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Title: Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lincoln - A History and Description of its Fabric and a List of the Bishops
Author: Kendrick, A. F.
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lincoln - A History and Description of its Fabric and a List of the Bishops" ***
[Illustration: LINCOLN FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo_.]
THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF LINCOLN
A HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION
OF ITS FABRIC AND A LIST OF
THE BISHOPS
BY A. F. KENDRICK, B.A.
WITH FORTY-SIX ILLUSTRATIONS
[Illustration: Arms of the See]
LONDON GEORGE BELL & SONS 1902
_First Published July 1898_
_Reprinted, with corrections, 1899, 1902_
THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED
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 very excellent series of Handbooks
to the Cathedrals originated by the late Mr John Murray; to which the
reader may in most cases be referred for fuller detail, especially in
reference to the histories of the respective sees.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
The literature on the subject of Lincoln Minster is considerable, but
scattered. The valuable researches of the late Precentor Venables published
chiefly in the _Archæological Journal_, claim the first place among
authorities consulted in the preparation of the present handbook. The
works of Freeman, Scott, Rickman, and Parker have also been referred
to. For the Episcopal Visitations, Prebendary Perry's account in the
thirty-eighth volume of the _Archæological Journal_ has been followed;
and for the Inventories of the Treasures, that of Prebendary Wordsworth in
the fifty-third volume of the _Archæologia_. Holinshed's "Chronicles,"
Bright's "Early English Church History," and the topographical works
of Leland, Dugdale, Camden, and Stukeley, contain useful information on
the subject. In the Rolls series, the chronicles of Henry of Huntingdon,
Matthew Paris, Roger de Hoveden, and Giraldus Cambrensis, as well as
the annals of various reigns and the "Magna Vita" of St. Hugh, have been
consulted. A number of old guides in the Library of the British Museum
contain useful MS. notes. Some of the other works referred to have been
acknowledged in the pages of this book.
The author has to acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr J. Shillaker and Mr
G. H. Palmer for kind suggestions. Mr P. G. Trendell has prepared the list
of the Bishops, and has given valued help in other ways. The illustrations
Photochrom Co., Messrs S. B. Bolas & Co., Mr F. G. M. Beaumont, and Mr
H. C. Oakden; others are from the Lincoln volume of the Proceedings of
the Archæological Institute (1848).
A. F. K.
_May 1898._
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I.--The History of the Building 3
CHAPTER II.--The Exterior 43
The West Front 44
The Western Towers 55
The Galilee Porch 57
The Chapter Archives 59
The Central Tower 59
The Bells in the Central Tower 61
The Presbytery 65
The Chantry Chapels 68
The East End 71
The Minster Yard 74
The Palace of the Bishops 76
The Deanery 78
The Cantelupe Chantry House 78
The Vicars' Court 80
CHAPTER III.--The Interior, including the Cloisters and Chapter-house 82
The Ground Plan 83
The Vestibule 83
The Nave 86
The Nave Pulpit 93
The Central Tower 93
The Western Transept 94
The "Dean's Eye" and the "Bishop's Eye" 96
The Screen 99
St. Hugh's Choir 103
The Choir Stalls 105
The Bishop's Throne and the Pulpit 107
The Reredos 108
The Easter Sepulchre 109
The South Aisle 110
The Shrine of the Little St. Hugh 110
The North Aisle 112
The Eastern Transept 112
The Dean's Chapel 115
The Choristers' Vestry 118
The Angel Choir 121
The Lincoln Imp 125
The Stained Glass 91, 126
The Fleming Chantry 126
The Russell Chantry 128
Bishop Longland's Chantry 128
The Monuments 92, 129
The Cloisters 137
The Library 141
The Chapter-house 144
CHAPTER IV.--List of the Bishops of Lincoln 145
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Lincoln from the South-West _Frontispiece_
The Cathedral from the South-West 2
Old Map of Lincoln 7
Seals of William De Roumara, Earl of Lincoln, and of Ranulph,
Earl of Chester and Lincoln 12
Seal of Henry De Lacy, Earl of Lincoln 13
Monumental Crocket 16
The Cathedral in the Seventeenth Century 21
Early English Pier 25
The West Front and the Exchequer Gate, by P. De Wint 33
The Observatory Tower, Lincoln Castle 39
The Stone Bow 42
The West Front 45
Carved Work of the Central Doorway at the West End 49
The Minster from the Castle, by F. Mackenzie 53
Galilee Porch, and South Side of the Nave 58
The Central Tower, from the South 60
The Minster from the Cloisters, by F. Mackenzie 63
South-East Porch, with the Chantry Chapels of Bishops Longland
and Russell 66
Cast of the Figure of Christ, in the South-East Porch 67
View from the South-East 69
North Doorway of the Angel Choir 73
North Side of the Angel Choir 75
Elevation of the former Chapel of the Bishop's Palace, with
Bishop Alnwick's Tower 77
Plan of the Bishop's Palace, Lincoln, on the level of the Hall Floor 79
View of the Ancient Deanery 80
Part of the Ancient Deanery, with Dean Fleming's Tower 81
Elevation of One Bay on the North Side of the Nave 84
Half Section of the Nave, looking West 85
The Nave, looking West 87
Part of the Double Arcading of St. Hugh 89
The West Transept, looking South 94
Aisle Doorway, North of St. Hugh's Choir 100
The Choir, looking East 101
The East Transept, looking North 113
Triforium on the West Side of St. Hugh's Transept 117
North Side of the Angel Choir 119
East End of the Angel Choir 123
The Lincoln Imp 125
Triforium of the Angel Choir 127
Tomb of Sir Bartholomew Burghersh 133
Bishop Wordsworth's Tomb 138
The Cloisters, from the North-East Corner 139
Arcade in the Chapter-house 141
Capital in the Chapter-house 142
The Chapter-house 143
PLAN OF THE CATHEDRAL 150
[Illustration: VIEW FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
LINCOLN CATHEDRAL
CHAPTER I
THE HISTORY OF THE BUILDING
The venerable walls of Lincoln Minster look down from their proud position
upon a city far more ancient than themselves. Long before the arrival of
the Saxons and Angles, the spot on which Lincoln Minster and Castle stand,
had been occupied by a settlement bearing a name which has survived through
various changes to the present day. "Lincoln" is "Lindum Colonia": the
latter word dates from the Roman occupation of Britain, and is sufficient
to show the importance of the city at such an early period; the former
carries us back further still to the times of the ancient Britons, whose
dwelling on the "dun" or hill, was named "Llin-dun," from the "llin"
or mere at its foot. The hill is that on which the minster now stands,
and the mere still survives in the harbour of Brayford. The limits of the
Roman city on the summit of the hill were marked by massive quadrangular
walls, of which fragments may be seen at the present day. These walls
were pierced with four gates; the position of the east and west gates
is marked by the streets bearing these names; the southern gateway was
still in existence at the beginning of the eighteenth century, but was
battered down by a man named Houghton about the year 1707. The old Roman
road to the north still passes under the northern or "Newport" gate.
The city occupied a proud position, and its importance in Roman times is
shewn by the fact that it was the meeting-point of five main roads, two of
which, the Foss Way and Ermine Street, met a little south of the present
church of St. Botolph, and formed what is now the High Street of the
city. Remains of Roman Lincoln are abundant, and some are preserved within
the minster precincts. Passing on to the time of the Saxons, we read that
the indefatigable missionary Paulinus, Bishop of York, journeyed into the
neighbouring district of Lindsey, and "preached in the old Roman hill-town
of Lincoln." His labour was rewarded by the conversion (about the year 628)
of its "prefect" Blaecca, who immediately set about building "a stone
church of noble workmanship" for the use of the converts to the new faith.
But it is not directly to the preaching of Paulinus, nor to the energy of
Blaecca, that we owe the foundation of the minster. The "stone church" is
now almost certainly represented by the church of St. Paul, in Bailgate, a
church which still retains the name, though in a corrupted form, of the
first great Christian missionary to the people of Lincoln. In this church
Honorius was consecrated by Paulinus to succeed Justus as Archbishop of
Canterbury. The little village of Stow, eleven miles to the north-west of
the city, has been identified by Professor Freeman as "the ancient
Sidnacester," and can thus claim to be the original seat of the diocese of
Lincoln. The venerable church of St. Mary at Stow was called by Camden "the
mother-church to Lincoln." In the year 678, when the huge Northumbrian
diocese of Wilfrid was divided, Egfrid of Northumbria built a church at
Sidnacester. This church was made the "bishopstool" of the new diocese of
Lindsey, and the line of bishops may be traced for two hundred years, from
Eadhed to Berhtred. During the bishopric of the latter, about the year 870,
the church at Stow was burnt in an invasion of the Northmen, and in
consequence of their ravages the see remained vacant for a period of eighty
years. Lincoln itself fell into the hands of the invaders, and became the
chief of the "Five Boroughs" of the Danish Confederation. From this time
until the Norman invasion the borough continued to be governed by its
twelve hereditary Danish law-men. About the middle of the tenth century,
the seat of the bishops of this district was removed for security to
Dorchester-on-Thames, in the very farthest corner of the vast diocese,
where it was protected by the fortified camp. The Mercian see of Leicester
was here united with that of Sidnacester, and in the next century Eadnoth,
the second of the name, is styled Bishop of Dorchester, Leicester, and
Sidnacester. The little city by the Thames was not long to enjoy the honour
of being the "bishopstool" of the largest diocese in England. As the Saxons
gave way before their Norman conquerors, the Saxon bishop of Dorchester
was succeeded by the Norman bishop of Lincoln. William the Conqueror
brought many prelates in his train, and not the least conspicuous among
them was Remigius, who was destined soon to share largely in the spoils
of the newly-conquered country. This man was Almoner of Fécamp on the
coast of Normandy. His offer, for the projected invasion, of a single
ship with twenty knights, procured him the promise of the first English
bishopric vacant, and the Conqueror redeemed his word on the death of
Wulfwig, Bishop of Dorchester. In the first years of his episcopate,
Remigius commenced to build on a stately scale at Dorchester, but it
seemed to him inconvenient, so Henry of Huntingdon records, that the
see should be in a corner of the diocese. Remigius had already begun to
look on the "distinguished city of Lincoln" as being more worthy to be
the seat of a bishop, when in the year 1072 a council held at Windsor
decreed that bishops should fix their sees in walled towns instead of
villages. Remigius would naturally turn to the district of Lindsey, whence
his predecessors had come, and with his choice of Lincoln begins the
history of our minster. The city at this time, according to the Domesday
record, boasted eleven hundred and sixty inhabited houses. The Conqueror,
"in feare of rebellious commotions," had already commenced the erection
of a castle there to overawe the surrounding country. For this purpose,
one hundred and sixty-six houses were destroyed on the top of the hill,
within the bounds of the Roman walls. Their inhabitants were driven
beyond the Witham to found a new town in the plain beneath, where the
land belonged to Coleswegen, an English favourite of the king. The towers
of St. Mary-le-Wigford and St. Peter-at-Gowts stand to this day as the
venerable relics of the churches built by him for these new tenants of
his estate. They are extremely valuable records, being monuments of the
earlier--Saxon--style of architecture, reared by Englishmen, while the
castle and cathedral in the more advanced Norman style were rising on
the height above.
The following is Henry of Huntingdon's account of the transference of the
see, translated by Precentor Venables:--"The king" (William the Conqueror)
"had given Remigius who had been a monk at Fescamp the bishopric of
Dorchester which is situated on the Thames. This bishopric being larger
than all others in England, stretching from the Thames to the Humber, the
bishop thought it troublesome to have his episcopal see at the extreme
limit of his diocese. He was also displeased with the smallness of the
town, the most illustrious city appearing far more worthy to be the see
of a bishop. He therefore bought certain lands on the highest parts
of the city, near the castle standing aloft with its strong towers,
and built a church, strong as the place was strong, and fair as the
place was fair, dedicated to the Virgin of Virgins, which should both
be a joy to the servants of God, and as befitted the time unconquerable
by enemies." The transference of the see must have taken place between
1072 and 1075, since at the council held in the former year at Windsor,
Remigius signed himself "Episcopus Dorcacensis," and three years later
at the council of London "Episcopus Lincolniensis." Lincoln thus became
the centre of a diocese comprising an enormous area, including the ten
following counties:--Lincoln, Northampton, Rutland, Leicester, Cambridge,
Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford and Hertford. In the strong city
beneath the massive walls of William's castle, Remigius could build in
safety, not hindered, as his predecessors at Stow had been, by the fear
of fierce invaders from across the sea.
The piece of ground purchased by Remigius lay a few hundred yards to the
east of William's castle, just within the Roman wall of the upper city. It
was the site of an earlier church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, which
was no doubt entirely destroyed to make room for the prouder edifice
of Remigius, and for the next 250 years, the parishioners of St. Mary
Magdalene retained the right of assembling in the nave of the minster. The
building thus served a double purpose until the time of Bishop John de
Dalderby (1300-20), who completed the arrangements begun by his predecessor
for the union of the parish of St. Mary Magdalene with that of All Saints.
[Illustration: OLD MAP OF LINCOLN.
(From Stukeley's _Itinerarium Curiosum_, 1722.)]
The church of Remigius was cruciform, with a short eastern limb,
terminating in a semi-circular apse, which, unlike those of Norwich and
Gloucester, was destitute of aisles. In the west front, with its three deep
and lofty arches, and its two niche-like recesses, we still see the work of
the first bishop, but the structure has been twice extended in an easterly
direction--once by Bishop Hugh of Avalon, who built the present choir;
and the second time to receive that bishop's miracle-working relics,
and to afford room for the large and increasing throng of pilgrims
that visited his shrine. The existing portions of the fabric built by
Remigius are the west front, part of the first bay of the nave, and the
side walls now enclosed in Early English chapels. The black basalt font
in the nave is of the same period. On the erection of St. Hugh's choir,
at the end of the twelfth century, the whole eastern limb of the original
structure was removed. But the foundations remained, and were discovered
in 1852 by Mr. T. J. Willson, architect, of Lincoln, under the floor
of the present choir. The apse was found to have extended a little way
beyond where the litany-stool now stands in the choir. The foundations of
the lateral walls were also laid bare for some distance. Just beyond the
springing of the apse on the north side, there are traces of a pilaster
buttress, and on the inside of the lateral walls, sixteen feet from the
springing of the apse, the foundations still exist of the piers of the
great transverse arch which divided the presbytery from the choir of
the Norman church. The measurement of these foundations, as well as the
still-existing west front, are sufficient to show the sturdy strength
of the early church. The walls of the apse must have been about eight
feet thick. There appears to have been a lantern of some kind over the
crossing, since the tower which fell in 1237-9 was called _Nova turris_.
The edifice was begun and completed by the energetic bishop, and was ready
for consecration within twenty years of its commencement. To judge from
the portions yet remaining, the building must have been severely plain;
not a moulding softens down the rugged edges in those parts which are
still as Remigius left them. But it was solid and strong, built to stand
the wear and tear of many centuries. In fact, so like a fortress was it,
that Stephen used it as such fifty years after, when the castle opposite
was held by his enemies. Precentor Venables thus gives the dimensions
of Remigius' church--300 feet in interior length, 160 feet less than at
present; 28 feet in breadth, as against 38 feet at present, and 60 feet
in height to the level of the ceiling. The roof was undoubtedly of wood,
and probably a flat one of painted boards, like those of the transepts at
Peterborough. The contemporary church at Canterbury, built by the primate
Lanfranc, was roofed in this way. The present nave is 82 feet high,
and the choir 74 feet; the comparison of these dimensions with those
already given shew that the old church was in every way smaller. And
this is only natural. In Norman churches, the stalls for the choir and
clergy were usually placed under the lantern or in the first bays of the
nave, as at Westminster, Norwich, Winchester and other places. For this
and for other reasons the naves were long. The eastern limbs, however,
were short, and it remained for later builders to extend them for the
transference of the stalls to this part, and to erect Lady Chapels beyond.
Remigius was not destined to witness the consecration of the cathedral he
had reared. At the council of Windsor in the year 1072, Thomas, archbishop
of York, had laid claim to a jurisdiction over the diocese of Lindsey,
which claim had been disallowed. When the question of the consecration of
the new cathedral arose, Thomas renewed his pretensions, and the ceremony
was thus delayed. We learn from Roger de Hoveden that Remigius, feeling
the day of his death draw near, wished to have the church consecrated
as soon as possible, and that Rufus was finally won over by a sum of
money from the bishop. A date was fixed, the 9th of May, 1092, and all
the bishops throughout the country were summoned to be present for the
occasion. But on Ascension-day, three days before, Remigius died. He
was buried in his own church, before the Altar of the Holy Cross, which
stood in front of the screen that carried the rood. The character of
the energetic bishop is given in a few words by the historian Henry of
Huntingdon--small in stature, but great of heart, swarthy in colour,
but comely in deeds (_statura parvus, sed corde magnus, colore fuscus,
sed operibus venustus_). His successor was Robert Bloet, Chancellor to
William Rufus, but Thomas of York objected to his consecration as bishop
of Lincoln. "He might be Bishop of Dorchester, like his predecessors;
but Lindesey, part of the spiritual conquest of Paulinus, was of ancient
right subject to the metropolitan authority of York. This claim came to
nothing, and Thomas found better scope for his energies in the reform
of his own church." [1] A present from Bloet of £5000 to the king set
matters right, and the ceremony so long delayed was at last performed.
The bishop does not appear to have made any addition to the fabric before
his death, which occurred suddenly, while riding with the king in a
"deer-fold" at Woodstock (10th January 1123). It was quite otherwise
with his successor, Alexander the Magnificent, nephew of the princely
Roger of Salisbury. Alexander had already shewn his love of building by
the erection of strong castles at Newark, Banbury and Sleaford, when
a fire which destroyed the roof of the cathedral about the year 1141,
gave him an opportunity of exercising his talent in a direction more
fitting to his office. Giraldus Cambrensis relates that in this fire
the burning beams fell from the roof and broke the slab of Remigius'
tomb. This fact is interesting as adding support to the opinion that the
slab now replaced in the nave of the minster was really that which covered
the original burial-place of the bishop. Of the stone vaulting with which
Alexander replaced the wooden roof after the fire, not a fragment remains;
but the lines of the vault may be traced at the western end of the nave
and against the two west towers. In addition to this, we learn from Henry
of Huntingdon that he so remodelled the church by his "subtle artifice,"
that it looked more beautiful than in "its first newness," and was not
surpassed by any building in England. The difference between the work
of Remigius and Alexander is well seen in the west front, where the
three great uncompromising arches of the earlier bishop are pierced
by the rich and elaborate doorways of the later. We are fairly safe in
assigning these to Alexander, and they probably formed part of the work
he did, according to Roger de Hoveden, in the year 1146. The intersecting
Norman arcade along the west front, just above the work of Remigius, may
also be ascribed to Alexander, as well as the lower portions of the two
western towers. The connection of these towers with the original west
front was unfortunately hidden by the erection of the present Gothic
screen-wall. It will be noticed, however, that gables are added at the
sides to the Norman work, and traces may be seen which prove that similar
gables decorated their western faces. There was probably another gable
of larger dimensions in the centre. Precentor Venables thus conjectured
the appearance of the west front as begun by Remigius and completed
by Alexander: "It was furnished with three gables, like the façade
of the cathedral of Ferrara, behind which rose the low Norman towers
still existing, richly ornamented with three tiers of arcades, ... and
terminated with low spires of timber covered with lead, similar to those
which once covered the western towers of Durham, or those still nearer,
which have recently been replaced, with happy effect, at Southwell. The
angular turrets would also be terminated in a similar manner, giving a
picturesque combination of spires."
In the time of the "magnificent" bishop, Lincoln was the scene of stirring
events, in which the minster played a curious part. The lamentable war
between Stephen and Matilda produced a miserable state of confusion
and bloodshed in every corner of the land. The strong castle of Lincoln
was seized by William de Roumara, Earl of Lincoln, and Ranulph, Earl of
Chester, and held for Matilda. The citizens and Bishop Alexander sent word
to the king, who hastened to their relief. The king's eye fell on the
massive walls of the minster, in such a convenient position opposite the
stronghold of the earls. The sacred fabric was seized, and, according to
William of Malmesbury, garrisoned as a fortress. Such a proceeding could
bring no good fortune to the king, and omens of evil soon followed. As
he offered a wax candle in the minster, Henry of Huntingdon tells us,
it broke just when Bishop Alexander was about to take it. The chain too,
by which the pyx was suspended, snapped asunder, and the sacred vessel
fell, in the presence of the bishop. The decisive contest took place
soon after; Stephen was left a captive in the hands of his enemies,
and the city was taken and plundered. Two years before these events,
in 1139, Alexander and his uncle Roger, bishop of Salisbury, had been
treacherously seized by the king, and deprived of their treasures and
castles. Roger died insane at the end of the same year, and Alexander
regained his liberty on resigning his castles.
In 1144 Stephen was again at Lincoln, besieging the castle, where his
enemies repulsed every attack. Two years later, at Christmas time, the king
appeared crowned within the city, in defiance of an ancient superstition
which foretold evil to any English sovereign who should do so. Eleven years
after, Henry II. out of deference to this tradition, was crowned outside
the walls, in the suburb of Wikeford. In 1167, on the death of Bishop
Chesney, the king seized the revenues, and the see remained vacant for
many years. A prophecy that it would never again be filled seemed likely
to prove true, when Geoffrey Plantagenet, a natural son of the king, was
elected in 1173. He was never consecrated, and resigned nine years later.
During his term of office, Geoffrey gave to the minster "two great sonorous
bells," which were probably hung in one of the western towers.
[Illustration: Seals of William De Roumara, Earl of Lincoln, and of
Ranulph, Earl of Chester and Lincoln.]
The fabric of the church is considered to have remained as left by
Alexander until the year 1185. On the 15th April of this year occurred the
great earthquake mentioned by Roger de Hoveden. He tells us that it was
felt throughout almost the whole of England, and was of such a severity
as had not been known in the land "_ab initio mundi_." The minster was
cleft from the top to the bottom.
The disasters of this year were more than compensated in the next, when a
man was consecrated to the bishopric who has left a name as great as any
that figure in the ecclesiastical history of England. St. Hugh of Lincoln
was a son of a Lord of Avalon, near Grenoble. At an early age he entered
a priory, a dependency of the cathedral church of Grenoble, and near
his father's castle and land. About 1160 he was received into the Grand
Chartreuse, where he became eventually the procurator or bursar. Henry
II. of England, hearing of his fame, sent the bishop of Bath and other
ambassadors to the great Carthusian monastery, begging that Hugh should
come to England, and take charge of the newly-established monastery of the
Carthusians at Witham in Somersetshire. The prior was not at all inclined
to part with Hugh, but the matter was settled by the bishop of Grenoble,
and Hugh crossed over to England.
[Illustration: Seal of Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln.]
At Witham Hugh became a great favourite with the king, who, about ten years
after his arrival in this country, offered him the vacant bishopric of
Lincoln. The prior was not, however, dazzled by the prospect of a bishop's
mitre, and the king had to tax his persuasive powers before he could
induce him to exchange Witham for Lincoln. When once installed, Hugh, like
Thomas of Canterbury, soon made it clear that he would become no tool in
the hands of the king. Henry's chief forester was excommunicated for an
offence against the church, and Hugh refused to bestow a vacant prebend
on a courtier recommended by the king. The bishop was summoned to the
royal presence, Henry instructing his courtiers not to salute him when he
entered. Hugh found the king sewing a bandage round a wounded finger, and
apparently so occupied as not to notice his approach. The bishop, not at
all disconcerted, made some witty remark about the king reminding him of
his ancestor of Falaise; whereupon Henry burst into laughter, and explained
the joke to his courtiers. In the year 1198, in a council held at Oxford,
Hugh and the bishop of Salisbury stood alone in opposing a grant for the
king's foreign wars; "the saint of Lincoln, grown into an Englishman on
English ground, spoke up for the laws and rights of Englishmen." Richard
was furious, and ordered the confiscation of his property; but Hugh stood
firm, and the king at last gave way. Yet this dignified assertion of his
rights was not accompanied by an arrogant spirit. The miracles which,
in an ignorant and superstitious age, were attributed to many who had a
reputation for piety, were strenuously disclaimed by him. Such was the
man who, in 1186, became bishop of the vast diocese of Lincoln.
The building was in a most deplorable state, and Hugh had thus an
opportunity of becoming, so to speak, the second founder of the church.
He quickly resolved to commence the building entirely afresh from
the foundations. The sum of money necessary for this purpose was large,
and Hugh proposed to retire to Witham until the accumulated revenues of
the see should reach the amount required. Although he was not permitted
to do this, he often visited the little Somersetshire monastery, where he
would remain for a month or two at a time, doing the duties of a simple
monk, and practising all the austerities of the Carthusian order. For six
years Hugh diligently collected the materials for carrying out his great
scheme, and at last the foundations of a new choir were laid. The year
1192 marks an epoch, not only in the history of Lincoln Minster, and of
English architecture, but in that of Gothic architecture generally. "What
Diocletian did at Spalato for the round arch, Saint Hugh did at Lincoln for
the pointed arch.... We have seen how, while the elder church of Remigius
was rising in the stern grandeur of early Norman times, men were still
found who clave to the older traditions of independent England. So, while
its eastern limb was giving way to the new form which rose at the bidding
of Saint Hugh, men were still rearing the naves of Peterborough and Ely,
works which shew in their details some signs of the change which was
beginning, but which, in their leading lines and proportions, vary not at
all from the earlier works which they continue." "St. Hugh was strictly the
first to design a building in which the pointed arch should be allowed full
play, and should be accompanied by an appropriate system of detail.... To
Hugh of Avalon, neither from the West-Saxon nor the Ducal-Burgundian
Avalon, ... French and English forms would be alike foreign, and he
doubtless gave full play to the taste of his architect, a taste which did
nothing less than develop on the soil of Lindesey the first complete and
pure form of the third great form of architecture, the architecture of the
pointed arch." [2] Who was this architect? What nation did he belong to?
These questions are of considerable interest. The first it is easy to
answer. In the "_Magna Vita_" of St. Hugh we read that the architect was
Geoffrey de Noyers (_Gaufrido de Noiers_). The name certainly looks like
that of a foreigner, but from a letter contributed by M. Viollet le Due to
the _Gentleman's Magazine_ in May 1861, we must conclude that he was in all
respects an Englishman, though doubtless of foreign descent. The letter
contains such interesting remarks on the characteristic differences between
French and English Gothic, that it may be worth while to quote it in full--
"I expected from what I had heard in England to find at Lincoln the French
style of architecture, that is to say, some constructions of the end of
the twelfth century and the beginning of the thirteenth which would
shew the evident influence of a French architect. But after the most
careful examination I could not find in any part of the cathedral of
Lincoln, neither in the general design, nor in any part of the system of
architecture adopted, nor in the details of ornament, any trace of the
French school of the twelfth century (the lay school from 1170 to 1220),
so plainly characteristic of the Cathedrals of Paris, Noyon, Senlis,
Chartres, Sens, and even Rouen. The part of the cathedral of Lincoln in
which the influence of the French school has been supposed to be found,
has no resemblance to this. I speak of the choir. On the exterior the
choir of the cathedral of Lincoln is thoroughly English, or Norman if you
will: one can perceive all the Norman influence; arches acutely pointed,
blank windows in the clerestory, reminding one of the basilica covered
with a wooden roof; a low triforium; each bay of the aisles divided into
two by a small buttress; shafts banded. In the interior, vaults which
have not at all the same construction as the French vaults of the end
of the twelfth century; arch-mouldings slender, and deeply undercut;
the abacus round; the tooth-ornament; which do not at all resemble the
ornaments which we find at Paris, Sens, St. Denis, &c.
"As to the large rose window of the north transept, which is said to
have been executed between 1190 and 1200, without disputing that date,
which appears to me rather an early one for it, I cannot consider it as
a French composition. In the first place, I do not know a rose window of
that period in France which is divided into four compartments; the centre
of this window does not resemble the arrangement adopted in France;
and as to the decoration with small roses which cover the mouldings,
they are a very characteristic English ornament.
"Nowhere in France do we find between 1190 and 1200 pillars similar to
those at Lincoln, with the crockets placed between the shafts; nowhere
in France do we find crockets carved like these; nowhere shafts with
hexagonal concave section; nowhere capitals or abacus similar to those
of these pillars.
[Illustration: Monumental Crocket.]
"Moreover, I confess that I cannot believe readily in the date of 1190 to
1200 for the different parts of this choir; but that the date of 1220, or
1210 at the earliest, seems to me to agree better with the architectural
character. We have in Normandy, especially in the cathedral of Rouen and
the church of Eu, architecture of the date of 1190; it is purely French,
that is to say, it corresponds exactly with the architecture of the 'Isle
de France' except in certain details. At Eu, at the cathedral of Le Mans,
at Seez, we have architecture which resembles that of the choir of Lincoln,
but that architecture is from 1210 to 1220, it is the Norman school of the
thirteenth century. There is, indeed, at Lincoln, an effort at, a tendency
to originality, a style of ornament which attempts to emancipate itself;
nevertheless the character is purely Anglo-Norman.
"The construction is English, the profiles of the mouldings are English,
the ornaments are English, the execution of the work belongs to the
English school of workmen of the beginning of the thirteenth century."
Sir G. G. Scott was entirely in agreement with the eminent French authority
on this point. And the matter was summed up by Precentor Venables in the
following words[3]:--"Regarding the choir and eastern transept of Lincoln,
as we are fully justified in doing, as an English work, great and peculiar
interest attaches to it as the earliest dated example of pure Gothic
architecture, without any lingering trace of Transitional feeling;
the first perfect development of what is known as the Early English
style. Other examples of this style might, it is true, were their dates
known, prove to have been earlier in execution. But their exact age
is unrecorded, and Lincoln stands the foremost of all whose dates we
know. Its fully developed style makes the work at first sight, as Sir
G. G. Scott has said, seem almost 'an anachronism,' and has caused some,
especially M. Viollet le Due, to imagine that it must be 'antedated.' But
there is no building in England of which the precise age is more certainly
known, and of the date of which the evidence is more indisputable. No
one has ever doubted the early date of Bishop de Lucy's eastern chapels
at Winchester. The commencement of these is placed by Professor Willis
on documentary evidence in 1202, only ten years after the foundation
of the Lincoln choir, while their character is even more advanced than
that which is found at Lincoln. One leading characteristic of advance at
Lincoln is the circular abacus of the columns, which is found throughout."
The work of St. Hugh at Lincoln is of such extraordinary importance to the
student of architecture, that it may be well to closely follow an eminent
authority in tracing the parts which date from this bishop's time. J. H.
Parker, who remarked that the architecture of Lincoln Minster was his
favourite study for thirty years, carefully investigated the matter, and
the results were published in the 43rd volume of the _Archæologia_. He
says that "the work of the time of St. Hugh, A.D. 1192-1200, is pure early
English Gothic, and is the earliest building of that style in the world.
The French have nothing so early, not even in the royal domain, which is
usually cried up as the district of the earliest Gothic in the world.
The best-informed French archæologists admit that they have nothing of
the character of Lincoln for twenty or thirty years after the time of
St. Hugh.... The portion of the cathedral (erected by St. Hugh) consists
of the choir ... the aisles to it and the smaller or eastern transept,
with the apsidal chapels on the eastern side of that, also two bays on
each side of the chancel arch in the great transept; but the walls of
the eastern side of that transept only--the the two ends with the wheel
windows and the western walls of the transept are of later periods. The
original work had thin walls only, with flat buttresses on the outside,
and one of the elegant wall-arcades on the lower part of the inside,
making the wall still thinner." Mr. Parker also considered that the
vaults were insertions of subsequent periods, and that the original
building had only a timber roof and a flat wooden ceiling, similar to
that which remains at Peterborough. "When the vaults were added it was
found necessary to make the walls thicker, and this was done by a casing
on the inside; but the builders being unwilling to conceal the beautiful
wall-arcade, made another similar to it in the lower part of the new
inner wall, exactly like the earlier one against which it is built, but
in such a manner as not to conceal it. This arrangement is proved by a
flat vertical joint up the middle of the wall, ... not content with this,
when the vaults were inserted the architect also placed vaulting-shafts
to help to carry those of the aisles, and these descend to the ground.
This accounts for the three shafts one in front of the other, which have
so long been a puzzle to architects and to students of architectural
history. The walls were further strengthened by solid square buttresses
built up against the flat ones; these now strong buttresses receive
and support the thrust of the vault of the choir, which is carried over
the aisle by flying buttresses, with circular openings over the vault
of the aisle, built against the inner flat buttress of the inner wall,
which had been sufficient to carry the wooden roof, but would not have
carried the vault." It may be well to remark here that some authorities
have not agreed with Mr. Parker with respect to the stone vault and the
double wall-arcade, but have considered that the intention was from the
beginning to construct them as they now are seen.
In addition to the work still existing, St. Hugh united the north and
south limbs of his eastern transept by a most remarkable apse. To learn
the character of this work we must again trace the foundations beneath the
floor. In the year 1791 the choir and presbytery were repaved, when parts
of the foundations of Hugh's apse were discovered. The Rev. John Carter,
who was master of the Lincoln Grammar School at the time, made a sketch and
notes of the discovery. The drawing was lithographed and published in the
"Associated Societies' Reports" for 1857. Far more important revelations
were made in 1886, when it became necessary to take up a portion of the
pavement at the south-west end of the south aisle of the presbytery.
Precentor Venables had long desired an opportunity of investigating on
this spot, and readily gave permission to have the pavement removed,
at the same time instructing that an effort should be made to find the
foundations of the destroyed apse. The work began in November, and in
consequence of the discovery of part of the south wall, it was decided
to systematically proceed with the investigations. The result was highly
satisfactory. A detailed account was published in the _Archæological
Journal_ for 1887, vol. xliv. From this it appears that the apse was
almost in the form of a triangle, of which the apex was cut off by a short
wall, so as to form a half-hexagon with two long sides, and a shorter one
at the end. In each of the longer sides were two chapels, the walls of one
in the form of three-fourths of a circle, having a diameter of 18 feet,
and the other, a smaller one, having straight side walls and rounded ends;
a half-hexagonal chapel with an internal diameter of 23 feet occupied the
centre of the apse at the extreme east. It was at first thought that the
smaller chapels at the sides might indicate stair-turrets, which would
occupy a similar position to those in the apse at Peterborough, but no
trace of the foundations of a newel could be found in either case. The
apse extended to the second bay of the present Angel Choir, 48 feet short
of its eastern end. Throughout almost the whole of the investigations,
only the rude concrete foundations were found remaining, their upper
surface being about 16 or 17 inches below the existing pavement; in parts,
however, fragments of the walling were also discovered.
The eight years during which Hugh carried on the work were busy ones at
Lincoln. Contemporary records enable us to picture him encouraging the
workmen by his presence and example, even shewing his zeal by carrying the
stones on his own shoulders. He did not live to see his work completed,
as Remigius had done. But he had set the example and given the pattern,
and the work was continued by his successors until the building was
again entire. Hugh had already finished the apse, the eastern transept,
the choir, and part of the western transept (_i.e._ the whole eastern
portion of the church) when he fell ill. Finding his death approaching, he
sent for his architect Geoffrey de Noyers, and enjoined him to hasten the
completion of the altar of St. John the Baptist, his patron. He then gave
directions for his funeral, and instructions that he was to be buried in
the mother-church of his diocese dedicated to the Mother of God, near the
altar of St. John the Baptist. The personality of the great bishop comes
vividly before us when we read that he also wished his tomb to be placed
near the wall, in a convenient place, lest it should be a stumbling-block
to those approaching. On the 16th November 1200, Hugh breathed his last,
lying, as he had wished, on the bare ground, on a cross of consecrated
ashes. "A more self-denying, earnest, energetic, and fearless bishop
has seldom, if ever, ruled the diocese of Lincoln, or any other diocese
whatever" (_Dimock_). His instructions regarding the funeral were carried
out; but such a light as Hugh's could not be hid, and within a century
we find his remains enclosed in a costly golden shrine, borne on the
shoulders of kings and bishops, and placed at last in a structure erected
specially for their reception, "one of the loveliest of human works,"
the celebrated Angel Choir. The original place of Hugh's burial has been
somewhat disputed. The "_Magna Vita_" tells us that he was buried near
the altar he had named, "_a boreali ipsius aedis regione_." On the east
side of the eastern transept, Hugh had placed four apsidal chapels, two
north and two south of the central apse. From the words above quoted, it
has been considered that the northernmost of these chapels was the site
of his tomb. The chapel was greatly enlarged about twenty years after
Hugh's death, by the removal of the apse and the extension of the side
walls about 50 feet, the chapel being finished with a square east wall.[4]
This fact would certainly add support to the theory that Hugh was buried
here, the enlarged chapel forming a sort of intermediate stage between the
narrow apse and the splendid Angel Choir. But Mr. T. J. Willson has pointed
out[5] that this place was hardly large enough to be a chapel at all,
especially as it had a doorway in the north wall, leading from the common
room. He considers that the altar of St. John the Baptist was in the
central chapel of the great apse, corresponding to its later position in
the Angel Choir, and that the coffin found in the north side of this
chapel, when the pavement was removed in the year 1886, was the original
tomb of St. Hugh. The words "_a boreali ipsius aedis regione_" would then
refer, not to the northern side of the church, but merely to the northern
side of the chapel in which the bishop was buried. Mr. Willson's assumption
certainly throws light on one difficulty, that the northern chapel was
called by Bishop Sanderson and others "_capella beatae Mariae Virginis_."
The matter is of no great importance, since neither of the chapels exists
as it was at the time of Hugh's burial, and whichever of them contained his
remains, it did not hold them long. Roger de Hoveden records that King
John, on the day before the funeral, offered a golden chalice at the altar
of St. John the Baptist, _quod est in novo opere_.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
(From an Old Print.)]
Of all the great names connected with Lincoln, none are worthy of higher
honour than that of the sainted bishop, whose zeal and energy has left so
conspicuous a mark on the present fabric, whose shrine was a continual
source of revenue for more than three centuries, and whose memory will
be revered as long as the walls of Lincoln Minster shall stand.
Although it is somewhat uncertain where the bishop's body was laid, some
interesting details of the ceremony have been recorded. Hugh having died in
London, the hearse travelled by road to Lincoln, where it was met by King
John himself, attended by a numerous retinue of counts and barons. Three
archbishops and thirteen bishops were also present at the ceremony. The
body was borne by the king and his nobles to the entrance of the minster,
where it was received by the archbishops and bishops, who carried it
on their shoulders to the choir. The entombment took place next day
(24th November). _O quantus luctus omnium, O quanta lamenta, praecipue
clericorum._
An old legend relates that, at the burial of St. Hugh,
"A' the bells o' merrie Lincoln
Without men's hands were rung,
And a' the books o' merrie Lincoln
Were read without man's tongue;
And ne'er was such a burial
Sin' Adam's days begun."
The work of St. Hugh at Lincoln is chiefly of importance as marking
an epoch in the history of Gothic architecture. As the earliest known
example of the pointed style carried out consistently in its details,
the choir of Lincoln Minster cannot be too carefully studied. Close
attention will, of course, make more evident its defects; the stone vault,
which has the appearance of being all askew, is especially unsuccessful,
but the perfection of the Angel Choir could not be attained all at once,
and the faults of the earlier work serve but to emphasise the beauties
of the later.
At Hugh's death the work did not lie neglected long, if at all. A letter
was issued in December 1205, appealing for help on behalf of the _novum
opus_ at Lincoln. The "Brotherhood of the Church of Lincoln" was offered to
those who would contribute; in this way they became enrolled for a certain
number of years among those who were specially named in the prayers of the
church. The western transept was completed during the early years of the
thirteenth century, and the nave constructed, replacing the Norman work of
Remigius. The designers here profited by the experience of the past. The
vaulting shews a great improvement, and the whole work is of such superior
skill as to earn the high praise of the late Professor Freeman, who says
that "there are few grander works in the style of the thirteenth century
than Lincoln nave, few that shew greater boldness of construction and
greater elegance of detail." The nave appears to have been carried steadily
onwards to the completion of the first five bays, at which point a curious
irregularity is perceptible. The vault suddenly falls two feet lower,
and its axis is turned slightly northwards, ultimately falling in with the
old west front. The span of the last two bays is also lessened. Perhaps a
slight error was made in the direction of the nave at first, which became
more evident as time went on, so as to necessitate the change. It has,
however, also been suggested that the first intention may have been
to remove the west front of Remigius altogether, and to build another
at a somewhat different angle farther westwards. If this was the case,
economical reasons probably occasioned the change of design, and secured
the preservation of a most interesting relic of Remigius' church. It should
be remarked that some authorities consider these narrow bays to be no later
than the others, and that the work was carried on at both ends of the nave
simultaneously, finally meeting towards the middle. There is no document
remaining which records the precise date of the erection of the nave at
Lincoln, but it would not be difficult to shew that the first half of the
thirteenth century practically covers the whole period of its construction.
Very little, if any at all, can have been built before the death of St.
Hugh in the year 1200, and it was undoubtedly finished before the Angel
Choir was begun in 1255. Precentor Venables mentions that Bishop Hugh de
Wells, in his will dated 1233, bequeaths 100 marks to the fabric of his
church at Lincoln, as well as all the felled timber of which he might die
possessed, through all his episcopal estates. He draws the conclusion
that the legacy of so large a quantity of timber points to there being a
good deal of roofing going on at the time. A new central tower was also
begun about this time; it fell in 1237-9, and was replaced by a third,
which still stands.
As the new nave was approaching completion, the bishopric of Lincoln was
conferred on a man who was destined to play a part second only to that of
St. Hugh in the history of the diocese. It has been said that probably no
one had greater influence on English thought and literature for the next
two centuries than Robert Grosseteste, the friend of Roger Bacon. It is
to Grosseteste that Tyssyngton refers when he speaks of "_Lincolniensis,
cujus comparatio ad omnes doctores modernos est velut comparatio solis
ad lunam quando eclipsatur._" Of humble birth, Grosseteste rose to be
one of the greatest scholars of his day, and the boldest defender of
the rights and liberties of the Church of England. In the first year
of his episcopacy (1235) he visited the monastic establishments of his
diocese, and found it necessary to remove no fewer than seven abbots and
four priors. Such a proceeding was, of course, much resented, but when the
bishop meditated a still bolder stroke, and contemplated a Visitation
of the cathedral, the opposition was brought to a climax. He says:
"In my first circuit some came to me finding fault and saying, 'My Lord,
you are doing a thing new and unaccustomed.' To whom I answered 'Every
novelty which does good to a man is a blessed novelty.'" Grosseteste wrote
a pamphlet in defence of his claim, in answer to which the cathedral body
produced a charter, altogether a forgery, purporting to give authority
to the dean to govern all things, requiring an appeal to the bishop
only if his own discipline failed. The matter was referred to the Pope,
and finally decided by a Bull of Innocent IV., in 1245, in the bishop's
favour. Amongst his reforms was the suppression of the "execrable custom"
known as the "Feast of Fools," when the "House of God" was turned into
a "house of joking, scurrility, and trifling." It was enjoined that
the minster authorities should "by no means permit to be holden this
Feast of Fools, since it is full of vanity and defiled with pleasures,
in the church of Lincoln on the venerable feast of the Circumcision of
our Lord." But there were troubles to come from higher quarters still;
Grosseteste had put his hand to the plough, and was determined not to look
back. Six years after his triumph over the chapter, he was temporarily
suspended by the Pope for refusing to induct an Italian, ignorant of the
English tongue, into a rich benefice in his diocese. In the year 1253,
the Pope again required him to appoint an Italian (this time his nephew,
Frederick di Lavagna) to a canonry, and he again refused. In spite of
a sentence of excommunication for this offence, Grosseteste fearlessly
continued his episcopal duties.
[Illustration: Early English Pier.]
The new nave was completed during this episcopate. It soared high
above the west front of Remigius, which had to be patched up in a
most unfortunate manner before it could do duty under the altered
conditions. The experiment was tried of putting a piece of new cloth
upon an old garment, and, so far as appearance was concerned, it was
a failure. The old Norman work was surrounded by a huge arcaded wall,
dislocating the whole façade from the structure behind, and hiding the
lower portions of the western towers. The deep recess in the centre was
raised far higher, and finished with a pointed arch. The only piece of
honesty about the new front was the gable in the middle, which certainly
did follow the line of the roof. The wall was flanked by two octagonal
turrets, each surmounted by a statue. Beyond the aisles of the nave, two
chapels were erected on either side, enclosing the outside walls of the
last bay of Remigius' church and together forming what might almost be
called a third transept. On the south side of the minster, the canons'
vestry was added to the eastern transept, and the Galilee porch to the
western. Lastly, the lower portion of the magnificent central, or "Broad,"
tower was erected, taking the place of the tower which had fallen soon
after Grosseteste's appointment.
Matthew Paris tells us a curious story that one of the canons of the
minster was declaiming from the pulpit against the actions of Bishop
Grosseteste; as he uttered the words "If we were to be silent, the very
stones would cry out for us," the new central tower came crashing down,
burying several people in the ruins. This catastrophe he assigns to the
year 1239. The Chronicles of the Abbot of Peterborough record the event
as occurring in the year 1237. There the accident is ascribed, with
far greater probability, to the insecurity of the foundations (_propter
artificii insolentiam_). The Annals of Dunstable give the same date as
Matthew Paris. The fall of the tower crushed part of the vault of St.
Hugh's choir, and injured some of the piers, which had to be reconstructed.
We may be quite safe in assuming that the new tower was begun soon after,
and the reticulated pattern which covers its lower part, both inside
and out, may be taken as a mark of Grosseteste's work. The tower was
afterwards made higher, and a timber spire added; but Grosseteste's
tower was also finished with a spire of timber and lead; the stump of
the central shaft may still be seen in the clock chamber. The ten-sided
chapter-house, formerly attributed to St. Hugh, was constructed while
the nave was in progress. It bears the characteristics of a later period
than St. Hugh's choir, and since it is mentioned in the "Metrical Life of
S. Hugh," written between 1220 and 1235, it could not have been erected
after the latter date.
The bishop died in 1253, leaving the church again complete, though not
quite as it is now. The cloisters had not been erected, nor the towers
carried to their full height. The eastern end still retained the apsidal
form given to it by St. Hugh, and of the demolition of this part of the
building it is now time to speak. The fame of the bishop grew fast, and
annually attracted to Lincoln a vast crowd of pilgrims seeking bodily or
spiritual benefit. Twenty years after his death, a decree of Pope Honorius
III. announced his canonisation, and directed that the body should be
removed to a more honourable place. Whether the immediate outcome of this
was the extension of the semi-circular chapel at the north-eastern angle
of the eastern transept, it is difficult to decide, but it is certain
that before very many years had passed the fame of St. Hugh gave rise
to the destruction of the apse which he himself had reared, and the
demolition of part of the ancient city wall. This apse, did it still
exist, would be the most remarkable eastern end of any cathedral in
England; the one which replaced it is perhaps the most beautiful. Thus
the Angel Choir of Lincoln was erected to contain the shrine of one of
Lincoln's noblest bishops, and one of England's greatest saints; whose
lowly tomb, placed in a corner at his own desire, for fear of its being
in the way, had become the resort of such a vast concourse of pilgrims
as to require the transformation of the eastern arm of the minster. In
1255, licence was obtained from Henry III. for the removal of part of
the eastern city wall, which stood in the way, and in the next year
the Angel Choir was probably begun. The work was carried on so rapidly,
that within a quarter of a century the translation took place. The choir
"was not, however, fully completed till the fourteenth century was well
on its way, The work evidently lagged; episcopal appeals, letters of
indulgence, and injunctions to the Rural Deans for its completion were
issued by Bishop Oliver Sutton in 1297 and 1298, and by Bishop John de
Dalderby, at various dates between 1301 and 1314. In 1306 a contract
for the '_novum opus_' was entered into between the Chapter and Richard
of Stow, or Gainsborough, '_cementarius_,' the plain work to be done by
measure, and the carved work and sculpture by the day." [6]
Richard of Gainsborough now lies buried in the cloisters of the minster.
To those who have visited the Abbey of Crowland, on the southern borders of
the county, the following statement by Sir G. G. Scott may be of interest.
In speaking of the old ruined western front, he says that the details
"are hardly to be surpassed, and are the more interesting as having
been evidently the work of the architect of the eastern part of Lincoln
Cathedral. Even the stone is from Lincoln" ("Lectures on Mediæval
Architecture," vol. i. p. 194).
Like the choir of St. Hugh, the Angel Choir stands at the threshold of
a new period in architecture. "The style is the earliest Geometrical,
of which the triforium and windows are among the best examples in the
world." [7] No hard-and-fast line can be drawn, of course, between the
different phases of English Gothic, and when we consider that the period
during which the Angel Choir was being built includes the last years of
the earliest style, and carries us well into the style which followed,
it is not difficult to reconcile the words of two eminent authorities
on the subject. Fergusson says that "true geometric (window) tracery
is ... seen in perfection in the Angel Choir at Lincoln," whilst in
Rickman's book we read that we have here the "richest ... and latest work"
of the Early English style. Both writers would undoubtedly agree that it
is "one of the most beautiful examples of the best period of English art,"
"simply perfect in its proportion and details." It may be hardly necessary
to remark that the name is due to the beautiful sculptured angels filling
the spandrels of the triforium.
The 6th October 1280 was the proudest day in the history of the city.
Perhaps never, before or since, has such an august assembly gathered
within her walls. The body of the Saint of Lincoln was to be translated
to the costly shrine in the centre of the Angel Choir. The ceremony was
magnificent. Edward himself was present, and supported on his own shoulder
the saint's remains as they were carried to their new resting-place; with
him was his beloved queen Eleanor, whose effigy was so soon to be placed
beneath the same roof. The king and queen were accompanied by Edmund,
Earl of Kent, brother of Edward, and his wife; the Earls of Gloucester
and Warwick; the Archbishop of Canterbury; the bishops of Lincoln, Bath,
Ely, Norwich, Worcester, Llandaff, Bangor, and St. Asaph; the bishop-elect
of Exeter; and two hundred and fifty knights. The shrine, ornamented with
gold and silver and precious stones, was raised on a lofty stone pedestal,
and about thirty years after was protected by an iron grille, wrought by
Simon the Smith. It is recorded that the fastenings of the grille were
still to be seen in the pavement at the middle of the last century, but
all traces have now entirely disappeared. It must have been soon after
the translation that the head was removed from the body, and enclosed
in a metal case, enriched with gold and silver and precious stones. A
keeper was appointed to guard the precious relic during the day, and two
had this charge at night. Yet, in spite of all such precautions, it was
stolen from the church in the year 1364; the head was thrown into a field,
and the case sold in London for twenty marks. The thieves were robbed of
their ill-gotten gains on their way back, and were afterwards convicted
of the crime, and hanged at Lincoln. The head was found and restored to
the cathedral. The treasurer John de Welburne (d. 1380) either restored
the old shrine or made a new one of the same materials. The accounts for
many years of the receipts and expenditure at the half-yearly opening,
when the relics were exhibited to stimulate the offerings of the faithful,
are preserved in the muniment room. At Pentecost 1364 (the year of the
theft) the amount received was £36, 2s. 3d., and at Pentecost 1532 it had
fallen to £2, 2s. 5d., a sure sign of the decline of relic worship. In
the year 1540, this shrine shared the fate of so many other precious
relics, finding its way to the melting-pots of King Henry VIII.
By the erection of the Angel Choir, the ground plan of the minster was
completed almost as it is now. Since that time, the three towers have
been raised to a greater height, the cloisters and library constructed,
the minster yard protected by gates, and several alterations made in
the details of the main building. In the year of the translation of
St. Hugh's remains, Oliver Sutton succeeded Richard de Gravesend as
bishop. He removed the canons' stable, which stood in close proximity
to the minster, and began the erection of the cloisters, starting the
work, as his registrar, John de Schalby tells us, by a gift of fifty
marks from his own purse. Since Lincoln was a secular foundation,
and was never the church of a monastery, there was no absolute need
of the cloisters at all, but it is a pity, since they were undertaken,
that the work was not more substantially done. Three walks still remain,
after having been strengthened by buttresses, and finally reconstructed,
owing to the insecurity of the original foundations; the fourth has
quite disappeared, and has been replaced by a most incongruous classical
structure, after the design of Sir Christopher Wren. The date of the
cloisters can be given approximately; they are mentioned as being
in progress in a letter of Bishop Sutton's, dated August 23rd, 1296,
and such a flimsy structure would probably not take long to finish. Up
to this time the central tower still remained as it had been left by
Grosseteste. But in the year 1307 Bishop Dalderby issued letters of
indulgence for raising it to a greater height. The work was begun on
the 14th March in that year, and was probably completed during the next
four years, since in 1311 a question arose regarding the cords for two
bells which had been lately hung in the tower. A tall spire of wood,
coated with lead, was afterwards added. A Lincoln historian of the early
part of the present century assigns this spire to Bishop Dalderby, but
little reliance can be placed in his testimony, since he ascribes the
companion spires on the west towers to the same bishop, and the upper
storeys of these towers were not added until a century later.
During this episcopate occurred the trial of the Knights Templars in the
chapter-house. A Bull of Pope Clement V., the creature of the French king,
who feared the immense power of the knights, pronounced the suppression
of the Order in the year 1309. The cruelties with which this was carried
out abroad were avoided in this country. The English Templars were put
under custody in London, Lincoln, and York. From Lincoln the larger number
were transferred to the Tower of London, but Bishop Dalderby was
reluctantly compelled to preside at the trial of the others.
In order to trace the history of the walls and gatehouses protecting
the close, it is necessary to go back a few years. Edward I. had, in
1285, received a petition from the canons, praying that the close might
be fortified. Their plea was, that it had become positively dangerous
to attend the midnight services of the church, owing to the number of
evil-doers who thronged the precincts. The licence from the king in the
year 1285 to the dean and chapter, giving them permission to erect the
close wall, is still preserved at Lincoln. The wall was commenced, and in
the thirteenth year of Edward II. (1319), permission was given for the
addition of towers. Double gateways were erected to guard the approaches.
Before we come to speak of the upper storeys of the western towers, a few
less important matters may be recorded. It is not difficult to see that the
tracery which fills the round window, "the Bishop's eye," of the southern
limb of the great transept, does not accord in style with its surroundings.
The flowing lines mark a period subsequent to the geometrical forms of the
Angel Choir, and later by more than a century than the wall in which the
window is placed. This window and that in the gable above, the latter only
to be seen from the outside, must be assigned to about the middle of the
fourteenth century. About this time, Lincoln received a treasurer, who
has left abiding traces in the minster. John de Welburne has already been
mentioned as having restored the precious shrine of St. Hugh. Perhaps the
greatest of his benefactions are the present magnificent choir-stalls,
the finest examples in the kingdom. He also constructed the vaulting of
the central and western towers, and placed over the great west door the
respectable row of royal statues. Welburne died in the year 1380; this we
learn from a volume relating to his chantry and other foundations, written
in 1382. The tracery of the three west windows has been assigned by some to
him, and by others to a bishop who lived more than half-a-century later.
They may be considered as belonging to the end of the fourteenth century,
and mark the entrance into the next stage of Gothic architecture, the
Perpendicular. The two western towers, St. Mary's and St. Hugh's, had
been awaiting their completion for many years. They were now raised to a
height of nearly 200 feet, by the addition of early Perpendicular storeys,
constructed immediately above the Norman work of Alexander the Magnificent.
These towers, as well as the centre one, were crowned by tall spires of
wood, coated with lead. The height of these timber spires was 89 feet
from the base to the ball, and another 12 feet to the top of the vane;
their fate will be recorded later.
Besides the three west windows, and the upper portions of the western
towers, the only other parts of the minster in the Perpendicular style are
the three chantry-chapels added to the Angel Choir. The first of these was
built by Bishop Fleming (d. Jan. 1430-1), and stands on the north side.
Bishop Russell (d. 1494) added another opposite to it on the south side.
The third chapel was constructed by Bishop Longland (d. 1547). It is a
copy of Bishop Russell's, and stands on the same side of the choir, to the
west of the doorway. The old library, of which a fragment only remains,
was erected in the year 1442 over the east walk of the cloisters. In the
year 1609 it suffered severely from fire, and in 1789 all that remained
was taken down, with the exception of the part forming a vestibule to
the new library.
Turning from the building itself to the internal history of the minster, we
find that, towards the middle of the fifteenth century, dissensions had
arisen among the cathedral body, which, if not of such historical
importance as the differences under Grosseteste, are of sufficient interest
to be worth recording. They give considerable insight into the
ecclesiastical life of the time. John Mackworth, the dean, was a man of
violent temper. In 1435, having some difference with the chancellor, Peter
Patrick or Partridge, he entered the church one day during vespers,
attended by ten armed servants. The chancellor was dragged from his stall
in the choir, brutally assaulted, and left in a wounded condition on the
pavement of the church. It is said that over this affair the point was
raised during the trial at Westminster, whether the Cathedral Close was in
the _county_ or the _county of the city_ of Lincoln; the delinquents had
been described as of the former, and since this was not legally correct,
they escaped the punishment they richly deserved. Matters came to a
crisis, and the chapter brought before the bishop, William Alnwick,
forty-two charges against their dean. The following are sufficient to
shew Mackworth's haughty temper:--He would not walk in processions in a
straight line; he had fraudulently kept back from the chapter 25s. 8d.;
he came to the chapter attended by armed men to the great terror of the
canons; at vespers and prime he made the bell stop before the officiating
priest had arrived, but made the choir wait for him, if he was late; he
had pulled down part of the wall of the cloister to build a stable. The
dean in return accused the chapter of appropriating to their own use
the cloth bought out of the common funds of the church for clothing the
poor. The matter was settled in 1439 by a "Laudum" of the bishop, who set
himself the task of constructing a new body of statutes for governing the
church; these are still in use. Dissensions, however, did not end here,
and we find a complaint made to the bishop four years later, that the dean
had, in the choir, called the precentor a "buffoon" and a "vile tailor,"
and had offered personal violence to him. In 1449 the bishop issued a
commission for the trial of the dean, but died before it could take place.
[Illustration: THE WEST FRONT AND THE EXCHEQUER GATE.
(From a Water-colour Painting by Peter De Wint, in the South Kensington
Museum.)
_W. Giles, Photo._]
Before speaking of the grievous losses which the minster sustained under
Henry VIII., it may be well to refer to a Visitation which was undertaken
by Bishop Smyth in the first year of the sixteenth century. The charges
then brought against the dean, George Fitzhugh, shew the deplorable
negligence of the cathedral body with regard to the sacred building
under their care. The dean stated that all was right in the cathedral,
but from the following statements it would appear that there were several
abuses which might with advantage have been corrected. It was affirmed
(1) that the chaplains often resorted to a chantry within the church,
and there played at dice, bones, and cards in questionable company,
often staying till after midnight; (2) that the servants of the dean and
other residentiaries did great mischief to the fabric of the church,
by breaking the glass windows and the stone tracery with their arrows
and crossbow bolts, and by piercing the lead on the roof with their
missiles. In the examination that followed it was found that, though
large sums had been spent on the fabric, there was still urgent need of
further repairs, and an appeal to the public was necessary. We may well
be grieved at "the great mischief" done at this time, which would partly
account for the dilapidated state of some of the stained glass windows;
but the minster was to suffer far more severely under Henry VIII. In the
Chapter Acts of 1520 we find mentioned the "head of seint hugh closed
in silver gilt and enamelled." The treasure belonging to it is also
carefully detailed, down to "a littil blew stone" and "ij qwysshyns
of silk." Thus zealously had it been guarded ever since the mishap of
1364, but its doom was now pronounced. At the end of a "Registre and
Inventarye of all Jewell Westimentes and other ornamentes in the yere
of ow^r lorde god m.ccccc.xxxvj," is "A Copye of the Kinges Lettres by
force whereof the shrynes and other Jewels were taken" [1540]. Part of the
letter may be given here: "For as moch as we understand that there ys a
certain shryne and di[vers] fayned Reliquyes and Juels in the Cathedrall
church of Lyncoln with [which] all the symple people be moch deceaved
and broughte into greate su[per]sticion and Idolatrye to the dyshonor of
god and greate slander of th(is) realme and peryll of theire own soules,
"We Let you w[~y]t that (we) beinge mynded to bringe o^r lovinge subiectes
to y^e righte knowledge of y^e truth by takynge away all occasions of
Idolatrye and supersticion. For y^e especiall trust (and) confidence we
have in yowr fydelytyes, wysdoms and discre[~c]ons, have (and) by theis
presentes doe aucthorise name assign and appointe you fowre or three of
you that immediatelye uppon the sighte here of repairinge to y^e sayd
Cathedrall church and declaringe unto y^e Deane Recydencyaryes and other
mynisters there(of) the cause of yowr comynge ys to take downe as well
y^e sayd shryne and supersticious reliquyes as superfluouse Jueles, plate
copes and other suche like as yow shall thinke by yowr wysdoms not mete
to contynew (and) remayne there, unto the wych we doubte not but for
y^e considera[~c]ons rehersed the sayde Deane and Resydencyaryes w^th
other wyll be conformable and wyllinge thereunto, and so yow to precede
accordingly. And to see the sayd reliquyes, Juels and plate safely and
surely to be conveyde to owr towre of London in to owr Jewyll house there
chargeing the m^r of owr Jewyls w^th the same.
"And further we wyll that you charge and co[~m]ande in owr name the sayd
Deane there to take downe such monumentes as may geve any occasioñ of
memorye of such supersticion and Idolatrye hereafter...."
Underneath is the following "memorandum," proving how great was
the treasure possessed at that time by the authorities of the
minster:--"Memorandum that by force of the above wrytten comyssyoñ there
was taken owt of ye sayd Cathedrall church of Lyncoln at that tyme in
gold ij^{m}vj^{c}xxj oz (2621 oz.), in sylver iiij^{m}ij^{c}iiij^{xx}.v oz
(4285 oz.); Besyde a greate nombre of Pearles & preciouse stones wych were
of greate valewe, as Dyamondes, Saphires Rubyes, turkyes, Carbuncles etc.
There were at that tyme twoe shrynes in the sayd Cath. churche; the one of
pure gold called S^t Hughes Shryne standinge on the backe syde of the highe
aulter neare unto Dalysons tombe, the other called S^t John of Dalderby his
shryne was of pure sylver standinge in y^e south ende of the greate crosse
Ile not farre from the dore where y^e gallyley courte ys used to be kepte."
Harry Lytherland was the last treasurer of Lincoln. As he saw the last of
the treasures carried away, he cried "ceasing the Treasure, so ceaseth the
office of the Treasurer," and flinging down the keys on the pavement of the
choir, he walked out of the church. This occurred on the 6th June 1540;
Lytherland never sat in his stall again. Of the risings in 1536, resulting
from the religious changes, Lincoln was one of the chief centres. The
Lincolnshire insurgents, assembled at Horncastle, sent six demands to
the king, the last being that Bishop Longland should be deprived. The
Chancellor of Lincoln was captured and conveyed to Horncastle, where he
was killed, and his garments and money were distributed among the rebels.
The Abbot of Barlings rode into Lincoln with his canons in full armour.
A number of insurgents gathered in the city, and the bishop's palace was
attacked and plundered. The rebel council was sitting in the chapter-house
when the messenger arrived from the king. His answer was characteristic;
he reproved them for "their presumptuous follie and rebellious attempt,"
called the shire "one of the most brute and beastly of the whole realm,"
and summoned the people to depart quietly to their homes. An attempt
on the part of the gentlemen to read the letter secretly caused a panic
among the commons, who decided to kill them all. The gentry hurriedly
escaped into the chancellor's house, where they barricaded the door.
Shortly after, the commons, deserted by their leaders, and "each
mistrusting other, who should be noted the greater meddler, suddenlie
... began to shrinke, and got them home to their houses without longer
abode" (Holinshed's "Chronicles "). On the arrival of a royal force, the
cathedral was "turned into an arsenal, fortified and garrisoned." Lord
Hussey, a prominent Lincolnshire noble, was executed, and the Abbot of
Barlings was hanged, together with the Abbots of Whalley, Woburn, and
Sawley. Another event which occurred towards the end of the same reign
should not pass unnoticed. Anne Askew was a member of an old Lincolnshire
family, being the daughter of Sir William Askew or Ayscough; her birthplace
was probably Stallingborough, near Grimsby. "When she was at Lincoln,"
we are told, "she was seen daily in the Cathedral reading her Bible,
and engaging the clergy in discussions on the meaning of particular
texts." Her bold opinions at last brought her to the stake in 1546,
at the age of twenty-five, a martyr to the doctrines of the Reformation.
A few possessions of value appear to have survived the reign of Henry, but
these were sacrificed to the rapacious greed of the unscrupulous ministers
of his son and successor. The following statement occurs in "An Historical
Account of the Antiquities in the Cathedral Church of St. Mary, Lincoln,"
published in that city in 1771:--"A second Plunder was committed in this
Church Anno 1548, during the Presidence of Bishop Holbech, who being a
zealous Reformist, gave up all the remaining Treasure which Henry had
thought proper to leave behind; this Bishop together with George Henage
Dean of Lincoln, pulled down and defaced most of the beautiful Tombs in
this Church; and broke all the Figures of the Saints round about this
Building; and pulled down those [of] our Saviour, the Virgin, and the
Crucifix; so that at the End of the Year 1548, there was scarcely a whole
Figure or Tomb remaining." Henry Holbeach became Bishop of Lincoln in the
year of Henry VIII.'s death, and soon after that event he surrendered to
the Crown twenty-six (or according to Strype thirty-four) rich manors
belonging to the see. He died at Nettleham in 1551.
Passing on to the beginning of the next century, a fire which broke out
in the year 1609 partly destroyed the old library over the east walk of
the cloisters; little further damage appears to have been done.
The turbulent times of the Civil War were disastrous for Lincoln in common
with so many other places. An account of the troubles which the struggle
brought upon the city is given by Mr. Edward Peacock in the thirty-eighth
volume of the _Archæological Journal_. The shire appears to have been
distinctly Puritan, and up to July 1643, at any rate, the city was in the
hands of the Parliamentarians. John Vicars, the author of "Jehovah Jerah.
God in the Mount or England's Parliamentarie Chronicle," printed in London
in the year 1644, gives an account of an unsuccessful attempt of the
Royalists to capture the city about that time. "And as proeme and preamble
to the ensuing tragedie or treacherie, Serjeant Major Purfrey had let
into the town, at a back gate, about sixty bloodie cavaliers, all of them
disguised in countrie marketmen's habits, who were all hid and sheltred
(as it was credibly enformed) in the Deane's house in Lincolne." The
attempt was unsuccessful, but the city soon after fell into the Royalists'
hands, an event of unhappy interest for our subject, as it gave rise to
an attack (in April of the following year) of the Parliamentarians under
the Earl of Manchester. The capture of the city was soon followed by the
mutilation of its most glorious monument. Through the misguided zeal of
the rude soldiers of the Parliament, the stained glass of the minster was
nearly all broken, the tombs were injured, and the brasses torn from their
matrices. It should yet be remembered that considerable damage had already
been done under Henry VIII., and even earlier, and that the injuries of
1644 were not so great as it might appear at first sight. Lincoln was
again attacked by the Royalists in 1648, when the bishop's palace was
stormed and taken, and the city given over to plunder. In a description
of the minster, published in 1771, the following account of the injury is
given:--"Bishop Winniff had little Enjoyment of his Honor in presiding
over this See; for in the Year 1645 ... he had the Mortification to see
all the Brass Work of the Gravestones pulled up, the rich Brass Gates to
the Choir and divers of the Chantries pulled down, and every regaining
Beauty defaced; and his Church made Barracks; for the prevailing Parties
in that unhappy Reign, and his Episcopal Palace totally destroyed,
both at Lincoln and Buckden."
During the time of the Commonwealth, the minster passed through a crisis
such as it had never before experienced, and such as we may hope it
will never experience again. "Certain godly ones," we are told, were
"then gaping after its stone, timber, and lead," and the minster was in
great danger of being demolished altogether. This fact has been recorded
by the late Precentor Venables, who states that the fabric was "only
rescued from threatened destruction by the civic worthy, Mr. Original
Peart (Mayor in 1650 and Member of Parliament in 1654 and 1656), who
represented to Cromwell that 'if the minster were down Lincoln would
soon be one of the worst towns in the county.'"
[Illustration: THE OBSERVATORY TOWER, LINCOLN CASTLE.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
In 1654, on the 19th August, Evelyn visited the city. He has left
to us in his Diary an interesting record of the Lincoln of the
Commonwealth:--"Lincoln is an old confused town, very long, uneven,
steep, and ragged, formerly full of good houses, especially churches and
abbeys. The minster almost comparable to that of York itself, abounding
with marble pillars, and having a fair front (here was interred Queen
Eleanora, the loyal and loving wife who sucked the poison out of her
husband's wound); the abbot founder, with rare carving in the stone; the
great bell, or Tom, as they call it. I went up the steeple, from whence
is a goodly prospect all over the county. The soldiers had lately knocked
off most of the brasses from the gravestones, so as few inscriptions
were left; they told us that these men went in with axes and hammers,
and shut themselves in, till they had rent and torn off some barge-loads
of metal, not sparing even the monuments of the dead; so hellish an
avarice possessed them: besides which, they exceedingly ruined the city."
At the Restoration, Robert Sanderson was rewarded for his long faithfulness
to the royal house by the bishopric of Lincoln. He had been a chaplain
to Charles I., who is reported to have said, "I carry my ears to hear
other preachers, but I carry my conscience to hear Dr. Sanderson."
Sanderson died in 1663. Four years later, William Fuller, the antiquarian,
was appointed bishop. "He bestowed very much in adorning his church,"
and restored many of the monuments and inscriptions.
Fuller's efforts at restoring something like order to the grievously
ill-used fabric were seconded by those of Dean Honywood, who in 1674 caused
the present arcade to be constructed on the north side of the cloisters,
with the library above it. Sir Christopher Wren, the architect, did not
take the least care to let his work harmonise with its surroundings. From
the times of Fuller and Honywood to our own, there have been many whose
energy has led them to undertake various works in and about the minster.
Some have undoubtedly worked with mistaken zeal; but, taken as a whole,
Lincoln has escaped with less injury than many others of our public
monuments. In the year 1727 an attempt to remove the timber spires of
the western towers, resulted in a serious riot (see p. 56), and the
townspeople were only pacified by a promise that the spires should not
be touched. No such disturbance occurred when they were finally removed
in 1807, the excuse then being that they were very insecure, and would
cost much to repair. But it seems that even at this time the removal
was not entirely approved of; a lament, clothed in ridiculous rhyme,
was published in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ of January 1808, and
a local writer two years later relates how the "lofty spires" were
"levelled by tasteless inconsiderate improvers." Early in the 18th
century the western towers began to shew signs of instability, and caused
considerable anxiety. An architect named John James was employed about
1730 to strengthen the towers by constructing arches underneath, which
formed a kind of triple porch just inside the church. The materials of
the chapel of the old bishop's palace were employed in the construction
of these arches. The central porch was reconstructed by James Essex
about thirty years later. An anonymous historian of about forty years
ago quotes the following extract from a letter written by Sympson, at
one time clerk of the works to the fabric, to Browne Willis:--"Before
I make an end of this long letter, I must acquaint you that I took down
the antient image of St. Hugh, which is about 6 foot high, and stood upon
the summit of a stone pinnacle at the south corner of the west front,
in the month of June last (_i.e._ 1743), and pulled down 22 foot of the
pinnacle itself, which was ready to tumble into ruins, the shell being
but 6 in. thick, and the ribs so much decayed, especially on the east
side, that it declined visibly that way.... I hope to see the saint fixed
upon a firmer basis before winter." The date of this work coincides with
that of the appointment of Bishop Thomas (1743-61), who appears to have
zealously applied himself to the repair of the fabric. The historian
of 1771 writes as follows:--"During the Presidence of Bishop Thomas,
and towards the first of the present Bishop Dr. Green, over this See,
this Church was repaired and modernised in the State which it is this
Day seen. Also, during the Presidence of Bishop Thomas, he set on Foot
the appropriating the tenth of the Fines arising from the renewal of the
Leases of their respective Estates, as a Fund for the continual Repair
of this Church, himself setting the Laudable Example."
The "scraping process" to which the exterior of the minster was subjected
under the late John Chessel Buckler of Oxford is within the memory of many.
It caused much angry discussion and bitterness at the time, and resulted
in the publication of a book, in which Buckler undertook to justify his
work on the minster. The chief part of this volume consists in long
chapters of abuse, written with a most extraordinary flow of language,
and directed against all who ventured to object to the way in which his
work had been done.
Under the late consulting architect to the chapter, J. L. Pearson, R.A.,
many necessary strengthenings and restorations were carried out; but as
no radical changes are in progress they do not call for detailed notice
in this place.
[Illustration: THE STONE BOW IN THE HIGH STREET.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
CHAPTER II
THE EXTERIOR
The external beauty of Lincoln Minster is rendered doubly impressive by
the dignity of its position. While so many of our cathedrals are at a
disadvantage in this respect, the site at Lincoln, as at Durham and Ely,
was most happily chosen. Had it been less exposed, the spires would
probably have yet been standing, but these are a small loss compared
with the advantages gained. Especially when glowing with the rays of
the setting sun, the three noble towers, each a conspicuous object for
miles around, create an impression not soon forgotten. The distant view
of the minster has inspired the enthusiastic utterances of many writers;
but it may be enough for us to describe it in the words of one of the
most eminent among them. "Throughout a vast district around the city,"
says _Freeman_, "the one great feature of the landscape is the mighty
minster, which, almost like that of Laon, crowns the edge of the ridge,
rising, with a steepness well-nigh unknown in the streets of English
towns, above the lower city and the plain at its feet. Next in importance
to the minster is the castle, which, marred as it is by modern changes,
still crowns the height as no unworthy yoke-fellow of its ecclesiastical
neighbour. The proud polygonal keep of the fortress still groups well
with the soaring towers, the sharp-pointed gables, the long continuous
line of roof, of the church of Remigius and Saint Hugh."
Such words need no comment; it only remains to point out the positions
from which the minster is seen at its best. The view from the opposite
side of the river, in a south-easterly direction, is good. The long
straight line of roof is broken by the bold projection of the transepts;
the faultiness of the west front is not apparent, and the grouping of
the three towers with their numerous pinnacles appears to advantage.
The view from Brayford, too, is fine, although in this case the foreground
is perhaps not so picturesque as it might be. From nowhere does the minster
look more imposing than from the towers of the castle; a water-colour by
Frederick Mackenzie (see p. 53), painted from the roof of "Cobb Hall,"
admirably illustrates this. For a closer prospect, the best position is
undoubtedly the north-east corner, especially when the sun is setting
behind the western towers. Lastly, the view from the High Street, beyond
the Stonebow, should not be forgotten.
The minster is built of Lincoln stone, a hard limestone, well capable
of resisting the action of the weather. It yet remains to be proved
whether the fast-increasing number of tall smoking chimneys will have the
undesired effect of blackening the exterior and destroying the sharpness
of its lines.
[Illustration: THE WEST FRONT.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
The =West Front= is massive and imposing, and possesses some features of
considerable interest; beyond this, little can be said for it, as it is
architecturally somewhat of a sham. Why the architects threw away the
opportunities they had, and finished off the western end of the church
with an enormous screen wall, it is now difficult to say. The Norman front
was originally furnished with three gables, one in the centre, following
the line of the old nave roof, the others in front of the Norman towers,
and similar to those which may still be seen on the outer sides of these
towers. The greater height of the Gothic nave necessitated the raising
of the central gable, and this was done; but instead of preserving the
gables in front of the towers and adding two more for the side chapels, a
huge flat wall was constructed, masking the lower parts of the towers, and
altogether hiding the western chapels. The result is that the towers appear
too close together, and lose all connection with the façade, which should
rather set off their proportions than conceal them. There seems, too,
no reason for the great width of the façade, until one passes round and
sees the low side-chapels hidden behind it. Turning, however, to details,
there are points which are deserving of close attention. The severe and
strong wall in the centre, with a fragment of the first bay behind it,
is the only part which now remains of the first Cathedral of Lincoln.
In gazing on this massive work, so fortress-like and forbidding, we are
reminded of the warrior-bishop who first chose this spot for his cathedral,
making it so solid and strong, that it was at one time seized and
fortified, under circumstances already related (p. 11). The great central
recess has been heightened several feet, but the two side-recesses
and the lofty semi-circular niches beyond remain almost as Remigius
left them. It is probable that the plainness of this bishop's work was
originally relieved by colouring. The slits in the jambs of the great
arches and on the front serve to light the passages and chambers, which
are constructed in all directions within the thick walls of this part
of the façade. The original use of these chambers cannot very well be
determined; they are accessible only from the inside of the minster,
and may be reached from the sills of the great west windows. There
is a great difference in style between the features of this wall and
those of the three elaborate doorways with which it is pierced. They
are assigned to Bishop Alexander the Magnificent, and have been called
by Sir G. G. Scott "truly exquisite specimens of the latest and most
refined period of Romanesque, just before its transition into the
Pointed style." The central doorway has four columns on either side,
carved with diaper ornament and grotesque figures; elaborate mouldings
are carried round the arch. The side doorways are of similar style,
but with three columns instead of four to support the arches. Some of
the ornament was restored between thirty and forty years ago by the
architect, J. C. Buckler of Oxford, partly to take the place of the plain
pillars inserted by Essex a century before, and partly to replace decayed
work. The arcade of intersecting arches along the top of the Norman front
is also assigned to Bishop Alexander. It has been pointed out that this
bishop's work may be distinguished from that of Remigius by its being
_fine-jointed_, whilst the other is _wide-jointed_. A most interesting,
though perplexing, band of sculpture runs horizontally across the front; it
commences just above the side niches, and is continued in the jambs of the
great arches. It is most probable that the sculptures originally formed a
consecutive pictorial illustration of many of the chief incidents recorded
in the Old and New Testaments, but they are in no order now, and there
is no doubt that they have at some time or another been rearranged--or
rather disarranged. The rarity of such work as this greatly increases
the importance of these Lincoln sculptures. They have been considered by
some to be of Saxon origin, and either to have belonged to the earlier
church of St. Mary Magdalene, which stood on this spot, or to have been
brought by Remigius from Dorchester. They do not, however, appear from
their style to be earlier than the eleventh century, and since Remigius
would have most probably arranged them differently, had they been
specially sculptured for their present position, it is possible that
they were inserted later than his time. That they were there not very
long after, is proved by the fact that one relief on the south side of
the southern tower is now enclosed in the Early English chapel, which we
know to have been built before the middle of the thirteenth century, The
sculptures are illustrated in the _Archæological Journal,_ vol. xxv.,
from photographs procured when the repair of the west front was going
on. The subjects were at the same time identified by Archdeacon Trollope
(afterwards Bishop of Nottingham). The band is about 3 ft. 6 in. in depth,
and is protected by a plain cornice. The traces of paint still seen on
some of the reliefs would lead to the conclusion that the whole series
was once bright with glowing colours. Parts of the original reliefs are
now represented by modern copies.
Commencing over the northern niche, the first subject is the Torments of
the Lost, who are seen in the clutches of demons; next is Christ standing
at the jaws of hell, on the prostrate form of Satan. On the northern
jamb of the recess are two more reliefs, one representing six saints,
the other identified by Trollope as "Christ the Custodian of all faithful
souls." Our Saviour is seated on a throne, holding a sheet before Him,
in which are the souls of four personages; the symbols of the Evangelists
appear at the corners. Opposite to these are two other reliefs; one
represents Christ sitting at meat with the two disciples at Emmaus,
the table at which the three figures are seated being placed beneath
an arcade capped by turrets with conical roofs. This relief is in very
good preservation, and the architectural features furnish a guide to the
date of the series. The next subject is the Blessed End of the Righteous
and the Torments of the Lost. On the front of the pier is a fragment
of a draped figure. The next relief should be the first of the series;
it represents Adam and Eve expelled from Paradise, and is placed on the
southern jamb of the central recess. On the front of the pier are two
men tilling the ground, probably typifying the Condemnation of Man
to Labour, while the hand grasping a bag above would symbolise God's
providing care for His people; along the top is a band of foliage. There
are two reliefs on the jambs of the southern recess; the first is
mutilated and obscure, but is probably intended for Hannah with the Infant
Samuel, and Samuel announcing God's revelation to Eli, On the other side
of the recess is Christ instructing a disciple, probably either Nicodemus
or Peter. The three other reliefs, over the southern niche, are:--(1)
The Building of the Ark: Noah is seen with a hammer, and another figure,
probably one of his sons, with an axe, the ark being visible behind; (2)
Daniel in the Lions' Den, this subject made conspicuous by a moulding all
round it; (3) The Entry into, and Departure from, the Ark: to the left
the ark is seen, with Noah, his wife, and three sons (?) inside, while
a procession of animals in miniature is advancing towards the vessel;
to the right of this are eight figures leaving the ark, with the Almighty
Father beyond, apparently making the covenant with Noah. The last relief,
hidden by the chapel at the south-west corner, represents the Deluge:
three half-submerged figures are clinging to trees or rocks; the prow
of the ark is seen to the left.
[Illustration: CARVED WORK OF THE CENTRAL DOORWAY AT THE WEST END.
_S. B. Bolas & Co., Photo._]
The Gothic arcading which covers the later portions of the façade varies
considerably in detail; this is particularly noticeable on the north and
south ends, where narrow lancet doors in deep porches give access to the
western chapels. These porches were at one time walled up. They are not
shewn in Hollar's plate in Dugdale's "_Monasticon_," nor in Wild's or
Coney's plates of 1819. The chapels are lighted by the circular windows
above the doors. It has been considered by some that the Gothic part of the
façade is of different periods, and that St. Hugh commenced building here
at the same time as at the eastern end of the church. Others have thought
that the first idea was to do away with the old front altogether, in which
case the enlargement would not have commenced until later. At any rate, we
may be fairly sure that the Gothic portions were all constructed some time
during the first half of the thirteenth century. We can get a little nearer
than this with regard to the gable in the middle and the arch beneath
it, where the trellis ornament is supposed to mark the work of Bishop
Grosseteste (1235-53). This bishop appears to have removed the central
Norman arch, and to have carried the recess up to its present height,
piercing the head with the cinquefoil window, outlined by a band of
finely-carved scroll foliage. Rickman calls attention to the "exquisite
workmanship" of the mouldings of this window. The rest of the arch is
filled with trellis-work, quatrefoils, trefoils and circles, while at the
crown there is a large carved boss. In the spandrels are two niches with
royal statues. The gable contains seven arches below, two of them pierced
with windows. The two at the ends contain statues, and in the centre is a
fragment of a carved subject. Above is another arch, over which are two
angels with heads bent downwards. One of the Sloane MSS. in the British
Museum contains certain "Observations" by Dr. Edward Brown in 1662.
Speaking of the west front at Lincoln, the writer says that "almost at the
top are four or five fine pictures, but broken down in the late troubles,
but with small dexterity and by as bad a handicraft." The vast façade is
finished off at the ends by two octagonal stair-turrets, capped by tall,
pyramidal roofs. On the top of the southern turret is Bishop St. Hugh, with
staff and mitre; on the other is the Swineherd of Stow, whose reputed gift
of a peck of silver pennies towards the building of the minster has secured
for his statue a position as exalted as that of the great bishop himself.
The first statue is the original one, though it was once taken down and
afterwards refixed on a firmer basis (see p. 41). The other is a copy of
the original Swineherd, now preserved in the cloisters. The suggestion
that this statue represents Bishop Bloet, the horn having reference to
the bishop's name ("blow it"), is hardly worthy of serious attention. The
row of canopies above the central door contains eleven royal statues,
ranging from William the Conqueror to Edward III., the sovereign on the
throne when the figures were placed there by Treasurer John de Welburne
(d. 1380); they are all bearded, very similar to one another, and of the
tamest possible character. They were originally coloured and gilt. There
was a great outcry in the last century at the report that they had been
removed to make room for a list of the subscribers to the iron railings
which until quite recently enclosed the minster front. The following
is a memorandum of Dr. Stukeley's, found in his copy of Browne Willis's
"Cathedrals," when sold in 1766:--"In the beginning of 1753, the wicked
chanter, Dr. Trimnell, of his own authority pulled down the eleven fine
images of kings over the door of Lincoln Cathedral, to put up a foolish
inscription of the names of the subscribers to the new iron rails." It
is unlikely, however, that the statues were ever removed.
[Illustration: THE MINSTER FROM THE CASTLE.
(From a Water-colour Painting by Frederick Mackenzie, in the South
Kensington Museum.)
_F. G. M. Beaumont, Photo._]
The tracery of the great windows in the three recesses may be considered
to date from the end of the fourteenth century. The three massive oak doors
are studded with iron bolts and carved with Perpendicular tracery. The two
statues of bishops, one on either side of the great central recess, are
evidently restored. In 1796, in the _Vetusta Monumeuta_, the statues are
described as "lately put up, and had been in some other place before." They
must have replaced earlier figures, since old engravings shew these places
to have been occupied by statues. The parapet along the top of the façade
belongs to the fourteenth century, and is similar to that along the south
side of the nave.
It is worthy of mention that some critics have not been so severe on this
façade as others. Setting aside absurd comparisons of the last century,
the late Sir G. G. Scott has stated that it always struck him as being
very impressive. From behind the parapet the two fine western =towers= look
out of keeping. The gables on the west faces, by which the towers were
originally connected with the old front, are now hidden from view, but
three rows of Norman arcading of the time of Bishop Alexander (1123-48)
still project above the parapet. The details of the arcading differ
in the two towers, and it will be noticed that the octagonal turrets
at the corners were carried higher in the southern tower than in the
northern. They seem to have remained as left by Alexander (most probably
with pyramidal roofs) for two centuries and a half; Perpendicular storeys
were then added to them. On each side of these upper storeys are two
lofty windows, of which the lower parts are now walled up. The octagonal
turrets at the corners were continued to the tops of the towers: they
are crowned by wooden pinnacles, coated with lead, which are not nearly
so graceful in appearance as those on the central tower, partly owing to
the coating of dark paint with which they are covered. In the northern,
or St. Mary's, tower was placed the original "Great Tom of Lincoln,"
as well as its successor, until removed in 1834, to be recast a larger
size and hung in the central tower. The southern, or St. Hugh's, tower,
has a ring of eight =bells=. It is not known when, or by whom, the ring was
formed, but the tower must have been used for bells very anciently. Until
recently four of the bells were dated 1702, and the others 1593,
1606, 1717 and 1834; one was recast in 1895. The fifth bell is rung
daily at morning and evening; at six in the morning, from Lady Day to
Michaelmas, and at seven for the rest of the year; in the evening it is
rung at eight all the year round. The day of the month is tolled after
each ringing. These towers, as well as the central one, were originally
crowned with tall spires of timber, coated with lead. The central spire
had been blown down in a gale nearly two hundred years before it was
decided by the cathedral body to remove those on the west towers, the
excuse being that they had fallen into disrepair. The work of destruction
was commenced on the 20th September 1726 or 1727. As the citizens in the
town below saw the workmen engaged in this way, cries of indignation were
raised, and towards evening a crowd of 500 men assembled to prevent the
removal of the spires. The main gates of the minster yard were secured
against them, but the small postern on the south side was apparently
forgotten. To this the besiegers turned their attention, and, rushing
up the "Grecian" stairs, they soon battered down the gate, and entered
the close. One of the "Old Vicars," named Cunnington, appears to have
suffered especially at their hands, whether he was the chief culprit
or not. He is said to have been dragged from his house in the Vicars'
Court, and compelled to dance on the minster green in the midst of the
mob. The crowd only dispersed on the promise that the spires should be
allowed to remain. The next day, the Mayor and Aldermen were requested
by the minster authorities to send the bellman round the city with
the following message:--"Whereas there has been a tumult, for these
two days past, about pulling down the two west spires of the church,
this is to give notice to the people of the city, that there is a stop
put to it, and that the spires shall be repaired again with all speed";
"after which," we are told, "the mob with one accord gave a great shout,
and said, 'God bless the King.'" The spires remained during the lifetime
of these zealous townsmen, but their descendants seem either to have
been more indifferent in the matter, or else to have been wanting in a
similar courage, when the spires were finally removed in 1807. A foolhardy
feat was performed in the year 1739 by a man named Robert Cadman, who "did
fly from one of the spires of the minster, by means of a rope, down to the
Castle Hill, near to the Black Boy public-house." Cadman met his death in
the next year at Shrewsbury, while attempting a similar performance there.
On passing round to the south side of the minster, the artificial nature
of the west front becomes plainly apparent. We now get a much clearer
idea of what the Norman towers were originally like. The gable, with its
intersecting Norman arcades and diaper-work, is doubtless similar to that
originally on the western face. In front of the towers is St. Hugh's or
the ringers' chapel, with its single window to the south. Next is the
chapel used as the Consistory Court, with two windows facing south, and
two others facing east. The gable of this chapel is worthy of notice.
At the head of its tall central lancet is a grotesque figure, commonly
pointed out as the "Devil looking over Lincoln"; there appears to be
no satisfactory solution of the origin of this phrase. The most curious
legend is that which describes the devil as _still inside_ the minster,
and afraid to come out for fear of being blown away! At the heads of the
the two side windows are sculptured figures which have been considered
to represent pilgrims. The seven bays of the nave are indicated by stout
buttresses with triangular heads carried up clear above the parapet
of the aisle, over the roof of which flying buttresses are thrown. The
clerestory windows are divided into groups of three, and the two windows
in each bay of the aisle are separated by a slender buttress. The wavy
parapet over the clerestory is of the fourteenth century, and above it
stand six canopied niches for statues, with grotesque figures projecting
from their bases. The cornice below has been restored at the eastern
end, shewing the heads and bosses with which it appears to have been
decorated for its entire length. The lofty panelled buttresses of the
western side of the great transept are surmounted by tall pinnacles with
niches. These pinnacles are of later date than the transept. A grotesque
figure projects from each corner of their slender crocketed roofs.
At the south-west corner of this transept is the =Galilee Porch=. It will
be remembered that the same name is also borne by two other celebrated
porches in England, at Ely and Durham. Both of these are, however, at the
western end of their respective churches. The origin of the name "Galilee"
has had so many different explanations, that it would be tedious to give
them here, but the name may have some reference to the room above the
porch, in which the judicial Court of the Dean and Chapter was formerly
held. The Galilee at Durham was built for women, who were not allowed to
use the church. The porch at Lincoln was constructed about the year 1230,
as a state entrance for the bishop, whose palace lay on the south side
of the minster yard. The plan is in the form of a cross, and the porch
may be entered at the south and west ends, both of which are open. An
arcade of slender arches runs round the walls. At the end of the north
limb the arches are open, and rest upon a low wall.
[Illustration: GALILEE PORCH, AND SOUTH SIDE OF THE NAVE.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
The two stone coffin-covers in the pavement do not appear to have been
originally placed here; they apparently date from the twelfth or thirteenth
century. The porch has a stone vault, with a profusion of tooth ornament on
the groins and elsewhere. Someone has left it on record that there are 5355
dog-tooth pyramids used in the decoration of the Galilee Porch alone.
Two massive oak doors at the east end open into the transept; the doorway
is richly carved with foliage and tooth ornament. In an engraving of
the year 1672 this fine porch is shewn as walled up; it was used, in
the last century, as a work-shop for the plumbers of the cathedral. The
ground round the minster has been considerably lowered in recent years,
and in this way the proportions of the building are displayed to greater
advantage. In Wild's plan of 1819, a flight of steps is indicated by
which the Galilee Porch was entered, but the lowering of the ground
has caused their removal. Above this porch is the room in which the
=Chapter Archives= are carefully preserved. An account of these is
given by the Rev. Prebendary Wickenden in the thirty-eighth volume of
the _Archæological Journal_. The cathedral plumbers seem to have been
accommodated here after the porch below was reopened, until the year
1851, when the chamber was appropriated as the muniment room. For nearly
a century before this the documents had been kept in what is now the
singing-school over the vestry. The plan of the room is =T=-shaped, and
it is lighted by eleven lancet windows rising from the floor; the walls
are covered with Early English arcading. The documents have suffered
considerably from damp and neglect, and some of them still bear traces
of the time when George Huddleston, a priest-vicar in the early part
of the seventeenth century, kept pigeons in the muniment room. The two
most precious documents are now preserved in the cathedral library; one
of the few existing contemporary copies of the Magna Charta, and a copy,
made early in the twelfth century, of the Charter of William the Conqueror
for the transference of the see from Dorchester to Lincoln. A charter from
Edward I., of the year 1285, is also still preserved, by which permission
is given to build walls round the close, and to shut the gates of the same
at night. Lastly may be mentioned a series of Chapter Acts, nearly complete
from 1305 to the present time, and audit accounts covering the same period.
The embattled parapet which surrounds the low modern roof is in the
Perpendicular style, and is, of course, later than the structure itself.
[Illustration: THE CENTRAL TOWER, FROM THE SOUTH.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd. Photo._]
From a point a little westward of the Galilee Porch, the =Central Tower= is
seen to advantage. Its early name of the "Rood Tower," from the rood-screen
which fills the easternmost of the four great interior arches supporting
it, has been corrupted into "Broad Tower." Very excellent authority could
be brought forward for calling this the finest central tower of any English
cathedral. The height to the top of the corner pinnacles is 271 feet, an
altitude which is exceeded by only two cathedral _spires_ in England, those
of Salisbury and Norwich. The tall spire of timber, covered with lead,
which originally crowned this tower reached an altitude, it is said, of 525
feet; but this is doubtful. This spire was blown down during a tempest in
January 1547-8. The outside measurement of the sides of the tower is 54 ft.
6 in. This is not the first central tower of Lincoln. The original tower,
of Norman work, was succeeded by a _nova turris_, which fell about the year
1237. The celebrated Grosseteste was bishop at the time, and the work of
reconstruction would appear to have been begun almost immediately. The
lower part of the present tower, both inside and out, bears the peculiar
lattice-work ornament which has been noticed in the gable of the west
front. Here, as there, it may be considered a mark of Grosseteste's time.
The tower was then carried as high as the top of the arcading just over
the ridge of the nave roof, and a wooden spire was added. In this state it
appears to have remained for at least half-a-century. When the work was
again taken in hand, in 1307, it was speedily completed, and by 1311 the
tower was raised as high as we now see it. The two lofty windows which
occupy each side of the upper storey, with their crocketed pillars and
canopied heads, are extremely beautiful. At the four corners are octagonal
panelled turrets, surmounted by wooden pinnacles coated with lead. The
spire which fell in 1547-8 carried the parapet with it. In February 1715
three of the pinnacles were blown down; their re-erection was completed
in 1728. Nearly fifty years later, the dean wrote to James Essex, the
architect, asking his opinion about the erection of a stone spire. He
replied that the height was too great and the situation too exposed, but
recommended, instead, battlements and four stone pinnacles. In 1775, Essex
was employed to erect the present open parapet. The western side was blown
down in December 1883, but, falling inwards, it did little damage, and was
easily replaced. The following details concerning the tower are copied
from a pocket-guide to Lincolnshire by the late Sir Charles Anderson,
Bart, (third edition, revised by Canon Maddison), a most interesting
book containing much useful information:--"It was a bold undertaking, and
executed with marvellous skill, for, in order to lessen the additional
weight without building strengthening arches below, which would have
injured the interior effect, as at Salisbury and Wells, two thin walls
are tied together at intervals, so as to leave a vacuum between, bound by
squinches at the top corners.... Compared with the great Victoria Tower
of Westminster, which, from many points of view, looks broader at the
top than the bottom, the Lincoln tower is the perfection of symmetrical
proportion; the reason is that it is gathered in about 2-½ inches, 25
feet below the parapet, which shews upon what trifles, as they might be
called, beauty and proportion depend." Wallcott describes this tower as
"so full of state, and dignity, and majestic grandeur, that no church
in England, or on the continent, can be cited in the same description."
=Bells in the Central Tower=.--The tower is the abiding-place of the
present "Great Tom of Lincoln"; but before describing him and his
companions, we must give an account of his predecessors of the same
name in the north-west tower, as well as of the former occupants of
his present abode. We find that in 1311 a question arose respecting
new ropes for the two bells lately hung in the new tower. These were
not the first bells possessed by the minster, as there is a record
in the works of Giraldus Cambrensis of "_duas campanas grandas atque
sonoras_" given by Geoffrey Plantagenet, who held the temporalities
of the see from 1173 to 1182. The number was afterwards increased to
six, although it is not known when. They were called the "Lady Bells,"
and were rung for the minster service. The largest Lady Bell was tolled
forty times at the shutting of the church doors every night, after which
the searchers of the church partook of bread and beer provided for them
under the watching chamber in the east transept; they then walked round
and searched the church. When the Lady Bells were taken down in 1834,
four were found to be dated 1593, one 1633, and one 1737. The original
"Great Tom" was hung in the north-west tower. It is not known how it
was acquired; some say it was a gift, others say it was stolen from
the Abbey of Beauchief, Derbyshire, or from Peterborough. The origin
of its name, too, has been a subject of dispute. Stukeley considered it
possible that it had been consecrated to St. Thomas of Canterbury. Others
think it took its name from that of the old bell of Christ Church, Oxford,
which bore the curious inscription, _In Thomae laude, resono Bim Bom sine
fraude_. It should be remembered that Oxford was in the diocese of Lincoln
in olden days, and that several Bishops of Lincoln were chancellors of
Oxford. Wherever the first "Great Tom" came from, it was recast in the
minster yard by two bell founders from Nottingham and Leicester early in
the seventeenth century, when the weight was increased from 8743 pounds to
9894-½ pounds. "The bell was cast and hung upp and upon Sonday the xxvij of
this month [January 1611] ronge owte and all safe and well." It was tolled
until 1802, when it was found that this process shook the tower too much.
The following extract from the _Stamford Mercury_ of the 6th August 1802,
is given by North in his "Church Bells of Lincolnshire":--"Great Tom o'
Lincoln is to be rung no more! The full swing of four tons and a half is
found to injure the tower where he hangs. He has therefore been chained
and rivetted down; so that instead of the full mouthful he has been used
to send forth, he is enjoined in future merely to wag his tongue." Towards
the end of the year 1827 experienced ears detected that something was
wrong, and by Christmas it became plainly evident that the bell was
cracked. It was finally decided to have it recast in a larger size. For
this purpose it was broken to pieces with its own clapper, and sent to
London. To provide the extra metal, the six Lady Bells were unfortunately
sacrificed. The cathedral thus lost the distinction of being the only one
in the kingdom possessed of two rings of bells. "Great Tom" was recast
by Thomas Hears at the Whitechapel Bell foundry on the 15th November
1834. It was taken by road to Lincoln, drawn by eight horses, and raised
to its new position in the central tower. Two new quarter bells, cast at
the same time, were also hung in this tower. The number of quarter bells
was increased in 1880 to four, one new bell being given by Mr. Nathaniel
Clayton, and the other by Mrs. Seely, The present "Great Tom" weighs 5
tons 8 cwts., is 6 ft. 0-¾ in. high, with a circumference at the base of
21 ft. 6 in., and is in size the fourth bell in the kingdom. The hours
are struck upon it with a hammer weighing 224 lbs.
[Illustration: THE MINSTER FROM THE CLOISTERS.
(From a Water-colour Painting by Frederick Mackenzie, in the South
Kensington Museum.)
_F. G. M. Beaumont, Photo._]
The chief feature of the south side of the western transept is the
beautiful round window, "the bishop's eye," with its delicate leaf-like
tracery. From the outside, this window would look much better if it
were a little higher up, but the reason of its position is sufficiently
evident from the inside, where it is quite clear of the vault, while the
admirable round window on the north side is spoilt by not being completely
visible until you approach it very closely. Above "the bishop's eye"
is a horizontal band of seven elaborately-carved quatrefoils, considered
to have formed part of the tracery of the earlier round window. They are
enough to shew that the window was different to "the dean's eye" at the
other end of the transept. The window in the gable, though much too large
for its position, is nevertheless worthy of notice on account of its fine
flowing tracery, which was inserted, like that of the round window below,
about the middle of the fourteenth century. This window is not visible
from the inside. The gable is outlined by a curious band of open Gothic
tracery, surmounted by a cross. This band was erected by the architect to
the fabric, named Hayward, in the year 1804. It is a copy of the original
(see old view, p. 21), constructed about the time of the insertion of
the window below. This was blown down on the 20th January 1802. It fell
at about eleven o'clock in the morning, but fortunately did little
damage. It will be noticed that the two turrets are different: the
western is octagonal and crocketed; the other is shorter, plainer,
and four-sided. Near the top of the last buttress on the east side of
the transept is a stone with the date 1746, apparently a record of
restoration. The roof of the choir of St. Hugh, the earliest Gothic
portion of the building, is somewhat lower than that of the nave;
the clerestory windows are remarkably slender. The narrow buttresses
are later additions, constructed to resist the thrust of the stone
vault. In the corner of the east transept is a small stone flue from
the old fireplace in the choristers' vestry. At the south-west corner of
this transept is the canons' vestry; the buttresses, which appear above,
pass right down to the ground, and are seen inside the vestry, clearly
shewing this to be a later addition to the transept. Over this vestry
is the room where the muniments of the chapter were kept until they were
removed to the chamber above the Galilee Porch. The room they had occupied
was then appropriated as a singing-school, and a small organ was erected
in it, which is still there. The vestry is plain and unpretending, but
it would have been a pity if, as was at one time proposed, it had been
altogether removed. In 1854 it was thoroughly restored under the architect,
J. T. Willson, when the present parapet was added. Underneath are seen the
low windows of an old vaulted crypt, which was probably used as a treasury.
The south face of the slender transept of St. Hugh looks very different to
that of the western transept; its many windows leave but little wall space.
First is a pair of lancets, then two rows of three above them, and lastly
three narrow lights to fill the gable. On either side are two octagonal
turrets, with pyramidal roofs surmounted by sculptured figures of angels.
On the east side of the transept are seen the two semi-circular chapels
of St. Hugh's design. On the buttress at the south-eastern corner of the
transept are two sundials, with inscriptions, one being the familiar
quotation from Martial--_Pereunt et imputantur_; the other is _Cito
ætas præterit._
The =Presbytery=, or eastern limb of the minster, is the finest example of
the best period of English Gothic. Its crocketed gables and pinnacles, its
panelled buttresses, its elaborate tracery, and, above all, its wealth of
sculpture, form a striking contrast to the simplicity of St. Hugh's work.
The choir is divided into five bays, indicated by the boldly-projecting
buttresses, once covered with statues; the canopies and pedestals still
remain, within arches supported by tall clustered pillars with foliaged
capitals. The buttresses are crowned by slender crocketed gables, at the
bases of which grotesque figures project. One of these, an imp on the
back of a witch (on the third buttress), serves, like the sculpture in
the gable of the consistory court, for the "devil looking over Lincoln."
[Illustration: SOUTH-EAST PORCH, WITH THE CHANTRY-CHAPELS OF BISHOPS
LONGLAND AND RUSSELL.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
[Illustration: Cast of the Figure of Christ, in the South-East Porch.
(Taken before the Porch was restored.)
_F. G. M. Beaumont, Photo._]
Both in the aisles and in the clerestory, broad windows, filled with
elegant geometric tracery, take the place of the plain lancets seen in
other parts. The most magnificent exterior feature of the eastern arm is
undoubtedly the sculptured doorway on the south side. Leland, in the time
of Henry VIII., writes: "There is a very faire Doore in the upper part
of the Churche Southward to go into the Close, and againe this lyith the
Byshop's Palace hangginge _in declivio_." It was probably constructed,
like the Galilee doorway, as a state entrance for the bishop. The porch
fills the third bay, and projects as far as the buttresses; its sides
recede inwards to the pair of doors giving access to the Angel Choir.
Although the doorways of our cathedrals, as a rule, cannot in any way be
compared with the magnificent portals to be seen in France, yet this single
example at Lincoln would be quite enough to prove that English architects
were capable of designing a really magnificent doorway. In the tympanum is
the subject of the Last Judgment in relief. A majestic figure of Christ the
Judge occupies the central space, with an angel on either side swinging a
censer. He is surrounded by a quatrefoiled aureole supported by angels.
To the left, the dead are rising from their tombs, and are borne aloft
by angels; on the other side demons are dragging the condemned down to
the jaws of hell, which gape wide open beneath the Saviour's feet. The
archivolt is richly decorated with sculpture. In the inner band is a
row of niches with twelve seated figures, apparently kings and queens:
next a double band of delicate open-work foliage; outside this a row of
sixteen slender standing figures enclosed by interlacing stems, richly
decorated with foliage. The doorway is formed of two cinquefoiled arches,
separated by a central pillar having the canopy and base for a figure
of the Virgin, which has been removed. On either side of the doorway is
a triple canopy for statues, and behind this a row of slender columns
with foliated capitals.
The hand of the restorer might well have spared this beautiful porch, where
the question of the stability of the fabric did not in any way arise. But,
unfortunately, an attempt was made about thirty years ago to restore the
mutilated figures, and further restorations are now [1897] being carried
out. A cast of the headless figure of Christ, with the two angels at the
sides, has recently been acquired by the South Kensington Museum. It is
valuable as shewing the state of the central figure before restoration
(see illustration, p. 67). It is believed that Essex also had tampered
with this door in the last century. On the buttresses on either side of
the doorway are four headless statues, resting on corbels supported by
projecting figures.
The two small =chapels= which stand to the right and left of the doorway
are those built as chantries by Bishops Russell and Longland. The one on
the eastern side is that of Bishop Russell (d. 1494). The mullions which
run from top to bottom of the three windows, dividing them into vertical
strips, are sufficient to mark this building as of the Perpendicular
period. Between the windows there is only just room for the panelled
buttresses which separate them. The embattled parapet, far more conspicuous
and elaborate than one of an earlier period would have been, is covered
with tracery, and broken by crocketed pinnacles. The whole shews on a
small scale the extravagance into which Gothic architecture had lapsed,
and contrasts unfavourably with the sober dignity of the structure to
which this small chapel is attached. The other chapel to the west was
built half-a-century later by Bishop Longland (d. 1547). Although an
imitation of Bishop Russell's, it shews points of difference both inside
and outside. Leaving these chapels, we notice on the second buttress
from the east a queenly figure. On the eastern buttress is a statue of
Edward I., trampling on a Saracen, and by his side is his Queen, Eleanor
of Castile, whose effigy is to be seen inside this choir.
[Illustration: VIEW FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.
_Photocrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
The =east end=, in spite of its defects, is perhaps the finest in the
country, and the broad expanse of the minster green offers exceptional
opportunities for seeing this part of the building to advantage. An
excellent general view may be had from the south-east, in the direction
of Pottergate. The main feature is the magnificent central window in the
geometrical Decorated style. Above this is another fine window of the same
period. The latter looks somewhat awkward on account of its position,
balanced, so to speak, on the apex of the window below; like the window
over the "bishop's eye," it is far too large for the gable in which it
is placed. In the trefoil over the top is a figure of the Virgin with
the Infant Saviour, and on either side of the gable is a turret with a
richly crocketed pyramidal roof. The aisle windows (the two which are
filled with the beautiful early stained glass) look very small when
compared with the giant central window, from which they are separated
by panelled buttresses of bold projection. We have already noticed the
insincerity of the west front of the minster, and the same charge must
be brought against this eastern end, although the deception here is not
so extensive. The two panelled gables over the aisle windows are shams;
there is nothing behind them, and they appear to have been only designed
for the sake of effect. The northern gable is higher than the other,
and the tracery is not quite the same. An arcade runs right across the
lower part of the front, beneath the three principal windows. Another
short arcade is seen beneath the sham gables.
The hexagonal stone structure at the north-east corner, with a pyramidal
roof, covers the minster well. This stonework is presumably not very
ancient; in a view of Hollar's in Dugdale's "_Monasticon Anglicanum_,"
the well is covered by a wooden shed.
On the north side of the angel choir, the second bay contains the chantry
chapel of Bishop Fleming (d. Jan. 1430-1), which formed a model for the
two chapels on the other side of the choir. The parapet is panelled, and
the buttresses contain niches for small statues. In the next bay is a
door leading into the choir; its position corresponds to the sculptured
porch on the other side, but it is much smaller and plainer. One of
the mouldings of the arch is of oak; in the tympanum is an aureole
with a bracket for a figure. The doorway is divided by a central shaft,
an addition of the latter part of the fourteenth century. The shield of
arms in front of the capital is that of Richard II. (1377-99); quarterly,
first and fourth, the mythical Arms of Edward the Confessor; second and
third, the Royal Arms of England. The supporters are--dexter, a lion;
sinister, a bull. It will be noticed that the next window of the aisle,
and the buttress beyond it, are much plainer than the rest, left so
doubtless owing to their having been to a great extent hidden by the
walls of the lengthened chapel (see p. 20).
In the year 1875 the ground round the chapter-house was lowered, and the
foundations of the chapel were laid bare. They extend as far as the second
buttress of the angel choir. A general idea of the appearance of this
chapel may be had from a view of Hollar's, in Dugdale's "_Monasticon_."
There were two windows in the east wall, and above these a blind arcade.
The roof was pointed; its outline may still be traced on the transept wall.
Between this chapel and the vestibule of the chapter-house is the old
common chamber, of which parts are now used as a lavatory. The position
of the ten-sided chapter-house, like that of the neighbouring cloisters,
is somewhat unusual. Two windows, with a lozenge-shaped panel above them,
occupy each of the sides. The buttresses attached to the walls at the
angles were originally crowned by pedimental gables, all but the two
westernmost of which have been replaced by crocketed pinnacles of the
Decorated period. The pressure of the stone vault, which was added some
time after the chapter-house was built, necessitated the strengthening
of the walls, which was done by means of flying buttresses attached to
eight huge blocks of masonry, standing about 20 feet from the walls. The
roof is pyramidal, and is surmounted by a cross. A guide-book of 1810
states that there was "originally a fine spire rising from the roof,
but was taken down not long since, being greatly decayed." This apparently
refers to an alteration made by James Essex in 1761-2, when the roof was
"reduced to an ugly hipped shape." It was again altered to its original
form in the year 1800. A wall, which is shewn in early prints, between
some of the outer buttresses was removed in 1806. On several of the
buttresses the marks may still be seen of houses once built against
them. These houses have now been all removed, and a delightful view of
the minster has been obtained by clearing away all the dwellings which
stood until quite recent years on the now vacant piece of ground beyond
the chapter-house.
[Illustration: NORTH DOORWAY OF THE ANGEL CHOIR.
_H. C. Oakden, Photo._]
The north side of the minster is, to a large extent, blocked by the
deanery, but a fine general view may be had from the road at the north-east
corner, with the chapter-house just in front, surrounded by its massive
supporters. The transept of St. Hugh, beyond this, is hidden by the
chapter-house vestibule and the cloisters. At the end of the western
transept is the circular window, the "dean's eye," with the large
quatrefoil in the middle, surrounded by a band of sixteen small circles.
Above, in the gable, is a lancet window of five lights. The difference
between these two windows and those inserted in a corresponding position
on the south side of the transept, is very noticeable. The southern pair
are over a century later in date. Both the turrets on the north side are
octagonal, but neither of them is crocketed. The view from this spot at
sunset is particularly fine. After passing the deanery, and turning to
the left, it will be noticed that the north side of the nave has not a
row of niches such as has been seen on the south side. The tower at the
west end has a gable on its north face, similar to that on the opposite
side of the companion tower.
A visit to the minster would not be complete without a climb to the
breezy top of the great central tower. The ascent is not difficult,
and may be made for a small fee. The clock was made by William Potts
& Sons of Leeds, in 1880, and weighs about four tons. It took the place
of one made in 1775 by Thwaites, and afterwards improved by Vulliamy.
The Cathedral Close, or =Minster Yard=, as old-fashioned Lincoln people
still love to call it, was first protected by a wall in the last years of
the thirteenth century. The licence from Edward I. to the Dean and Chapter,
giving them permission to undertake this work, dates from the year 1285.
Edward's successor granted a further licence in the year 1319 to fortify
the walls; the two ruined towers in the chancery garden are relics
of the fortifications begun about this time. Massive double gateways
were erected to protect the approaches, except in one instance, where a
steep ascent was considered to justify the erection of a single gateway
only. Unfortunately, these gateways were for the most part destroyed early
in the present century. The principal one remaining is that opposite the
western end of the minster, known as the "Exchequer Gate." Indeed, even
when all the gateways were standing, this seems to have been the chief.
[Illustration: NORTH SIDE OF THE ANGEL CHOIR.
_S. B. Bolas & Co., Photo._]
Leland, who was at Lincoln in the latter part of Henry VIII.'s reign,
writes thus: "Al the hole Close is environid withe an highe stronge wawle
havynge dyvers Gats in it, whereof the principall is the Escheker gate."
Of course, when Leland wrote, the companion outer gateway was yet standing,
and it remained so until early in the present century. It had then
fallen into disrepair, and does not seem to have been considered worth
renovating. An idea of the appearance of the Exchequer Gate will be gained
from De Wint's picture, reproduced on p. 33. Like its former companion,
it has a large archway in the middle and a postern on either side;
above are two storeys of rooms, formerly let as dwellings. A guide-book
of the year 1810 mentions that a public-house was at that time "kept in
the apartment to the north of the southern postern." Another gateway of
the same period (early fourteenth century) is still standing near the
top of the New Road, at the south-east corner of the close. This was
the only single gateway. It is now called "Pottergate Arch." A little
westward of this gate, a flight of steps, with a postern at the top,
leads up to the minster yard from the New Road. Respecting its name,
the "Grecian Stairs," much has been written. It may be sufficient here
to remark that the old name appears to have been simply "The Greesen,"
from the early English _gree_, a step.
"a sentence
Which, as a grize or step may help these lovers."
("Othello," Act I. sc. iii.).
The "Priory Gate" to the north-east, near the chapter-house, is a plain
modern arch, a poor substitute for the two gateways destroyed in the year
1815. In addition to those already mentioned, there were anciently two
other double gateways to the close. One of them stood between the White
Hart and Angel Inns, at the west end of Eastgate; the other was near the
deanery, at the end of East Bight.
The venerable ruins of the old =Palace of the Bishops= at Lincoln bear
sufficient testimony to long years of neglect. But it is gratifying to
know that this beautiful spot has been restored in recent years to its
ancient use, and that a new bishop's palace now occupies an appropriate
place beside the ruins of the old. It lies on the south side of the
close, and anciently commanded a lovely view over the straggling city
in the valley beneath, and over the surrounding country. The prospect
is now marred by a fast-increasing number of tall, smoking chimneys,
signs of awakening activity; but it is still beautiful, and the view of
the minster from the palace grounds is as fine as ever.
[Illustration: ELEVATION OF THE FORMER CHAPEL OF THE BISHOP'S PALACE,
WITH BISHOP ALNWICK'S TOWER.
[completed from Buck's Print, 1726.]]
Special permission is necessary to visit the ruins. The entrance gateway,
at the corner of the Vicars' Close, bears the arms of Bishop Smyth. The
chapel used to stand on the left, where the coach-house and stable now
are. In front is Bishop Alnwick's tower, which was restored by the late
bishop, Dr. Wordsworth. Just westward of the tower are the ruins of
the hall, extending in a southerly direction towards the ruins of the
kitchen. The present chapel of the bishops stands between the ancient
hall and kitchen, and has been quite recently erected. There are also
remains of buildings of less importance.
=The Deanery= lies on the north side of the minster, just beyond the
cloisters. The present house, built half-a-century ago, replaced a much
finer building, with a quadrangular central court. The commencement of
the old deanery is dated as far back as the end of the twelfth century,
but the chief part was the work of Dean Fleming (1451-83). Leland seems
to imply that there were traces of more ancient buildings. "Where the
Deane of Lyncolnes Howse is," he says, "and there about was a Monasterye
of Nunes afore the time that Remigius began the new Mynstar of Lyncolne:
and in this Howse yet remayne certayne tokens of it." The demolition,
towards the end of the year 1847, of the fine tower built by Dean
Fleming caused much regret. It used to be called "Wolsey's tower," from
the popular opinion that it was built by that celebrated prelate when
bishop of Lincoln. In the painting by Mackenzie, reproduced on p. 53,
the tower is shown, to the left of the chapter-house. The new deanery
lies a little to the eastward of its predecessor.
The most interesting of all the old houses around the minster yard is the
=Cantelupe chantry house=, which stands almost opposite to the south-east
doorway of the minster, near the entrance to the Vicars' Court. This house
was originally the residence of the clergy who served at the altar of St.
Nicholas in the minster, where Nicholas, Lord Cantelupe, founded a chantry
in the year 1355, with an endowment for the maintenance of three priests.
It is probable that the house was erected by Lord Cantelupe's widow
eleven years later, when the foundation was enlarged by her for a warden
and seven chaplains. The house is of stone, with a fine oriel window,
which has, however, been much mutilated. The two shields of arms, one
on either side of this window, are those of the Cantelupe and Zouche
families. In the gable above is a niche, with a seated figure of Christ.
Several windows of the house have been filled in, and the interior has
been completely transformed.
[Illustration: PLAN OF THE BISHOP'S PALACE, LINCOLN, ON THE LEVEL OF THE
HALL FLOOR.]
[Illustration: VIEW OF THE ANCIENT DEANERY.]
Close by is the entrance to the =Vicars' Court=, founded by Bishop Oliver
Sutton (1280-99); the work was continued by his successor, John de
Dalderby, and taken up again by Bishop John Buckingham (1363-1397), The
entrance gateway is the work of Bishop Buckingham, and bears his shield of
arms. Some houses on the east side of the court also bear these arms, and
date from the same bishop's time. Part of Bishop Button's work is to be
traced in a house on the south side. The other buildings are of later date.
The residence of the chancellor, on the eastern side of the close, near the
south end, may be recognised by its fine old red-brick front, dating from
the latter part of the fifteenth century; parts of the house are of earlier
date. The precentory stands on the south side of the close, next to the
Exchequer Gate. Very little now remains of the ancient building; the
present front was designed by J. L. Pearson, R.A. The next house eastward,
the sub-deanery, has more extensive remains of early work; a bay window of
the fifteenth century should in particular be noticed. In the year 1884,
when the eighteenth century railings at the western end of the minster
were removed, and the ground round this part lowered, the sub-deanery
was considerably altered to allow of the widening of the road.
[Illustration: PART OF THE ANCIENT DEANERY, WITH DEAN FLEMING'S TOWER.]
CHAPTER III
THE INTERIOR, INCLUDING THE CLOISTERS AND CHAPTER-HOUSE
A detailed description of the interior of Lincoln minster may be fittingly
preceded by a brief review of its chief features. As regards the Presbytery
or Angel Choir, no one, with the exception of a recent American critic, has
ventured to lower the just reputation of this lovely work, distinguished
for a rare combination of beauty of architecture and sculpture. The next
place in point of architectural excellence must be assigned to the Nave,
a harmonious and characteristic example of the Early English style. But
the unique position the choir of St. Hugh holds in the history of Gothic
architecture should not be lost sight of. The principal interior defect,
and this rendered all the more conspicuous by the general gracefulness of
other parts, is the lowness of the vault. But, after all, there are only
four loftier vaults in England, and one of these is only higher by two
feet; nevertheless the defect is conspicuous, and is a serious one. Of the
windows, the most noticeable are the great east window and the two "eyes,"
and these are equal to any in their respective styles in the country. The
modern coloured glass which fills the former, as well as many lesser
windows in the minster, brings out in greater contrast the loveliness of
even the wrecks of the early stained glass still remaining in some others.
Considering that Lincoln once possessed the monuments of a queen, of
another direct ancestress of our Royal family, and of two bishops whose
fame has spread to the farthest limits of Christendom, as well as of
others of more local celebrity, it must be confessed that the monuments
at present in the minster are disappointing. That of Queen Eleanor is
represented by a modern reproduction; Catherine Swynford's is mutilated
almost beyond recognition; those of St. Hugh and Grosseteste are gone
altogether; and the ancient monuments which are left retain very little
of their original splendour.
The =Ground Plan= illustrates the lengthening process to which the building
has been subjected. It is a double cross, with side chapels extended
beyond the nave walls at the western end. The lesser transept has four
apsidal chapels towards the east, and the great transept has a single
eastern aisle divided into six chapels. The symmetry of the presbytery
has been disturbed by the addition of projecting chantry-chapels, one
on the north side and two on the south. The cloisters are accessible
from the eastern transept, and the chapter-house from the cloisters.
The westernmost bay of the nave has been formed into a kind of =vestibule=
by means of the archways constructed, during the last century, to
strengthen the towers at that end. The vestibule is in three compartments,
two of which, under the western towers, are square. The centre one is the
most interesting, since it preserves to us a portion of the first bay of
Remigius' nave. High up in the side walls is a Norman arch, part of the
original clerestory. Below this we can trace the outline of a wider arch
(now filled in), which belonged to the triforium. Considerable alterations
were made in these walls by Treasurer Welburne in the second half of the
fourteenth century, and the arches were filled in during the early part of
the eighteenth century, owing to the instability of the towers. The arch
dividing the vestibule from the nave was constructed by an architect named
John James (apparently not James Gibbs, as some have supposed) about the
year 1730, and altered by James Essex thirty or forty years later. In the
time of Bishop Grosseteste (1235-53) the side walls were carried above the
Norman clerestory to the height of the present nave, and covered with the
characteristic lattice-ornament which we have already seen in the central
arch outside. The great west window was also inserted in Grosseteste's
time, as well as the cinquefoil window above. The tracery now filling the
former is in the Early Perpendicular style, and dates from the end of the
fourteenth century. From the broad sill of this window a good view of the
interior can be obtained, and a much finer one still from the passage
which runs beneath the other window above. From the latter position we
have an uninterrupted view of the entire length of the minster, which
looks longer than it really is, from the fact that the vaulting is carried
at an almost uniform height throughout.
[Illustration: Elevation of One Bay on the North Side of the Nave.]
In the floor are slabs bearing the names of Chancellor Reynolds (d. 1766)
and of Precentor Trimnell (d. 1756), the "chanter" who was accused of
removing the statues over the central doorway outside. On the wall
at the north-east corner is a tablet to the memory of the officers,
non-commissioned officers, and privates of the 10th or North Lincolnshire
regiment of infantry, who died in the campaigns of the Sutlej (1845-46)
and of the Panjab (1848-49); the tablet was erected by their surviving
comrades. The compartments under the western towers were vaulted by
Treasurer Welburne (ab. 1350-80), to whom is also due the tracery which
covers the walls. The curious chambers constructed in the thickness of the
old Norman west front are accessible from the sills of the western windows,
these being joined by narrow passages in the wall. On the north side we
are able in the same way to reach a long narrow chamber, which probably
served as a treasury, constructed in the north wall of the tower. The
chamber was originally lighted by four small round-headed windows. One
of them, on the west side, is still open; the two facing northwards,
formerly outside windows, are now enclosed by the northwest chapel,
and blocked up; the fourth, on the east, is also blocked. A square hole
in the floor formed at one time the only means of access to the chamber
beneath, which may now be reached by a doorway from the porch. In the
north wall of this lower chamber is a low semi-circular arch, supposed
to have been constructed by the Norman builders, in order to avoid
some obstacle in the way of the foundations. This arch was filled in
with masonry, now pierced by a doorway. The north-west chapel, which is
entered by this doorway, encloses the outer wall of St. Mary's tower.
[Illustration: Half Section of the Nave, looking West.]
The corresponding chapel on the south side of the minster is sometimes
called the "Ringers' Chapel." On its walls is painted a seventeenth century
list of the "Names of the Companie of Ringers of our Blessed Virgen Marie
of Lincolne." In one place we see "Edward Whipp 1617 at the kings coming to
Lincolne." This refers to the visit of King James I. in March of that year,
when he visited the minster, and touched a number of persons for the evil.
His Majesty went also to a cock-fight at an inn near the Stone-bow,
and to a horse-race on the Heath. Edward Whipp was evidently one of
those who rang the bells in honour of the royal visit. The Ringers'
Chapel encloses part of the south wall of St. Hugh's tower, which has
a large arched recess and a niche, similar to those in the west front.
The curious "stone beam," about which so much has been conjectured, and
so little is known, is constructed between the walls of the two western
towers, just above the stone vault of the nave. It is really an arch
of very slight curvature, composed of twenty-three stones of unequal
length, but of uniform depth and breadth. Examination has proved that
there is nothing but mortar in the joints, and there are no traces of
iron having been used in the construction. When jumped upon, the "beam"
vibrates appreciably. It has been suggested that it was constructed in
order to try whether the towers were capable of supporting the additional
weight of upper storeys, but nothing appears to be satisfactorily known
as to the purpose it served or the date of its erection.
The =Nave= was constructed, together with the two chapels at its
western end, during the first half of the thirteenth century. Attempts
have been made to distinguish earlier and later features in different
parts. For example, the morning chapel on the north side is considered
to be somewhat earlier than the consistory court opposite to it; but
there being no documentary evidence to guide us, all that we may safely
say is, that the nave is later than the time of St. Hugh (d. 1200),
and was practically completed before the death of Bishop Grosseteste,
which occurred in 1253. Taken as a whole, it is one of the best examples
of the Early English style we possess. The late Sir G. G. Scott, in his
lectures on Mediæval Architecture, thus speaks of it--"It exhibits an
Early English style in its highest stage of development: massive without
heaviness, rich in detail without exuberance, its parts symmetrically
proportioned and carefully studied throughout, the foliated carving bold
and effective, there seems no deficiency in any way to deteriorate from
its merits." In dignity especially, the eminent architect considered
the nave to be superior to all other parts of the cathedral.
[Illustration: THE NAVE, LOOKING WEST.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
The general complaint against the interior--the lowness of the vault--is
applicable here. The architects were, undoubtedly, influenced by the vault
of St. Hugh's choir, which is 8 feet lower than that of the nave. According
to the measurements in Lord Grimthorpe's "Book on Building," the height is
82 feet--21 feet less than is found at Westminster, 11 feet less than at
York, 6 feet less than at Ripon, and 2 feet less than at Salisbury. Lincoln
comes fifth of the English cathedrals in interior height, but since this
height is maintained almost uniformly throughout, the vault looks lower
than it really is. For this reason the defect is not so noticeable in
looking westward from beneath the great tower. Another complaint, which
appears hardly so justifiable, is the remarkable lightness of the piers,
and the great width of the arches. Many, in fact, might be inclined to
agree with Mr. F. C. Penrose, who points out that the effect of this
lightness is an increase in the dignity and apparent size of the nave,
which would be felt to a much greater extent if the windows had
their original stained glass, and thus admitted less light than at
present. Mr. Penrose has investigated the matter, and given the result in
the Lincoln volume (1848) of the Archæological Institute. He states that
"the ratio of voids to solids appears to be more remarkable than is to
be found in any vaulted building in Europe; at least, among the larger
structures." The piers, we are told, are quite secure. The greatest
care was taken in their foundations, and the footing courses extend so
as to reach those of the side walls. The nave is in seven bays, the
two westernmost of which are conspicuously narrower than the others. The
reduction is a little more than 5 feet, the measurements being 26.6 feet,
and 21.3 feet. Another peculiarity, already noticed, is that these two
western bays are not quite in a straight line with the others (see p. 23).
The vault drops about 2 feet, and turns slightly northwards. Each pier of
the nave is surrounded by eight circular shafts, some more slender than
the others; the slender ones are separately banded in the middle. The
shafts are principally of Purbeck marble, which is capable of receiving
a fine polish. This marble has been used extensively throughout the
interior. It has, however, become much decayed, and in many parts has
had to be renewed; whilst in some cases it appears to have been replaced
by the far more durable Lincoln stone. Many of the Purbeck shafts in
the minster are being polished up or restored. The bases of the nave
piers are seen to be higher on the north side than on the south. This
peculiarity is also found in the western transept, in St. Hugh's choir,
and in the Angel Choir beyond. The "dean's eye," too, on the north, is
higher than the round window at the southern end of the transept, and on
the west front of the minster, the lower rows of arcading on the north
side are at a higher level than the corresponding rows on the south. It
has been conjectured that this peculiarity was owing to the inequality of
the ground. If it had been a mere freak of St. Hugh's architect, it seems,
hardly probable that the succeeding architects would have imitated it for
another century. Turning again to the nave, a difference will be noticed
in the foliage of the capitals on the two sides. The arch mouldings,
like those of St. Hugh's choir, were considered "beautiful specimens"
by Rickman. They are deeply cut, and throw good, bold shadows. In the
triforium, each bay contains two arches, supported by clustered columns
with foliaged capitals. The spandrels are decorated with sunk trefoils
or quatrefoils. In most cases the arches are each divided into three
sub-arches with clustered shafts, the tympanum being pierced with
quatrefoils. A difference is noticeable, however, in the easternmost arch,
and the two westernmost bays (five arches altogether) on both sides. Here
the sub-arches are only two in number. The narrowness of the two western
bays accounts for the variation at that end. The clerestory is the same
throughout its length, having three tall narrow windows in each bay,
with slender banded shafts. In the nave we have, according to Fergusson,
"a type of the first perfected form of English vaulting." He calls it
"very simple and beautiful." At the junctions of the ribs are elaborate
bosses of foliage. The compartments are covered with plaster, once
decorated in colours and gold. In the second bay from the east is the
name: W. L. PARIS:--evidently intended as a record of some repairs
to the vault. The springers rest on clusters of three long slender
vaulting-shafts, rising from foliaged corbels just above the capitals
of the nave piers.
[Illustration: PART OF THE DOUBLE ARCADING OF ST. HUGH.
_S. B. Bolas & Co., Photo._]
In the aisles, each bay has two lancet windows, except the easternmost
bay on the south side, which has only one. In the jambs are slender
Purbeck shafts, twice banded. Just beneath these windows, an arcade of
trefoiled arches runs along the whole length of the nave, being continued
on the screen walls to the western chapels. The arches are deep, with
bold mouldings, and are supported by clustered columns. There are five
arches in each bay, but they are not placed in the same manner on both
sides of the nave. On the south, the arches are arranged in groups
of five, with blank spaces of wall between, in front of which pass
the vaulting-shafts. On the north, the arcade is continuous, and is
so arranged that each cluster of shafts supporting the vault passes
in front of an arch. The work on the south side is more elaborate;
tooth ornament is used, a string-course runs along at the height of
the capitals, and foliaged bosses are found in the lower corners of the
spandrels. In addition to the clustered vaulting-shafts already mentioned,
there is a single vaulting-shaft in the centre of each bay, between the
windows, rising from a corbel above the wall-arcade. On the north side
these corbels merely have plain mouldings, but on the south side they
are foliated. The arrangement of the vaulting-ribs is different in the
north and south aisles; and in the latter it will be noticed that some
of the bosses have figure-subjects, besides the foliage met with on the
north side. The _Agnus Dei_ carved on the boss in the fourth bay from the
west should be noticed. To such minor differences, continually found in
the corresponding parts of a Gothic edifice, the style undoubtedly owes
a peculiar charm. In the case of the nave at Lincoln, they probably
indicate a slight difference in the date of erection, but they certainly
point to a far greater scope for individuality being accorded to the masons
than was allowed in the rigidly symmetrical styles of the Renaissance. The
chapel at the south-west corner of the nave is used as the Consistory
Court, and that opposite to it was reappropriated to its ancient use as
the Morning-Prayer Chapel by the late Archbishop Benson, when Chancellor
of Lincoln. A small brass tablet to his memory has recently been fixed
to the wall by the side of the altar. Both chapels are stone-vaulted,
but the northern has a feature which is not found in the Consistory
Court. This is the slender Purbeck column in the centre, erected to
support the vaulting. In this chapel was formerly placed the massive font
of black basalt, which was removed in 1874 to its original position in
the second bay from the west on the opposite side of the nave. The font
is of Norman workmanship, and apparently dates from the time of Remigius
(1067-92). There is another of a similar character in the cathedral at
Winchester. The basin is square, and rests on a massive circular drum in
the centre and four small columns at the corners, supported by a square
base. Round the sides of the basin, a row of grotesque monsters, some
winged, is carved in bas-relief. The font is now raised on steps. It
was used by the parishioners of St. Mary Magdalene's, whose church was
destroyed to make room for the minster. They were allowed to worship in
the nave until the time of Bishop John de Dalderby (1300-20), when a
new church was built for them. The old pavement of the nave was removed
towards the end of the last century (about 1782), when many of the
grave-slabs it contained were taken away.[8] It was in the nave that the
gorgeous processions of olden days were formed, and the original pavement
was marked with two rows of circles to indicate the different positions of
the clergy. The pavement of the north aisle is considered by some to have
been slightly raised; from it the populace might then have watched these
processions. Of English cathedrals, Lincoln comes next to Canterbury for
the richness of its stained glass, but there is little in the nave which
is worthy of notice. Almost all that escaped the stray arrows and bolts
from the bows of dwellers round the close appears to have been destroyed
during the disastrous times of the Civil War in the seventeenth century,
when the mere beauty of a work of art appears to have often served as
a sufficient excuse for its destruction. In the windows of the aisles
the glass is all coloured, but modern. The lower lights of the great
west window are also filled with modern glass, the work of two amateurs,
the Revs. Augustus and Frederick Sutton, who produced many others of the
coloured glass windows in the minster; the upper lights contain fragments
of glass of the same date as the tracery (latter part of the fourteenth
century). The cinquefoil window above has been filled with modern glass,
inserted in 1859 in honour of the founder, Remigius, who is seen in the
centre, holding his church in one hand, and his bishop's staff in the
other. The windows of the clerestory are plain.
The nave has very few monuments. Of those which remain, the foremost place
must certainly be taken by the dark mutilated slab under the easternmost
arch on the north side. Remigius, it will be remembered, was originally
buried near the altar of the Holy Cross, where his tomb-slab was broken by
the beams which fell in flames from the roof of the Norman church. Some
years ago, a monumental slab, in two parts, with carved subjects, which
might very well date back to the time of Remigius, was brought to light
in the cloisters. Canon Massingberd had this removed to the spot where
it now lies, not far from the original burial-place of the bishop. The
carving consists of various scriptural subjects in low relief; it is
now much worn. The surrounding inscription records the foundation of
the cathedral by Remigius in the year 1072, and the restitution of the
tomb-slab in 1872. On the opposite side, at the end of the aisle wall,
is a marble tablet in memory of Michael Honywood (b. 1597: d. 1681),
who was made Dean of Lincoln in the year of the Restoration. The present
library was erected by him at a cost of £780, and received his collection
of books.
Near the western end of the nave are slabs in the floor, marking the
burial-places of Bishops Smyth (d. Jan. 1513-14), Alnwick (d. 1449),
and Atwater (d. Feb. 1520-1). Bishop Smyth was the founder of Brasenose
College, Oxford. Bishop Alnwick was buried in the place where he used to
stand when processions were formed in the nave. Besides the slabs in the
pavement, other monuments of a more conspicuous character appear to have
once adorned the nave. A century ago, beneath the easternmost arch on the
south side there stood "a raised Altar Tomb of grey marble, this for Dean
Mackworth; it was once very costly adorned with figures of Brass Work, but
defaced in the time of Cromwell." No altar-tomb now recalls the memory
of the dean who refused to walk in a straight line in processions, and
brought armed men into the chapter-house to lend weight to his arguments.
The carved mahogany =Pulpit= against the second pillar from the east
on the north side has been moved to its present position from the
choir. It may be hardly necessary to remark that the idea held by some,
that this pulpit dates from the time of James I., is quite erroneous; the
slightest examination will shew that very little, if any, could be of so
early a period. The details of the ornament are of the last century. It
is hexagonal, and is supported on open arches of ogee form. A sounding
board has recently been suspended above. The brass eagle lectern was
given as a memorial of the late Dean Butler (d. 1894), whose recumbent
effigy now rests in the angel choir. Before passing under the central
tower, an irregularity at the western end should be noticed. The great
arch which spans the nave, separating it from the vestibule, is not
placed in the centre; it will be seen that there is more wall space on
the south side than on the north.
The =Central Tower= rests on four lofty arches supported by massive piers.
These piers were enlarged to carry the additional weight of the upper
storeys of the tower, and are surrounded by banded shafts, chiefly of
Purbeck marble. The foliage at the crown of each arch should be noticed;
the same occurs on the great central arch of the west front. Above the
spandrels, which are covered with the trellis-work also seen elsewhere,
are two rows of arcading, with slender clustered shafts. There is a
passage all round the upper arcade, and the wall behind is pierced with
four windows on each side. The vaulting, like that of the western towers,
was erected by Treasurer Welburne (d. 1380); it is 125 feet high. The
iron rings in the great piers, two or three feet from the ground, were
used for fastening the ropes of the Lady Bells, which were hung in the
tower above, and were rung before service by the four choristers in black.
The =Western Transept= is considered to be the least satisfactory part
of the interior of the minster. The lowness of the vault is especially
noticeable. In fact, it had to be raised in the last bay to the north,
in order to include the whole of the circular window, part of which
would otherwise have been cut off. Yet the transept possesses features
of considerable interest. It was planned and commenced by St. Hugh and
continued by his immediate successors. A low aisle runs along the eastern
side, divided into six chapels, which are dedicated respectively (beginning
at the north end) to St. Nicholas, St. Denis, St. James (or St. Thomas),
St. Edward the Martyr, St. John the Evangelist and St. Giles. To the walls
of these chapels we must look in order to trace the limit of St. Hugh's
labours. A characteristic of the bishop's work is the curious double
arcading on the walls he built (see p. 89). It is found in the choir and
the eastern transept. Mr. Parker's theory that the front arcade was an
afterthought, put up when the original flimsy walls were strengthened to
support the vault, has been already given in his own words (p. 18). To
whatever circumstance the feature may be due, its effect is certainly very
good. It will be noticed that the two chapels nearest the choir, and parts
of the two chapels next to them, have this double arcading, in which a
slight difference has been pointed out. On the north side, the trefoiled
arch is against the wall, and the simple arch in front; on the other side
the order is reversed. This fact seems rather to strengthen the opinion of
those who consider the double arcade to have been designed as such from the
beginning. The end of this arcading must be taken to mark the limit of St.
Hugh's work. An arcade of single arches is seen in the last chapel on each
side, and this simpler design is continued round the other walls of the
transept, the arches varying in breadth and resting on clustered shafts.
The chapels each occupy one bay of the aisle, and are formed by projecting
"perpeyn" walls of stone, originally continued to the piers by wooden
screens. The arcading of these walls is deserving of attention. It now
remains to notice the screens placed between the piers, to separate the
chapels from the transept. The most interesting is that of the chapel
nearest the choir on the south side, sometimes called the "Works Chantry."
The endowment of this chapel was to provide for prayers on behalf of the
benefactors of the church, both living and dead. The screen is of carved
stone; round the arch is the inscription "Oremus _pro benefactoribus_
istius Ecclesie" in Gothic characters. On each side are two small kneeling
figures, representing the chaplains who served the chantry. Above is a
canopy with a seated figure of a bishop and the Royal Arms of England. The
shield of arms is a help in assigning a date to the screen. It contains
the _fleurs-de-lys_ as assumed by Edward III. in the year 1338, when he
laid claim to the French crown. The screen was probably erected soon after
this date. It could not have been much later, since Henry IV., towards
the end of his reign, reduced the number of _fleurs-de-lys_ to three,
in imitation of the French king, Charles V. The corresponding chapel
on the other side has a feeble imitation of this screen in pine-wood,
a work of the end of the last century. The other screens are of oak,
carved with Perpendicular tracery, partly in openwork; they apparently
date from the latter half of the fifteenth century. The altars are no
longer standing, but in the middle chapel to the north the sockets for
the pillars which supported the altar-slab may still be seen. In one of
the pavement-slabs in the next chapel to the south, nine holes are pointed
out, which served a very different purpose. They are said to have been
used for games by some of the officials (choir-boys, one would suppose)
connected with the minster.
[Illustration: THE WEST TRANSEPT, LOOKING SOUTH.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
The two large round windows in the end walls are the most interesting
features of this transept. That on the north, the "=Dean's Eye=," is
of the same date as its surroundings, and may be placed about the year
1220. The tracery of the southern window, the "=Bishop's Eye=," is much
later; it is of the Decorated period, and was probably inserted soon
after the middle of the fourteenth century. It has already been remarked
that the row of quatrefoils above the window _outside_, are relics of the
earlier tracery. Near this window was John de Dalderby's shrine. Although
this bishop's admirers could not bring forward a record of sufficiently
numerous miracles to procure his canonisation at the papal court, yet he
was revered as a saint by the people, and it has been suggested that the
offerings at his shrine may have supplied the means to insert the tracery
of this window, as well as the one above, which lights the roof, and can
only be seen from the outside. The round window has been sometimes called
the "Prentice's Window"; but this name is never heard now, and the two
"eyes" of the minster will always retain the name which they have borne
for more than six hundred years. The "dean's eye" and the "bishop's eye"
are both mentioned in the "Metrical Life of St. Hugh," which, it will be
remembered, was written sometime between the years 1220 and 1235. The
simplest explanation of the names seems to be that the one faces the
deanery and the other faces the bishop's palace, but a far more poetic
interpretation than this has been devised. The north is the region of
Lucifer, and in that direction the dean's eye must look to guard against
his approach. Meanwhile the bishop's eye is turned towards the sunny
south, the region of the Holy Spirit, whose sweet influence alone can
overcome the wiles of the wicked one. Both windows are filled with fine
early glass. The "dean's eye" presents a most magnificent example of
early thirteenth century stained glass, earlier than most of the glass
at Canterbury, which is the richest of all our cathedrals in works of
this nature. The subject has been described by C. Winston in the Lincoln
volume (1848) of the Archæological Institute. It represents the Church on
Earth and the Church in Heaven. In the centre is our Saviour seated in
the midst of the Blessed in Heaven. Around are four large compartments,
containing portions of different subjects, which do not appear to have
all originally belonged to their present positions. The most interesting
is that shewing the translation of the relics of St. Hugh, represented as
borne on the shoulders of crowned and mitred personages. Of the sixteen
outer circles, the topmost represents our Saviour seated on a rainbow;
on either side are angels with the instruments of the Passion; in the
next circles St. Peter and other saints are conducting holy persons to
heaven; below these is the General Resurrection; the lowest five circles
each contain the figure of an archbishop or bishop. The subjects can
be best seen from the neighbouring triforium or from the passage which
runs just beneath the window; it will be noticed that the glass in some
of the compartments is much mutilated, as might naturally be expected,
considering its antiquity. From below, the subjects are confused and
not easy to distinguish, but the rich and harmonious blending of the
colours can be seen to the fullest advantage, and the general effect
is much finer. Rickman believes the form of the tracery to be quite
unique in England, but states that there is a window exactly similar
at Laon. Beneath the window is an arcade of seven lancet arches; the
wall behind five of them is pierced with windows, which are filled
with old glass, chiefly medallions and fragments. Below are two larger
lancet windows, one on each side of the dean's doorway. That to the west
represents angels seated amid foliage and playing musical instruments;
the three lowest figures are quite distinct, but the two above are
confused. These fragments have been removed from some other part of the
minster, probably from the west window of the nave; they date from the end
of the fourteenth century. The more easterly window is filled with old
geometrical patterns and fragments. The doorway leads to the deanery,
and has a porch outside. Over the door, inside, is a modern clock,
with a carved wood canopy which, according to the tablet below, had been
originally placed over an earlier clock in the minster. Thomas of Louth,
Treasurer of Lincoln, gave a clock to the church in 1324, considered to
be the one formerly at the south end of this same transept. The canopy
was for some years in the church at Messingham, and was removed thence
to its present position, on the north side.
The "bishop's eye" on the south side is filled with delicate and beautiful
flowing tracery, which has been compared to the fibres of a leaf. Rickman
considers it to be the richest remaining example of its period. It is
enclosed within a kind of arch formed by two rows of openwork quatrefoils;
an open framework of a similar nature is often to be seen round circular
windows in French cathedrals. The glass consists of fragments from other
windows, chiefly of the Early English period. Although the pieces are
placed quite at random, forming no subject whatever, yet the effect of
the colouring is good, especially when seen from the opposite end of the
transept. Of all the modern windows in the minster, with their elaborate
subjects, it may safely be said that not one can be compared in effect
with this mass of glowing colour. The glass in the four lancet windows
below also dates from the Early English period. It chiefly consists of
medallions containing various subjects, collected from other windows. The
rest of the stained glass in the transept is modern. Towards the north,
the ribs and bosses of the vaulting were decorated some years ago with
colours and gold, in imitation of the original colouring.
The southern limb of the transept was the site of a shrine which shared
with those of the two St. Hugh's the attention of the numerous pilgrims to
Lincoln. In the pavement near the western wall towards the Galilee Porch is
a slab with the inscription _D'Alderby Episc._ MCCCXIX. His monument is
said to have consisted of an altar-tomb of "rare marble," surmounted by a
rich canopy. The shrine, of "massey silver," was enriched with diamonds and
rubies, and encompassed with rails of silver-gilt. It went with the other
valuables to replenish the coffers of the spendthrift Henry VIII. Leland
mentions that Dalderby's "Tumbe was taken away _nomine superstitionis_."
Two stone shafts belonging to the monument, and a fragment of a third,
still remain against the wall. It will be remembered that it was through
the energy of this bishop that the upper portion of the present central
tower was erected. On the west wall, against the Galilee door, is a marble
slab with a bust in relief of Dean Samuel Fuller (b. 1635: d. 1700), who
received the appointment, according to Kennet, through the interest of
the lay lords, who loved him for his hospitality and his wit. In the
southernmost chapel, on the opposite side of the transept, is an altar-tomb
against the south wall. Its date is about the end of the fifteenth century,
and it is probably the tomb of Sir George Talboys.
A stone screen filling the eastern tower arch separates St. Hugh's choir
from the transept. The screen is a magnificent example of Decorated work,
dating from about the end of the thirteenth century. It originally
carried the crucifix or _rood_, which from the other end of the nave
must have stood out clearly against the soft glowing colours of the great
east window. On either side of the central doorway are four deep arches
supported by detached pillars, decorated with grotesque heads and small
figures of bishops. The wall behind is richly carved with diaper designs,
shewing much freedom and variety. This screen was once decorated with
colours and gilding, traces of which are still visible. It appears to
have suffered a good deal at the hands of iconoclasts; many statues have
doubtless been removed, and one must be very cautious with regard to the
decoration which remains, as it was considerably restored by a mason named
James Pink during the second half of last century. The screen now carries
the organ erected in 1826, "when also the church underwent a thorough
cleaning." The organ has since been enlarged. The richly-carved case was
designed in the Gothic style by the architect E. J. Willson of Lincoln. In
olden days the organ filled the easternmost arch on the north side of St.
Hugh's choir. Hollar's view of the year 1672, in Dugdale's "_Monasticon
Anglicanum_" shews it in this place. In its present position it serves to
break the long _vista_, which otherwise might be somewhat monotonous, from
the extreme west end of the nave. A new organ is in course of erection
at a cost of £4000; yet it seems hardly likely that instrumental music
will become a prominent feature in the minster services, so long as the
singing retains that high pitch of excellence which it acquired under
the late Mr. Young, and maintains under his successor, Dr. Bennett. The
two side doorways leading into the north and south aisles of the choir
are somewhat earlier than the screen between them. They are beautiful
examples of carving, dating from the end of the Early English period.
The exquisite openwork foliage which runs round the arch is executed with
the utmost skill and care, and is without the laboured effect of so much
of our later stone-work. The injured parts were carefully restored about
1770 by James Pink, who was also employed by Essex on the canopy of the
reredos. The doorways have modern iron gates: it is probable that the
"brass gates" carried away by the Parliamentarian soldiers used to
be here. It is well worth while to notice the gorgeous effect of the
early glass in the end windows of the aisles, as seen through these
doorways. The soft harmony of their lovely transparent mosaic contrasts
greatly with the washed-out appearance of the glass in the large window
between them.
[Illustration: AISLE DOORWAY, NORTH OF ST. HUGH'S CHOIR.
_H. C. Oakden, Photo._]
[Illustration: THE CHOIR, LOOKING EAST.
_S. B. Bolas & Co., Photo._]
The ritual choir occupies the four bays built by St. Hugh, crosses the
eastern transept, and includes two bays of the Presbytery, or Angel
Choir beyond. Passing through the central doorway of the rood-screen,
the choir before us is historically of the highest interest, both on
account of its architecture and of its builder.
One gazes with a feeling of peculiar veneration on the walls which we know
St. Hugh to have planned and reared. It is easy to imagine with what just
pride and satisfaction the great bishop must have regarded these very
walls, the earliest example of the pure Gothic style in this country or
in any other (see p. 14). Although worthy of the closest examination,
it can hardly be said that, taken as a whole, the work is beautiful; its
importance is much greater from an archæological than from an artistic
point of view. Certain details are of the highest excellence; but the
vault, as so many have pointed out, is positively ugly, and the squat
form of the great arches only serves to shew how little reliance can be
placed on the outline of an arch as a guide to the date of its erection.
=St. Hugh's choir= is in four bays, the westernmost of which is somewhat
narrower than the others. In the original piers, the central column was
diamond-shaped, surrounded by eight circular shafts, which were detached,
a mark of their early period. "The foliage of the capitals is exquisitely
beautiful, and though distinguished technically by the name of _stiff-leaf
foliage_, because there are stiff stalks to the leaves rising from the
ring of the capital, the leaves themselves curl over in the most graceful
manner, with a freedom and elegance not exceeded at any subsequent period.
The mouldings are also as bold and as deep as possible, and there is
scarcely a vestige of Norman character remaining in any part of the work"
(_Rickman_).
In each bay of the triforium there are two arches, both divided into two
sub-arches, with a solid tympanum pierced with a trefoil or quatrefoil. The
eastern bay of the triforium on each side is of simpler design than the
rest. In the clerestory, there are three windows to three bays, and two
to the fourth, on each side. The fall of the central tower in 1237-9
worked great havoc in this part of the building. The vault was crushed,
and the western bays were much weakened and damaged. The original slender
shafts round the two westernmost piers on each side were converted into
clumsy columns without capitals; this no doubt added considerable strength,
but rendered them far from beautiful. The arches, too, had to be partly
reconstructed. In the first arch on the south side, the rings of stone
across the mouldings mark the point where the later work joined the
earlier, but did not quite fit. A similar example of faulty jointing
will be seen on the corresponding arch on the north side towards the
aisle. Turning to the triforium, we see that in the western bays clumsy
eight-lobed pillars have taken the place of the original clustered shafts.
These have been compared by Precentor Venables to "pounds of candles." They
are certainly very ugly, and were probably intended only as a temporary
makeshift. The crooked state of some of the trefoils and quatrefoils
of the tympana is probably due to the same cause. The vault is most
remarkable, and is fortunately unique. "The architect has made each
cell strike obliquely to points dividing the central ridge of the bay
into three equal parts, so that neither the cells nor the diagonal
ribs from either side ever meet one another, but each cell is met by
an intermediate or an oblique transverse rib from the opposite side"
(_Scott_, "Lectures on Mediæval Architecture"). As this vault appears to
have been constructed after the fall of the tower, we can hardly consider
the deviation to be the result of inexperience, and there seems to be no
excuse for this extraordinary freak. The shafts supporting the vault are
alternately hexagonal and circular. They were originally carried down to
the springing of the great arches, and thence continued in front of the
piers to the ground. When the choir-stalls were added, these shafts were
cut away to make room for them, and finished off with panelled corbels.
This part of the building, which had received such a severe shaking by the
fall of the tower, was further strengthened by the erection of the arcaded
screens between the piers. They fill all four arches on both sides,
dividing the choir from the aisles to the north and south. The next bay
eastward, which crosses the lesser transept, is filled on both sides by
screens of wrought ironwork, having that scrolled pattern so often found
in early examples. They are illustrated in the South Kensington Museum
Handbook on Ironwork, by Mr. Starkie Gardner, who calls them the best
preserved specimens of their style now existing in England. The screens
are apparently thirteenth-century work, and they might be as early as the
time of St. Hugh. The awkward row of gas-jets along the top is in strange
contrast to these fine screens. Above the latter, on each side, two
constructive beams of oak stretch across the arch. One is at the height
of the pier capitals, and the other on a level with the base of the
triforium arcade. An attempt was made in the last century to mask their
ugliness by encasing them in Gothic work of carved wood.
The magnificent series of oak =Choir-Stalls=, with their forest of
pinnacles rising to the height of the pier-capitals, forms one of the
chief glories of the minster. They were considered by Pugin to be the
finest examples in the kingdom. Their erection, in the third quarter
of the fourteenth century, is due to the munificence of the treasurer,
John de Welburne, a great benefactor of the minster. A full list of
the carvings was given by the late Canon Wickenden in the thirty-eighth
volume of the _Archæological Journal_. The stalls are in two rows, the
upper of 62 seats, and the lower of 46; the former number has now been
increased by six, and the latter by two. The upper stalls have elaborate
trefoiled canopies, surmounted by an intricate maze of buttresses and
pinnacles, rising to a height of 24 ft. 6 in. above the choir floor. The
niches above the canopies have recently been filled with statues of
saints in the Anglican Calendar. The stalls in both rows are provided
with hinged seats or _misereres_, intended to serve as supports in the
long services during which the occupants of the stalls were required to
stand. These seats, as well as the elbow-rests and finials, are richly
carved with those grotesque subjects in which the mediæval artist so
greatly delighted. The carver has given full scope to a most fertile
imagination. Scriptural subjects do certainly occur on some of the
_misereres_ in the upper row, but others are of a playful character. The
fox is seen preaching to birds and beasts, and then running riot among
them; monkeys are at play, or occupied in the more serious business of
hanging one of their number and burying him afterwards; we also find men
fighting with wild animals; the labours of husbandry; kings, knights,
ladies, dragons, griffins, lions, hogs, and wyverns. Whether there is a
hidden meaning in any of these quaint subjects, it is perhaps difficult
now to say, but the preaching fox is certainly suggestive.
To raise each _miserere_ in order to examine the subject underneath would
not only prove to be a somewhat tedious and dusty task, but in some cases
would lead to disappointment, when nothing but a plain block is seen where
the carved subject ought to be. A few of the original _misereres_ in the
lower row are missing, and have been replaced in this way. Those who have
not the time or the inclination to examine all the subjects, may take
the following as representative examples of the whole series. They are
all in the upper row; the lower _misereres_ are, as a whole, inferior,
and are restored to a much greater extent. Commencing with the precentor's
stall on the north side of the door in the rood-screen, the poppy-head in
front is carved with the monkey episode referred to above. The numbers
in the following list are counted from the precentor's stall; the names
are those inscribed on the tablets hung up at the back of the stalls. The
subjects are in each case those carved underneath the _misereres_:--
(2) Archdeacon of Lincoln--a fine head and two roses.
(4) Archdeacon of Bedford--foliage.
(5) Archdeacon of Huntingdon--a man beating down acorns, and
pigs feeding.
(8) Milton Manor--the gateway of a castle, and the heads of two
warriors in armour.
(10) Bedford Manor--grotesque winged monsters.
(12) Welton Beck--a boy riding on the back of a bird.
(18) Welton Rivall--a mermaid with comb and mirror.
(22) Biggleswade--two men with a plough, drawn by two bullocks
and two horses; to the left, a man with a harrow; to the right,
sacks of corn.
(31) Carlton cum Dalby--an Ascension, with two angels swinging
censers.
This is the last stall on the north side before the new ones, which were
erected to cover a residence pew, in the year 1778, at the same time as
the bishop's throne opposite.
Turning to the south side, and numbering from the dean's stall to the west,
the following are worthy of notice:--
(1) Dean--the Resurrection of Christ.
(2) Sub-dean--a knight on horseback.
(4) Norton Epi.--the Coronation of the Virgin, and angels with
musical instruments.
(9) Leicester St. Margaret's--the Adoration of the Magi.
(16) Ketton--two monkeys, one riding on a lion, and the other
riding on a unicorn.
(26) Asgarby--a king enthroned under a canopy.
(28) Corringham--a lion fighting with a winged monster.
The front panels of the vicars' stalls and the choristers' desks in the
lower range are carved with Gothic tracery, in the panels of which are
angels with musical instruments, saints and kings.
An engraving in Wild's "Lincoln Cathedral" gives a good idea of the
appearance of the choir when the old box pews were still existing. They
were extremely ugly, and not only did they hide much of the fine carved
work of the stalls, but their erection led in some cases to parts of the
older work being cut away. Between forty and fifty years ago, when the
organ was enlarged, the stalls underwent some slight repairs, and were
oiled. In 1867-8 they were again strengthened and restored. The wooden
tablets hung at the backs of the stalls are inscribed with the Latin titles
of certain psalms. It is recorded in the "Black Book" or "Consuetudinary"
of the cathedral that "It is an ancient usage of the church of Lincoln
to say one mass and the whole psalter daily, on behalf of the living and
deceased benefactors of the church." To ensure the complete performance of
this duty, the bishop, and each member of the chapter, was made responsible
for the repetition of one particular portion of the psalms. The tablets
record the psalms which the occupants of the several stalls are bound
to recite. At the installation of each prebendary, the dean or his
representative still calls the attention of the newly-installed to
the titles of the psalms hanging over his head, and reminds him of
the obligation to repeat them "daily if nothing hinders." The custom
is exceedingly old. A MS. in the chapter library, considered to be not
later than the end of the twelfth century, gives a list of persons,
with the special psalms which each should repeat. Further information on
this point will be found in Canon Wickenden's article referred to above
(p. 105). The usage was adopted by the late Archbishop Benson at Truro.
The =Bishop's Throne= and the =Pulpit= are modern. The former is at the
east end of the stalls on the south side. It was carved in wood by Lumby,
in 1778, from a design by James Essex. It has a tall Gothic canopy, with
a figure of Christ holding a lamb in His arms; and is further ornamented
with small carved figures of saints and angels; the panelled front is new.
The earlier throne, which the present one replaced, was designed by
Sir Christopher Wren. The pulpit opposite is still later in date. It
was erected in recognition of the services of Prebendary Trollope
(afterwards Bishop of Nottingham) to the cause of architecture in the
diocese of Lincoln. It was designed by the late Sir G. Gilbert Scott,
and executed in 1863-4 by Messrs. Ruddle of Peterborough. The pulpit
is of oak, with scriptural subjects in relief and statuettes. It has an
elaborate Gothic canopy of wood, and a marble base. On the whole, it can
hardly be said to be worthy of imitation. The subjects are carved with
little regard to durability; some of the most delicate parts project
so considerably that small portions have already been knocked off. The
canopy, too, awkwardly fixed to the pillar behind, looks like a huge
extinguisher, threatening to descend on the head of the preacher. In
the middle of the choir is the litany desk, with the old stone beneath,
inscribed with the words _Cantate hic_. The foundations of the eastern
limb of Remigius' church lie beneath the floor; the semi-circular apse
stretched a few feet beyond the spot where the litany desk now stands. A
little way to the east is a fine brass chandelier, suspended from the
vault by means of an iron rod, partly gilt. It has scrolling branches,
supporting sixteen lights, and bears the date 1698. The brass lectern is
of the eagle form, and was made in London, as an inscription records,
in the year 1667. The following are the inscriptions it bears:--ECCLES
CATHED B MARIÆ LINCOLN--DD. IOHANNES GOCHE ARMIGER AN. DOM. 1667; and
above--GVLIELMVS BORROVGHES LONDINI ME FECIT 1667. The dates of these
two fine specimens of brasswork suggest that they may have taken the
place of earlier pieces removed by the soldiers of the Parliament.
The stone =Reredos= is enriched with Gothic arcading in the Decorated
style. Parts of it belong to the latter half of the thirteenth century, but
it dates principally from the time of James Essex. The original reredos
was double, with a space in the middle used as a sacristy. Essex's screen
was preceded by one of classical style, erected soon after the middle
of the seventeenth century. It is shewn in Hollar's plate of the year
1672 in Dugdale's "_Monasticon Anglicanum_." This screen was removed to
Sleaford Church, and was used in the chancel there until about fifty years
ago. The tall central canopy of the present screen was designed by James
Essex in the style of the monument of Bishop William of Louth (De Luda,
1290-98) in the choir of Ely Cathedral; it was carved by James Pink, in
the year 1769. An altar-piece in oils formerly occupied the middle arch
at the back of the canopy. It was painted and given by the Rev. William
Peters, LL.B., and bears his signature, with the date 1800. The subject
is the Annunciation. It is called "a beautiful picture" in a guide-book
of the year 1810, but modern critics might form a somewhat different
opinion; those who wish to judge for themselves may find the picture
in a dusty corner of the triforium, where it is now very appropriately
stowed away. The late J. C. Buckler removed the solid wall at the back of
the canopy, and inserted the mullions and tracery. The first arch to the
east of the lesser transept on the north side is occupied by the =Easter
Sepulchre=, probably erected by someone who intended the western portion
for his own tomb. It is a fine piece of stone-carving in the Decorated
style, and dates from about the end of the thirteenth century. It is
in the form of six slender canopies, with trefoiled arches. The three
sleeping soldiers in the right-hand lower panels should be noticed. A
Latin inscription was placed by Bishop Fuller on the middle one of
the three left-hand panels, stating that this was the burial-place of
Remigius. Of course, it is quite impossible that the bishop should
have been originally buried at this spot, and it is improbable that
the body was ever removed here. In Sanderson's survey is the following
record:--"In the choir, on the north side, two tombs, not known. But it is
famed that one of them is Remigius, whose bare sheet of lead is now (1658)
to be seen. No inscription, coat, or other mention of anyone." There is
some well-carved foliage on the side panels beneath the canopies.
Two mutilated tombs are now squeezed together under the corresponding
arch on the south side of the choir, beneath a flat-arched canopy,
dating from the second half of the seventeenth century. These tombs have
been robbed of their brasses. The first is that of Catherine Swynford,
daughter of Sir Payne Roet, and widow of Sir Hugh de Swynford of
Kettlethorpe. She afterwards became the third wife of John of Gaunt,
who was made Earl of Lincoln in 1362, and was for a long time resident
in the city. Henry Beaufort, son of John of Gaunt and Catherine, was
bishop of Lincoln at the time of his mother's death, which occurred in
1403. The other tomb under the same canopy is that of Henry's sister,
Joan Beaufort, who became the wife of Sir Robert Ferrers, and afterwards
of Sir Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland. Before being placed as they
are at present, the tombs stood side by side in this same bay. Leland, the
historian of the time of Henry VIII., gives the following account of them,
which shews that they cannot now be far from their original position:--"In
the Southe Parte of the Presbytery lyithe in two severalle high marble
Tumbes in a Chapell Catarine Swineforde the 3. Wife to John of Gaunt Duke
of Lanceaster, and Jane her Daughter Countes of Westmerlande." After
having been robbed of all that was considered valuable by the soldiers
of the Parliament, the tombs were left in a neglected condition, until
at the Restoration they were placed under this arch, and the canopy was
erected over them. The brasses, of which the matrices are still seen,
no doubt formed part of the "bargeload" which was floated down the Witham
to the sea.
The brass gas-standards behind the altar-rails were designed by J. L.
Pearson, R.A.
The =South Aisle= is separated from the choir by the stone screens already
mentioned. The opposite wall has a double arcade, such as we have seen
in some of the chapels of the western transept. The arcading of the two
westernmost screens dates from the time of Bishop Grosseteste (1235-53).
That of the fourth screen is slightly later in date. The third screen is
in the Decorated style, and formed a back to the famous =Shrine of the
Little St. Hugh=, a boy who was said to have been crucified by the Jews
in the year 1255.
It is difficult now to say whether there is any truth at all in such
legends, which, it need hardly be remarked, are not confined to Lincoln,
nor even to England. The story of St. William of Norwich is a similar one,
and there were strong communities of Jews in both cities. As the thrifty
habits of these people, often untrammelled by conscientious or humane
motives, caused them to grow rapidly wealthy, the hatred with which they
were commonly regarded increased in corresponding measure. The Jews were
not likely to get a fair hearing anywhere, and any accusations against
them were readily accepted and eagerly spread. There is evidence in the
poems of Chaucer that the popular prejudice was deeply rooted--
"O yonge Hugh of Lincoln, sleyn also
With cursed Iewes, as it is notable,
For it nis but a litel whyle ago." ("Prioress' Tale.")
There are several versions of the legend, one of which begins thus--
"The bonnie boys o' merrie Lincoln
Were playing at the ba',
And wi' them stude the swete Sir Hugh
The flower among them a'."
It goes on to relate how the ball strayed into the Jew's garden, into which
the little Hugh was wiled, and "slicked like a swine."
Hugh is said to have been about eight years old at the time of his death.
Matthew Paris mentions the legend, and says that many Jews came together
to Lincoln on the occasion. They appointed a Jew as judge, to represent
Pilate, and by this man's sentence the boy was afflicted with various
torments before being put to death. The boy being missed, inquiries were
made by his mother, and the body was at last found at the bottom of a well
belonging to a Jew's house. It was given to the Canons of Lincoln, who
honourably buried it as that of a martyr, in their Cathedral. According to
Matthew Paris, the name of the Jew who took a leading part in the affair
was Copin. He was tied to a horse's tail, dragged to Canwick Hill, and
there hanged. Many other Jews were executed as accomplices, and a large
number imprisoned. Traditions say that Copin lived in one of the still
remaining "Jews' houses" in the Steep. The terrible massacre of the Jews
in Lincoln, Norwich, York, and other towns in the time of Richard I.,
was probably instigated by such tales as this.
The shrine, which remained perfect until the Civil War of the seventeenth
century, was in the Decorated style. The base still remains, and on it
has been placed a fragment of the original canopy. The arcade behind,
of five arches, is carved with the ball-flower, a distinctive mark of the
period; traces of colouring and gilding still remain. The stone coffin
below was opened in the year 1791, when it was found to contain the
skeleton of a child, 3 ft. 3 in. long, encased in lead.
An inscription in the pavement of the aisle marks the burial place of
Henry of Huntingdon (b. between 1080 and 1085: d. about 1155). This famous
chronicler, who has recorded many interesting facts concerning the history
of Lincoln, was probably brought up in the household of Bishop Bloet. In
1109 or the following year he was made Archdeacon of Huntingdon (then
in the diocese of Lincoln). It was at the request of Bishop Alexander
the Magnificent that he undertook the "_Historia Anglorum_," which he
carried down to the year 1154.
The =North Aisle= has the double wall-arcade of St. Hugh on the one
side, and the arcaded screens on the other. Three of the screens are of
Grosseteste's time (1235-53); that in the easternmost bay is a slightly
later work.
At the western end, an oak screen, carved with Gothic tracery and the
linen pattern, separates the aisle from the chapel of St. James. The
two westernmost piers on the south side shew the clumsy way in which
they were restored after the fall of the central tower. On the side of
the third pier is a carved head supporting a bracket in Purbeck marble.
The =Eastern Transept= is also the work of St. Hugh. There have been
alterations made at a later period; these will be pointed out. The four
semi-circular chapels on the east side were considered by Professor Willis
to have been finished after the death of St. Hugh, though no doubt forming
part of the original design. There hardly appears to be any necessity to
assign them to a later date than the rest of the transept. The northern
arm is in two bays, with the two semi-circular chapels on its eastern
side, and a chamber, misnamed the "Dean's Chapel," to the west.
[Illustration: THE EAST TRANSEPT, LOOKING NORTH.
_S. B. Bolas & Co., Photo._]
The end bay of the transept is cut off by an arch, carrying a wall above
which reaches to the vault. The wall is pierced by openings similar to
those of the triforium and clerestory, but they are unglazed, and through
them we can see the windows of the outer wall. The compartment which this
end bay thus forms has a stone vault at the height of the lower arch,
leaving the part above open to the roof. Thus it happens that, looking
from below through the upper openings, we are able to see right through
to the massive wooden beams which support the outer roof. This is
the only part of the interior from which the roof can be seen. It is
interesting to notice the rows of windows in the north wall, culminating
in the narrow lancets which fill the gable. The triforium is very similar
to that of the choir. Each bay contains two arches, themselves divided
into two sub-arches. The tympana are pierced, as before, with trefoils
and quatrefoils, except in the case of the first bay on the eastern side,
where they are plain. This is an interesting point, and is considered
to mark the earliest existing part of St. Hugh's work. The clerestory
is formed of narrow single lancets. The double arcading of St. Hugh is
seen to the left of the doorway, in the north wall, which leads to the
cloisters. Two columns of extraordinary design occur in this transept.
One is at the south-east corner of the "Dean's Chapel," and the other
is in a corresponding position on the other side of the church. Each
consists of an octagonal pier in the centre, with crockets running
up four of its sides; these are protected by four circular shafts of
Purbeck marble, which stand before them and alternate with hexagonal
fluted shafts. The crockets form "a remarkable and uncommon feature,
which seems to have been in use for a very few years; it occurs also in
the west front of Wells Cathedral, the work of Bishop Joceline, a few
years after this at Lincoln" (_Rickman_). The original purpose of the
square chapel, constructed not long after the transept was built, is
not known. Its name, the =Dean's Chapel=, appears to be given without
reason. The oak door by which we enter from the transept has some
fine hinges and bands of wrought ironwork, dating from the thirteenth
century. The chamber was originally in two compartments, one above the
other. The upper one was reached by a newel staircase to the north; this
is now blocked up. The dividing floor has been removed, but the line may
be traced on the walls, and the curious triangular-headed recesses above
look like the cupboards of a dispensary. It has been suggested that the
upper chamber served this purpose. There appears to be nothing which
would give a clue as to the use to which the lower chamber was put. It
is lit by two rough square-headed windows, cut in the double arcade of
the western wall. The south window has still the original oak shutters,
with wrought-iron hinges and bands. The tie-beams of the east and south
arches of the compartment still remain, and are now built up in the
walls. The more northern of the semi-circular chapels is the one that
was lengthened in the early part of the thirteenth century; the present
eastern wall is entirely the work of James Essex, who, it will be
remembered, reconstructed the chapel in 1772. It would be difficult to
trace the history of this chapel. Whether it was dedicated to St. John
the Baptist, and was consequently the original burial-place of St. Hugh,
or whether it was (as Dugdale called it) the chapel of the Virgin Mary,
is a question still undecided.[9] Like its neighbour, it is divided off
from the transept by an oak screen carved with Gothic tracery (partly in
openwork), and the linen pattern, constructed probably about the end of
the fifteenth century. In the north wall there was originally a doorway,
now walled up, leading into the Common Room. Fragments of the monument
of Bishop Grosseteste, which stood in the south arm of the transept,
are now stored away in this chapel. Each chapel has arcading round its
walls, and is lit by two windows. On the wall which separates the "Dean's
Chapel" from the transept are painted full-length figures of Robert Bloet
and the three bishops who came after him--Alexander the Magnificent,
Robert de Chesney, and Walter de Coutances. They are said to have been
buried near here; if so, their tombs must have been removed from some
other spot, as the transept was not built until a later period. They
are marked in the plan of the year 1672 in Dugdale's "_Monasticon
Anglicanum_." The bishops are represented beneath Gothic arches, and
have their names inscribed above them. They were painted in the year
1728, by a Venetian artist named Vincenzo Damini, aided by his pupil,
Giles Hussey (b. 1710: d. 1788). Two years later Hussey accompanied his
master to Italy; Damini decamped at Bologna with all Hussey's property,
and the latter was obliged to obtain relief from Signor Chislonzoni,
a former Venetian ambassador in London. "Time," eighty years after, was
"fast destroying the tints," and another eighty years has continued the
work of destruction. From what still remains, it seems that it will be
no great loss when the pictures are entirely effaced.
[Illustration: TRIFORIUM ON THE WEST SIDE OF ST. HUGH'S TRANSEPT.
_H. C. Oakden, Photo._]
The southern arm of the transept has been considerably altered since it was
first built. It is in two bays, with two apsidal chapels to the east, and
the choristers' vestry and an ante-vestry to the west. At the south-west
corner, the large square canons' vestry has been built out at a later
period. There are indications which shew that the end bay was cut off by
an arch, in the same way as the northern bay of the transept. These are
noticeable in the column between the two apsidal chapels, and the lines of
the original low vaulting of this end bay may still be traced on the south
and west walls. When the arch and vault were removed, it would appear that
the upper part of this end of the transept was rebuilt. The last bay of the
triforium on the west has four narrow arches of equal height, whereas the
adjoining bay does not differ from that in the northern arm. In the south
wall there are two rows of three windows instead of two rows of two. The
chief indications of a later date are, however, in the smaller details.
Tooth ornament is used to a greater extent than in the rest of the
transept, and the wall spaces between the clerestory windows and the vault
are covered with diaper work. This profusion of ornament would not be
consistent with the time of St. Hugh. The alteration appears to have
been made about the middle of the thirteenth century. Precentor Venables
considered that its object was to throw a brighter light upon St. Peter's
altar, which stood in the southern apsidal chapel, and was, next to the
high altar, the chief altar in the church. The companion chapel has an
oak screen with Gothic tracery, and a similar screen opposite divides
the choristers' vestry from the transept. They both appear to date from
about the end of the fifteenth century. The southern chapel has a low
iron screen of modern workmanship. This chapel was the scene of the
murder of Subdean William Bramfield or Bramford, by one of the vicars
of the church, in 1205; the murderer was tied to the tail of a horse,
dragged to Canwick Hill and there hanged. The recumbent effigy in marble
of John Kaye, bishop of the diocese from 1827 to 1853, by Westmacott,
is now placed in the chapel; it formerly stood in the transept, and
was removed here for protection. At Cambridge, Kaye was Senior Wrangler,
Senior Chancellor's Medallist, and Junior Smith's Prizeman. In 1814 he was
appointed master of Christ's College; six years later he became Bishop
of Bristol, whence he was transferred to Lincoln in 1827. The walls of
both chapels are lined with arcading. The southern, unlike the other
apsidal chapels, has three windows. The south wall of the transept has
the double arcading, with figures of angels projecting from the small
compartments formed by the intersecting arches.
The =Choristers' Vestry= occupies the corner nearest the south aisle of St.
Hugh's choir, from which it is separated by a stone screen of the Decorated
period, excellently carved on both sides with diaper designs. The screen
reaches to the crocketed column before referred to. The long stone lavatory
within the vestry appears to be of the same date as this screen, against
which it is placed. Below the trough is a row of Gothic arcading. In the
corner is an old fireplace, the stone flue of which can be seen outside.
The double arcading along the west wall is less injured than elsewhere;
the sculptured angels which fill the spaces formed by the intersecting
arches are in fair preservation. Between this vestry and the canons'
vestry are two narrow chambers, one of which is used as an ante-vestry.
In the year 1805, between the 10th and the 15th January, the communion
plate belonging to the cathedral was stolen out of one of the vestries.
It consisted of one large dish, three plates, two large flagons, and two
cups with covers, all of silver gilt. A reward was offered for their
recovery, but without success.
[Illustration: NORTH SIDE OF THE ANGEL CHOIR.
_S. B. Bolas & Co., Photo._]
A stone in the pavement in front of the chapel containing the effigy of
Bishop Kaye, marks the position of the tomb of Grosseteste. Leland, in the
time of Henry VIII., mentions that "Robert Grosted lyethe in the hygheste
South Isle with a goodly Tumbe of Marble and an Image of Brasse over it."
The monument was wrecked in the wars of the following century. Fragments
of the stone canopy are still preserved; they are now deposited in the
northernmost semi-circular chapel of this transept.
The general effect of the interior of the minster would undoubtedly have
been better, had the original apse of St. Hugh still remained; the monotony
of the continuous line of vaulting, carried to such a great length at an
almost uniform height, would then have been avoided. But, taken by itself,
there is no structure of modest dimensions in the whole range of Gothic
architecture which is more beautiful in its details or more majestic in
its effect than Lincoln's =Angel Choir=. Architecture and sculpture of
the highest excellence are here united in a single work. Sir G. G. Scott
in his Lectures on Mediæval Architecture, speaks of the angel choir
in the following words:--"It is the most splendid work of that period
which we possess, and, did it not lack internal height, I do not think it
could be exceeded in beauty by any existing church." The period during
which it was in great part erected (1256-1280) was favourable to such
an undertaking. The primitive simplicity of the Early English Gothic was
giving way to the more elaborate forms of the Decorated period. During
this time, when tracery had not yet reached the flowing lines of the
later phases of Decorated work, Gothic architecture, and in fact Gothic
art generally, was at its best in our land. The angel choir was called
by Fergusson "the most beautiful presbytery in England." It is in five
bays, carried eastward at a uniform height and breadth with the choir
of St. Hugh. Lincoln stone is used throughout; relieved with shafts and
capitals of Purbeck marble. A better idea of the piers can be gained from
the accompanying illustration than from any description. The spandrels
of the great arches, which are plain in other parts of the building, are
here decorated with sunk geometrical forms. Each bay of the triforium
is divided, as elsewhere, into two arches, both of which enclose two
sub-arches; but the details are richer than in the earlier parts of the
minster. The clerestory has one window of four lights in each bay, with
an eight-foil and two trefoils in the head. The compartments of the vault
were originally coated with plaster, which has been scraped away so as
to shew the stone surface underneath. It is a question whether it does
not now look better than with the old plaster, and the gaudy colouring
which once, most probably, decorated it. The springers of the vaulting are
supported by slender shafts, which rest on elaborately foliaged corbels
in the spandrels of the great arches. The beautiful foliaged bosses
along the ridge rib are best seen from the triforium or the clerestory.
The great east window is considered to be the finest example of its style
in the kingdom. It is of eight lights, "formed by doubling the four-light,"
and has a great circle in the head, filled with a six-foil surrounded by
half-a-dozen quatrefoils. "Bar-tracery being fully developed," we read in
a note to Rickman's "Gothic Architecture," "the general appearance of the
window is rather Decorated than Early English, but the mouldings still
belong to the earlier style." "This window ... together with the whole
of that part of the choir is singularly and beautifully accommodated to
the style of the rest of the building."
The aisle windows are each of three lights, with three circles in the
head, two filled with cinquefoils and one with a quatrefoil. The two
east windows of the aisles are similar to the others. The wall below the
windows is decorated all round with arcading of a richer design than
that in the nave. Two trefoiled arches are included in a larger arch,
with a quatrefoil within a circle filling the head. The spandrels have
sunk trefoils. The bosses of the stone vaults to the aisles are carved
with sacred subjects, foliage, and grotesque figures.
[Illustration: EAST END OF THE ANGEL CHOIR.
_S. B. Bolas & Co., Photo._]
The sculptured angels, from which this part of the minster derives its
name, fill the spandrels of the triforium, occupying a length of 118 feet
on each side. It has been suggested that the idea may have been taken from
the angels in St. Hugh's double wall-arcading, remains of which are still
seen in different parts. The whole series has been fully illustrated,
and exhaustively described and interpreted by Professor C. R. Cockerell,
in the Lincoln volume (1848) of the Archæological Institute. Two hands of
different merit are recognised by him in the work; he considers Nos. 4 to
18 (counting round from the south-east corner) to be amongst the best. The
others are of inferior execution, though often of excellent design. They
were carved before being placed in their present positions, as is evident
from No. 11, the joints of which are not perfectly adjusted, and they are
of the same stone as was employed in the architecture of the cathedral.
Could it have been Richard of Stow or Gainsborough, the _cementarius_,
who was employed to execute these sculptures?
[Illustration: The Lincoln Imp.
Drawn by H. P. Clifford.]
A description of Lincoln minster would not be complete without a reference
to a small sculptured figure of vastly different character to the choir
of angels--that delightfully grotesque little specimen of ugliness, known
as the =Lincoln Imp=. He is to be seen on a spandrel on the north side,
squatting under the corbel above the easternmost pier. The broad grin,
the two short horns behind the ears, the hairy body, and the cloven hoofs
all combine to form a characteristic record of the exuberant fancy of
our mediæval artists. The incised lines in the pavement of the south
aisle, just where it joins the eastern transept, mark the position of the
foundations of St. Hugh's apse. The first window in this aisle, just over
Bishop Longland's chantry, is inscribed with the names and dates of the
Chancellors of Lincoln. The series commences at the end of the eleventh
century, and the last name recorded is "Edw. White Benson, S.T.P. 1872."
The east windows of the north and south aisles are filled with beautiful
=stained glass= of the Early English period. The subjects are arranged
within medallions, and, though somewhat difficult to decipher, appear to
represent scenes in the lives of two saints whose story has many points
of resemblance--St. Thomas of Canterbury and St. Hugh of Lincoln. The
glass is said to have been moved about the end of the last century
from the windows of the nave aisles. The date of the medallions may
be placed towards the middle of the thirteenth century, about the time
of the erection of the nave, and, of course, earlier than the windows
which they now occupy. The _grisaille_ into which they are now reglazed,
is considered by Westlake to be the earliest in England.
The great east window is filled with modern glass. It is believed to have
originally contained the arms of many of the English nobility. In the year
1762 it was reglazed by Peckitt of York; the design of that time seems
to have been chiefly, if not entirely, of geometrical forms. Portions
of Peckitt's glass now occupy a place in the north wall of the eastern
transept. The arrangement of the subjects in the present window is due to
the late Dean Ward. The compartments contain subjects illustrating the life
of Christ, and various scenes from the Old Testament history. The window
was executed by Ward and Hughes about the middle of the present century.
[Illustration: TRIFORIUM OF THE ANGEL CHOIR.
_S. B. Bolas & Co., Photo._]
The three chantries in the Perpendicular style which have been added to
the angel choir were constructed at different periods by bishops of
the diocese. The earliest of these, the =Fleming Chantry=, is on the
north side. Richard Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College, Oxford,
was appointed Bishop of Lincoln in the year 1419, and occupied the see
for twelve years. In earlier years he was known as a zealous supporter
of many of the doctrines of Wyclif, but was afterwards called upon,
as Bishop of Lincoln, to give effect to the council of Constance by
exhuming the bones of the reformer from the churchyard at Lutterworth,
burning them and casting them into the River Swift; "as the Swift bare
them into the Severn, and the Severn into the narrow seas, and they again
into the ocean, thus the ashes of Wycliffe is an emblem of his doctrine,
which is now dispersed over all the world" (_Fuller_). The front of
the chapel facing the choir is formed by a broad flat arch enclosing
the founder's tomb, with a narrow entrance at the side. The door is of
carved oak, with an ancient iron handle. On the tomb is the effigy of the
bishop, restored not long since to this its original place. It presents
a recumbent figure holding in the left hand a pastoral staff; the mitre
is held by two angels, and at the bishop's feet is a dragon. Underneath
is a horrible emaciated figure intended to represent the body of the
bishop after death. Such figures are not uncommon; perhaps the best
known example is in the choir of Canterbury Cathedral--the figure of
Archbishop Chichele. Some authorities have considered that the figure
at Lincoln does not represent Bishop Fleming, but that it formed part of
an earlier monument. The chapel has been restored in memory of the late
Sir Charles H. J. Anderson, Bart. (d. 1891), a native of Lincolnshire,
and the author of an entertaining pocket guide to the county. The roof
is of oak, carved with vine and oak foliage.
The =Russell chantry=, occupying a corresponding position on the opposite
side of the choir, was built by Bishop John Russell, who held the see from
1480 to 1494. He is called by Sir Thomas More "a wise manne and a good ...
and one of the best-learned men, undoubtedly, that England had in hys
time." He was Chancellor of England under Richard III., and also held
the post of Chancellor of Oxford University for some years. He died at
Nettleham in 1494. The chantry is similar in style to Bishop Fleming's;
its roof is of oak. The incised brass of the tomb has gone the way of
all the minster brasses. =Bishop Longland's chantry= is on the other
side of the south door. The general design is an imitation of Bishop
Russell's chantry, but the details are much more elaborate. Over the
flat archway facing the choir is the punning inscription, "Longa Terra
Mensura Eius Dominus Dedit," borrowed from the Vulgate version of the
book of Job (ch. xi., ver. 9). Round the inside walls of the chapel is
an unfinished row of stone niches, with elaborately carved canopies;
there is a panelled oak ceiling. This chapel was not erected until some
time after the others; John Longland was Bishop of Lincoln from 1521 to
1547. He held, like Russell, the post of chancellor of the University of
Oxford, but does not seem to have been very popular there, since on one
occasion he was pelted with stones. When Henry VIII. visited Lincoln in
1541, he was received at the western end of the minster by this bishop,
and stayed as his guest in the palace. Longland died in 1547, at Woburn,
leaving instructions that his bowels were to be buried there; his heart at
Lincoln; and his body in the chapel of Eton College. The building of the
chapel at Lincoln seems to have been commenced soon after the bishop's
accession to the see. Leland says "Byshope Russell, and Longland, now
Byshop, Tumbes be in to Chapells cast out of the uppar Parte of the
Southe Wall of the Churche." The chapel underwent a restoration in 1859.
The two chief =monuments= in the angel choir were the shrine of St. Hugh
and the monument of Queen Eleanor. The former, of silver gilt, fell
a victim to the royal greed of Henry VIII.; the latter, of more humble
material, survived those perilous times, only to be destroyed by the rude
soldiery of the Civil Wars in the seventeenth century. A description of
the monument has, fortunately, been left to us by Bishop Sanderson, and
the gilt brass effigy of the Queen in Westminster Abbey was the work of
the same artist as that at Lincoln, and most probably a duplicate of it.
Eleanor was the daughter of Ferdinand III. of Castile, and in 1254 was
married to Henry III.'s eldest son, afterwards king as Edward I. Her
attachment to her husband led her to accompany him on his adventurous
expedition to the Holy Land with Louis IX. (St. Louis) of France in 1270.
The king and queen seem to have travelled much together. They were both
present at Lincoln at the translation of St. Hugh's relics in 1280,
and ten years later, were again travelling northward, when Eleanor
fell ill of a slow fever, and had to be lodged at Hardeby (Harby),
just within the borders of Nottinghamshire. Lincoln was five miles off,
and medicines were procured in the city from Henry de Montepessulano,
to whom the sum of 13s. 4d. was paid. These remedies, however, proved of
no effect, and on the 28th November 1290 the queen died, in the presence
of her husband. Her body was embalmed and carried to Lincoln, where the
viscera were buried in the minster, and a noble monument was raised. On
the 4th December, the funeral procession left Lincoln, and journeyed to
London. The heart, at the queen's own desire, was deposited in the church
of the Friars Predicants in London, and the body was buried in Westminster
Abbey on the 17th December, the Bishop of Lincoln officiating. There
the monument was raised which still exists. The famous crosses, twelve
in number, were erected at the different places on the route where the
body rested for a night, doubtless in imitation of those in memory of the
king's old crusader friend. St. Louis had died at Tunis, and the body was
taken back to Paris, whence it was borne on the shoulders of men to the
venerable resting-place of the French kings at St. Denis. Crosses were
erected where the bearers rested in the journey from Paris to St Denis.
The first of the Eleanor crosses was at Lincoln, and there are records of
payments to the "cementarius" Richard de Stow for the work. The last was at
Charing. With reference to the monument in Lincoln minster, we learn from
Bishop Sanderson's description that it was an altar monument of marble,
"whereon was a Queen's effigies in gilded brass," and had the following
inscription in "Saxon" characters:--_Hic sunt Sepulta viscera Alienorae
quondam Reginae Angliae uxoris Regis Edwardi filii Regis Henrici, cujus
animae propicietur Deus.--Amen._ The marble tomb was executed by Dymenge
de Legeri and Alexander de Abyngton, who received £25 for the work;
Roger de Crundale had £1, 16s. 8d. for marble; William de Suffolk
was paid 8 marks for three little images of the queen, cast in metal,
to be placed near the tomb. William de Suffolk also produced some small
images for the church of the Friars Predicants in London. The effigies of
the queen both at Westminster and Lincoln, were cast by Master William
Torel, goldsmith and citizen of London. For the gilding, Flemish coin
were procured from the merchants of Lucca.
A modern stone monument, with a bronze effigy of Queen Eleanor on the
top, has recently (in 1891) been placed under the great east window,
near the Cantelupe monument. It is due to the munificence of Mr. Joseph
Ruston, and is a copy, as near as one can now tell, of the original
monument. In the north-east corner of the choir is a group of monuments to
a family which derived its name from Burghersh or Burwash in Sussex. Here
was the chantry of St. Catherine, founded by Bartholomew, Lord Burghersh,
for the soul of his brother Henry and their father, Robert Burghersh. The
chaplains lived in the Burghersh chantry house in James Street. Leland,
in referring to the "Burwasche" family, says that "they foundyd 5. Prists,
and 5. pore Scollars at Gramar Schole in Lyncolne." Henry Burghersh was
Bishop of Lincoln from 1320 to 1340. He was the third or fourth son of Sir
Robert Burghersh, Lord Burghersh. Like many of our mediæval bishops, he
appears to have been much more of a statesman than an ecclesiastic. For
some time he was Chancellor of England under Edward III., whose son,
the Black Prince, he baptised. He was a principal adviser of the king in
foreign affairs, and died at Ghent in the year 1340, while there engaged in
business of State. The monument is of stone, with a fine recumbent effigy
of the bishop on the top, now much defaced. His mitre is supported by two
angels. Along the north side of the monument runs an arcade of five arches,
within each of which are two seated figures, whose armorial shields appear
in the spandrels above. First (at the head) is Edward III.; then follow
his four sons: Edward, the Black Prince, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, John
of Gaunt, and Edmund, Duke of York; next is Henry, Duke of Lancaster,
whose daughter, Blanche, married John of Gaunt. The other effigies are
those of persons allied with the Burghersh family. On the other side of
the monument are four panels of Gothic tracery with shields of arms. The
legend runs that at Tinghurst, in Buckinghamshire, Bishop Henry Burghersh,
"by mere might against all right and reason," enclosed the land of many
poor people, without recompense, in order to complete his park. The ghost
of the bishop could not rest after his death, but appeared to the canons
of Lincoln in hunting dress, telling them he was appointed keeper of
the park, and beseeching them to throw it open. The canons, thus warned,
restored the land to its rightful possessors.
Next to this is another Burghersh monument, which authorities do not seem
to be quite agreed about. Leland, after speaking of the bishop's tomb,
says: "there is also buried at his Fete, Robart, _his Brothar_, a Knighte
of great Fame in the Warrs." But the general opinion seems to be that
Robert was not the brother, but the father, of Henry and Bartholomew. This
tomb is of similar style to the former, having figures beneath arches
on one side, and shields of arms on the other. The effigy is gone from
the top. The elaborate Gothic canopies which originally surmounted both
tombs were much injured by boys clambering upon them, and, becoming unsafe
at last, were removed in the early part of the present century. Against
the opposite wall, within a recessed arch under the easternmost window,
is the monument of Henry's elder brother, Bartholomew, Lord Burghersh
(d. 1355)--a soldier of much renown, who had a share in the victory of
Creçy. He held the important office of constable of Dover Castle and
warden of the Cinque Ports. In the year 1329, he was sent on a mission
to the Pope to plead for pecuniary aid from the revenues of the English
church; a tenth of them was granted to the king for four years. The
base of the monument has an arcade of six arches, each having two small
pedestals, for figures which are now gone. The armorial shields of the
persons originally represented beneath the arches still remain in the
spandrels. The effigy shows him clad in plate armour, and reclining
on his helmet; two angels at the head uphold the shield of his family,
and two others at the foot bear away in a cloth the deceased warrior's
soul. The canopy over the tomb bears the arms of Edward III. and his four
sons (the same as on the tomb of his brother the bishop), together with
the shield of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster and Lincoln. A detailed account
of the shields of arms on the Burghersh tombs may be found in the Lincoln
volume (1848) of the Archæological Institute.
[Illustration: TOMB OF SIR BARTHOLOMEW BURGERSH.
_H. C. Oakden, Photo._]
Joined on to the end of Bishop Burghersh's tomb is the lofty base of a
portable shrine. It has three niches, two on the north side and one in
the front, for worshippers to kneel in. Over the arches are shields
bearing the Instruments of the Passion. It is apparently of the same
date as the bishop's monument. The old pavement slab, worn away by the
feet of those who visited the shrine, has been left in front. Opposite
to the Burghersh monuments, just to the south of the great east window,
is the monument of Nicholas de Cantelupe, third Baron Cantelupe, who
died in 1355. This warrior was much occupied in the wars of Edward II. and
his successor, Edward III. He founded Cantelupe College, a college of
priests to celebrate at the altar of St. Nicholas,[10] which stood near
the tomb, at the eastern end of the south aisle. Baron Cantelupe's widow,
Joan, enlarged the foundation, and probably built the Cantelupe chantry
house in the minster yard. The effigy, in armour, is now headless and
legless. Round the base, on the south and west sides, are shields of arms
in panels, which shew traces of colouring. The monument has a lofty Gothic
canopy. Just westward is buried Prior Wimbische (or Wymbysh, d. 1478) "in
a fayre Highe Tombe." This monument, like the adjoining one, has shields
of arms on the base, and a rich canopy above; the effigy is headless.
Near these tombs, at the south-east corner of the choir, is the monument
to William Hilton, R.A. (b. 1786: d. 1839), and his brother-in-law, the
famous water-colour painter, Peter De Wint (b. 1784: d. 1849). Hilton
lived in a house, still standing, not far from the minster. His friend De
Wint greatly loved the level plains of Lincolnshire and the surrounding
country, and no artist was better able to depict its peculiar charms. The
minster was one of his favourite subjects, and he painted it from several
different points. The principal of these is a large water-colour in
the South Kensington Museum, taken from near the castle gateway (see
illustration, p. 33). The ancient houses seen near the Exchequer Gate
are an interesting record of old Lincoln. The marble relief on the west
side of the monument is copied from this picture. On the front are three
marble reliefs from pictures by Hilton--the Woman with the alabaster box
of ointment, the Crucifixion and the Raising of Lazarus. They are signed
"I. Forsyth sculp." The monument is of stone, with Gothic tracery, and
has four kneeling angels at the corners. It was erected in the year 1864
by the bereaved sister and widow, Harriet De Wint.
Across the middle of the choir, just behind the reredos, is a row of four
table-tombs. The first of these, to the north, was erected by Bishop Fuller
soon after the Restoration, to mark the supposed burial-place of Bishop
St. Hugh. The saint's shrine was in the centre of the choir, but it is
supposed that when the shrine was melted down the body was removed and
placed somewhere else, perhaps in this spot marked by Bishop Fuller. The
tomb was opened in the year 1886, when the stone coffin was found to
contain nothing but decaying vestments. In Leland's time, St. Hugh lay
"in the Body of the Est Parte of the Chirche above the Highe Altare."
The next monument is that of Bishop Fuller himself, who was summoned
_ex ultimâ Hiberniâ_, as the epitaph records, to preside over the See
of Lincoln. William Fuller was a chaplain of Christ Church Cathedral,
Oxford, but, as a steady Royalist, lost his post during the war. At the
Restoration he was rewarded with the deanery of St. Patrick's, Dublin,
and became soon after Bishop of Limerick. In the year 1667 the bishopric
of Lincoln was vacant. There were two candidates for the appointment,
Dr. Glenham, Dean of Bristol, and Dr. Rainbow, Bishop of Carlisle. Fuller,
hearing of this, suggested that the difficulty should be solved by his
own transference from Limerick to Lincoln, and his suggestion was carried
out. Pepys, a friend of Fuller's, mentions the fact with delight. The
new bishop did his utmost to repair the injuries perpetrated during the
Civil War. He restored many monuments, and was meditating other works
in the same direction, when he died at Kensington, 23rd April 1675. The
third monument is that of Bishop Gardiner, who presided over the see
for ten years, dying in March 1704-5. This bishop, in a visitation of
the diocese, found a bad state of affairs in several churches where the
chancels were disused and left "in a more nasty condition than the meanest
cottage," while the holy table was brought down into the mid-aisle. The
Latin inscriptions on the monuments of Bishops Fuller and Gardiner are
somewhat quaint. The last of the four monuments is that of Subdean Gardiner
(d. 1731-2), and his only daughter Susanna, who died a year later. Near
the monument of Bishop Gardiner is a slab in the pavement, marking the
tomb of "Michael Honywood, D.D., who was grandchild and one of the 367
persons that Mary, the wife of Robert Honywood Esq., did see before she
dyed lawfully descended from her." The elaborate stone monument in the
third bay on the north side is in memory of Bishop Wordsworth (b. 1807:
d. 1885), a nephew of the poet. The base is decorated with Gothic
arcading, and has figures of the twelve apostles. On it rests the
recumbent effigy of the bishop, clad in a cope and mitre. At his head
are two angels, and a dragon lies beneath his feet. Above is a lofty and
intricate Gothic canopy, with a figure of Christ in the centre.
A monument to Dean Butler (d. 1894) has recently been placed near the tomb
of Subdean Gardiner. It is of alabaster and red marble, with a recumbent
effigy of the dean, who is buried in the cloister garth.
In the next bay eastward is a slab which marks the burial-place of Oliver
Sutton (bishop of the diocese from 1280 to 1299), by whom the cloisters
were built. The slab, of Purbeck marble, was raised in the year 1889
by workmen engaged in repairing the pavement. Beneath was an oblong
stone chest, lined with sheets of lead, enclosing the skeleton of the
bishop, which lay in a mass of decaying vestments. On the right side of
the skeleton a silver-gilt chalice was found, with a paten laid upon it,
covered with a piece of fine linen. The chalice stands 4-½ in. high, with
a broad shallow bowl, 4 in. in diameter. The foot is circular, of the same
diameter as the bowl, and the knop projects ½ in. from the stem. It is
entirely destitute of ornament. The paten is 4-¾ in. in diameter, with the
_Manus Dei_ in the act of benediction, issuing from conventional clouds.
The large finger-ring of the bishop was also discovered. It is of pure
gold, with a massive hoop; a large piece of rock-crystal is set in
the oval bezel. These extremely interesting relics are preserved in
the Cathedral Library, where are also the rings of Bishops Gravesend
and Grosseteste. On the left side of the skeleton lay the mouldering
remains of a wooden crozier, carved with leaf ornament. In the north
aisle is buried Robert Dymoke (d. 1735), a member of the ancient family
who held for nearly five centuries the office of King's Champion. It was
the champion's duty to ride on his horse into Westminster Hall at the
coronation banquet, and three times to challenge to combat any person who
disputed the sovereign's title. A member of this family, Henry Dymoke,
acted as champion at the coronation of George IV. (19th July 1821),
the last occasion on which this custom was observed.
The =Cloisters= are reached by a doorway in the north wall of the eastern
transept. The door is of oak, with some ancient wrought ironwork scrolls
on the outer side. A narrow barred window over the door lights a small
room anciently used as a watching-chamber. A long, narrow vestibule leads
to the cloisters; it has a stone vault, rendered conspicuous by modern
colouring; the bosses are carved with foliage and figures. The windows
are filled with tracery similar to that in the cloisters, but they are
glazed, as the cloister windows probably were originally.
[Illustration: BISHOP WORDSWORTH'S TOMB.
_H. C. Oakden, Photo._]
[Illustration: THE CLOISTERS, FROM THE NORTH-EAST CORNER.
_S. B. Bolas & Co., Photo._]
The cloisters are in an unusual position; they were generally built on the
south side of the church, against the wall of the nave, where they would be
protected from the cold north and east winds. At Lincoln they are on the
north side, opposite the choir, and stand away from the walls of the
church. Lincoln had no need of cloisters, any more than York or Lichfield,
all three being secular churches. There seems to have been no idea of
their erection before the end of the thirteenth century. The colonnade
which has taken the place of the north walk, together with the Library
above it, was erected from the designs of Sir Christopher Wren in
1674. The cost was paid by Dean Honywood, who also gave to the chapter
his collection of books.
[Illustration: Arcade in the Chapter-House.]
An account of the contents the =Library= is given by Beriah Botfield in
his "Notes on the Cathedral Libraries of England" (1849). The MS. library
includes several Latin Bibles and Psalters, as well as a most valuable MS.
of Old English Romances, c. 1430-40, collected by Robert de Thornton, who
was Archdeacon of Bedford in 1450, and lies buried in Lincoln Cathedral.
Some time between the years 1816 and 1828, all the Caxtons and many early
volumes were sold, the proceeds being devoted to the purchase of more
modern works of which the Library stood in need. A number of useful books
were thus added to the collection, but only by the sacrifice of works
which it would be quite impossible to replace. At the time of Botfield's
visit, the library contained 4451 volumes, relating to theological,
classical and historical subjects. Among the English versions of the
Bible were found Tyndale's, Coverdale's, Cranmer's, Matthew's, the
Bishops' Bible and the Genevan Bible. The library contains a portrait,
said to be by Cornelis Janssens, of its great benefactor. The authorship
of this painting is very doubtful, since Janssens left England in 1648,
and Honywood was dean from 1660 to 1681.
[Illustration: Capital in the Chapter-House.]
The inside measurement of the cloisters is 120 feet from east to west,
and 90 feet from north to south. In the middle of the south walk there is
a doorway in the wall. A good view of the north side of St. Hugh's choir,
the side walls of the transepts, and the central tower, can be had from
the doorway. An old cast lead cistern in the corner is worth noticing. It
is cylindrical, with bands of vine-stems in relief. In the wall to the
left of the door are the fragments of the monumental slab of Richard of
Gainsborough (d. 1300). He is probably the same man as Richard of Stow
(a village not far from Gainsborough), who was engaged on the carved
work of the angel choir, and was also employed on the crosses in memory
of Queen Eleanor. On the other side of the door is a restoration of the
slab in plaster, and another restoration is in the pavement. The mason,
with a carpenter's square by his side, is represented beneath a Gothic
canopy; around is the inscription "Hic jacet Ricardus de Gaynisburgh
olym cementarius istius ecclesie qui obiit duodecim kalendarum junii
Anno domini MCCC."
In the north walk beneath the library is the original Swineherd of Stow,
which for many centuries crowned the northern turret of the west front. A
modern copy has now taken its place. At the east end of the walk, near the
library staircase, are several fragments of ancient carving, chiefly of the
Norman period. A stone coffin, carved with interlacing circles, probably
goes back to Saxon times. From this point may be had the best view of
the north end of the great transept, with its fine round window. Some
interesting relics of Roman Lincoln are placed on the floor at the foot
of the library staircase; they have been described by Precentor Venables.
Along the east walk of the cloisters is a row of wall-arcading, with
Purbeck shafts and tooth ornament.
[Illustration: THE CHAPTER-HOUSE.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
The vault of the three ancient walks is of oak, with stone springers.
There is a fine series of oak bosses, carved with figures, grotesque heads,
animals and foliage. An interesting set of photographs was taken from
these bosses when the cloister was in process of reconstruction a few
years ago; they are reproduced in the _Builder_ of July 19th, 1890. In the
cloister garth are the tombs of Dean Butler (to whose memory a monument
has recently been placed in the angel choir) and his wife, and Precentor
Venables (d. 1895) and his daughter. The late precentor will be long
remembered by those who are interested in the history of the minster;
the results of his patient investigations, published chiefly in the
_Archæological Journal_, cannot fail to be of great service to any
who are desirous of information with respect to the architecture of
the minster, or the antiquities of the city. The cloisters still bear
marks of the rough usage they received in the last century, when they
served the purpose of sheds for scaffolding and building materials. The
doorway opening into the vestibule of the chapter-house is in the east
walk. The oak door is a gift of the present bishop (Dr. King). Over the
door inside is an arcade of slender arches with a large round window
above, which would look better filled with coloured glass.
The =Chapter-house= is one of the earliest of the series of polygonal
chapter-houses in England, dating from the early part of the thirteenth
century. It is a decagon with two windows in each bay; nearly all of these
have now been filled with stained glass, in memory of different dignitaries
connected with the minster. The glass is by Clayton and Bell, and deals
with the history of the minster from its foundation. Below the windows
an arcade runs right round the walls, with Purbeck shafts, foliaged
capitals (see page 142), and a profusion of tooth ornament. Below the
arcading is a projecting stone seat. The stone vault is a little later
than the rest of the chapter-house. It is supported by a cluster of
shafts, against the wall, in each angle, resting on corbels carved with
foliage. Besides these, there is a massive central column, surrounded
by ten hexagonally-fluted Purbeck shafts, banded in the middle. Greater
experience was necessary before the Gothic architects were able, as at
York, to dispense with this central pillar, and to produce a perfect
Gothic dome of such large dimensions. A corbel, carved with oak foliage,
formerly supporting a figure of the Virgin Mary, is attached to the
eastern side of this central column. In front of this is a socket in
the pavement for holding a processional cross. The dean's chair, at one
time in the library, is a fine piece of early fourteenth-century carved
woodwork. On the arms are crouching lions; the front panel below the
seat is carved with rows of quatrefoils. The canopy over the chair is
modern. The chapter-house was restored under the directions of the late
consulting architect to the chapter, J. L. Pearson, R.A.
CHAPTER IV
LIST OF THE BISHOPS OF LINCOLN
=Remigius=--Rémi--(1067-1092), Almoner of Fécamp, in Normandy; made Bishop
of Dorchester by William the Conqueror, and soon after transferred the see
to Lincoln.
=Robert Bloet= (1094-1123), brother of Hugh, Bishop of Bayeux; Chancellor
of England under William the Conqueror and William Rufus; Justiciary under
Henry I.
=Alexander=--"the Magnificent"--(1123-1148), nephew of Roger, Bishop of
Salisbury; Archdeacon of Sarum, 1121; rebuilt chancel of St. Mary's at
Stow; bequeathed certain books of the Bible to the Dean and Chapter;
gatehouse of Eastgate in Lincoln granted to him as an episcopal residence
by Henry I.
=Robert de Chesney= (1148-1166), Archdeacon of Leicester; founded
Gilbertine priory of St. Catherine outside south Bar-gate; bought site for
episcopal residence at Lincoln in 1155, and commenced building palace;
purchased previous to 1162 "The Old Temple" in parish of St. Andrew's,
Holborn, as London residence of bishops.
The see was vacant until 1173, when Geoffrey Plantagenet, natural son of
Henry II., was appointed. He was never consecrated, although he retained
the temporalities for nine years.
=Walter de Coutances=--de Constantiis--(1183-1184), Vice-Chancellor of
England, Canon and Treasurer of Rouen Cathedral, 1173; Archdeacon of
Oxford, 1175; translated to Rouen, 1184; d. 1207.
See vacant, 1184-1186.
=Hugh of Avalon=--St. Hugh of Lincoln--(1186-1200), Procurator of monastery
of the Grande Chartreuse, 1170; Prior of Carthusian monastery at Witham, in
Somerset, 1175-6 to 1186; commenced the great hall in the bishop's palace
at Lincoln.
=William de Blois= (1203-1206).
See vacant, 1206-1209.
=Hugh de Wells= (1209-1235), Prebendary of Louth in the Cathedral, 1203;
Archdeacon of Wells, 1204; built kitchen and completed hall in bishop's
palace at Lincoln; also built manor-house at Buckden.
=Robert Grosseteste= (1235-1253), Archdeacon of Wilts, 1214 and 1220; of
Northampton, 1221; first Rector of Franciscans at Oxford, 1224; Prebendary
of Empingham in the Cathedral, afterwards exchanged for Archdeaconry of
Leicester.
=Henry de Lexinton= (1253-1258), Treasurer of Salisbury, 1241; Prebendary
of North Muskham at Southwell previous to 1242; Dean of Lincoln, 1245.
=Richard de Gravesend= (1258-1279), Dean of Lincoln, 1254; Treasurer of
Hereford previous to 1258; absent from diocese about 1267-1269, when John
de Maidenstone was in charge.
=Oliver Sutton= (1280-1299), Dean of Lincoln; built the cloisters.
=John de Dalderby= (1300-1320), Canon of St. David's; Archdeacon of
Carmarthen, 1283; Chancellor of Lincoln, 1293; one of the Commissioners in
1309 in proceedings against the Knights Templars. (Dalderby is a village in
Lincolnshire.)
=Henry Burghersh= (1320-1340), Prebendary of Riccall, in York Minster,
1316; Treasurer and Chancellor of England, 1328; deprived of
chancellorship, 1330; re-elected Treasurer, 1334; dismissed, 1337; obtained
right of sanctuary for bishop's palace and canons' houses at Lincoln.
=Thomas Bek= (1341--Feb. 1346-7), Doctor of Canon Law; Prebendary of
Clifton in the Cathedral, 1335.
=John Gynwell= (1347-1362), Archdeacon of Northampton.
=John Buckingham=--Bokyngham--(1363-1397), Prebendary of Lichfield and
Dean, 1349; Archdeacon of Northampton, 1351; Prebendary of Gretton in the
Cathedral, 1352; Keeper of Privy Seal to Edward III.; translated to
Lichfield, 1397; retired to monastery of Christ Church at Canterbury; d.
1398.
=Henry Beaufort= (1398-1404), Prebendary of Thame, 1389; of Sutton in the
Cathedral, 1391; Dean of Wells, 1397; translated to Winchester, 1404; d.
1447.
=Philip Repyngdon=--Repington--(1405-1419), Augustinian Canon of St. Mary
de Pré, Leicester, previous to 1382; excommunicated for Wiclifite heresy,
July 1382; abjured, Nov. 1382; Abbot of St. Mary de Pré, 1391; Chancellor
of Oxford University, 1397, 1400-1402; Chaplain and Confessor to Henry IV.;
Cardinal, 1408; resigned, 1419; d. 1424.
=Richard Fleming= (1419--Jan. 1430-1), Prebendary of Langtoft, in York
Minster, 1415; Rector of Boston; founder of Lincoln College, Oxford.
=William Gray= (1431-1436), Bishop of London, 1426-1431.
=William of Alnwick= (1436-1449), Keeper of the Privy Seal; Archdeacon of
Salisbury; Bishop of Norwich, 1426-1436; built east wing of bishop's palace
at Lincoln, with chapel and dining-parlour and a gateway tower.
=Marmaduke Lumley= (Jan. 1449-50--Dec. 1450), Treasurer of England;
Chancellor of Cambridge University; Precentor of Lincoln, 1425; exchanged
for rectory of Stepney, 1427; Bishop of Carlisle, 1430--Jan. 1449-50.
=John Chadworth= (1452-1471).
=Thomas Rotherham=--Scot--(1472-1480), Archdeacon of Canterbury, 1467;
Bishop of Rochester, 1468-1472; translated to York, 1480; d. 1500; second
founder of Lincoln College, Oxford.
=John Russell= (1480-1494), Archdeacon of Berkshire, 1466; Bishop of
Rochester, 1476-1480; first of "perpetual Chancellors" of Oxford.
=William Smyth= (1496-1514), Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, 1493-1496;
co-founder of Brasenose College, Oxford, with Richard Button.
=Thomas Wolsey= (1514), Dean of Lincoln, 1508; Canon of Windsor; Dean of
York; translated to Winchester and York, 1514; Cardinal, 1515; Papal Legate
and Lord Chancellor, 1516; d. 1530.
=William Atwater= (1514--Feb. 1520-1), Chancellor of Lincoln, 1506-1512;
Prebendary, Oct. 1512.
=John Longland= (1521-1547), Confessor to King Henry VIII.; Prebendary of
Lincoln; built chantry chapel in Cathedral,
=Henry Holbeach=--Rands--(1547-1551), Prior of Worcester, 1536; Suffragan
Bishop of Bristol to see of Worcester, 1538-1540; Dean of Worcester, 1540;
Bishop of Rochester, 1544-1547.
=John Taylor= (1552-1554), deprived by Queen Mary.
=John White= (1554-1556), Prebendary of Winchester; translated to
Winchester, 1556; deprived by Queen Elizabeth, 1559.
=Thomas Watson= (1557-1559), Dean of Durham; deprived by Queen Elizabeth.
=Nicholas Bullingham= (Jan. 1559-60--Jan. 1570-1), translated to Worcester,
Jan. 1570-1; d. 1576.
=Thomas Cooper=--Couper--(1570-1--1584), Dean of Christ Church, Oxford,
1566; Vice-Chancellor of the University; Dean of Gloucester, 1569;
translated to Winchester, 1584; d. 1594.
=William Wickham= (1584-1594), Dean of Lincoln; translated to Winchester,
1594; d. 1595.
=William Chaderton=--Chatterton--(1595-1608), President of Queen's College,
Cambridge, 1568; Archdeacon of York; Prebendary of Westminster, 1576;
Bishop of Chester, 1579-1595; resided at Southoe.
=William Barlow= (1608-1613), Bishop of Rochester, 1605-1608.
=Richard Neile= (1614-1617), Bishop of Rochester, 1608-1610; of Lichfield
and Coventry, 1610-1614; of Durham, 1617-1627; of Winchester, 1627-1631;
Archbishop of York, 1631-1640; d. 1640.
=George Montaigne=--Mountain--(1617-1621), Dean of Westminster, 1610;
translated to London, 1621; to Durham, Feb. 1627-8; to York, July 1628; d.
Oct. 1628.
=John Williams= (1621-1641), Dean of Westminster and Salisbury; Precentor
of Lincoln; Lord Keeper under James I.; translated to York, 1641; d. 1650.
=Thomas Winniffe= (1642-1654). Bishop's palace at Lincoln demolished during
this episcopacy.
=Robert Sanderson= (1660-1663), Regius Professor at Oxford, 1642 and 1660;
restored episcopal residence of Buckden at his own cost; transcribed
monumental inscriptions in the Cathedral.
=Benjamin Laney= (1663-1667), Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University,
1632-1633; Dean of Rochester, July 1660; Bishop of Peterborough, Dec.
1660-1663; translated to Ely, 1667; d. Jan. 1674-5.
=William Fuller= (1667-1675), Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, July 1660;
Bishop of Limerick, Mar. 1663-4--1667; repaired damage done to the
Cathedral, and restored monuments of Remigius and St. Hugh, supplying
epitaphs; bequeathed books to Cathedral library.
=Thomas Barlow= (1675-1691), buried at Buckden.
=Thomas Tenison= (1691-1694), Archdeacon of London; translated to
Canterbury, 1694; d. 1715.
=James Gardiner= (Mar. 1694-5--Mar. 1704-5), Sub-Dean of Lincoln, 1671;
rebuilt episcopal residence, ruined by storming of Castle and Close in
1644.
=William Wake= (1705-1715), Dean of Exeter; translated to Canterbury, 1715;
d. 1737.
=Edmund Gibson= (1716-1723), Archdeacon of Surrey, 1710; translated to
London, 1723; d. 1748.
=Richard Reynolds= (1723--Jan. 1743-4), Dean of Peter borough, 1718; Bishop
of Bangor, Dec. 1721-1723.
=John Thomas= (1744-1761), translated to Salisbury, 1761; d. 1766.
=John Green= (1761-1779), Dean of Lincoln and Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge,
1756; Resident Canon of St. Paul's Cathedral, 1771.
=Thomas Thurlow= (1779-1787).
=George Pretyman Tomline=, baronet (1787-1820), translated to Winchester,
1820; d. 1827.
=George Pelham= (1820-1827), Resident Canon of Chi-chester Cathedral, 1790;
Prebendary of Winchester, 1797-1803; Bishop of Bristol, 1803-1807; of
Exeter, 1807-1820.
=John Kaye= (1827-1853), Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, 1815;
Bishop of Bristol, 1820-1827; resided at old palace of Buckden until 1837,
when he removed to the newly-erected palace at Riseholme.
=John Jackson= (1853-1868), Canon of Bristol, 1853; translated to London,
1868; d. 1885.
=Christopher Wordsworth= (1868-1885), Headmaster of Harrow School,
1836-1844; Archdeacon of Westminster, 1865; resided at Riseholme.
=Edward King= (1885), Bishop's palace at Lincoln restored to its ancient
use.
DIMENSIONS.
Total Interior Length--482 feet.
Nave--Length to Screen, 252 feet. Width, including Aisles, 80
feet. Height of Vault, 82 feet.
Choir--Length, 158 feet. Height of Vault, 74 feet.
Presbytery--Length, 72 feet. Height of Vault, 74 feet.
West Transept--Length, 222 feet. Width, 61 feet.
East Transept--Length, 170 feet. Width, 36 feet.
Central Tower--Height, 271 feet. Height of Vault, 125 feet.
West Towers--Height about 200 feet.
Chapter-house--Diameter, 60 feet.
AREA--44,400 square feet.
[Illustration: PLAN. _See Key, next page._]
KEY TO PLAN.
A. North-West Chapel.
B. Ringers' Chapel.
C. Morning Prayer Chapel.
D. Consistory Court.
E. Chapel of St. Nicholas.
F. Chapel of St. Denis.
G. Chapel of St. James.
H. Chapel of St. Edward the Martyr.
I. Chapel of St. John the Evangelist.
J. Chapel of St. Giles.
K. "Dean's Chapel."
L. Choristers' Vestry.
M. Ante-Vestry.
N. Canons' Vestry.
O. Chapter-house Vestibule.
P. Old Common Chamber.
Q, R, T, U. Hugh's Semi-circular Chapels.
S. Foundations of Lengthened Chapel.
V. Longland Chantry.
W. Fleming Chantry.
X. Russell Chantry.
Y. Presbytery.
TOMBS, MONUMENTS, ETC.
1. Robert Burghersh.
2. Bishop Burghersh.
3. Queen Eleanor.
4. Sir N. Cantelupe.
5. Prior Wimbische.
6. Sir B. Burghersh.
7. Bishop Wordsworth.
8. Table Tombs (see p. 135).
9. Dean Butler.
10. Bishop Kaye.
11. Bishop Fleming.
12. Countess of Westmorland.
13. Catherine Swynford.
14. Litany Desk.
15. Remigius (?).
16. Font.
17. Easter Sepulchre.
18. Little St. Hugh.
19. Sir G. Talboys (?).
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES
[Footnote 1: Freeman, "Norman Conquest."]
[Footnote 2: Freeman, "Norman Conquest."]
[Footnote 3: _Archæological Journal_, vol. xl. p. 179.]
[Footnote 4: The chapel was reconstructed according to its original form
in 1772.]
[Footnote 5: _Archæological Journal_, vol. li. p. 104.]
[Footnote 6: Venables, _Archæological Journal_ vol. l.]
[Footnote 7: Professor E. A. Freeman, "York, Lincoln, and Beverley."]
[Footnote 8: In Gough's edition [1806] of Camden's "Britannia," is a plan
giving the positions of the grave-slabs in the old pavement.]
[Footnote 9: The matter is referred to on p. 20.]
[Footnote 10: What has become of the "merveylows fair and large Psaltar,
full in the Margin of goodly Armes of many Noble Men," mentioned by
Leland as being "in S. Nicholas Chapell"?]
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