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Title: Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Carlisle - A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Episcopal See
Author: Eley, C. King
Language: English
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CHURCH OF CARLISLE***
Transcriber's notes:
1. Words and phrases which were italicized in the original have
been surrounded by underscores ('_') in this version. Words
signs ('#').
2. Obvious printer's errors have been corrected without note.
3. Inconsistencies in hyphenation and the spelling of proper
names, dialect and obsolete word spellings, have been
maintained as in the original.
4. Scribal abbreviations in the original text which used a tilde
above a letter have been transcribed as [~x], where x is the
letter over which the tilde appears.
5. A single letter super- or subscript is transcribed as '^'
(super) or '_' (sub) followed by the letter. If multiple
letters are super- or subscripted, these are enclosed in
braces {} after the '^' or '_'.
THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF CARLISLE
A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See
by
C. KING ELEY
With Twenty-Nine Illustrations
[Illustration: CARLISLE CATHEDRAL FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.
_A. Pumphrey, Photo._]
[Illustration]
London George Bell & Sons 1900
W. H. White and Co. Limited
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 Archæological 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 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 further detail, especially in
reference to the histories of the respective sees.
GLEESON WHITE.
EDWARD F. STRANGE.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
Amongst the works consulted in compiling this handbook may be specially
mentioned Nicolson and Burn's "History and Antiquities of Westmoreland
and Cumberland," Hutchinson's "History and Antiquities of the City of
Carlisle," Jefferson's "History and Antiquities of Carlisle," Billings'
"Architectural Illustrations, History and Description of Carlisle
Cathedral," "Guide to the Cathedral, Carlisle," by R.H. and K.H.
Much help has also been obtained from the late J.R. Green's historical
works, as well as the various biographies in the "National Dictionary of
Biography."
I also wish to record my thanks to my friend, Mr. A. Tapley, who kindly
read through part of the manuscript; and to Mr. A. Pumphrey for
permission to reproduce the photographs used.
C.K.E.
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I.--History of the Cathedral Church of the
Holy and Undivided Trinity 3
CHAPTER II.--The Cathedral, Exterior 12
The Nave 12
The North Transept 15
The Tower 15
The North Aisle of the Choir 16
The East End 19
The Choir 21
CHAPTER III.--The Cathedral, Interior 25
The Nave 25
The Font and Organ 26, 28
The North Transept 28
The Tower 30
The South Transept 30
St. Catherine's Chapel 32
Monuments in the Transepts 34
The Choir 39
The Triforium 42
The Clerestory 44
The Roof 44
The Hammer-beams 45
The East Window 46
The Salkeld Screen 52
The Bishop's Throne and Pulpit 53
The North Choir Aisle 54
Monuments in the North Choir Aisle 56
Legendary Paintings 58
The Retro-choir 66
Monuments in the South Choir Aisle 68
The Bells 70
The Monastic Buildings 73
The Fratry 73
The Deanery 74
CHAPTER IV.--History of the See 75
CHAPTER V.--The Castle 89
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The Cathedral from the South-West _Frontispiece_
Arms of the Diocese _Title Page_
The Cathedral from the North-East 2
The Cathedral and Precincts (from an Old Plan) 7
The Exterior from the North 13
The North Door of Nave 15
The South Door 17
Elevation of East End 18
The East End 20
The Nave, South Side 24
Longitudinal Section 27
View across the Transepts in 1840 29
South Transept and St Catherine's Chapel 31
One Bay of the Nave 33
Screen, St Catherine's Chapel 35
The Choir, looking West 37
One Bay of the Choir 41
The Choir, looking East, in 1840 43
The Choir and East Window 49
Miserere in the Stalls 50
North Aisle of the Choir 55
East End of the Fratry and South Transept 63
The Crypt under the Fratry 65
The Fratry 71
The Abbey Gateway 77
Redness Hall 83
Old Plan of the Castle 90
The Castle 91
PLAN OF THE CATHEDRAL 93
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE NORTH-EAST.
From an original Drawing by R.W. Billings.]
CARLISLE CATHEDRAL
CHAPTER I
HISTORY OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF THE HOLY AND UNDIVIDED TRINITY
The details of the founding of the cathedral of Carlisle are very
precise and clear.
When William Rufus returned southwards after re-establishing the city of
Carlisle, he left as governor a rich Norman priest named Walter. He
began at once to build a church to be dedicated to the Blessed Virgin
Mary, which was to have in connection with it a college of secular
canons. Walter did not, however, live to see the building finished, and
Henry I. took it upon himself to complete the good work. It is said that
his wife on one hand, and his chaplain on the other, urged him to do
this. By the beginning of the twelfth century (1123) he founded and
endowed a priory of regular Augustinian canons, making his chaplain the
first prior.
Ten years afterwards--1133--Henry founded the see of Carlisle, and the
priory church became the cathedral. At its endowment Henry laid on the
altar the famous "cornu eburneum," now lost. This horn was given,
instead of a written document, as proof of the grants of tithes. Its
virtue was tried in 1290 when the prior claimed some tithes on land in
the forest of Inglewood, but it was decided that the grant did not
originally cover the tithes in dispute. "The ceremony of investiture
with a horn is very ancient, and was in use before there were any
written charters. We read of Ulf, a Danish prince, who gave all his
lands to the church of York; and the form of endowment was this: he
brought the horn out of which he usually drank, and before the high
altar kneeling devoutly drank the wine, and by that ceremony enfeoffed
the church with all his lands and revenues." (Jefferson, "History of
Carlisle," 171_n._)
Aldulf (or Æthelwulf) was made the first bishop, and he placed
Augustinians in the monastery attached to the cathedral. These were
called "black" canons, their cassocks, cloaks, and hoods being of that
colour. A further difference between them and other monks was that they
let their beards grow and covered their heads with caps. As a
consequence of this order being introduced into the monastery the
Episcopal chapter was Augustinian, other English cathedral chapters
being generally Benedictine.
On some high ground between the west wall of the city, and the road to
the castle the cathedral was built. The site was nearly square in shape,
about five acres in extent, and was the highest part in Carlisle after
that on which the castle stood. This situation was very advantageous
owing to the presence of water near the surface, its frontage to the
city wall, and proximity to the river. A narrow piece of ground of about
half-an-acre, extending along the walls, and upon which the monastic
grounds abutted, was in after years given to the priory by its owner,
Robert de Eglesfield, who was chaplain to Philippa, wife of Henry III.
The church was set out, almost due east and west, diagonally across the
north-west part of the site, the west end being about 100 feet from the
boundary; and was finished about 1130. Its nave consisted of eight bays,
and was about 140 feet long.
There was a very fine west front with a handsome central doorway of four
orders. The western wall was more than 7 feet in thickness, and had four
flat pilaster buttresses nearly 7 feet broad, and 15 inches deep.
The nave was provided with north and south aisles covered with
high-pitched wooden roofs, while the north and south transepts were also
roofed in a similar manner, and a small apsidal chapel projected from
the eastern face of each. The archway of the south transept apse is now
the entrance to St. Catherine's Chapel. With the exception of the
present elaborate entrance to the south transept and the window above
it, the transept is identical with that of the Norman minster.
The choir was only 80 feet long, reaching to the end of the present
stalls. Eastward it terminated in an apse. Its width can be judged from
traces of the original roof, still perceptible in the west wall of the
present choir. In accordance with a frequent arrangement, the ritual
choir extended westward of the crossing, and included the two eastern
bays of the nave.
In the centre was a low square typical Norman tower, 35 feet square, of
which the lower parts of the piers remain. To allow for the extension of
the ritual choir the eastern and western arches of the crossing were
carried on corbels.
White or grey sandstone from quarries in the district was used in the
construction of the minster, perhaps supplemented by stones from the
Roman wall. Stucco was applied to the exterior, red lines marking the
joints. There is no doubt that this stucco has materially helped to keep
the Norman stone-work in a good state of preservation.
It will be seen then that the original church was a Norman minster, of
moderate size, consisting of a nave, with north and south aisles, a
small choir, a low square tower, and north and south transepts.
Thus it remained till about 1250, when, as usually happened, the clergy
became dissatisfied with the smallness of their choir, and a new one was
projected on a much larger scale. Its length was to be equal to the
nave, while in height and breadth it was to be greater. The increased
length allowed room for the ritual choir on the east side of the
crossing.
Any extension of the cathedral on the south was prevented by the
presence of the conventual buildings: therefore the north choir-aisle
was thrown into the choir, and a new one added northward of the former.
One consequence of this alteration is seen by comparing the entrance to
each aisle. That of the south choir aisle is the original Norman arch,
while the entrance to the north aisle is a beautiful late
thirteenth-century arch (Decorated). The corresponding Norman arch of
the north aisle has been blocked up, but is still easily traced.
Another consequence is, that the extension having taken place on one
side only, the eastern arch of the tower fills but a part of the west
end of the choir. The choir arch consequently is symmetrically placed
with regard to the roof of the nave, but not with the choir roof; and
the central line of the choir does not coincide with that of the nave;
for, though the south wall of the choir is in a line with the south wall
of the nave, the choir being 12 feet broader than the nave, the axis of
the former is to the north of the axis of the nave. The view from the
east end looking towards the nave is quite spoiled by this want of
symmetry.
Not very much remains to-day of this thirteenth-century Early English
choir. In 1292, just as it had been roofed in, a terrible fire, the most
disastrous the cathedral has ever experienced, destroyed everything
except the outer walls of the aisles, the graceful lancet windows, and
the beautiful cinque-foiled arcading beneath them. Belfry and bells,
too, shared in the destruction.
One hundred years passed away while a new choir was being built. Bishop
Halton (1292-1325), a very energetic prelate, and a great favourite of
Edward I., began the work, and laboured at it for quite thirty years,
and was followed by Bishops Kirkby, Welton, and Appleby. It was arranged
to rebuild the choir on a still larger scale, a bay being added, and the
east end rebuilt from the foundation. The general plan of the earlier
work of the aisles was followed in the new bay. The glory of the
cathedral--the great east window, which marks a distinct transition in
art--was also projected, but at this time only carried up as high as the
top of the choir arches.
The wall arcade and the lancet windows above were repaired, and later
work of a more elaborate character added. The great arches, and the
groin ribs of the aisle ceilings were underset with new pillars; so that
we get Early English _arches_ of the thirteenth century on Decorated
_pillars_ of the fourteenth century.
After some years interval, building was resumed about 1350. The
Decorated portions of the choir were now put in hand: the triforium,
clerestory, and upper part of the east end, as well as the tracery and
much of the mouldings of the east window and the roof. The carving,
hitherto unfinished, was now completed; but, as the style had developed
in the mean-time, we once more find examples of decidedly early work
with much later work both above and below. The roof inside was finished
with a very fine panelled ceiling. The building was finished 1375-1400,
and in the roof were placed the arms of those who had helped in the
rebuilding--the Lacys, the Nevilles, and the Percys.
The material used for the new choir was red sandstone, both for the
interior and the exterior, giving in some cases a curious patched
appearance to the walls.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL AND PRECINCTS. From an old Plan in Lyson's
"_Magna Britannia_."]
About 1380-1384 the east window was filled with glass.
In 1392 the cathedral once again suffered from fire, and the damage was
repaired by Bishop Strickland (1400-19). No efforts appear to have been
made to bring the nave into correspondence with the extended choir, and
the end of the thirteenth century marks the close of the cathedral's
history in the direction of its enlargement and beautifying.
On a review of the cathedral we find in the aisles thirteenth-century
work, on a small scale, in its perfection.
The south aisle shows development of window tracery, and the gradual
steps taken towards uniting single lights under one arch.
Tracery carried to its perfection can be seen in the east window.
Early English carving is shown in St. Catherine's Chapel, especially in
the corbels; and the more naturalistic carving which was developed at a
later period, is exhibited in the corbels of the roof of the choir and
the capitals of the piers. The latter afford the most complete
representation of the seasons known to exist. On the south side (from
east to west) are the first six months, and on the north side (west to
east) the remainder.
About 1401, William Strickland being Bishop of Carlisle, the tower was
rebuilt on its original scale, probably because the foundations would
not permit one to be erected proportioned to the size of the choir. It
was capped by a short wooden spire covered with lead; this, however, was
removed in the seventeenth century.
The forty-six stalls in the choir, erected on a plinth of red sandstone,
belong to this period (1401-19). The elaborate tabernacle work by Prior
Haithwaite (1433) was originally gilded and coloured, and the niches
were filled with images.
Prior Gondibour (1484-1507) painted the backs of the stalls. The remains
of some screens he added to the choir may still be seen in St.
Catherine's Chapel.
He had the roof painted in red, green, and gold, on a white ground;
painted the choir pillars white, diapered with red roses nearly 12
inches in diameter, and with the letters I.H.C. and J.M. in gold; and no
doubt finished whatever decorative work of the choir still had to be
done.
Laurence Salkeld, last prior, and first dean, erected the very fine
Renaissance screen on the north side of the choir, near the pulpit. It
bears his initials, followed by the letters D.K. (_Decanus
Karliolensis_), of his new title.
The priory was surrendered to the Crown in January 1540, and the last
prior--Salkeld--was made dean of the chapter founded by Henry VIII. The
revenue was at that time estimated at £ 481 per annum. Five years later,
June 1545, the present foundation was settled, and the dedication
changed to that of the Holy and Undivided Trinity.
We get a glimpse of the cathedral in the first half of the seventeenth
century, in the record left by some officers who visited the English
cathedrals in 1634. Carlisle they curtly speak of as "more like a great
wilde country church" than a fair and stately cathedral.
After the capture of the city in 1645 the parliamentary troops pulled
down part of the nave in order to repair the fortifications. It is very
probable that the Norman church was partly built of stones taken from
the Roman wall; and it is strange to find the western part of the same
church being destroyed nearly six hundred years after in order to repair
the city walls.
George Fox, the intrepid founder of the Society of Friends, came to
Carlisle in 1653 and preached in the cathedral. Some of the congregation
being opposed to him, he was guarded while preaching, by certain
soldiers and friends who had "heard him gladly." At length the "rude
people of the city" rushed into the building, and made a tumult, so that
the governor was forced to send musketeers to quell it.
Fox thus describes the scene, in his "Journal":
"From thence we came to Carlisle.
"On the First-day following I went into the steeple-house: and after the
priest had done, I preached the truth to the people, and declared the
word of life amongst them. The priest got away, and the magistrates
desired me to go out of the steeple-house. But I still declared the way
of the Lord unto them, and told them, 'I came to speak the word of life
and salvation from the Lord amongst them.' The power of the Lord was
dreadful amongst them in the steeple-house, so that the people trembled
and shook, and they thought the steeple-house shook: and some of them
feared it would fall down on their heads. The magistrates' wives were in
a rage and strove mightily to be at me: but the soldiers and friendly
people stood thick about me. At length the rude people of the city
rose, and came with staves and stones into the steeple-house crying,
'Down with these round-headed rogues'; and they threw stones. Whereupon
the governor sent a file or two of musketeers into the steeple-house, to
appease the tumult, and commanded all the other soldiers out. So those
soldiers took me by the hand in a friendly manner, and said they would
have me along with them. When we came forth into the street, the city
was in an uproar, and the governor came down; and some of those soldiers
were put in prison for standing by me, and for me, against the
town's-people.
"The next day the justices and magistrates of the town granted a warrant
against me and sent for me to come before them. After a large
examination they committed me to prison as a blasphemer, a heretic, and
a seducer: though they could not justly charge any such thing against
me."
Fuller, about 1660, describes the building as "black but comely, still
bearing the remaining signes of its former burning."
Further mischief was also done to the building by the Jacobite prisoners
who were lodged in it after the defeat of the Young Pretender.
In the latter half of the eighteenth century some attempts were made at
restoring the cathedral, but they for the most part consisted of hiding
the beautiful choir roof with a stucco groined ceiling, and plentifully
whitewashing the building.
"The roof was 'elegantly' vaulted with wood. But this failing by length
of time, together with the lead roof, the dean and chapter some few
years ago new laid the roof, and the ceiling being totally ruined and
destroyed they in the year 1764 contracted for a stucco groined ceiling,
and for cleaning and whitening the whole church. And finding the new
lead much torn and broken by wind for want of a ceiling underneath, the
upper tire of that was done again, and a coping added to the rigging.
And thus proceeding from one repair to another the whole expence hath
amounted to upwards of £ 1300."[1]
[1] Nicholson and Burn, page 249.
Eastward of the stalls the choir was formerly separated from the aisles
by screens of elaborate tracery work. When the cathedral was "repaired
and beautified" as just described, they were removed to outbuildings,
and by far the greater part lost or destroyed.
The cathedral was restored 1853-7, in good taste, at a cost of about
£ 15,000. Mr. Ewan Christian, the architect of the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners, undertook the work, and happily succeeded in
counteracting the "repairing and beautifying" of 1764.
Carlisle is not a large or notable cathedral, but its delightful Early
English choir with its magnificent east window will ever redeem it from
being insignificant or uninteresting.
CHAPTER II
THE EXTERIOR
On examining the north side of the cathedral, it is apparent that more
than one plan has been followed in the construction of the building as
it stands.
There are the remains of a Norman nave whose roof is lower than the
choir roof. The choir is Early English with clerestory windows, and the
easternmost bay (the retro-choir) Late Decorated; while the tower is
Perpendicular. In the north window of the north transept we have a
specimen of work of the nineteenth century. Thus the cathedral supplies
examples of architecture from the Norman period down to the present
time.
The moderate height of the #Nave# (65 ft.), and the treatment of its
details, are quite characteristic of the best work of the period when it
was erected.
The bays of the aisle are separated by flat buttresses about five and a
half feet wide projecting nearly one foot beyond the wall, and the
parapet wall in which they terminate is supported above the windows by a
corbel table of shields and trefoil heads.[2]
[2] These date from about 1400.
Upon the string-course which runs along the wall unbroken by the
buttresses there is in each bay a window with a circular head, flanked
by single columns. A ring-like ornament is used as a decoration for one
of the mouldings of the arch.
These windows, except the one above the doorway, are restorations. The
doorway itself, which leads into the nave, is modern, imitated from the
Norman window.
The Clerestory in each compartment has a window which differs from the
aisle windows in having the billet as decoration of its outer moulding.
The string-course at the spring of the round head runs without a break
from one to the other.
There is also an unbroken corbel table above the windows, of very
expressive, life-like heads, no two of which are alike.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE NORTH. _A. Pumphrey, Photo._]
#North Transept.#--The north window is Debased Gothic, the tracery of
the previous window having been similar to that of the great east
window, while the west window is early English.
[Illustration: NORTH DOOR OF NAVE. _A. Pumphrey, Photo._]
The #Tower#, the latest part of the cathedral, was the work of Bishop
Strickland early in the fifteenth century. He erected it upon the piers
of the ancient Norman tower. Its height is not much over 100 feet, and
is very disappointing, because in England "cathedral towers are apt to
be good, and really make their mark" (Pater). In fact, it does not at
all give the impression of being part of such an important building as a
cathedral. This is caused by its having been rebuilt on the scale of the
Norman nave, and not on that of the enlarged choir. It takes up only
about two-thirds of the width of the choir, and to mask this defect a
turret rising to the top of the third stage of the tower is introduced
on the north side, and another turret is added at the north-east angle.
The tower rises in four stages above the transepts. The second storey is
pierced with loopholes. The third has two pointed windows lighting a
room immediately below the belfry. Between these, in a niche with a
canopy, is the figure of an angel holding a drawn sword. On his head is
fixed a tablet to support another figure. There is only one window in
the fourth storey, which gives light to the belfry, and is very large.
Its labels are ornamented with very vigorously carved heads, and the
cornice above is decorated very much like that of the clerestory. The
tower terminates in an embattled parapet.
All the windows have been thrown out of centre by the addition of the
lower turret.
Originally the tower was crowned by a leaden spire about fifteen feet in
height, but this was removed at the end of the seventeenth century on
account of its decayed condition.
On the east side of the tower there is a single window in the third
storey. In place of a second window there is an opening into the roof of
the choir. This leads into a passage running from the tower to the east
end.
The bold attempts to veil the inadequate size of the tower by the
addition of two turrets can be best studied from this side.
The North Aisle of the #Choir# consists of eight bays, all Early
English, except the easternmost one (the retro-choir), which is Late
Decorated; while the western bay has a Perpendicular window.
Sometime in the fifteenth century the third bay from the east, in each
aisle, was altered and a large Perpendicular window inserted in order to
admit more light to the sanctuary. During the restoration of the
cathedral these later windows were removed, and replaced by careful
copies of the other Early English windows.
The basement is composed of bold mouldings with a plain wall equivalent
in height to the internal wall arcade. Over this, a string-course runs
uninterruptedly round the choir just below the windows.
[Illustration: THE SOUTH DOOR. (See p. 21.) _A. Pumphrey, Photo._]
Each compartment has an arcade of four lancet-shaped divisions, the
external ones blank; while the internal divisions (which are wider than
the others) form the window. The slender, banded, shafts are detached,
which is rather unusual, and have moulded bases and capitals. The bands
divide the shafts into unequal lengths, the lower portion being the
shorter. The arch mouldings are good. Owing to the fact that the blank
arches are more acutely pointed, their outer mouldings terminate higher
than the mouldings of the internal arches.
Towards the east end small heads, and bosses of foliage, ornament the
junction of these mouldings. Above these the cornice and parapet rest
upon blocks bearing the nail-head ornament.
[Illustration: ELEVATION OF EAST END.]
The second bay from the east is divided into three equal spaces, with a
very narrow acute angle on the right.
A series of fine gabled buttresses gives relief to the exterior of the
choir on each side.
The windows of the #Clerestory# have very rich mouldings, and also
afford fine examples of flowing tracery. Each bay has an arch with three
divisions, the central one higher and wider than the others. On this
side only--the north--the base is ornamented with trefoils.
There is a cornice above the windows extending from the tower to the
east end. It is richly decorated with heads and the ball-flower ornament
which is characteristic of fourteenth-century work. It is broken here
and there by gargoyles projecting almost three feet from the wall. The
parapet makes but a poor show in comparison with the rich windows and
cornice.
As the choir never had a groined ceiling there was no necessity for
flying buttresses, and their absence gives the clerestory a very
monotonous flat effect. This is further intensified by the window
tracery being level with the wall, the architraves having no depth of
moulding round them.
Some years ago the aisles and clerestory were skilfully refaced, and
consequently the exteriors have a very modern appearance.
East of the retro-choir is the exterior of a staircase leading from the
north choir aisle to the clerestory parapet. It terminates in a
highly-finished octagonal turret whose parapet is enriched with a
running trefoil ornament resembling that on the base of the clerestory
windows. The north-eastern and the small east buttresses terminate just
beneath, in gables richly ornamented with minute crockets. The panelling
of the former is rather like the decoration of the central portion of
the east end.
#East End.#--An irregularity in designing the east end has been covered
by placing the great buttresses so as to make the pediment appear
irregular, and the cross at the apex seems, consequently, not to be in
the centre of the choir; while, in fact, it is the great east window
(with the gable window over it) that is out of position.
The sill of the east window is unusually near the ground, and it is
flanked by substantial buttresses finely pinnacled. Each buttress
contains two niches with beautifully carved canopies: the base of the
lower ones being a trifle higher than the springing of the arch. They
display full-length statues of St. Peter, St. Paul, St. James, and St.
John.
A staircase crossing over the east window in the thickness of the wall
receives light from the triangular window enclosing three trefoils which
appears in the gable. Immediately beneath this Trinity window--as it is
called--is a richly-canopied niche adorned with a statue of the Virgin
Mary bearing in her arms the Holy Child.
The summit of the gable is crowned by a large richly-floriated cross;
and on each side are four smaller ones, with crockets of foliage between
them.
[Illustration: THE EAST END. _Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
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 buttresses do 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 the #Choir# the 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 the #Cloisters#: 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.
[Illustration: THE NAVE, SOUTH SIDE. _G.W. Wilson & Co., Photo._]
CHAPTER III
THE INTERIOR
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.
The #Nave.#--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
"propped
With pillars of prodigious girth."
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) 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.
The #Font#, 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.
[Illustration: LONGITUDINAL SECTION, NORTH.]
The #Organ.#--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.
[Illustration: VIEW ACROSS THE TRANSEPTS IN 1840. From Billings.]
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.
The #Tower# was 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."
[Illustration: PART OF SOUTH TRANSEPT AND ST. CATHERINE'S CHAPEL. From
Billings.]
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 the sum 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.
[Illustration: 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 Carlisle was 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]
[3] "History of Carlisle," page 158.
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.
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.
[Illustration: SCREEN--ST. CATHERINE'S CHAPEL. From Billings.]
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 son
he was not born to wealth
but by ability and industry he gained it,
and he ever used it
as a steward of God and a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ
for 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:--
"What I spent, I had,
What I saved, I lost,
What I gave, I have."
[Illustration: THE CHOIR, LOOKING WEST. _A. Pumphrey, Photo._]
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.
The #Choir.#--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.
_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.
[Illustration: ONE BAY OF THE CHOIR.]
_May._--A woman in a long gown holding in each hand a bunch of foliage,
which she offers to a young man 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 of the #Triforium# there 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 care
Each minute and unseen part,
For the gods see everywhere."
[Illustration: THE CHOIR, LOOKING EAST, IN 1840. From Billings.]
The #Clerestory# consists 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.
The #Roof#--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 removal in 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.
The _Saturday Review_ is 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 great #East Window# is 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 not _the_ finest 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 the _mouldings_, both of the mullions and tracery,
_externally_ are 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; and the 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]
[4] "Guide to the Cathedral of Carlisle," by R.H. and K.H.
[Illustration: THE CHOIR AND EAST WINDOW. _A. Pumphrey, Photo._]
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.
[Illustration: MISERERE, SOUTH SIDE OF THE STALLS. From Billings.]
Bishop Strickland (1399-1413) erected the #Stalls#, 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:--
NORTH SIDE
A dragon swallowing a man.
Bird and young.
Dragon and lions.
Three dragons, one with a human face.
Winged figure with a tabour.
Dragon devouring a bird.
Coronation of the Virgin.
Three griffins.
Pelican in its act of piety.
Dragon and lion fighting.
Griffin and two young ones.
Two dragons joined together.
Two storks eating out of a sack.
Figure with wings, claws, and human face.
Angelic musician.
Two eagles.
Double-headed eagle.
Fox and goose.
Two dragon bodies with a human head.
Angel playing an instrument.
A man with two eagles plucking his beard.
Dragon, and two lions with human faces.
SOUTH SIDE
Two angels.
Dragon.
Bird and beast fighting.
Human head on two animal bodies.
Winged dragon.
Winged serpent.
Two beasts with one head.
Two men fighting.
Griffin with human head.
Dragon and foliage.
Two eagles holding the head of a beast.
Fox and goose.
Human figure with four wings.
Man and dragon fighting.
Angel bearing a shield.
Angel and dragons.
Pelican in its act of piety.
Boar killing a man.
Man holding two dragons.
Dragon killing a beast.
Mermaid.
Dragon and lion in combat.
The #Salkeld 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 neighbouring gentry 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.
The #Bishop'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.
The #Pulpit# is 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 bishop _in
pontificalibus_, mitre and gloves; his right hand holds on his breast an
open book inscribed--
_Hec mea_
_Spes in sinu meo_
His left hand, over which hangs the maniple, has a rich crosier. On a
semi-circular scroll over his head--
_Credo q^d redemptor meus vivit et noviss[~i]o die de terra surrect[~u]r
s[~u] et in Carne mea videbo de[~u] salvatore me[~u]._
Under his feet--
_Hac marmor fossa Bell presulis en tenet ossa
Duresme dud[~u] prior his post pontificat[~u]
Gessit atq' renuit primum super o[~m]ia querit
Dispiciens mud[~u] poscendo pramia fratr[~u]_
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 cinquefoil #wall-arcade# is 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.
[Illustration: NORTH AISLE OF THE CHOIR. From Billings.]
The corner column (north side of entrance) has been inserted by cutting
away part of the east wall of the north transept. Like the aisle it
dates from about the last half of the thirteenth century. On its capital
there is the spring of a pointed arch, enriched with dog-tooth ornament
similar to the entrance arch.
Probably it was intended to pull the north transept down, and rebuild it
with the addition of an eastern aisle. This column would then have been
part of it. The existence of an offset on the north face of the aisle
wall, with the return of the base-course and string-course upon it,
seems to add weight to this theory.
The nearest clustered column to it has also been altered, and consists
of five shafts instead of three. A rib springs from the additional
shafts to the centre of the corner column. There are also remains of
groining like that of the aisle.
The bay near the entrance has a window (Perpendicular) dating from after
the Civil Wars. Beneath this there was formerly an entrance to the
cathedral. This has now been walled up.
The groined stone roof dates from after 1292, although, perhaps, it is
composed of materials of an earlier date.
On the south side of the entrance is a very beautiful foliated bracket;
the foliated boss at its base was at one time ornamented with a very
fine knot.
#Monuments in North Choir Aisles.#--In the third bay from the east are
two low-arched recesses. Being of the same date as the aisle, they may
have been intended to receive the statues of the bishops who did their
best to repair the ravages of the fire in 1292. The arches are almost
flat, and decorated with a kind of chevron moulding very rarely met
with. In Burpham Church, Sussex, there is another example of this
moulding applied to the decoration of the south side of the south
transept arch.
A bishop's effigy is in the eastern recess. It is of Early English date;
and before 1292 was situated within the choir. Afterwards a niche was
cut in the fourth bay from the east for its reception. It was eventually
placed in its present position at the time of the restoration of the
cathedral, and the other niche filled up. It may possibly represent
Bishop Silvester of Everdon. It has suffered damage during its
migrations in the cathedral; and the feet are broken. This was probably
done when it was removed from the choir to the aisle (1856). Jewels
which originally enriched the mitre and the cross on the breast have
disappeared.
In the next bay to the east is a small mural brass plate finely engraved
in memory of Bishop Robinson (1598-1616.) He was a native of Carlisle,
and, entering Queen's College, Oxford, as a "poor serving child,"
eventually became provost, and proved a great benefactor to that
foundation.
"The bishop is represented _in pontificalibus_, kneeling, with one hand
supporting a crosier; the other is sustaining a lighted candle, and
holding a cord to which three dogs are attached, who appear guarding an
equal number of sheepfolds from the attack of wolves. Below the candle
is a group of figures bearing implements of agriculture and peaceful
industry; near their feet is a wolf playing with a lamb; and various
warlike instruments scattered and broken. Each part is illustrated with
appropriate Greek and Latin sentences chiefly selected from the
Scriptures. Behind the bishop is a quadrangular building, enclosing an
open court, and apparently intended to represent the college which he
had so much benefited.
"Over the gateway is a shield charged with three spread eagles, being
the arms of Robert Eglesfield, the founder of that college; on the
college are the words, _Invenit destructum; reliquit extructum et
instructum_ (he found it destroyed; he left it built and furnished).
Above this building is the delineation of a cathedral; over the entrance
is inscribed--_Intravit per ostium_ (he entered by the door); on a label
across the entrance is _Permansit fidelis_ (he endured faithful to the
end), and below, on the steps, under a group of figures, one of whom is
kneeling and receiving a benediction, are the words, _Recessit beatus_
(he departed blessed). Near the top of the plate is the angel of the
Lord bearing a label inscribed in Greek characters, _Tois Episcopois_
(Unto the Bishops).
"Above are the words, _Erant pastores in eadem regione excubantes et
agentes vigilias noctis super gregem suum_ (there were in the same
country shepherds abiding in the field and keeping watch over their
flocks by night). At the bottom of the plate in the cathedral is a Latin
inscription to this effect: 'To Henry Robinson of Carlisle, D.D., a most
careful provost of Queen's College, Oxon, and afterwards a most watchful
bishop of this church for eighteen years, who on the 13th Calend of July
in the year from the delivery of the Virgin, 1616, and of his age 64,
devoutly resigned his spirit unto the Lord. Bernard Robinson, his
brother and heir, set up this memorial as a testimony of his love.'"[5]
[5] Jefferson, "History of Carlisle," p. 180.
About halfway up the aisle Archdeacon Paley lies buried between his two
wives, Jane (d. 1791), and Catherine (d. 1819). On a brass plate in the
centre of the stone is the following inscription:--
Here lie
interred the remains
of
WILLIAM PALEY, D.D.
who died May 25th
1805
Aged 62 years.
Archdeacon Paley wrote both of his well-known works, "Horæ Paulinæ"
and "Evidences of Christianity," at Carlisle.
#Legendary Paintings.#--Between the bays east and west of the Salkeld
screen there is a broad stone plinth panelled in front. The stalls stand
on the plinth west of the screen, and the backs are painted with scenes
from the monkish legends of St. Anthony the Hermit, St. Cuthbert, and,
in the south choir aisle, St. Augustine. A rhymed couplet explains each
picture; and the paintings, though rudely executed, give good examples
of late fifteenth-century dress and ornament. Prior Gondibour caused the
work to be done, and as Richard Bell was bishop at the time he may have
suggested illustrating the life of St. Cuthbert, who was really the
first bishop of Carlisle, and whose body was enshrined at Durham, where
Bell had been prior before his elevation to the bishopric.
The following is a detailed account of the _Legendary Paintings_, with
short note of the principal persons therein represented:--
St. Cuthbert was born in the Lothians; at eight years he was living
under the care of a widow in the village of Wrangholm.
In 651 while keeping watch over his master's flocks near the Lauder,
which flows into the Tweed, he had a vision of the soul of Bishop Aidan
being carried up to heaven by angels. A few days after, he heard of the
death of the good bishop, and straightway journeyed to the monastery of
Melrose. Here he was accepted, and in a short time received the tonsure.
The Northumbrian peasants at this time were, mostly, only Christians in
name. Cuthbert wandered among them, choosing the most out-of-the-way
villages, where other teachers would not go. "He needed no interpreter
as he passed from village to village; the frugal long-headed
Northumbrians listened willingly to one who was himself a peasant of the
Lowlands and who had caught the rough Northumbrian burr. His patience,
his humorous good sense, the sweetness of his look, told for him, and
not less the vigorous frame which fitted the peasant-preacher for the
hard life he had chosen.
"Never did man die of hunger who served God faithfully," he would say,
when nightfall found them supperless in the waste. "Look at the eagle
overhead! God can feed us through him if he will"--and once at least he
owed his meal to a fish that the scared bird let fall.
In 664 he was made prior of Lindisfarne. "Gentle with others, he was
severe with himself, and was unsparing in his acts of mortification and
devotion."
In 676 he retired, first to a cave near Howburn, and later to Fame
Island, where he remained in strict seclusion for nine years.
He was elected bishop of Hexham in 684, and with much difficulty was
persuaded to undertake the duties. He soon exchanged Hexham for
Lindisfarne.
As bishop, Cuthbert was diligent in preaching, protected the poor from
their oppressors, lived on very little, and fed and clothed the poor.
Towards the end of 686 he gave up his bishopric and returned to his
beloved Fame Island, where he died in March 687.
ST. CUTHBERT
1. Her Cuthbert was forbid layks and plays
As S. Bede i' hys story says.
2. Her the angel did hym eale
And made hys grievous sore to hele.
3. Her saw he Aydan's sawl up go
to hevyn bliss w^{th} angels two.
4. Her to hym and hys palfray
God send hem fude in hys jornay.
5. Her on Melross for to converse
W^{th} h[~y] Bosle and laws reherse.
6. The angel he did as gest refreshe
With met and drynk and hys fete weshe
7. Her Basel told hy yt he must de
And after yt bysshop should be
8. Her to hys breder and pepyl eke
He preched godys word myld and mek
9. Her stude he naked in y^e see
till all David psalms sayd had he.
10. He was gydyd by ye egle fre
And fed w^{th} ye delfyne as ye see
11. Fresh water god sent owt of ye ston
to hym in Farn and befor was noon
12. Consecrate byshop yai made h[~y] her
off Lyndisfarne both far and nere.
13. Her by prayers fendys out Farne glad
and w^{th} angel h[~a]ds hys hous made
14. To thys child god grace (here gave) he
Thro hys prayers as ye may se.
15. Byshop two yerys when he had beyn
In Farne he died both holy and clene
16. The crowys yt did his hous unthek
This for full low fell at hys fete
17. xi yere after yt beryd was he
Yai fan hym hole as red may ye.
St. Anthony, one of the primitive hermits, and the founder of
monasticism, was born at Coma, in Upper Egypt, in A.D. 251. Before he
was twenty years old he lost his parents, and inherited great riches
from them, but within a year he sold all that he had and gave the money
to the poor. He then retired into solitude near Coma, passing his time
in manual labour, prayer, and study. Later, he went farther into the
wilderness, and lived in a cave. Satan is said to have tempted him by
sending spirits to him, disguised as beautiful women. Finding this
ineffectual, it is related that the Evil One made a violent attack on
him, and beat him so severely that he left him for dead. At the age of
ninety he heard of another hermit (St. Paul the Hermit), and made a
journey to visit him. St. Paul died soon after this meeting, and St.
Anthony, aided by two lions, buried him. In his 105th year he told some
of his disciples that he was going to die; then, accompanied by a few
monks, he retired deeper into the wilderness, where he died, having
first obtained a promise that they would keep the place of his burial
secret.
(In the time of Innocent IV. all hermits who lived under no recognised
discipline were incorporated and reduced under the rule of St.
Augustine.)
THE LEGEND OF ST. ANTHONY
1. Of Anton story who lyste to here
In Egypt was he bornt as doyth aper.
2. Her is he babtyd, Anton they hym call
Gret landes and renttes to hym doeth fawl.
3. As scoler to the kyrk here is he gayn
To here the sermontt and aftyr itt he's tayn.
4. Here geyffith he to the kyrk boith land and rent
To leve in povert is hys intent.
5. Here in Agello to oon oulde man he wentt
To lerne perfeccion is hys intent.
6. Here makyth he breder as men of relig',
And techyth them vertu to leve in perfecco.
7. Here to the wyldernes as armet geon he
And thus temptyth hym covytice with oon gold dyshie.
8. The sprytt of fornycacon to h[~y] her doth apper
And thus he chastith his body with thorne and brer.
9. The devill thus hat h[~y] wounded w_t lance and staf
And levyth h[~y] for deyd lyying at his cayf
10. Here Crist haith hym helyd the devill he doth away
And comfortyd his confessor deyd as he lay
11. Here comands he y^{is} bests and ffast away th_a flie
Y^e bor h[~y] obbays and w^{th} h[~y] bydeds he.
12. Here makyth he a well and water hath uptayne
And comforted hys breder thyrst was nere slayn.
13. Here commandith he best to make h[~y] a cayf
And thus he berys Paulyn and lay h[~y] in graf
14. Thus walkèd he over the flode water doth h[~y] no der
Theodor h[~y] se and dare nou c[~u] h[~y] nere
15. Here departith Anton, to hevyn his saul is gone
Betwixt his two breder in wilder's th[~e] alone.
16. Here in wilderns they bery hym that no man shud him knaw
For soo he comanded syne hom first tha draw.
17. Thus levyth he i wildern's xx^{ii} yere and more
Without any company bot the wylde boore.
St. Augustine, the first great saint of the Order, and patron of the
canons of the cathedral. He was born at Tagaste, in Numidia, A.D. 354.
His father, Patricius, was a Pagan, while his mother, Monica, was a
Christian. Patricius, perceiving the ability of his son, "spared
nothing to breed him up a scholar." When quite young he had a severe
illness, and expressed a wish to be baptized, but on his recovery the
wish vanished. Later, his morals grew corrupt, and he lived a profligate
life until he became a convert of the Manicheans at the age of nineteen.
After teaching grammar at Tagaste, and rhetoric at Carthage, he
proceeded to Rome, against the wish of Monica. He next became professor
of rhetoric at Milan. Ambrose was then archbishop, and through listening
to his preaching, St. Augustine abandoned the Manichean doctrines, and
was baptized at Easter the following year, A.D. 387. Monica, who had
prayed unceasingly for his conversion, now visited him at Milan, and was
greatly rejoiced at the answer to her prayers. His mother started to
return to Africa with her son, but died at Ostia. At a villa outside
Hippo, St. Augustine passed three years in the company of eleven pious
men. "They had all things in common as in the early Church; and fasting
and prayer, Scripture-reading and almsgiving, formed their regular
occupations. Their mode of life was not formally monastic according to
any special rule, but the experience of this time of seclusion was, no
doubt, the basis of that monastic system which St. Augustine afterwards
sketched, and which derived from him its name." He then entered the
priesthood, A.D. 390, and five years afterward was made coadjutor in the
bishopric of Hippo, and eventually became bishop. The rest of his life
he devoted to defending the Christian religion, both by preaching and by
writing. He died in Hippo, A.D. 430, while the Vandals were besieging
it. St. Augustine is called "the greatest of the Fathers." His great
work "De Civitate Dei," "the highest expression of his thought," engaged
him for seventeen years. In his well-known "Confessions" is given an
account of his spiritual progress, and of his state before he was
converted.
[Illustration: EAST END OF THE FRATRY AND SOUTH TRANSEPT. From
Billings.]
ST. AUGUSTINE
1. Her fader and mod^r of sanct Austyne
Fyrst put hym her to lerne doctryne
2. Her taught he gramor and rethorike
Emongys all doctors non was h[~y] lyke
3. Her promysed he w^{th} hys moder to abide
Bot he left her wepyng and stal y^e tyde grace de diu (on the
ship's sail)
4. There taught he at rome the sevyn science
Y^t was gret prece tyll hys presence
5. Her prechyd Ambrose and oft tymys previd
Qd lettera occid_t wych Austin mevid
6. Her Poinciane hym tald ye lyffe of Sanct Anton
And to Elipius he stonyshed said thus anone
Q^r patim^r surgut indocti et Coelu^m rapiu't
Et nos c[~u] doctrinis [~i] infer_r demergimur
7. Her sore wepying for hys gret syn
He went to morne a garth wythin
8. Her wepyng and walyng as he lay
Sodenly a voice thus herd he say
Tolle lege Tolle lege
9. No word for tothewarke here myght he say
But wrote to the pepil for him to pray
10. Her of Sainct Ambrose chrysteyned was
The gret doctor Austyne throgh Godes grace
Te Deum laudamus Te Dom'm confitemur
11. Her deyd his moder called Monica
As thai were returning in to Affrica
12. Her was he sacred prest and usyd
Of Valery the Bishop thoffe he refusyt
13. Her after (Godes word mylde and mek taught he)
Hys (men of) religion as ye may see
14. Her fortunate the heretyk concludit he
Informyng the laws of Maneche
15. Consecrate Byshop was this doctour
By all the cuntre with gret honour
16. As ys woman come to h[~y] for consolacion
She saw hym wth the Trinite in meditacion
17. When he Complyn had said and come to luke
He was full cleyn owt of y^s knafys buke
(Penitet me tibi ostendisse librum)
18. They beried hys body wyth deligence
her in hys aun kirk of Yponese.
19. Her Lied-brand the kyng of L[~u]berdy
Hym translate fr[~o] Sardyne to Pavye
20. Thei shrynyd hys banes solemnly
In sanct Peter kyrk thus at Pavye
21. Thys prior he bad soon do evynsang her
And helyd hym that was sek thre yer
22. Her he apperyd unto these men thre
And bad yam go to ... y^t hale
[Illustration: THE CRYPT UNDER THE FRATRY. _G.W. Wilson & Co. Ltd.,
Photo._]
Between the compartments devoted to the lives and deeds of St. Anthony
and St. Cuthbert are pictures of the twelve Apostles with the words
which, according to tradition, each one contributed to the Creed.
APOSTLES AND CREED
ST. PETER I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of
heaven and earth
ST. ANDREW And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord
ST. JAMES Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of
the Virgin Mary
ST. JOHN He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,
dead, and buried
ST. THOMAS He descended into Hell: rose again the third day
from the dead
ST. JAMES And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father
Almighty
ST. PHILIP From whence He shall come to judge the quick and
the dead.
ST. BARTHOLOMEW I believe in the Holy Ghost
ST. MATTHEW The Communion of Saints
ST. SIMON The Forgiveness of Sins
ST. THADDEUS The Resurrection of the Body
ST. MATTHIAS And the Life Everlasting.
At the time of the Reformation these paintings were all whitewashed.
Dean Percy (1778) removed the whitewash from some of them, and they are
now all restored to their original condition as far as possible.
#Retro-choir.#--The extreme eastern bay of each aisle, and the passage
behind the altar, form the retro-choir, which is Late Decorated.
Its acutely-pointed windows are practically of identical pattern, the
mullions and side-mouldings having richly floriated capitals.
The last arch of the main arcade is supported by a bracket of foliage. A
fragment of rib still remaining was for the cross-groining of the aisle;
but as this would have interfered with the arch mouldings, the rib was
terminated higher up the wall upon a bracket in the form of a crouching
figure.
The wall-arcade has three divisions, the capitals of the columns are
foliated, and the point where the hood mouldings meet is ornamented with
the carving of a human head.
The low doorway forms the entrance to a staircase leading to the upper
part of the cathedral, and the belfry.
Beneath the great east window there is a plain tablet in memory of
Archdeacon Paley, and another in memory of his two wives and infant son.
Another tablet is in memory of Dean Cramer: "Apud Oxonienses Historiæ
Profr. Regius," died 1848.
Opposite is a monument to Bishop Law, the work of T. Banks, R.A. A
figure of Religion leaning on a cross is above the tablet. This monument
was originally fixed on the pillar behind the pulpit ("Columnæ hujus
sepultus est ad pedem"). It was removed to the north aisle because of
the weakening of the pillar through having been cut to receive the
memorial; and in 1894 was again removed and fixed here, about as far
away from the bishop's grave as it could possibly be placed.
Under the great window, a little to the south, is a tombstone, similar
to that of Bishop Bell in the choir, but the brass is missing.
On the south side the last arch of the main arcade is supported by a
bracket representing a human figure sustaining mouldings, resembling the
one at the end of the north aisle.
The small east window is in memory of John Heysham, M.D. (1753-1834). He
graduated at Edinburgh in 1777, and settled in Carlisle where he
practised till his death. He is famous for his statistical observations;
a record of the annual births, marriages, diseases, and deaths in
Carlisle (ten years to 1788); a census of the inhabitants in 1780 and
1788. The actuary of the Sun Life Assurance Office used these statistics
as the basis of the well-known "Carlisle Table of Mortality." Aided by
the dean and chapter he established the first dispensary for the poor at
Carlisle. He died in 1834, and was buried in St. Mary's Church.
One of the heads ornamenting the wall-arcade is said to represent Edward
I.
The #South Choir Aisle# is in most particulars the same as the
corresponding aisle on the north. The windows of its two bays next to
St. Catherine's Chapel are Early English of a later period than the
others, but the effect they produce is not by any means so pleasing. The
decorations of the capitals of the Early English columns are not so
elaborate as those in the north choir aisle.
In the third bay east of St. Catherine's Chapel, two arches of the
wall-arcade have been thrown into one, forming a doorway. The arch is
formed by seven segments, and its hood-moulding terminates in the
cornice immediately above the arcade.
#Monuments in South Choir Aisle.#--At the east end is an altar tomb with
recumbent effigy in white marble, of Bishop Waldegrave, by H.H.
Armstead, R.A.
The words "væ mihi si non evangelizavero" (1 Cor. ix. 16) are on the
edge of the upper part of the tomb. Below this is the following
inscription:--
Samuel Waldegrave
57th Bishop of Carlisle
Born Sept. 13, 1817; Consecrated, Nov. 12, 1860;
Entered into rest Oct. 1, 1869.
"To me to live is Christ and to die is gain."
Phil. i. 21.
A tribute of
Affection, Admiration, and Respect.
Raised by public subscription.
A.D. 1872.
A recess with low pointed arch beneath the third window from the east
formerly contained a monument to Sir John Skelton, Knt. (1413-22).
Outside St. Catherine's Chapel is an altar tomb with a damaged effigy in
red sandstone of Bishop Barrow (1423-29). Originally it was painted and
gilt, and, although greatly injured, the remains show that the statue
was well executed.
Opposite, under a carved oak canopy, is a bronze recumbent figure by
Hamo Thornycroft, R.A., of Harvey Goodwin. The following is inscribed on
a bronze tablet:
In memory of Harvey Goodwin,
Fifty-eighth Bishop of Carlisle.
at Cambridge, and Ely, and in this diocese
a proved leader of men.
Learned, eloquent, wise, untiring,
he used his rare gifts of mind and heart
in the service of his master
for the good of the English people,
and of the Church of Christ at home and abroad.
Born, Oct. 9, 1818; Consecrated, Nov. 30, 1869; Died, Nov. 25, 1891.
Next to this, under a richly-carved canopy, is a recumbent figure in
white marble, by H.H. Armstead, R.A., of Dean Close. The monument bears
the following inscription:--
Francis Close, D.D.,
25 years Dean of this cathedral, died 1882, aged 85.
Erected by public subscription as a mark
of affection and esteem (1884).
The canopy, given by his son, bears the words following: "This canopy
was erected by Admiral Close in memory of his father."
Francis Close was born in 1797, and was educated at St. John's,
Cambridge. From 1826 till 1856 he held the living of Cheltenham. He was
a liberal subscriber to societies for various philanthropic purposes
whether in connection with the Established Church or not. In 1856 he was
nominated Dean of Carlisle. Although a very popular preacher his
theological views were far from broad. He was, also, a strenuous
opponent of betting, theatre-going, indulgence in alcoholic liquors, and
smoking. The poor people of Carlisle lost a good friend when he passed
away. His failing health obliged him to give up the deanery in 1881, and
at the end of the following year he died at Penzance, where he was
wintering.
The fourth window is filled with glass in memory of members of the
Mounsey family, and Captain John Oswald Lambert.
The following subjects are represented:--
Our Lord The Transfiguration. Pilate writing
rebuking the title
the Sea. for the Cross.
The Adoration The entry into Our Lord
of the Magi. Jerusalem. before Pilate.
St. Paul St. Paul before St. Paul
before the King Agrippa. on board
Chief Priests. ship.
At the back of the bishop's throne are some shelves containing a few
standard devotional books for the use of the congregation before and
after divine service. It would be a good thing if this custom could be
generally adopted, and every church in the land furnished with a small
library of the works of such men as Thomas a Kempis, St. Augustine,
Taylor, Law, and Keble.
The low doorway in the north-eastern angle of the retro-choir opens on a
staircase leading to the upper part of the cathedral, and the tower.
If we ascend to the clerestory we may pass along the ambulatory, and
obtain a nearer view of the great east window (especially the old glass
in the tracery), the choir roof, and the clerestory windows. At the end
of the ambulatory we come to the belfry.
There are six #Bells#, one of which, bearing the date 1396, was
furnished by Bishop Strickland. It is inscribed as follows:--
In: voce: sum: munda: maria;
sonando: secunda.
Another bell bears the following sentence:--
"Jesus be our speed." Date 1608.
A third has on the rim--"This ringe was made six tuneable bells at the
charge of the Lord Howard and other gentree of the country and citie,
and officers of the garrisson, by the advice of Majer Jeremiah Tolhurst,
governor of the garrisson 1658." This bell was cracked while ringing
during the rejoicings held in honour of the peace after Waterloo.
On a bell dated 1657 can be read, "I warne you how your time doth pass
away, Serve God therefore while life doth last, and say Glorie in
excelsis Deo."
Of the remaining bells, one is dated 1659, and the other 1728.
In war time the tower was useful as a watch-tower, especially when the
enemy was approaching from Scotland. The small turret was used for fire
signals.
There is an interesting record in connection with the tower which is
found in an account of the trial of the Governor of Carlisle in 1745. It
is as follows:--
"I desired that two men might be posted upon the high Tower of the
Cathedral with a very large spying glass I had brought with me, and to
send me a report of what they observed in the country. The Chancellor
proposed to the clergy to take this duty, which they readily did, and
were very exact and vigilant, and when the Rebells came before Carlisle
they took up arms as Volunteers most of whom served under me as
aides-de-camp."[6]
[6] "Guide to the Cathedral of Carlisle," by R.H. and K.H.
[Illustration: THE FRATRY. _A. Pumphrey, Photo._]
THE MONASTIC BUILDINGS
The Monastic Buildings were erected on the land south of the cathedral.
The cloisters, enclosing a large open court, stood west of the south
transept, communicating with the two doors--one in the north-east angle,
the other in the north-west.
The dormitory, built upon an arcade, was joined to the south transept,
and had a door opening into it above the present modern doorway.
West of the dormitory, and parallel with the nave, was the fratry;
adjoining the east end of which, and stretching to the south-east, were
the domestic offices.
West of the fratry was the prior's lodging (now the deanery).
The chapter-house, which was built somewhere in the angle formed by the
choir and the dormitory, has disappeared entirely. It was octagonal in
shape, about 28 feet across, and had a conical roof.
The great fire in 1292 caused great destruction to the priory buildings.
They were put up again about 1350, and Prior Gondibur almost entirely
rebuilt them towards the end of the fifteenth century.
There is no reason for doubting that the various buildings were handed
over in good order at the dissolution of the priory. The destruction
which has left standing only the fratry, the prior's lodging, and the
gate tower (1528), was the act of the Parliamentary troops and their
Scottish allies in 1645, when, in addition to pulling down part of the
nave, they destroyed most of the monastic buildings, in order to use the
materials for the erection of guard-houses, and to strengthen the
fortifications.
Dr. Todd says: "The Abbey Clois^{rs}, part of ye Deanery, and
Chapter-House.... they pulled down, and employed ye stone to build a
maine guard, and a guard-house at every gate; to repair y^e walls, and
other secular uses as they thought fit."
The #Fratry# still remains. It was built about the middle of the
fourteenth century, and rebuilt by Prior Gondibour (1484-1511) towards
the close of the fifteenth century. It contains the canons' dining-hall,
a fine hall, 79 feet by 27. At the upper end is a beautiful little
reader's pulpit, and in the north wall there are two handsome canopied
niches. The Perpendicular windows on the south side are very fine
specimens; the tracery, however, is modern, but that of the west windows
is very old. The late Mr. Street very carefully restored the fratry in
1880, and it is now used as a chapter-house, library, and choir-school.
Beneath the fratry is a very fine Decorated crypt, with a groined roof.
The boss of one of the pillars bears the initials of Prior Gondibour.
Near the fratry, to the south-west, is the prior's lodging, which,
having been enlarged, is now the #Deanery#. It has an embattled tower,
and was a refuge for the abbey inmates when danger was near; in fact, to
all intents and purposes it was a "peel tower." Formerly there was a
covered passage leading from the first floor, over the cloisters, into
the cathedral. There is a remarkable room in the deanery, the priors'
dining-hall, with a very fine ceiling, put up by Prior Senhouse
(1507-1520). It is of oak, richly carved and painted; and covered
profusely with verses, armorial bearings, and devices. In every third
compartment are two birds holding a scroll between them, on which, and
on the cross beams, the following rude verses are written in old English
characters:--
Remember man ye gret pre-emynence,
Geven unto ye by God omnipotente;
Between ye and angels is lytill difference,
And all thinge erthly to the obediente.
By the byrde and beist under ye fyrmament,
Say what excuse mayste thou lay or finde;
Thus you are made by God so excellente
But that you aughteste again to hy' be kinde,
Simon Sonus sette yis Roofe and Scalope here,
To the intent wythin thys place they shall have prayers every day
in the yere.
Lofe God and thy prynce and you neydis not dreid thy enimys.
The abbey gateway is to the north-west of the nave. It is a plain,
round-headed archway, built by Prior Christopher Slee, and bears the
following inscription:--"Ora te p^r anima Christofori Slee Prioris qui
primus hoc opus fieri incipit A.D. MDXXVII." Formerly, it was provided
with battlements, which have now been removed.
Near the south transept, two arches of the vestibule of the
chapter-house are still visible.
CHAPTER IV
HISTORY OF THE SEE
Ecgfrith, king of Northumbria, drove the Britons away from what is now
the northern part of Lancashire, and the Lake district, 670-675. Some
years later he granted Carlisle with a circuit of fifteen miles to St.
Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne (685-687), and his successors. In 883
Chester-le-street was chosen as the seat of the bishopric on account of
the Northmen's raids on Lindisfarne, and in 995 the see was finally
removed to Durham. Carlisle thus formed part of the bishopric of Durham
until the death of Flambard in 1128. This bishop had greatly displeased
Henry I., and in order to curb the power of the bishops of Durham he
reduced the size of the diocese. Carlisle, owing to its distance from
Durham, and because of the laxity of ecclesiastical supervision in the
surrounding district, was chosen as the seat of a new bishopric, and,
with about half of the present counties of Westmoreland and Cumberland,
made independent of Durham. A further reason for the choice of Carlisle
may have been the presence of the priory church begun by Walter, and
finished by Henry I. William Rufus in his lifetime had definitely made
the district of Carlisle part of the kingdom of England, and "Henry gave
the special care of this last won possession of the English Crown to a
prelate, whose name of Æthelwulf is sure proof of his English birth."
Æthelwulf, the king's own confessor and prior of Carlisle, was
accordingly consecrated bishop in 1133.
More than 400 years later, at the Reformation, the priory was dissolved
(1547) and the cathedral re-dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity.
In 1856, on the death of Bishop Percy, a large part of Westmoreland was
transferred to Carlisle, and the diocese now embraces all Cumberland
(except the parish of Alston), Westmoreland, and Lancashire north of the
Sands.
#Aldulf# (or #Æthelwulf#) (1133-1155), Prior of St. Oswald's (Nostell);
Prior of Carlisle; Confessor to Henry I. He was one of those who
elected Henry Murdac, Abbot of Fountains Abbey, to the archbishopric of
York, although the election displeased Stephen; and received him as his
metropolitan when he came to Carlisle on a visit to David, king of
Scotland, in 1148. He died in 1155.
#Bernard# (1203), Archbishop of Ragusa. For more than thirty years there
was no appointment made to the see, perhaps because "the bishop's
revenues were so small that no able and loyal person would accept
thereof." It is not known how long Bernard held the bishopric.
#Hugh of Beaulieu# (1218-1223), Abbot of Beaulieu, Hampshire, was
constituted Bishop of Carlisle by Gualo the Pope's legate. Henry III.
had complained to Honorius III. that the canons had elected a bishop
against his will and in opposition to the legate, and had sworn fealty
to the king of Scotland, at that time the enemy alike of Henry and
Honorius. So the canons were banished, and Hugh made bishop. He died at
La Ferté, Burgundy, while returning from Rome.
#Walter Mauclerk# (1223-1246). This bishop was a favourite of King John,
and was employed by him on many missions; for instance, in 1215 he was
sent to Rome to support the king against the barons; and in 1228 he went
on an embassy to Germany to treat for the king's marriage with Leopold
of Austria's daughter. He was made treasurer of England by charter in
1232. The following year he was deprived of the office by the
machinations of the Bishop of Winchester, and fined £ 100. Mauclerk set
out to appeal to the Pope, but was stopped at Dover by command of the
king. The Bishop of London, happening to witness this ill-treatment,
excommunicated all those who were hindering Mauclerk, and, proceeding to
the king at Hereford, renewed the sentence, in which he was supported by
all the bishops there present. This had the effect of gaining permission
for the release of Mauclerk, and leave to go to Flanders. In 1234 the
bishop was restored to favour. He resigned the bishopric in 1246, and
became a Dominican friar at Oxford. When this order of friars first came
into England he had stood their friend, presenting them with land and
mills. He died in 1248.
#Sylvester de Everdon# (1247-1255), Archdeacon of Chester; Lord High
Chancellor. Sylvester was among the bishops who supported the Archbishop
of Canterbury in his opposition to the king's encroachments upon the
liberties of the Church, particularly in the matter of electing bishops.
He was killed in 1255 by falling from his horse.
#Thomas Vipont# (1255-1256). This bishop enjoyed the bishopric for less
than a year. He died in October 1256.
Two years elapsed before the next appointment.
#Robert de Chause# (1258-1278), Archdeacon of Bath; Chaplain to Queen
Eleanor.
[Illustration: THE ABBEY GATEWAY. _A. Pumphrey, Photo._]
Again there was an interval of two years before the appointment of
#Ralph Ireton# (1280-1292), Prior of Gisburne. He was elected by the
prior and canons of Carlisle, in 1278, without royal licence; so the
king (Edward I.) fined the chapter 500 marks, and refused his assent.
Eventually Pope Nicholas III. quashed the appointment on the grounds
that it had been technically wrong, and then nominated Ireton to the
vacant see. Edward agreed to this, pardoned the prior on payment of
£ 100, and restored the temporalities in 1280. Ireton was avaricious, and
extorted money from the clergy. This he used for building a new roof to
the cathedral. He died in 1292, and was buried in the cathedral; where,
shortly after, his tomb and a great deal of his work was destroyed by
the great fire which occurred in May that same year.
#John of Halton# (1292-1324), Canon and Prior of Carlisle; Custos of
Carlisle Castle. He defended the city against Wallace. The diocese
suffered so often from the ravages of the Scots that more than once he
had to obtain remission of the Papal taxation levied on the clergy. He
was employed many times in various negotiations with Scotland, his last
embassy being in 1320. He died four years later, and was buried in the
cathedral.
#John de Ros# (or #Rosse#) (1325-1332), Canon of Hereford. He was
appointed by the Pope to Carlisle in 1325. During his episcopate he was
frequently non-resident. He died in 1332.
#John de Kirkby# (1332-1352), Prior of Carlisle, was bishop during very
troubled times, and took part in many raids made on the Scots. He helped
to raise the siege of Edinburgh in 1337. Five years later he took part
in an expedition to raise the siege of Lochmaben Castle. In 1345 the
Scots made a raid into Cumberland, and were defeated. The bishop, while
fighting valorously against them, was unhorsed and nearly taken
prisoner. The following year he was one of the English leaders at the
battle of Neville's Cross. He died in 1352.
#Gilbert Welton# (1353-1362). The chapter of Carlisle had, with the
king's leave, elected John de Horncastle, but the Pope annulled the
election, and made Gilbert Welton bishop. He was a very busy official of
the king; amongst other matters he was one of the commissioners who
treated for the ransom of David of Scotland, and was also a warden of
the western marches.
#Thomas Appleby# (1363-1395), Canon of Carlisle. More than once during
his episcopate he was a warden of the western marches. In 1372 he was
required by the king, in conjunction with the Bishop of Durham, and
others, to be ready to repel any invasion by the Scots. He was also one
of the commissioners, in 1384, to treat with the king of Scotland for a
renewal of the truce, and, in 1392, to execute that part of a treaty
with France which concerned Scottish affairs. He died in 1395.
#Robert Reade# (1396-1397), a Dominican friar. In 1394 he was appointed
by the Pope to the bishopric of Waterford and Lismore, and, in spite of
the election of William Strickland by the canons, translated to
Carlisle, whose temporalities he received in March 1396. In October,
however, he was translated (by Papal bull) to Chichester, receiving the
temporalities of that see May 1397.
#Thomas Merke# (or #Merkes#) (1397-1400). Educated at Oxford. The Pope,
at the king's request, compelled the chapter of Carlisle to elect him in
1397. He is said to have been a boon companion of Richard II., and
remained faithful to that king. He was one of the eight whose safety
Richard demanded when surrendering to Bolingbroke. He is said to have
made a strong protest in Henry IV.'s first parliament (October 1399)
against the treatment which Richard had received. The following January
he was tried for high treason, and, after being deprived of his
bishopric, was committed to the Abbey of Westminster (23d June 1400).
Pope Boniface IX. intervened in his favour, and, by translating him to a
titular eastern see _(ad ecclesiam Samastone_), prevented his being
degraded and handed over to the secular arm. He died in 1409, having,
after his deposition, held benefices at Sturminster, Marshall, and
Todenham, his eastern see affording him no revenue.
#William Strickland# (1400-1419), whose election (after the death of
Bishop Appleby) had been annulled, was now made bishop. He rebuilt the
tower of the cathedral, and provided the tabernacle work in the choir.
He also furnished Penrith with water from the Petteril. He died in 1419,
and was buried in the cathedral.
#Roger Whelpdale# (1420-1422). Educated at, and Fellow of, Balliol
College, Oxford; Provost of Queen's College. He founded and endowed a
chantry in the cathedral, and made various bequests to his old colleges
at Oxford, dying in London 1422.
#William Barrow# (1423-1429), Chancellor of the University of Oxford;
translated from Bangor. In 1429 he was one of the commissioners for the
truce with Scotland which was concluded at Hawden Stank. He died in
1429, and was buried in the cathedral.
#Marmaduke Lumley# (1430-1450). Educated at Cambridge; Chancellor of the
University of Cambridge and Master of Trinity Hall. In 1447 he became
Lord High Treasurer of England. Queen's College, Cambridge, was
indebted to him for gifts of money towards its building, and books for
its library. He was translated to Lincoln in 1450, and died in December
of that same year.
#Nicholas Close# (1450-1452), Fellow of King's College, Cambridge;
Chancellor of the University; Archdeacon of Colchester. Translated to
the bishopric of Coventry and Lichfield 1452, and died two months after
his translation. He was a great benefactor to King's College.
#William Percy# (1452-1462), Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
Died in 1462.
#John Kingscott# (1462-1463), Archdeacon of Gloucester.
#Richard Scroope# (1464-1468), Chancellor of the University of
Cambridge.
#Edward Story# (1468-77), Fellow of Pembroke Hall; Master of Michael
House, Cambridge, and Chancellor of the University. He was translated to
Chichester 1477.
#Richard Bell# (1478-1495), Prior of Durham. He died in 1495, and was
buried in the choir of the cathedral, where there is a fine brass to his
memory.
#William Senhouse# or #Sever# (1496-1502). Educated at Oxford; Abbot of
York. He was one of the commissioners sent to negotiate the marriage of
Margaret, daughter of Henry VII., with James IV. Translated to Durham
1502.
#Roger Leyburn# (1503-1508), Master of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge;
Archdeacon of Durham. Died 1508.
#John Penny# (1509-1520). Educated at Lincoln College, Oxford; Abbot of
St. Mary de Pratis, Leicester, 1496; Bishop of Bangor, 1504. Translated
to Carlisle 1509. Died in 1520, at Leicester, and was buried there.
#John Kite# (1521-1537), "a creature of Wolsey." Educated at Eton, and
King's College, Cambridge. He was appointed Archbishop of Armagh, by
provision of Pope Leo X. 1513, and in 1521 translated to Carlisle. In
1529 he approved the action of Henry VIII. in calling in question his
marriage with Catherine of Aragon, and in 1530 he signed the letter to
the Pope which demanded Henry's divorce. Four years later he renounced
the Pope's supremacy. His epitaph says that during his episcopate he
kept "nobyl Houshold wyth grete Hospitality." He died in London 1537,
and was buried in Stepney Church.
#Robert Aldridge# (1537-1556). He was educated at Eton, and King's
College, Cambridge. Friend of Erasmus; Registrar of the Order of the
Garter; Provost of Eton; and Almoner to Queen Jane Seymour.
Until the close of the year 1550 his opinion was much sought after on
questions affecting the Sacrament and the mass, which at that period
were much in dispute.
#Owen Oglethorpe# (1557-1559), Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford.
Living in the troublous times of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. he had,
somewhat reluctantly, given his adhesion to the new order and form of
service of the holy communion. He was raised to the bishopric of
Carlisle by Mary in 1557. The following year she died, and the bishop
being called upon to say mass before the new queen, elevated the Host,
although she had expressly forbidden it. "A good-natur'd man, and when
single by himself very plyable to please Queen Elizabeth," he crowned
her queen when the rest of his order refused to perform the ceremony.
But "when in conjunction with other Popish Bishops, such principles of
stubbornness were distilled into him" that he refused to take the oath
of supremacy, and was accordingly deprived of his bishopric the
following May. His death, which occurred 31st December 1559, is said to
have been hastened by his remorse at having crowned Elizabeth--an enemy
of the "true Church"--queen of England.
#John Best# (1560-1570). After the death of Oglethorpe, the bishopric
was offered to "the excellent and pious" Bernard Gilpin, "the apostle of
the north," but he refused it.
John Best was then consecrated. He was educated at
Oxford. At the beginning of Queen Mary's reign he had given up all his
preferments and lived privately and obscurely. Four years after his
consecration he had permission from the queen "to arm himself against
the ill-doings of papists and other disaffected persons in his diocese."
He died in 1570, and was buried in the cathedral.
#Richard Barnes# (1570-1577), Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford;
Suffragan-Bishop of Nottingham 1567; translated to Durham 1577. In a
letter dated 1576 Barnes alludes to Carlisle as "this poore and bare
living."
#John Maye# (1577-1598), Master of Catherine Hall; Vice-Chancellor of
Cambridge. He died in February 1598 while the plague was ravaging
Carlisle, and was buried in the cathedral.
#Henry Robinson# (1598-1616). Educated at Queen's College, Oxford, of
which college he became Provost 1581. He took part in the Hampton Court
Conference 1603, and was a great benefactor to his college. He died of
the plague in 1616, and was buried in the cathedral, where his brother
placed a brass to his memory.
#Robert Snowden# (1616-1621), Prebendary of Southwell. Died 1621.
#Richard Milburn# (1621-1624), Dean of Rochester. Translated from St.
David's. He died 1624.
#Richard Senhouse# (1624-1626). Educated at Trinity College, and St.
John's College, Cambridge. Dean of Gloucester. He preached at the
coronation of Charles I. His death, which was caused by a fall from his
horse, took place in 1626, and he was buried in the cathedral.
#Francis White# (1626-1629), Dean of Carlisle; translated to Norwich
1629. He brought himself into notice by preaching against popery; by a
book written in antagonism to Fisher, the Jesuit; and, further, by
holding a disputation with the same man in the presence of James I.
#Barnaby Potter# (1629-1642). Educated at, and Provost of Queen's
College, Oxford; Chief Almoner of Charles I. Potter was one of the four
bishops who advised Charles upon the attainder of Strafford. He died in
London 1642.
#James Usher# (1642-1656). Educated at Trinity College, Dublin; Bishop
of Meath; Archbishop of Armagh. He visited England in 1640, and was
consulted by the Earl of Strafford in preparing a defence against his
impeachment. Charles I. also consulted him as to whether he should
sanction the death of the Earl. Usher was present at the execution of
Strafford, and ministered to him in his last moments. In 1641 Archbishop
Usher suffered severe losses from a rebellion in Ireland; and this is no
doubt the reason why he never returned to that country. About this time
Charles I. gave him the bishopric of Carlisle _in commendam_, but the
Archbishop does not seem to have obtained much revenue therefrom, as the
district was greatly impoverished through the English and Scottish
troops being alternately quartered there. A few years later Parliament
seized on his lands and voted him an annual pension of £ 400, which,
however, he probably did not receive more than twice. During the
troubles of these times he resided at Oxford and Cardiff. He came to
London in 1646, and the next year, through his friend's endeavours, he
was allowed to preach. He visited Charles at Carisbrooke in 1648. He
died in 1656, and was buried, by order of Cromwell, in Westminster
Abbey. He wrote "On the Original State of the British Churches," "The
Ancient History of the British Churches," and his great work on sacred
chronology, "The Annals of the Old Testament." It is said that Baxter
wrote his famous "Call to the Unconverted" at the Archbishop's
suggestion.
[Illustration: REDNESS HALL. _A. Pumphrey, Photo._]
#Richard Sterne# (1660-1664). Educated at Trinity College; Master of
Jesus College, Cambridge. He sided with the king on the outbreak of
civil war, and was arrested by Cromwell in 1642 for endeavouring to send
the college plate to Charles, and imprisoned in the Tower till the
January following. He was kept prisoner in various places until 1645. He
regained his Mastership at the Restoration, and soon after was made
Bishop of Carlisle. He was translated to the archbishopric of York,
leaving his bishopric in a very impoverished state. Sterne the novelist
was his great-grandson.
#Edward Rainbow# (1664-1684). Educated at Corpus Christi College,
Oxford, and Magdalene College, Cambridge; he became Master of the latter
in 1642-3. Dean of Peterborough 1661. He was very hospitable and
liberal. He did not hesitate in years of scarcity (after he had
exhausted his own stores of provisions) to buy corn which he gave away
to the poor day by day. He died in 1684, and was buried at Dalston.
#Thomas Smith# (1684-1702). Educated at Queen's College; Prebendary of
Durham; Dean of Carlisle. He was a very generous benefactor to Queen's
College, Oxford, the Carlisle Grammar School, the chapter library, and
the cathedral treasury. He died in 1702.
#William Nicolson# (1702-1718). A very learned antiquary. Fellow of
Queen's College, Oxford, and Archdeacon of Carlisle. His most noted work
is the "Historical Library" (1696-1699), which at one time "afforded a
guide to the riches of the chronicle literature of the British empire."
He was translated to the bishopric of Derry in 1718.
#Samuel Bradford# (1718-1723). Educated at St. Paul's School, the
Charterhouse, and Corpus Christi, Cambridge. He was elected Master of
Corpus Christi College in 1716. Dean of Westminster. Translated to
Rochester 1723.
#John Waugh# (1723-1734). Educated at, and Fellow of Queen's College,
Oxford; Dean of Gloucester. Died 1734.
#Sir George Fleming#, Bart. (1735-1747). Educated at St. Edmund Hall,
Oxford; Dean of Carlisle. During his episcopate the Young Pretender
entered Carlisle (1745) and it is said that he installed one Thomas
Coppock, or Cappoch, a Roman Catholic, as bishop. Coppock was captured,
and executed at Carlisle the following year. Sir George Fleming died in
1747, and was buried in the cathedral.
#Richard Osbaldeston# (1747-1762). Educated at St. John's College,
Cambridge; Dean of York. He was chiefly a non-resident bishop, and, on
his translation to London in 1762, his successor complained bitterly of
the state of dilapidation and decay into which Rose Castle, the bishop's
residence, had been allowed to fall.
#Charles Lyttelton# (1762-1768). Educated at Eton, and University
College, Oxford; Dean of Exeter. In 1765 he was president of the Society
of Antiquaries. He wrote numerous articles, some of which are included
in the first three volumes of the "Archæologia." He was very genial and
hospitable, and had a remarkable knowledge of antiquities. He died in
London 1768, and was buried at Hagley.
#Edmund Law# (1769-1787). Educated at St. John's College, Cambridge;
Fellow of Christ's College. He was an earnest student, and zealous for
Christian truth and Christian liberty. He believed that the human race
progresses in religion equally with its progress in all other knowledge.
He is said to have been "a man of great softness of manners, and of the
mildest and most tranquil disposition." He died in 1787, and was buried
in the cathedral.
#John Douglas# (1787-1791). Educated at St. Mary Hall, Oxford, and
Balliol; Dean of Windsor; translated to Salisbury 1791. He wrote many
political pamphlets.
#The Hon. Edward Venables Vernon# (1791-1808), Canon of Christ Church,
Oxford; translated to York 1808. He assumed the name of Harcourt in
1831.
#Samuel Goodenough# (1808-1827). Educated at Westminster, and Christ
Church, Oxford; Canon of Windsor, and Dean of Rochester.
In 1809 a sermon preached before the House of Lords gave rise to the
following epigram:--
'Tis well enough that Goodenough
Before the Lords should preach;
But, sure enough, full bad enough
Are those he has to teach.
He died in 1827, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
#Hugh Percy# (1827-1856). Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge; Bishop
of Rochester, whence he was translated to Carlisle. During his
episcopate he established a Clergy Aid Society (1838), and a Diocesan
Education Society (1855). He died in 1856, and was buried at Dalston.
#Henry Montague Villiers# (1856-1860). Translated to Durham 1860.
#Samuel Waldegrave# (1860-1869). Educated at Oxford; Canon of Salisbury.
Author of "New Testament Millenarianism" (the Bampton Lectures, 1854).
Died 1869.
#Harvey Goodwin# (1869-1891). Second Wrangler, Cambridge; Dean of Ely. A
very politic bishop. In one of his sermons he used words to the effect
that "he was as high as the church was high, as low as the church was
low, and as broad as the church was broad." Died 1891.
#J.W. Bardsley# (1892). Translated from Sodor and Man.
LIST OF PRIORS AND DEANS
PRIORS
Æthelwulf (Aldulf)
Walter
John
Bartholomew
Ralph
Robert Morville
Adam de Felton
Alan
John Halton (Bishop, 1292)
John Kendall
Robert
Adam Warthwic (resigned 1304)
William Hautwyssel
Robert Helperton
Simon Hautwyssel (about 1325)
William de Hastworth. 1325
John Kirby (Bishop, 1332)
Galfrid
John de Horncastle (resigned 1376)
Thomas Hextildsham
Richard de Rydale
John de Penrith (resigned 1381)
William de Dalston
Robert de Edenhall. 1386
Thomas de Hoton
Thomas Elye
Thomas Barnaby. 1433
Thomas de Haythwaite
Thomas Gondibour. 1484-1507
Simon Senhouse. 1507
Christopher Slee
Lancelot Salkeld. 1532. (Last Prior and 1st Dean)
DEANS
Lancelot Salkeld. 1542
Sir Thomas Smyth, LL. D. 1547
Lancelot Salkeld. 1553.
Sir Thomas Smyth, LL.D. 1559
Sir John Wooley, M.A. 1577
Christopher Perkins, LL.D. 1596
Francis White, S.T.P. 1622
William Patterson, S.T.P. 1626
Thomas Comber S.T.P 1630
(Vacant 18 years)
Guy Carleton, D.D. 1660
Thomas Smith, D.D. 1671
Thomas Musgrave, D.D. 1684
William Graham, D.D. 1686
Francis Atterbury, D.D. 1704
George Smallridge, D.D. 1711
Thomas Gibbon, D.D. 1713
Thomas Tullie, LL.D. 1716
George Fleming, LL.D. 1727
Robert Bolton, LL.D. 1734
Charles Tarrent, D.D. 1764
Thomas Wilson, D.D. 1764
Thomas Percy, D.D. 1778
Jeffrey Ekins, D.D. 1782
Isaac Milner, D.D. 1792
Robert Hodgson, D.D. 1820
John Anthony Cramer, D.D. 1844
Samuel Hinds, D.D. 1848
Archibald Campbell Tait, D.D. 1849
Francis Close, D.D. 1856
J. Oakley, D.D. 1881
W.G. Henderson, D.D. 1884
CHAPTER V
THE CASTLE
The #Castle# is built on the highest ground in the city, a kind of cliff
at the north-west angle rising abruptly about sixty feet above the river
Eden. An area of nearly three acres has been enclosed with walls, the
longest side from north-west to south-east being about 256 yards long,
the west side 143 yards, and the south side 200 yards. Two sides are
very steep, and the south side, which slopes gradually to the town, is
defended outside the wall by a wide moat 10 feet deep.
There are two divisions: the outer ward, and the inner ward. William
Rufus erected the keep, which was at first the only building on the
site, and this was enclosed by a wall on the north and east. A
triangular ward was thus formed, having its entrance at the south-east.
Carlisle was fortified in 1170, and the city walls were carried up to
the castle. At this time the first entrance was blocked up and the
present one made; the outer ward was also enclosed. The south wall, with
its flat buttresses, is partly Norman, and partly thirteenth-century
work; and this description generally applies to the north and west
walls.
About 50 yards from the south-west angle and on the city walls is King
Richard's Tower, a building of two storeys, where Richard III. is said
to have lived when at Carlisle. It is also called the Tile Tower because
of the thin bricks with which it was built. A subterranean passage
leading to the keep was discovered here early this century. Entrance to
the castle is gained by a bridge crossing the moat; this has replaced
the old drawbridge and leads to a gatehouse with battlements, a kind of
barbican, of two storeys. The passage is vaulted, and has massive doors
of oak studded with iron; formerly there was also a portcullis.
This leads to the outer ward which is about four times as large as the
inner ward. It is nearly square, and contains modern buildings for the
use of the garrison.
The two wards are divided by a strong stone wall 90 yards in length. A
wide ditch (now filled up) once ran in front. In the centre of this wall
is a building--the Captain's Tower--which gives access to the inner ward
through its gateway secured at each end with a strong door.
Some of the masonry of the Captain's Tower is Norman, but it is mostly
Decorated. A half-moon battery of three guns once defended the Tower and
commanded the outer ward, but it has now been removed.
[Illustration: PLAN OF THE CASTLE (TIME OF QUEEN ELIZABETH).]
The inner ward contains the great square keep, 66 feet by 61, where the
governor had his apartments, and which was the final resort of the
garrison when the place was entered by an enemy. The walls are 15 feet
in thickness, except on the east side, which is only 8 feet thick. The
building consists of a basement and three upper floors; the highest
floor is vaulted to sustain a platform for artillery. The present height
is 68 feet. On a clear day a fine view can be had from the top,
embracing the mountains in the Lake district, the heights of
Northumberland, the Solway Firth, and the Scottish coast. Several cells
have been contrived in the eastern wall, in one of which Major McDonald
(Fergus McIvor) is said to have been lodged. Some of the cell walls
have been carved at various times with figures of men, birds, and
animals. These were, perhaps, executed with a nail. In the north wall is
the shaft of a well, 78 feet deep. This is supposed to be the well which
was shown to St. Cuthbert when he visited Carlisle. The dungeons are in
the ground floor, and of course are distinguished by a plentiful lack of
daylight and fresh air.
[Illustration: THE CASTLE. _A. Pumphrey, Photo._]
Queen Mary's Tower, so called from having been the prison of Mary Queen
of Scots, was in the south-east angle of the inner ward. It was pulled
down in 1835, and a wall built round the angle. It was in part Norman
work of the time of William Rufus, and partly Early English; and had a
large rounded archway springing from capitals with zigzag decoration.
There was also a portcullis for its defence. A passage used by Queen
Mary to pass out to the Lady's Walk, which ran eastward from the
gatehouse, has been walled up.
The Long Hall, a fine structure about 100 feet by 40, in which the
Parliament of 1306-7 met, was also situated in this ward, but was
demolished with several other buildings, 1824-1835. At various times
the castle has undergone extensive repairs, notably in the reigns of
Richard III., Edward III., Henry VIII., and Elizabeth.
During the siege in 1644-5 it suffered much damage, and was patched up
by the Parliamentary troops. A hundred years later the Duke of
Cumberland thought very little of its powers of defence, for he
contemptuously called it "an old hen-coop."
Among the governors, several well-known men figure; for instance, Andrew
Harcla, the Duke of Gloucester (afterwards Richard III.), and Hotspur.
Upon the death of Lieutenant-General Ramsay in 1837 the office of
governor was abolished. The castle now furnishes barrack accommodation
for troops, and serves as a depôt.
DIMENSIONS OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL
Choir, Length 134 feet
Choir, Breadth 72 feet
Choir, Height 72 feet
Nave, Length 39 feet
Nave, Breadth 60 feet
Nave, Height 65 feet
Transepts, Length 124 feet
Transepts, Breadth 28 feet
Tower, Height 112 feet
AREA 15,270 sq. ft.
[Illustration: PLAN OF CARLISLE CATHEDRAL.]
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Carlisle - A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Episcopal See" ***
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