The Beauty of the English Cathedrals page 2

Of the one-tower group, St. Albans and Winchester take first place in regard to architectural interest. The first is a remarkable building in every way.

To begin with, it is the second longest church in these islands. East and west its internal measurement is 520½ feet, against Winchester's 626 feet. Secondly, as in the case of both Winchester and York, its cruciform plan is of the very simplest. It consists of a nave with aisles, aisleless transepts, a choir with aisles, and a Lady Chapel. The great central tower, 144 feet high, with walls seven feet thick, is Norman except for a modern embattled parapet. The West Front is good modern work, the design of Lord Grimthorpe. While every period of architecture is represented in the interior - occasionally they jostle each other, as in the nave, where Early English work comes next to the rudest of Norman - Norman and Early English predominate. One may note in the south transept five lancet windows imitated from "The Five Sisters" at York.

Winchester owes its fame to its nave alone. It is also the longest church in the British Isles. The central tower is squat in proportion, and the late Perpendicular West Front might be that of a minor church. The choir is short and has four bays only; and beyond it the several bays of chapels, of lower elevation and mixed styles, give a rather odd effect of tapering.

But the nave is grand and impressive, both extern -ally and internally. The south side is plainer than the north, where the buttresses and pinnacles have been reconstructed, and Perpendicular windows and details are imposed upon its Norman design. The transepts, like the nave, are Norman. A handsome reredos hides the feretory and the eastern chapels, which contain the famous Chantry tombs, and at the west end of the north aisle is Bishop Edington's Cantoria or Minstrels' Gallery.

Gloucester, Worcester and Hereford form an interesting little group of one-towered churches in the West, the first two being very similar in outline. An unusual feature of Gloucester is the short choir and the long Lady Chapel. The largest Perpendicular window in England practically fills up the East Front. Worcester is externally a Geometric Decorated cathedral, but little remains of the old work. The nine-bay nave gives a good effect of length. The north transept is Norman up to the clerestory, and elsewhere specimens of Early English and Perpendicular work are fairly interesting.

Hereford, although another of the smaller cathedrals, has its own individuality. The chief feature of the exterior is the one central tower in the Decorated style.

Chester is another of the red sandstone churches, and has paid the usual penalty in decay. Its one tower is Perpendicular throughout; so is the not very impressive West Front. A feature of the interior is the large south transept, which was originally the separate parish church of S. Oswald.

The chief beauty of Carlisle is its choir. This is in the Geometric Decorated style, and has a perfection of finish that contrasts rather curiously with the very rough Norman work that is to be found in the nave and transepts. The east window here is famous.

One comes to Southwark, the last of the one-towered group. It has been extensively restored in the Early English style, a good deal of flint being used. The tower is angled with pinnacles. Inside a high modern stone screen effectually shuts off the east end of the choir. The thirteenth-century Lady Chapel occupies the entire breadth of the church.

Salisbury is easily the most important of the little group of one-spire cathedrals. Not only is its spire the tallest in the country (404 feet), but many other of its architectural details are singularly perfect. Furthermore, Salisbury is specially happy in its Close, which, being free of trees near the cathedral itself enables one to get an excellent view of every side of the building.

The grey stonework, covered in parts with lichen, has been restored remarkably little. Its Early English style is almost uniform. The West Front is like no other in so far that it hides the corners of the main roof behind it, extending considerably beyond the walls of aisles and naves.

At Norwich the central tower and spire is less by 89 feet, but this cathedral can boast a nave of 250 feet, which is only exceeded by St. Albans and Winchester. There is little to be said about the restored West Front. One huge Perpendicular window almost fills it. The Norman nave has fourteen bays, and one particularly notices the fine fifteenth century "lierne" vaulting.

Chichester yields to Norwich in size, but its West Front, flanked by pinnacled towers, is superior, and the Early English porch, heavily buttressed at the corners, with effective arcading and groining inside, is a notable feature. More distinctive still is the detached Perpendicular Bell Tower, 120 feet high. The very wide nave with double aisles is a peculiarity of the plan.

Christ Church, the cathedral of Oxford, suffers from being almost entirely shut in by the Collegiate buildings. To most people its external elevation is a spire and nothing more. Actually the body of the church is late Norman and Early English. Inside the triforium is the most individual feature in construction. Instead of being carried by the main arches, it rests on smaller arches, springing from capitals set against the main piers. It is thus under the main arches, not over them.

The last of the spire group is Rochester, and its spire has little of the loveliness of those at Salisbury or Norwich. It is, in fact, just a termination to the solid Norman central tower. Inside, the choir provides a very rare feature. Its aisles are cut off by a solid wall without any arches. There is a good deal of the original Norman masonry standing, particularly in the nave and triforium.