance of 'the spangled firmament on high,' he solemnly ejaculated, 'Oh my stars!'"
At the triforium base foliated brackets support vaulting shafts of three clustered columns. At the point of contact with the base of the quatrefoil parapet they are ornamented with rings, and their capitals are foliated, but not so naturally as the capitals below. Great semi-circular rafters spring from the capitals and cross the choir. Smaller rafters start from the cornice of the clerestory. These are intersected in the centre of the ceiling by a longitudinal beam. Small moulded ribs divide the space between each great rafter and the longitudinal beam into sixteen panels. The intersections are decorated with carved bosses.
Hammer-beams.—From the foot of three of the principal ribs hammer-beams project. They seem to indicate an intention on the part of the builders to cover the choir with an open-timber roof like that of the Great Hall at Westminster. But having decided on the waggon-headed roof, they did not trouble to remove these beams. Wall pieces and curved struts now connect them with the vaulting shafts, and they have been decorated with "carvèd angels ever eager-eyed, with hair blown back and wings put cross-wise on their breasts."
More than one hundred carved figures ornament the cornice, and the following texts in black-letter appear above them:—
North Side.—Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of the Lord. (Eccles. v. 1.)
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord. (Ps. cxxxiv. 2.)
Praise ye the name of the Lord. (Ps. cxxxv. 1.)
Praise God in His sanctuary, (Ps. cl. 1.)
Exalt ye the Lord our God and worship at His footstool. (Ps. xcix. 5.)
South Side.—How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! (Ps. lxxxiv. 1.)
My praise shall be of Thee in the great congregation. (Ps. xxii. 25.)
O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together. (Ps. xxxiv. 3.)
Holiness becometh Thine house for ever. (Ps. xciii. 5.)
The greatEast Windowis the crowning ornament and special glory of the cathedral. It is unsurpassed by any other in the kingdom; perhaps there is not a window equal to it in the whole world.
Rickman says: "It is one of the finest if notthefinest Decorated window in the kingdom. Its elegance of composition and the easy flow of its lines rank it even higher than the celebrated west window of York, which it also excels in the number of divisions. The window is by far the most free and brilliant example of Decorated tracery in the kingdom."
Fergusson, in his "History of Architecture," also praises it: "Its upper part exhibits the most beautiful and perfect design for window tracery in the world. All the parts are in such just harmony the one to the other—the whole is so constructively appropriate and at the same time so artistically elegant—that it stands quite alone, even among windows of its own age."
"The stone-work of all this part (the east window) is entirely new, although it reproduces most minutely the original design" (King, 202-3).
"The whole of themouldings, both of the mullions and tracery,externallyare nearly destroyed, owing to the perishable nature of the stone with which it is constructed" (Billing, p. 60 (1840)).
This great window almost entirely fills the east end of the choir, being 51 feet high from the sill to the top of the tracery and about 26 feet wide in the clear.
Immediately after the fire in 1292, the work was started, and the jambs with their slender shafts and foliated capitals were erected. Nothing more was done till about the middle of the fourteenth century, when the arch mullions were added; andthe tracery dates from about the end of the same century. The mouldings were left unfinished until the restoration of the cathedral, 1856. The tracery (Decorated) is composed of eighty-six pieces struck from 263 centres. Some of the pieces forming the chief divisions are nearly five feet in length. Although the stone-work is modern, the design has been most faithfully copied from the original. In the lower part there are nine lights, no other Decorated window in existence having so many. The west window of Durham Cathedral (partly copied from, but inferior to, the west window of York) and the Rose window in the south transept at Lincoln are of the same character; but that of York ranks next in importance, and is the only window able to compete with the east window of Carlisle.
The design consists of two complete compositions united under one head by interposing a third. The York window, on the contrary, is altogether one complete design, from which no part can be separated without breaking the integrity of the composition.
The width of the opening is the same in both windows, but while the actual tracery of the York window is more than two feet higher, the Carlisle window is greatly superior in the beautiful arch mouldings above its tracery, and also in the side shafts and mouldings.
Again some stiffness is imparted to the design of the York window by the central mullion which reaches from the basement to the top of the arch. The tracery branches outwards from this on each side, and depends upon the arch for support; while the tracery in the Carlisle window is not so dependent. Neither in skilful workmanship nor in variety of ornament is the York window equal to that at Carlisle. With the exception of four quatrefoils (placed above each alternate mullion) it is composed of trefoils. Carlisle, on the contrary, possesses nine quatrefoils, in addition to four placed like those at York. Nearly all the small spandrels formed by the various ornaments are perforated, and this imparts a remarkable air of lightness to the window.
The beautiful stained glass in the tracery is all that remains of the ancient glass. It is of the time of Richard II., and was no doubt preserved because of the expense that reglazing its small intricate forms would have involved.
The subject is a Doom—the Resurrection, the Last Judgment, and the New Jerusalem.
"We have our Lord sitting in judgment; the Procession of the Blessed to the Palace of Heaven; the Place of punishment for the wicked; and the general Resurrection.
"The figure of our Saviour is in the uppermost quatrefoil of the central compartment; His countenance will bear the closest inspection; it exhibits evident traces of suffering, but is calm, severe, and dignified. His head is surrounded by a cruciform nimbus. Below this are two quatrefoils, easily distinguished by their silvery appearance. These represent the Procession of the Redeemed to the heavenly Jerusalem, whose towers and pavilions are shown in the quatrefoil to the right. St. Peter stands in the gateway in an attitude of welcome; at his feet flows the River of Life, which some of the Redeemed have reached. The red glare of the Place of punishment makes it easy to be distinguished; the tortures represented are of the most realistic character, and the devils are very material beings, with tails, hoofs, and horns.
"The rest of the picture is occupied with the representation of the general Resurrection:—the dead rising from their graves—ecclesiastics are vested, but laity rise naked, though kings wear their crowns: several bishops are among the crowd, and a pope wearing the triple tiara. Some of the ecclesiastics are bearded, and probably are intended for canons of the cathedral, who, being Austin or Black canons, would wear their beards.
"In one of the quatrefoils, just above the mullions, is a figure surrounded by a heraldic border; this represents John of Gaunt, who was Governor of Carlisle from 1380 to 1384. It is said that he supported the prior, William de Dalston, who refused obedience to the bishop, and had been excommunicated; and that, out of gratitude, he was thus represented in the east window."[4]
THE CHOIR AND EAST WINDOW. A. Pumphrey, Photo.THE CHOIR AND EAST WINDOW.
A "Jesse," which originally filled the lower part of the window, was destroyed at the Reformation. The present glass was inserted in 1861, in memory of Bishop Percy (d. 1856). It represents events in the history of our Lord. Although the colours do not harmonise well with the old glass, they are in accord with the gorgeous colouring of the ceiling. Like most of the stained glass in the cathedral, this is by Hardman of Birmingham.
MISERERE, SOUTH SIDE OF THE STALLS. From Billings.MISERERE, SOUTH SIDE OF THE STALLS.
Bishop Strickland (1399-1413) erected theStalls, which are of black oak, and occupy the three western bays of the choir.
Our English cathedrals are far ahead of foreign cathedrals in the beauty and richness of the tabernacle work of their stalls, which in many instances are "like a whole wood, say a thicket of old hawthorn, with its topmost branches spared, slowly transformed into stalls." These in Carlisle, if not among the finest specimens in England, certainly take very high rank.
There are forty-six compartments, divided by fifty columns, upon which the tabernacle work rests. Each compartment consists of a large canopy decorated with quatrefoils, and battlemented. This is surmounted by three smaller canopies and pedestals which were originally occupied by small carved figures. A large pinnacle, richly decorated, like the others, with crockets and finials, finishes the compartment.
Between each stall is a small buttress beginning at the capital and finishing somewhat beneath the top of the large pinnacle. These buttresses have, alternately, a pedestal with a canopy above; and a pedestal supporting a small flying-buttress terminating in a pinnacle enriched with small crockets.
Prior Haithwaite is said to have added the tabernacle-work after the year 1430.
The division between each stall shows either a well-executed foliated ornament, or an angel. In the north-west and south-west angles the elbows of the seats are carved with the head of a king supposed to represent Henry IV. The panels of the desks are elaborately worked, and the stone plinth which supports them is decorated with quatrefoils.
The stalls at the west end of the choir are wider than the others, and are used by the higher dignitaries of the cathedral.
The Dean's stall is on the left of the choir entrance, and the Bishop's on the right. This arrangement is said to have existed since the time of æthelwulf. He was the first prior, and upon his elevation to the bishopric he still kept the prior's seat.
The hinged seats, known as misereres or misericordes, were constructed to keep the monks from falling asleep while at prayers. The carvings beneath these seats are of different designs, generally grotesque.
The following is a list of the subjects found carved thereon:—
TheSalkeld Screen.—On the north side of the choir, the westernmost bay of the presbytery is filled by a fine wooden screen of Renaissance work, erected about 1542 by Lancelot Salkeld, last prior and first dean of Carlisle. It is divided into three compartments; through the central one entrance could be gained to the choir formerly by an ascent of three steps from the north choir aisle.
It is very elaborate, and some portions are very beautiful. The lower part is panelled, each panel having two heads carved in bas-relief. The upper part is of well-executed tracery work.
Over each compartment is a pediment decorated in the centre with shields. The western one has been restored. The initials L.S. and D.K. (Lancelot Salkeld, Decanus Karliolensis) occur on the screen. The other bays were originally filled with screen-work similar to that in St. Catherine's Chapel. In 1764 these screens were removed and stored in the Fratry crypt as lumber. In the end they were used as firewood; only a few pieces preserved by the neighbouringgentry escaping destruction. A stone screen now surrounds the sacrarium on three sides. The reredos is higher than this screen. It is arcaded, and its compartments have triangular-headed canopies and some well-executed figures. The late Mr. Street designed it, and its cost was £1790.
TheBishop's Throne, of English and foreign oak, was also designed by the late Mr. Street. The canopy of the throne is nearly thirty feet high.
ThePulpitis a memorial of Archdeacon Paley, who is buried close at hand in the north choir aisle. It is of richly-carved Caen stone, on a plinth of black Manx marble, and ornamented with carvings in white alabaster, of scenes from the New Testament. In shape it is hexagonal, with shafts at the angles rising into an enriched cornice. The lectern—a brass eagle—was given in memory of the late G.C. Mounsey, sometime diocesan registrar.
In the middle of the choir is a monument to Bishop Bell. On a blue slab under a triple canopy, the centre pediment of which has I.H.S., and its point the Deity and Christ, is a brass figure of a bishopin pontificalibus, mitre and gloves; his right hand holds on his breast an open book inscribed—
Hec meaSpes in sinu meo
His left hand, over which hangs the maniple, has a rich crosier. On a semi-circular scroll over his head—
Credo qdredemptor meus vivit et novissio die de terra surrectursuet in Carne mea videbo deusalvatore275; meu.
Under his feet—
Hac marmor fossa Bell presulis en tenet ossaDuresme duduprior his post pontificatuGessit atq' renuit primum super omia queritDispiciens muduposcendo pramia fratru
On the ledge round the slab—
Hic jacet Reverendus Pater Ricardus Bell quondam Episcopus Karleolensis qui ab hac luce migravit videlicet vicesimo Quarto die ... Anno Domini.... Et omnium fidelium defunctorum. per misericordiam dei requiescant in perpetua pace. Amen."
The ancient high altar probably stood one bay nearer to the west than the present altar. There, in the presence of Bishop Halton, Robert Bruce took an oath of fidelity to Edward I. Ten years later he proved false to this oath, and the Papal Legate solemnly excommunicated him with bell, book, and candle.
Very shortly after this, Edward I. dedicated the litter in which he had journeyed thus far, and mounting his horse at the cathedral door rode through the priory gateway bent on the conquest of Scotland. He never lived to reach that country, for he died in sight of the Scottish coast at Burgh-on-Sands.
North Choir Aisle.—This aisle is entered by a handsome Decorated arch, a very good example of thirteenth-century work.
The north wall, with the exquisite two-light lancet windows, is Early English, and dates from the period immediately after the demolition of the Norman choir about 1260.
Each compartment of the cinquefoilwall-arcadeis separated by triple columns, and the space divided into four parts by shafts, barely detached from the wall, supporting foliated arches. This is the general description for both north and south choir aisles.
The eastern bay belongs to the retro-choir, and is of later date.
Above the wall-arcade are the graceful two-light lancet windows, with their slender columns, deep mouldings, and rich dog-tooth decoration.
In each bay there are four divisions; the two outer ones blank, and the two others forming the window. The shafts are detached from the wall; the central one is higher than the rest, and its capital is foliated. From the outer columns in the blank divisions, the shoulder, or hipped rib, after rising a short distance, sinks to the level of the capitals of the vaulting columns. At the side of the window columns two small circular mouldings, decorated with small dog-tooth ornament, continue without a break round the head of each window. A large blank quatrefoil is inserted in the space between the lights and the outer arch moulding.