NAVE.NAVE.Drawn by F. S. Waller, F.R.I.B.A., from Brown Willis' Survey of Gloucester Cathedral (1727).
To give an idea of the original screen arrangement, Mr Hope's description is here quoted:—
"The quire proper is under the Tower, a not unusual Benedictine arrangement. The original screens at the west end have unfortunately been destroyed, but from plans made by Browne Willis (vide supra, where Mr Waller's drawing of Browne Willis' plan, made in 1727, is given) and Carter, while some remains of them existed, the arrangement can beapproximately recovered. I have advisedly used the plural word 'screens' because they were two in number. The first consisted of two stone walls—the one at the west end of the quire, against which the stalls were returned; the other west of it between the first pair of pillars. There was a central door, which was called the quire door. The western wall was broader than the other, and had in the thickness of its southern half an ascending stair to a loft or gallery above, which extended over the whole area between the two walls. This loft was called in Latin thepulpitum, and it must not, as it often has been, be confounded with the pulpit to preach from. It sometimes contained an altar, as apparently here at Gloucester, and on it stood a pair of organs. From it also on the principal feasts the Epistle was read and the Gospel solemnly sung at a great eagle desk. On either side of thepulpitumdoor was probably an altar."The double screen I have just described was built by Abbot Wigmore, who is recorded to have been buried in 1337, 'before the Salutation of the Blessed Mary in the entry of the quire on the south side,' which he himself constructed with thepulpitumon the same placeut nunc cernitursays the 'Chronicle,' and parts of it are worked up in the present screen. The north side of the quire entry, or perhaps the north quire door, was ornamented with images with tabernacles by Abbot Horton."
"The quire proper is under the Tower, a not unusual Benedictine arrangement. The original screens at the west end have unfortunately been destroyed, but from plans made by Browne Willis (vide supra, where Mr Waller's drawing of Browne Willis' plan, made in 1727, is given) and Carter, while some remains of them existed, the arrangement can beapproximately recovered. I have advisedly used the plural word 'screens' because they were two in number. The first consisted of two stone walls—the one at the west end of the quire, against which the stalls were returned; the other west of it between the first pair of pillars. There was a central door, which was called the quire door. The western wall was broader than the other, and had in the thickness of its southern half an ascending stair to a loft or gallery above, which extended over the whole area between the two walls. This loft was called in Latin thepulpitum, and it must not, as it often has been, be confounded with the pulpit to preach from. It sometimes contained an altar, as apparently here at Gloucester, and on it stood a pair of organs. From it also on the principal feasts the Epistle was read and the Gospel solemnly sung at a great eagle desk. On either side of thepulpitumdoor was probably an altar.
"The double screen I have just described was built by Abbot Wigmore, who is recorded to have been buried in 1337, 'before the Salutation of the Blessed Mary in the entry of the quire on the south side,' which he himself constructed with thepulpitumon the same placeut nunc cernitursays the 'Chronicle,' and parts of it are worked up in the present screen. The north side of the quire entry, or perhaps the north quire door, was ornamented with images with tabernacles by Abbot Horton."
"The second screen, all traces of which have long disappeared, stood between the second pair of piers—i.e.a bay west of thepulpitum. It was a lofty stone wall, against which stood the altar of the holy cross, or rood-altar, as it was more commonly called, and upon it was a gallery called the rood-loft, from its containing the great rood and its attendant images. The rood usually stood on the parapet or front rail of the loft, but sometimes on a rood-beam crossing the church at some height above the loft. Such an arrangement seems to have existed at Gloucester, for in the sixth course from the top a new stone has been inserted in both pillars exactly on the line where the ends of the rood beam would be fitted into, or rested on corbels, in the pillars."
On either side of the rood altar the screen was pierced by a doorway for processions, and the altar itself was protected by a fence-screen a little farther west.
After showing how the counterpart of these arrangements existed at Durham (vide Arch. Journ.liv. pp. 77-119), and describing the Durham nave altar and rood, Mr Hope points out that at Gloucester, as at Durham, "the eastern of the two doorways between the nave and the cloister was shut off by the screen and reredos of a chapel adjoining it on the west. The monks could therefore freely pass through the cloister door without being interrupted by strangers. This eastern door wasnot only the ordinary entrance from the cloister, but through it passed the Sunday and other processions that included the circuit of the cloister and buildings opening out of it. The procession always returned into the church by the western cloister door, and, after making a station before the great rood, passed through the rood doors in single files, and entered the quire through the pulpitum or quire door."
In the chapel, on the north side (which was perhaps dedicated to St. Thomas the Martyr), was formerly, as shown in the plan by Brown Willis, the Blackleech monument, now in the south transept.
When the Benson screen was put up three Abbots were found interred in their robes, and another coffin with two skulls in it. This fact gave a possible clue to the identity of one of the Abbots. One probably was Abbot Gamage, and the two skulls probably belonged to his brother, Sir Nicholas Gamage, and his wife, who were buried near the Abbot.
The presentOrganwas built originally during 1663-1665 by Thomas Harris, the father of the celebrated Renatus or René Harris, and the cost was defrayed by public subscription, to which, however, the inhabitants of Gloucester contributed but little. The contract was for the sum of £400, exclusive of the sum for the building of the organ-loft, and the decoration of the pipes and the case. The gilding and painting was entrusted to Mr Campion in November 1664, and the work was finished in December 1666. This artist was celebrated as a painter of heraldic subjects, and the work done by him, chiefly on the large pipes of the Great, is particularly beautiful.
The shield, which has been removed from the west front of the case, was undoubtedly that of Charles II., and two of the large pipes facing the nave bear the letters C.R., with a crown over them. Other arms represented are those of James, Duke of York (king in 1685), and his first wife, Anne Hyde.
The organ was repaired by Bernhard Schmidt before 1683. It was formerly in the gallery of the south transept, over the stalls, but was placed on its present screen in 1820 by Dr Griffiths.
It was improved by Willis in 1847, and again in 1888-89, and further additions are contemplated. The case is of oak, and is a fine piece of Renaissance work. A good view of itcan be obtained from the triforium, looking across from south-east to north-west.
The following is a specification (kindly sent by Mr A. H. Brewer, the organist of the cathedral), from which it will be seen that the instrument is worthy of the cathedral:
GREAT ORGAN.CC to A, 58 Notes.1.Double Open Diapason16ft.2.Open Diapason, No. 18ft.3.Open Diapason, No. 2*8ft.4.Claribel Flute8ft.5.Flute Harmonique4ft.6.Principal4ft.7.Twelfth3ft.8.Fifteenth2ft.9.Mixture10.Trombone16ft.11.Trumpet8ft.12.Clarion4ft.SWELL ORGAN.†CC to A, 58 Notes.13.Double Open Diapason16ft.14.Open Diapason*8ft.15.Vox Angelica8ft.16.Salcional8ft.17.Lieblich Gedact8ft.18.Gemshorn4ft.19.Fifteenth2ft.20.Mixture21.Contra Posaune‡16ft.22.Hautboy8ft.23.Clarionet8ft.24.Cornopean8ft.25.Clarion4ft.CHOIR ORGAN.CC to A, 58 Notes.26.Stopped Diapason8ft.27.Dulciana8ft.28.Flute4ft.29.Clarionet8ft.30.Cor Anglais‡8ft.SOLO ORGAN.$CC to A, 58 Notes.31.Flute8ft.32.Clarionet8ft.33.Oboe Orchestral8ft.34.Tuba Mirabilis8ft.PEDAL ORGAN.@CCC to F, 30 Notes.35.Open Diapason16ft.36.Bourdon16ft.37.Ophicleide‡16ft.38.Octave‡8ft.COUPLERS.39.Choir to Pedals.40.Great to Pedals.41.Swell to Pedals.42.Solo to Pedals.‡43.Choir to Great.44.Swell to Great.45.Solo to Great.‡
* Stops so marked are by Harris, 1660.† The swell organ was added by Willis in 1847.‡ Stops so marked were added in 1898.$ The whole of the solo organ was added by Willis in 1898.@ Up to within the last fifteen years there was but one stop on the pedal organ.
TheChoir, of the beauty of which but little idea can be obtained from the nave, is entered by visitors, as a rule, from the north aisle of the choir. Its dimensions are—Length, 140 feet; breadth, 33 feet 7 inches; height, 86 feet; east window, 38 feet wide and 72 feet in height.
It dates back to the years 1337-1377—that is, the abbacies of Adam de Staunton and Thomas Horton, in whose time so much was done to alter the character of the building.
Looking upwards the visitor will note the beauty of the vaulting and the bosses placed at the intersection of the ribs. These bosses at the east end of the choir chiefly represent a choir of angels playing on various kinds of musical instruments, and a figure of Our Lord in the attitude of blessing. All the roof was originally probably painted and decorated, but the existing colour and gilding is recent work, having been done by Clayton & Bell. At first sight the groining of the roof looks most complicated, but, if analysed and dotted down on paper, it will be seen to be in reality a simple geometrical pattern. The bosses will repay careful examination with a glass.
Viewed from the door in the screen, the choir looks in very truth a piece of Perpendicular work, as the Norman substructure is then for the most part concealed. A closer examination, however, will prove that the Norman work is all there—that it has been veiled over with tracery from the floor level to the vaulting with open screen-work, fixed on to the Norman masonry, which was pared down to receive it. (Videpage 52.)
Professor Willis points out that "in all cathedrals ... a screen, about the height of the present altar-screen, separated the choir from the side-aisles and transepts; but in this cathedral the screen is carried to the roof, and the result is a beautiful, if not unique choir. This screen of tracery, which formed the sides, was, below the clerestory, merely plastered on to the Norman wall; or the original Norman columns had been chipped down till they harmonised with the general design."
Professor Freeman, in writing of this casing work, said, "Paid for by the offerings at Edward II. shrine, ... to that abnormal worship the abbey of Gloucester owed its present form. I am half inclined to put it the other way, and to make it a new count in the articles of deposition against the unworthy king that this misguided devotion has cost us the minster of Serlo in its perfect form, and hinders us from studying the contrast which we should otherwise have been able to mark between its eastern and its western limb."
CHOIR, LOOKING EAST.CHOIR, LOOKING EAST.
PLAN OF TRIFORIUM OF THE CHOIR. From a Drawing by F. S. Waller, F.R.I.B.A.PLAN OF TRIFORIUM OF THE CHOIR. From a Drawing by F. S. Waller, F.R.I.B.A.
We, however, have nothing to do with the question of the merits or demerits of Edward II. The beauty of the casing work compels our admiration. If we want to get an idea of what the choir would have been without the Perpendicular casing we must go to Norwich, and inspect the uncased work in the choir that is there, or else to Tewkesbury.3
Plan of Feretory (High Altar)Plan of Feretory (High Altar) as laid bare when the new Reredos was erected in 1873. The site of the old Norman Piers could be as distinctly as in this sketch.
There is nothing left to prove the original height of the choir, though much of the old stonework has been re-used in the clerestory windows, a practice, as before stated, common throughout the cathedral, the Norman piers and arch-mouldings having in many cases been turned into four-centred arches, and Norman capitals into bases. The casing of the old Norman work with the new by Staunton and Horton is very ingeniously managed, and attention should be given to a feature resulting from the treatment of the ribs of the vaulting, which are very cleverly provided for in the centre of the tower arches. The ribs are apparently supported by a light arch thrown across the lower arches. Something of this sort wasnecessary, as the only alternative would have been to alter the springing of the vaulting-ribs. These light arches are very graceful and are best seen from the transepts or else from the triforium of the choir. Another feature worth noticing in the tower arches is the way that the two Norman columns are run into one capital at about the level of the arch.
Sketch of old Norman Choir showing how it was cased by Abbot Staunton 1337-1351.Sketch of old Norman Choir showing how it was cased by Abbot Staunton 1337-1351.From a Drawing by F. S. Waller, F.R.I.B.A.
Turning eastwards we next are struck by the loveliness of theEast Windowof the choir. It has a curious architectural effect, for it is actually 5 feet wider than the walls which seem to be its two boundaries. The architect took down the Norman east end, raised the roof, and has given us a window with lace-like tracery. Though it has suffered much mutilation, it has suffered but little from eager restorers, and it is possible to get some idea of its original splendour. It is larger than the East Window at York Minster, being 72 by 38 feet; York being but 78 by 33. Both are beautiful, and one wishes that windows of such beauty could be got now at the original price paid—£138—a large sum for those days, but a sum which; making allowance for the changed value of money, would represent about £2000 of our money.
THE CHOIR. LOOKING WEST.THE CHOIR. LOOKING WEST.
In 1862 the stonework of the window was in a very unsafe condition, and about £1400 was spent on restoring it. At the same time, acting on Mr Winston's advice, the Dean and Chapter had the glass thoroughly cleaned and releaded.
Owing to Mr Winston's supervision the glass was not restored.
The window, which corresponds admirably with the casing of the choir and the clerestory windows, consists of fourteen lights altogether, six forming the centre, with four on either side. "It is worthy of remark that the tracery, heads, and cusps, as seen from the inside of this window, are not repeated on the outside, a plain transom only crossing the lights. This peculiarity is repeated also in the great west window, and in many other windows in the cathedral." (F. S. W.)
The window represents the coronation of the Virgin Mary, together with Christ, the Apostles, and various saints and kings. All the canopies, and nearly all the figures are composed of white glass enriched with yellow.
Mr Winston's description of the window will be found in theArchæological Journal, vol. xx.
The heraldic shields give a clue to the date of the window, and Mr Winston thinks that it may have been erected by Thomas, Lord Bradeston, to the memory of Sir Maurice Berkeley, who was killed at the siege of Calais, and to commemorate the glories of the campaign in France, which culminated with the Battle of Crecy. The date, therefore, of the original glass would be between 1347 and 1350.
Mr Winston further says that "It would be impossible to meet with white glass that could be more solid and silvery in effect. The red is beautifully varied, and is most luminous, even in its deepest parts, and the tone of the blue can hardly be surpassed." Of the general design, he says that although, "through the size and simplicity of its parts, it is calculated to produce a good effect at a distance; the figures are ill-drawn, ungraceful, and insipid. The shading, though sufficient, both in depth and quantity, if handled with skill, to have produceda due effect of relief—an effect which obviously has been aimed at—is so inartificially employed as to be useful only so far as it serves to impart tone and richness to the composition, and by contrast to increase its brilliancy."
The effect of the choir as a whole, when glazed with its original painted glass, must have been superb. We may be certain that the glass was the best that could be obtained, for the abbey was wealthy, and glass-painting was then a living art. Glass was made at Gloucester, as is shown by the glaziers being numbered among the trade companies and guilds of Gloucester, but there is nothing definite to be said as to the place of origin of the old glass in the cathedral.
Below is theReredos, designed by Sir G. G. Scott, presented by the Treasurer of the Province. It consists of three principal compartments, in which are groups of figures (sculptured by Redfern) intended to represent the Birth, Burial, and Ascension of Christ. The smaller figures in the niches are Moses and David and St. Peter and St. Paul. Above are nine angels, bearing the various emblems of our Lord's Passion. This reredos was unveiled with much pomp and ceremony in 1873, and recently has been profusely gilded.
The commonplace and heavy-topped gas standards mar the effect, such as it is, of the ornate work of the reredos.
Of Abbot Horton's reredos, which was destroyed at the Reformation, only fragments remain. They have been very carefully preserved in the triforium, where an enclosure has been made by placing an old oak screen across one of the Chapels. In this museum most valuable remains have been stored, under Mr Waller's keeping, for many years.
Dean Chetwood, in 1710, erected a wooden reredos containing much good carving. Portions of this remain in the south-east chapel in the triforium of the choir, having been brought back from the parish church at Cheltenham, whither they had been removed in 1807.
Sir Robert Smirke in 1807 put up work which consisted chiefly of panelling, which was affixed to the easternmost wall of the feretory. This was removed in 1873.
When the present reredos was erected "the foundations of Abbot Horton's reredos were discovered, and an accurate plan was taken of the remains (videillustration, p. 51). Provision had evidently been made by him for keeping relics or treasureshere, and, in his time, the back screen, as we now see it, and the reredos, were united together at the top, and covered with heavy stone slabs, so as to make a perfectly secure feretory. Great care was taken during the progress of the present new work to preserve these remains, which can be still seen exactly as they were when first discovered. The foundations of the Norman piers removed by Horton were at the same time temporarily exposed to view." (F. S. W.)
THE CHOIR IN 1806, FROM A DRAWING BY WILD.THE CHOIR IN 1806, FROM A DRAWING BY WILD.
The original "High Altaroccupied the same site as the present one, and had behind its reredos a narrow space containing cupboards for the principal jewels, and, beneath the altar, two large recesses for the keeping of relics." (W. H. St. J. Hope.)
TheStalls(sixty in number), with all their graceful carving, and the misereres, with their grotesque ornamentation underneath, have in part had to be restored, while the sub-stalls are new, dating from Sir Gilbert Scott's restoration, which was finished in 1873.
An engraving (reproduced from Wild) will show what the choir was like formerly. The woodwork here shown has been utilised in making stalls and seats in the east end of the nave for the services that are held there on Sundays during a portion of the year.
In thePresbytery, or space between the reredos and the choir, there are some very splendid old tiles; many of them fragments only, but enough to indicate the original beauty of the pavement. From the evidence of the tiles themselves, they were laid down by Thomas Seabroke, R. Brygg (Brydges), J. Applebi, W. Farlei, Joh. Graft(on?). Others dating back to the thirteenth century are also to be found—e.g.those to Richard the King of the Romans, who died in 1271.
Many tiles were transferred here from other parts of the cathedral early in the century by Mr Lysons, and this accounts for the presence of tiles of William Malvern, the last Abbot, and some others. The arms of the Brydges family:Arg. on a cross sable, a leopard's face, or, differenced by a fir-cone gules, should be noticed, as they seem clearly the same as those on the armour of the unknown knight in the South Transept.
Beautiful tiles, bearing the arms of Edward the Confessor and the Abbey, and many a crowned M. (for Maria) will be found. These latter will be seen in plenty in Great Malvern Priory, where they have been rescued from the pavement, and inserted in the outside wall of the back of the reredos.
One more tile should be noticed near the sedilia. Thewords impressed in its surface are "Croys Crist me spe de+," followed byA MEorA MARIA.
These tiles had a narrow escape in the last century, about the time when the nave was paved, when an offer was made to pave the presbytery with marble.
As part of the restoration programme, the re-paving of the choir was undertaken. New tiles, ostensibly copied from the old ones, but of a different size, with an excessive glaze, and very stiff in design and execution have been put down. It is hard to judge what the effect of the tiles would have been, as it has been quite killed by the white marble which has been mixed with them. The glaring white marble in the floor of the presbytery has been inlaid with biblical scenes filled in with black cement. It is possible from the triforium to get a general idea of the crudity and tastelessness of the pavement, which is so composed and arranged that time—the softener of all things—can never make it look appreciably better.
On the south side of the high altar are fourSedilia. These have been very much restored, and the niches and canopies filled with figures, by Redfern, representing Abbot Edric, Bishop Wulstan, also Abbots Aldred, Serlo, Foliot, Thokey, Wygmore, Horton, Froucester, Morwent, Seabroke, and Hanley. The general effect is good, but marred by the hideous gas standards.
Over the canopies are three angels playing on a tambour and trumpets. The rod and entwined ribbon with T. O. are supposed to refer to Thomas Osborne, Sheriff of Gloucester 1512-1522, and Mayor in 1526.
Monuments in the Choir.—On the north side of the presbytery, near the steps to the high altar, is a monument—long supposed to be a cenotaph—to King Osric. The tomb was opened to satisfy inquisitive desecrators some few years ago, and it was conclusively proved that someone had been buried inside.
On the wall is the inscription:Osricus Rex (primus fundator) hui(Monasterii681). From Leland, to whom is due the part of the inscription in brackets, we learn that "Osric, Founder of Gloucester Abbey, first laye in St. Petronell's Chappell, thence removed with our Lady Chappell, and thence removed of late dayes, and layd under a fayre tombe of stone on the north syde of the high aulter. At the foote of the tombe is thus written in a wall"—ut supra.
This "fayre tombe" was erected in "late dayes"i.e.in the time of Abbot Parker, whose arms are in the spandrels of the canopy, dated (1514 to 1539), and Leland must have seen the tomb in all the freshness of its beauty.
The Norman piers, which are cut away to receive the tomb, are decorated as to their capitals with the device of Richard II.i.e.the white hart chained and gorged, with a ducal coronet. Formerly these devices were painted on the stone, but in 1737 they were blazoned on thin metal by the Heraldic College, and put in position. From the occurrence of the device in this place it was formerly held that the body of Edward II. was drawn by stages from Berkeley Castle to the abbey.
The other coats-of-arms are those of the abbey (they are blazoned as they should be now—azure, a sword in pale, hilted, pommelled, and crowned, or, surmounted by two keys in saltire of the last), and of Osric as King of Northumbria. Osric is represented as crowned and sceptred (clad in tunic, laced mantle, and a fur hood or collar) bearing the model of a church in his left hand.
The next tomb westwards is, as Leland says, that of "King Edward of Cærnarvon (who) lyeth under a fayre tombe, in an arch at the head of King Osric tombe."
TheTomb of Edward II.was erected by Edward III., and though it awakens our recollection of a feeble-minded king, and his barbarously brutal murder, it also compels our admiration at the beauty of the work. It has been restored, renovated or re-edified, but in spite of that, appeals to us from the wealth of very highly ornate tabernacle work, the richness, and at the same time the lightness and elegance of the whole. The details too are well worth careful examination. It may be, judging from the expression of the face, that there has been some attempt at portraiture, but repair and restoration have practically made it impossible to settle what would otherwise be an interesting question. The superb canopy has suffered much at the hands of restorers—e.g.in 1737, 1789, 1798, and in 1876.
The alabaster figure is possibly the earliest of its kind in England.
The tomb was opened in October 1855 by Dr Jeune, Canon in residence, to satisfy the curious who doubted whether the king had been buried under his tomb. Close by is the chantrytomb of William Malverne (or Parker), Abbot of the Abbey from 1515 up to the time of the Dissolution. It was erected in his lifetime, but he is buried elsewhere.
THE TOMB OF EDWARD II.THE TOMB OF EDWARD II.
On the stone screen the carving of the vine and the grapes will be found worthy of notice. The alabaster figure has been terribly defaced, but the chasuble and the mitre can be seen, and the broken staff. Around the base of the tomb are panels. Both sides are alike, containing the Abbot's own arms, and the emblems of the Crucifixion. At the foot is a cross composed of a tree with its branches growing into the shape of a cross. There is a very good tile on the floor with the arms of the Abbey, and some specimens of tiles, with a very fine greenish glaze upon them. Some of the large 7½ in. tiles with the stag—the Abbot's own arms—are particularly good.
On the south side of the choir the bracket tomb or monument, so called from the effigy being placed on a corbel or projecting bracket, should be noted. It is said by some to be Aldred's, by others to be Serlo's monument. The date of the monument is later than either in point of time. The mutilated effigy bears a model of a church in his left hand, and this points to its being the monument to a founder. It is more, than probable that it is to the memory of Abbot Henry Foliot, in whose time (1228-1243) the church was re-dedicated.
The monument, which is Perpendicular and Early English, has been much battered, but it is exceedingly graceful and of an unusual type.
Leland, who visited the Abbey in 1539 or 1540, wrote as follows:—"Serlo, Abbot of Gloucester, lyeth under a fayre marble tombe, on the south side of the Presbytery."
Glass in the Choir.—Mention has been made above of the east window, and it remains to notice the others.
In the clerestory on the north side the windows have been restored by Clayton & Bell. They are best seen from the triforium, but are given here as being part of the choir. Following the example of the lights in the east window, these clerestory windows have alternately red and blue backgrounds. Portions of old glass remain in the heads of the windows.
Beginning with the windows west to east thefirstcontains:
(1) St. Zacharias. (2) St. Elizabeth. (3) St. John Baptist. (4) St. Gabriel.
Thesecondcontains:
(1) St. Anna. (2) St. Mary. (3) St. Joseph. (4) St. Gabriel.
Thethirdcontains:
(1) St. Peter. (2) St. John. (3) St. James (Major). (This light is out of its place.) (4) St. Andrew.
Thefourthcontains:
(1) St. Philip. (2) St. Bartholomew. (3) St. Simon. (4) St. Jude.
The clerestory windows on the south side are filled with stamped quarries with central medallions and coloured borders, made after the model of remains of ancient painted glass.
The choir also contains a peculiarity in its six-light west window. This was rendered necessary by the difference in height of the nave as compared with that of the choir. The choir vaulting is about twenty feet higher than that of the nave. The glass at present in the window consists chiefly of patch-work, arranged by Hardman from pieces collected and saved at different times from other windows in the cathedral. It represents a figure of our Lord, with angels on either side. Below are angels playing on musical instruments.
It is customary to credit the Reformation or the Civil War with most church desecration and destruction, but this window was ruthlessly destroyed by an order of the Chapter in 1679, nearly thirty years after the Civil War was ended, and nearly 140 years after the dissolution of the monastery. The order ran as follows: "That a certain scandalous picture of y'e Holy Trinity being in y'e west window of y'e Quire of y'e said church, should be removed, and other glass put into y'e place." The glass of the window was actually broken up by one of the prebendaries (Fowler by name) with his own hands and feet. His action, considering his views, was incomprehensible; but he was made Bishop of the diocese, after Bishop Frampton was deprived of his see. Beneath the west window is an inscription (restored) in the panelling of the stone work:
These two Latin verses record that "this work (viz. the tower) which you see built and adorned, was done by the labour of Tully, at the command of Abbot Seabroke."
Robert Tully was a monk of Gloucester, and was Bishop of St. David's, where he died in 1482. There is a brassless slab to his memory there, but the best monument is the tower that was built by him here in Gloucester.
After passing through the iron gate into the last bay of the south aisle, the tomb of Abbot Seabrook or Seabroke will be seen on the left, inside a stone screen, through which formerly was a doorway giving access to the organ loft. The alabaster effigy represents the Abbot in his alb, stole, tunic, dalmatic, chasuble, amice, and mitre, with his pastoral staff on his right side. The chapel has been partially restored. Traces of colour are to be seen in the reredos and the roof over it.
Abbot Seabroke's pastoral staff was discovered in 1741 in his coffin while the tomb was being removed. After changing hands many times it was acquired finally by the Antiquarian Society of Newcastle-on-Tyne.
In the west end of the Seabroke Chapel, against the first pier of the nave, is a mural monument, rather florid in style, to Francis Baber, 1669.
Close to the Seabroke Chapel, on one of the piers supporting the tower, is a bracket with traces of very beautiful blue colour. The canopy above—much mutilated—shows traces of red, blue, and gold.
Almost opposite to this, but nearer to the iron gate, is a recessed tomb to a knight in mixed armour of mail and plate, and by his side his lady, with kirtle, mantle, and flowing hair. Both wear SS collars, and this helps to give the age of the monument, by narrowing the date down to a year not earlier than 1399. The SS collars also tend to disprove that the monument is to Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, and his countess, seeing that he died in 1361. On the knight's belt is a badge, very much worn down, which has been attributed to the Brydges family. Mr Lysons thought it to be the tomb of Sir John Brydges who fought at Agincourt, and died in 1437, but the mail tippet is not found later than 1418. The tomb may commemorate Sir Thomas Brydges, who died in 1407, and this would agree better with the date given above.
The transepts and ambulatory of the choir are entered, as a rule, by the iron gateway in the south aisle of the nave.
South Transept.—This transept, like that on the north, underwent a complete transformation in the fourteenth century, under Abbot Wygmore (1329-1337). In spite of the transformation, the Norman design can easily be traced both in the inside and the outside of the transept. The walls have been ornamented with open panelled work, consisting of mullions and transoms, with very rich tracery and foiled headings. The method of the casing is best seen from the triforium, where the original Norman masonry can be closely inspected. The panel work, in spite of its date, has the appearance of being considerably later, and some have thought the work to have been executed after Wygmore's time.
Professor Willis thinks that the Perpendicular style, which elsewhere—e.g.in the north transept and the choir—is completely developed, may have had its origin in this south transept. In any case, the work is of the greatest architectural interest, and deserves careful study. "Looking at the very early character of the clustered shafts and the mouldings of this transept in conjunction with the vertical lines with which they are associated, one might think (excepting Thokey's south aisle, the Edward II. monument, and some few examples in the triforium of the choir) that Decorated work had never fairly taken root in Gloucester." (F. S. W.)
The south transept, which was also called St. Andrew's Aisle, is 47 feet long, 35 feet broad, and 86 feet in height. The vaulting is lierne vaulting, with short ribs, which connect the main ribs together. There are no bosses in the roof. With an opera-glass it is possible to note the clever joining of the masonry.
On the north side of the south transept, between the tower piers, is an interesting chapel, with a wooden screen—date about 1510. The panelling inside, as also that on the back of the choir-stalls here exposed to view, is covered with monograms of S and B alternately, all surmounted with crowns.
The chapel is said to have been dedicated by John Browne (or Newton), who was Abbot from 1510-1514, to his patron saint, St. John the Baptist, the initials being the same.
On the step in this chapel is a slab with a mutilated cross incised in it and remains of an inscription upon a scroll. It is now almost illegible and crumbling fast away, but it was
"Kyrie eleison animeFratris Johis Lyon."
This Johannis Lyon was the monk who made the reredos in this chapel. There are traces of two reredoses here, both of which show traces of colour. Older stonework has been used to make the newer reredos, and has been merely reversed.
The tiles here are of interest, and there are also some outside, both at the east and at the west end of the chapel screen, well worthy of attention. They are chiefly odd tiles, similar to those in the choir, with the name of Farley, others with oak leaves, others with fleur-de-lys, others with lions rampant.
At the west end of the chapel outside is a highly lacquered brass of the usual type, in memory of Judge Sumner, 1885.
Just before turning into the south transept a stone on the floor will be seen, close to the angle of the wall made by the transept and the south aisle, with the inscription: "Here lyeth under this marbell ston Robart Leigh, organist and Maister of the Choristers of this Cathedral Church. He dyed the 6th of January 1589 "(?). No record of him survives.
On the south wall are two doorways. One, which is blocked up, is in the south-east corner, and is surmounted by a double-bodied monster, resembling an ape. The other doorway is usually pointed out to visitors as the "Pilgrim's door."
Whether this door was that in general use for pilgrims or not is an open question. It was for a long time blocked up and has only a makeshift door in it at the present time. Carter, writing in 1807, says: "The arch of the opening, in its head, has four turns concentred by a flower. Above the head is an ogee architrave rising from small columns, which columns bend forward on each hand, forming open arms or fences on each side of the steps to the doorway. On these arms recline statues (angels) acting as guardians to the doorway. Their attitudes are well conceived and pleasingly varied." The sculpture is extremely graceful and pleasing, the expression of the faces particularly charming. The drapery, too, is arranged in a masterly manner.
The door was thought by some to have been used to admit pilgrims to the shrine of Edward II., but others, arguing from the angels upon it, have taken it to be the door by which penitents could retire after making their confession. Perhaps the most reasonable explanation is that it was a door communicating with a vestry or checker for the sacrist, but there areno traces underground outside the south wall of any stone foundation for such building.
On the east side of the transept will be noted the restoredChapel of St. Andrew. The paintings on the wall were executed in 1866-67 in spirit fresco by Mr Gambier Parry for Thomas Marling, Esq., in memory of his wife, who died in 1863.
The reredos contains a central figure of the Saviour between St. Andrew and St. Peter, with eight figures of smaller size—viz. Job, Solomon, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel. The remainder of the figures are intended to represent a choir of angels.
The tiles in the chapel are very bright and gaudy, contrasting unfavourably with the older tiles elsewhere in the building. The arrangement of the tiles on the risers of the steps is very monotonous and unpleasing. Plain stone steps would have been far less obtrusive.
At one time a charge of sixpence was made for the privilege of inspecting the interior of this chapel, but nowadays it is kept closed. For many years it was used as a vestry for the lay clerks. The windows contain glass (by Hardmar) dealing with events in the life of St. Andrew.
In the east window, over St. Andrew's Chapel in the south transept, is to be seen some of the best glass now to be found in the cathedral, dating back to about 1330. It consists in the head of a white scroll-work of vine leaves, etc., on a fine ruby-coloured ground, and below plain quarries with very simple borders. These have been releaded by Hardman.
On either side of the chapel there are tabernacles. That on the south side contains some very fine carving, and with one boss quite complete. The colour, judging from the traces remaining, must have been very charming.
On the north side of the chapel is the'Prentice's Bracket. In shape it resembles a mason's square supporting an apprentice. Underneath it, as a supporter, is the master mason. The work was probably intended to carry an image with a pair of lights, and also to serve as a memorial of the workmen.
The Elizabethan monument erected in memory of Richard Pates, Esq., founder of the Grammar School at Cheltenham, is a poor example of its date, 1588. The next monument was originally in the north choir chapel of the nave (videBrownWillis' plan, p. 44), and commemorates Alderman Blackleech, in cavalier costume, and his wife. The date of the tomb is 1639. Other and later memorials are on the walls, but they are of no special interest.
There is an interesting tablet to Canon Evan Evans, D.D. (Master of Pembroke College, Oxford), who died in 1891. The memorial consists of a bronze tablet, bordered by a frame of marble inlaid with other marbles. The bronze at the top is inlaid with shell of an iridescent colour. The general effect is good, but silver hardly seems suited for inlaying in a building lighted by gas. The tablet was designed by Mr H. Wilson. The west window is Perpendicular, and is filled with glass in memory of Mr T. G. Parry.
The south window in this transept has been filled with glass (by Hardman), at the expense of Thomas Marling, Esq.
The slabs on the floor have been moved from the positions they formerly occupied, and have suffered by the change. A large slate-coloured stone, which used to be in front of the Blackleech monument is now placed much nearer the entrance to the crypt. It is broken in two and is covered up by matting.
Another stone slab has traces of a mill wheel. The inscription on it used to tell that "Here lyeth buried the body of John Long, Millard and Milwright, who departed this life the 16th day of April 1596."
A blue-coloured slab, which originally had a fine brass inlaid canopy has been converted to the use of a Minor Canon named Deane—1755.
The large buttress which passes through the St. Andrew Chapel upwards through the triforium, to support the south-east pier of the tower, used formerly to bear upon it a monument to Bishop Benson, which is now in the south triforium.
The double doorway which gives access to the choir aisle, and to the crypt, seems to be the type of several other doorways of later date in the building, as, for instance, in the north transept, and also in doorways in the Deanery and cloisters.
TheCrypt4is one of five English eastern crypts, founded before 1085, the others being those at Canterbury, Winchester, Rochester, and Worcester, and extends underneath the wholeof the choir, the ambulatories or aisles of the choir, and the five chapels belonging thereto.
In passing downstairs to the crypt or under-church, an inscription over the door of the chapel on the right refers to the enormous quantity of bones which had accumulated in the crypt, and thus obtained for it the name of "The Bone House." These bones had been brought in from the south precincts outside, all of which had been formerly a burying-ground, and in 1851 were removed to the south-west chapel of the crypt, and later buried in a large grave on the north side of the cathedral.