The Three Choirs: A Handbook to the Cathedrals of Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester / A Complete Description of the Buildings, a History of Each Diocese and Biographical Notices of the Bishops

by R. J. King

HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.

PART I.

History and Details.

I. The very interesting cathedral of Hereford, which represents an episcopal see existing, it is possible, before the arrival of St. Augustine, (see Pt. II.,) has suffered much from the hand of time, and more perhaps from so-called restoration. On Easter Monday, 1786, the western tower (a later erection than the Norman nave) fell, carrying with it the west front, and greatly injuring the first bay of the nave. The architect Wyatt was then at work on Salisbury Cathedral; and the restoration of Hereford was unhappily placed in his hands. With Wyatt, restoration meant destruction. Between the years 1788 and 1797 he expended a sum of £20,000 on this cathedral; shortening the nave by one entire bay; destroying the Norman triforium and clerestory, which he replaced by others of his own device; and constructing the present west front, which it is to be hoped will not be permitted to exist much longer. In 1841, at the request of the late Bishop Musgrave, a report on the actual condition of the cathedral was drawn up by Professor Willis; from which it appeared that the piers of the central tower were in a condition of much danger, and that the eastern gable of the Lady-chapel would inevitably fall unless preventive measures were at once taken. Accordingly, these and other repairs and “restorations” were effected between 1841 and 1852, at a cost of £27,000. The architect employed was Mr. L. N. Cottingham; and the then Dean Merewether’s own superintendence—whose zeal for the restoration of the building cannot be mentioned with too great respect—was unremitting until his death in 1850. Mr. Cottingham was not so completely destructive as Wyatt had been, but he rebuilt rather than restored, and allowed his masons to re-work ancient sculptures. Since the year 1858 the final restoration of Hereford Cathedral has been in the hands of Mr. G. G. Scott, and it need hardly be said that the work has been of a very different character. Where reconstruction has been necessary, every stone has been preserved, and, if possible, replaced. Whitewash and other defects have been removed with a sort of wire comb, which effectually cleans the stone, but does not remove ancient tool marks; and the sculpture and foliage consequently remain uninjured. These last works, completed in the year 1863, (when, on the 30th of June, the cathedral was solemnly re-opened,) effectually set forth the original beauty of the building, which ranks among the most interesting cathedrals in England.

The extent and nature of the different restorations will be pointed out as we proceed. It is no doubt to be regretted that so much rebuilding should have been necessary; but this has been partly owing to original defects of construction, and partly to the nature of the stone, which was taken, apparently without much care in selection, from quarries in the old red sandstone, near the city. This stone is so much weather-worn in parts as to resemble the face of a sea cliff. Throughout Wyatt’s rebuilding and all the restorations, the new stone has been brought from the Caplar quarries near Fawley; from Lugwardine; and from some quarries nearer Hereford; also in the old red sandstone, but yielding blocks of a much harder and more durable character.

II. The Saxon Bishop Ethelstan (1012-1056) built a church from the foundations; which shortly after the accession of his successor, Leofgar, (1056,) was burnt together with the greater part of the city, by the Welsh king Gryffyth. The first Norman bishop, Robert de Losinga, (1079-1096,) who found his cathedral in ruins, began to rebuild it, taking for his model the church of Aachen, or Aix la Chapelle,—the work of Charlemagne[30]. This building was so far completed as to be dedicated (in the names of the Blessed Virgin and of Ethelbert King of East Anglia, see § X. and Pt. II.) in 1110, during the episcopate of Reinhelm, (1107-1115). The Norman portions of the existing cathedral (the piers of the nave, the choir as high as the clerestory, and the south transept,) belong to Bishop Robert’s cathedral. With the exception of its first foundation, however, and of the walls of the nave-aisles, “it is much to be regretted that the period of erection of no one part of this cathedral has been recorded[31];” and we are left to assign the various dates from the character of the architecture alone. They are probably as follows:—

Norman, 1079-1115. Piers of nave, choir as high as clerestory, and south transept, (which has had Perpendicular alterations).

Early English, circ. 1190. Vestibule of Lady-chapel.

Early English, circ. 1220. Lady-chapel.

Early English, circ. 1260? Clerestory and vaulting of choir.

Transitional, from Early English to Decorated, 1282-1287. North transept.

Geometrical, (Early Decorated,) 1287-1320. Eastern transept. Upper part of central tower.

Late Decorated, 1360-1364. Outer walls and windows of nave-aisles.

Perpendicular, 1492-1502. Bishop Audley’s chantry. 1516-1535. The north porch.

It thus appears that (besides the Norman work) Hereford Cathedral is principally rich in the architecture of the Early English and Geometrical periods. The Norman portions are curious and important. The Early English Lady-chapel is an excellent example; but the most remarkable part of the building is unquestionably the north transept. Bishop Cantilupe, who died in 1282, (and was canonized in 1320,) was buried in the Lady-chapel, which was the first addition to the Norman church. The north transept (into which the relics of the bishop were removed in 1287) was to all appearance built expressly for the reception of the Cantilupe shrine; and the further changes and additions during the early Decorated period may safely be assigned to the increase of riches and consequence which the possession of this shrine brought to the cathedral. In the same manner, at Gloucester (see that Cathedral) the possession of the remains of Edward II. was the cause of the entire alteration of the abbey church.

III. Hereford Cathedral is open on the north side, and a good general view may be obtained from the Close, [Frontispiece,] through which it is approached. On the south side the bishop’s palace and the college of the vicars choral fill the space between it and the river Wye. Eastward the cathedral was closely pressed on by the outworks of the castle, anciently one of the strongest on the Welsh marches, but of which only the foundations now remain. The Norman cathedral, built, as has been said, in imitation of that of Aachen, terminated eastward in a triple apse. (Compare Norwich, the most perfect example of a Norman ground-plan now existing.) The central apse was destroyed, in all probability, on the formation of the Lady-chapel; and the side apses, at a somewhat later period, were converted into the eastern transept, as it now appears. This double transept (possibly suggested by that at Worcester, which is a century earlier; see that Cathedral) combines, with Bishop Booth’s large projecting porch, in producing a degree of intricacy in the general outline, the effect of which is not lessened by the various alterations and restorations, which, however necessary, render it difficult to distinguish between the new work and the old.

IV. The cathedral is entered, on the north side, through an elaborate Perpendicular porch, completed in 1530 by Bishop Booth. It is of two stages. The lower is formed by three wide, open arches, at the outer angles of which are octagonal buttress-turrets, capped by very picturesque lanterns. The parvise chamber, forming the second stage, is lighted by three large Perpendicular windows, with rich tracery. This porch projects beyond an inner and smaller one, of the Decorated period, to which the doorway opening to the church (the mouldings of which should be noticed) belongs. The doors themselves are modern, and are covered with very good iron-work, designed by Mr. Cottingham, jun., and executed by Messrs. Potter of London. The hinges alone cost £140.

V. On entering the nave, the visitor should pass at once to the west end, where he will obtain the best general view. The great piers are Norman, and part of the original church. The triforium and clerestory and the vaulting of the roof are Wyatt’s work, (1788-1797,) as is the western wall with its doorway. The nave-aisles belong to the Decorated period. Wyatt, it must be remembered, shortened the original nave by one entire bay. The eye is at once struck by the massive grandeur of the great Norman piers and arches, and by the unusual darkness of the choir. Beyond the lofty circular arches of the central tower, and the superb

ARCHES OF NAVE.

Plate I.

modern screen on its eastern side, is seen the eastern wall of the choir, pierced below with a wide circular arch, receding in many orders, and above by three broad lancet lights. The lower arch is divided by a central pillar, from which spring two pointed arches, the spandrel between which is sculptured from a design of Cottingham’s. Beyond, again, is seen the east wall of the Lady-chapel, with its enriched lancets, and foliated ornaments above them. The effect of these three receding distances, with their varying light and shade, is unusually fine, and is not a little increased by the solemnity of the darkened choir. This darkness results partly from the heavy Norman architecture of the choir itself, and partly from the lofty transepts, which abut on it on either side. The nave and choir are of the same width (73-1/4 ft., including aisles; actual breadth of vaulting to nave and choir 31-1/4 ft.) and height (70 ft.)

The nave [Plate I.] now consists of seven bays. The massive circular piers have double half-shafts set against their north and south fronts. (The greater part of these are restorations, the original shafts having been cut away.) The bases are plain. The capitals of piers and shafts are rich and varied, especially those of the four easternmost piers, which have some very rich knot-work and foliage. The main arches recede in three orders, and are much enriched with the billet and other mouldings. The Norman work throughout the cathedral, when compared with that of the great buildings of the same age in the eastern counties, (Ely, Peterborough, or Norwich,) displays a richer and more involved class of ornament; such as reaches its highest development in the elaborate doorways of Kilpeck and Shobdon Churches, both in Herefordshire.

The triforium, and clerestory, both of which are Wyatt’s work, need not detain us. They are imitated from the Early English of Salisbury; and to make way for them, Wyatt destroyed the original Norman work, of which only a small portion had been injured by the fall of the tower[32]. The vaulting-shafts run up in groups of three, between each bay. The shafts themselves are restorations of the originals, much of which had been cut away before the fall of the tower; the corbels, below the capitals, are modern, and were copied by Cottingham from ancient examples. The roof is of wood, vaulted in imitation of stone, a description which is itself a condemnation. It has been coloured, under Mr. Cottingham’s direction, in a manner which can by no means be called satisfactory. The pavement throughout the nave has been laid (by Mr. Cottingham) with plain red and slate-coloured tiles. Two rows of gas-standards, the work of Messrs. Skidmore, are placed under the arches at intervals, four on each side.

VI. The nave-aisles were almost rebuilt during the late Decorated period. The Norman walls were allowed to stand for about 2 ft. above the foundations; and upon these bases the existing walls and windows were erected. The contracts for this work, dating between the years 1360-1364, were found by the late Dean Merewether, and are now preserved in the archive chamber. The vaulting of the roofs is coloured in the same unpleasing manner as that of the nave. The view looking up the aisle, into and beyond the transept, is remarkable, owing to the many receding stages. It terminates at the eastern end of the second transept.

In the second bay (counting from the west) of the south aisle is the font, of Norman design, and curious. The basin is circular, and has figures of the Apostles beneath arches, in the spandrels of which is a leaf-ornament. A lion projects from each corner of the base, an unusual and perhaps unique example. In the fourth bay is the very fine alabaster effigy of Sir Richard Pembridge, temp. Richard II. Sir Richard, an ancestor of the Chandos family, was one of the first knights of the Garter, and was present at Poictiers. The armour is an excellent example. Gold remains on the points of the cap to which the camail is attached, and on the jewelled sword-belt. The head rests on a tilting-helmet, with a sheaf of feathers coloured green. Between the feathers and the helmet is a coronet of open roses. The garter is on the left leg, and the feet rest on a greyhound. This monument was originally in the church of the Black Friars, and was brought thence to the cathedral after the Dissolution. The right leg, which had been destroyed, has been restored at the cost of the Rev. Lord Saye and Sele, Canon Residentiary.

In the wall of this aisle, in the third bay from the east, is the headless figure of an ecclesiastic, under a Decorated arch, foliated. In the second bay is an effigy of a priest of the early Decorated period, much mutilated, under a foliated arch, at the crown of which is a bearded head wearing a cap. In the third bay is a door opening to the cloisters, with a square heading which rises above the sill of the window over it. A row of heads in the hollow moulding of the door,—a fac-simile of a former composition, which had become entirely decayed,—and the modern iron-work, by Potter, with which the door itself is covered, deserve notice.

A narrow and lofty Norman arch opens from this aisle into the transept.

VII. The north aisle is Decorated, of the same character as the south. In the third bay from the tower is the north porch, (§ IV.); and in the bay above it is the monument of Bishop Booth, (died 1535,) the constructor of the porch itself. The effigy lies under a foliated arch with canopy. The Bishop, mitred and fully vested, holds the crozier (the head of which has been broken) wrapped with the infula, or fillet. Much colour remains on this monument, which is protected by its original iron-work, banded with shields and heraldic ornaments.

In this aisle, a stained-glass window by Warrenton, with subjects from the life of St. John the Baptist, has been inserted as a memorial of Canon Clutton and his wife.

VIII. Between the eastern piers of the central tower, but projecting from their bases more than 3 ft. toward the nave, is placed the magnificent screen of wrought iron-work, painted and gilt, executed by Messrs. Skidmore of Coventry, from the designs of Mr. G. G. Scott. This is the second great work of the kind which has been produced in England. It is in many respects finer and more important than the screen at Lichfield; but it is designed and constructed on precisely the same principles; and affords a complete vindication of the advantage and beauty of metal-work for the purpose to which it is here applied. Whilst the screen forms a sufficient division between the nave and choir, its extreme lightness permits the use of both tower and transept for congregational purposes.

The Hereford screen consists of five main arches, each subdivided by a slender shaft. The central arch, wider and higher than the rest, forms the entrance, and is surmounted by a lofty gable, on the summit of which is the cross. Panels of hollow tracery fill in the lower part of the arches on either side of the entrance, to the height of about four feet. The heads of the arches and the spandrels between them are enriched with elaborate tracery, chiefly formed by flowers and leafage; and the design of the cornice and cresting is of similar character. In the tympanum above the shaft which divides the arch of entrance is a figure of the Saviour, with hands outstretched in blessing. On either side, placed on brackets supported by the pillars of the main arch, are adoring angels, two in each group. Single figures of angels, holding instruments of music, are placed on brackets at the terminations of the screen, north and south.

The screen is wrought by hand throughout. It is mainly constructed of iron; but copper and brass are largely used; the first in the capitals, figures, and cornice; the second in the shafts of the smaller columns, and in parts of the larger. Coloured mosaics have also been employed. The variety of metals is another source of colour; but the hammered iron-work, forming the whole of the foliage, has been painted throughout. No colours have been used, however, but those of the oxydes of iron and copper—the metals employed in the work. The result is entirely successful. The beauty of the capitals of leafage, in which fine effects of light and shade are produced, and of the foliage and flowers in other parts of the screen, is very great; and every band and line of ornament deserves notice. The forms of both leafage and flowers are to a certain extent conventional, but may easily be recognised. The passion-flower especially has been much used, and with admirable effect. On the whole it may safely be said that this screen is the finest and most complete work of its class which has been produced in recent times; nor would it be easy to mention any piece of ancient metal-work—at least of equal dimensions—which will bear comparison with it.

Near the south-west corner of the screen is placed an eagle-lectern, designed by Cottingham and executed by Potter. The projecting branches, for lights, are unusual and picturesque. The cost of the lectern was defrayed by the Misses Rushout; but the money was misappropriated, and it was eventually paid for by subscription.

The old pulpit, of the seventeenth century, now stands against the north-west tower-pier; but will shortly be replaced by one more worthy of the cathedral.

The four great arches of the tower were in a condition of much danger when Dean Merewether commenced his restorations in 1841. The piers, and the four arches resting on them, were Norman; but owing to settlements in the foundations of the nave and tower, which had taken place at a very early period, they had been cased and otherwise repaired during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; and still later (probably during the episcopate of Bishop Bisse, 1712-1721) the two smaller arches of the tower (north and south) were filled with so-called “ox-eye masonry[33],” supported by two segmental arches branching from an octangular central column; whilst nearly all the smaller Norman arches in connection with the tower-piers were closed with solid masonry, leaving only doorways. In spite of all that had been done, however, Professor Willis, in his Report of 1841, pronounced the masonry of the great arches, and of the spandrel walls above, to be “in such a state of ruin as to make an immediate repair absolutely necessary for the preservation of the tower.” The piers themselves were in a condition of less danger; but Mr. Cottingham, to whom the work was entrusted, proceeded to remove all the additions that had been made to them since the Norman period, and, in effect, to rebuild them according to their original design. In this state they remain at present. The arches resting on them were at the same time reconstructed, and the ox-eye masonry which filled those north and south was entirely removed.

Before these restorations a vault of the fifteenth century rose immediately above the great arches, and concealed the upper part of the tower. This was removed. The whole of the tower above the arches dates from the beginning of the fourteenth century; and the interior walls, which are now visible from below, “are of a very singular construction; twelve piers of compact masonry on each side, beside angle piers, are carried up to the height of 26 ft., and connected half-way up by a horizontal course of stone, in long pieces, and by an iron bar, which runs all round immediately under this bonding course. Upon these gigantic stone gratings, if I may be allowed the expression, the interior wall of the tower rests; and they also carry the entire weight of the bell-chamber and bells. I believe this construction was entirely adopted for the sake of lightness[34].” This part of the tower, which has no decorative character, was not originally intended to be seen from below; and the fifteenth-century vaulting had replaced an earlier wooden ceiling. It is now completely open, and the flat wooden floor of the bell-chamber above it is coloured in blue and gold. From this floor depends a superb corona of wrought iron, by Skidmore—a worthy companion of the great choir-screen, and coloured in the same manner.

IX. The peculiar darkness of the choir has already been mentioned. It results mainly (as will be seen from the Plan) from the arrangement of the transepts, which prevents the admission of light to the choir except from its clerestory.

The choir and sacrarium, as at present formed, consist of only three bays, eastward of the screen. (The Norman choir extended no doubt to the western arch of the tower, if not into the first bay of the nave.) As far as the top of the triforium, the choir is Norman: the clerestory and vaulting are Early English, and date, apparently, from the middle of the thirteenth century. No record of their construction has been preserved.

The main arches of the choir are of three orders, and spring from massive composite piers, with broad, square bases. The capitals of the semi-detached shafts are enriched with leafage and grotesque heads. The triforium, in each bay, consists of one wide Norman arch circumscribing two smaller, divided by a central shaft, and springing on either side from two massive semicircular piers, with small capitals. Both outer and inner arches spring from these piers. The capitals of the central shafts have square abaci, and are enriched. The tympana of the outer arches are covered with scallop, leaf, and billet-ornament. At the base of the triforium runs a square stringcourse, enriched with minute carving. The lozenge ornament prevails round the main arches of the choir, as does the zigzag round those of the nave.

Broad square pilasters, with semi-detached shafts at their angles, fill the spaces between the piers. They terminate at the spring of the triforium arches in double triangular headings, with crocheted sides, and finials of leafage. These headings are Early English, of the same date as the clerestory and vaulting; and between each pair rises a group of so-called vaulting-shafts, with capitals of leafage, terminating at the base of the clerestory; and connected (under the actual base of the clerestory) by a band of open flowers. The clerestory consists of one lofty pointed arch in each bay, divided by a central shaft; on either side is a smaller trefoiled arch. The windows, of two lights, with a quatrefoil in the heading, are placed at the back of the wall-passage, and form in effect a double plane with the large inner arches. They are filled on each side with indifferent stained glass. The choir vaulting is plain quadripartite, with bosses of leafage at the intersections.

X. Before 1841, the east end of the choir was covered with an oaken screen, erected by Bishop Bisse in 1717; and above it was a Decorated window filled with a copy in stained glass of West’s picture of the Last Supper. The removal of the screen disclosed the great Norman arch of five orders, within which the reredos is now placed. Above this arch is a small blind arcade; and instead of the Decorated window,

THE ALTAR-SCREEN.

Plate II.

three lancets have been inserted at the back of the clerestory passage. Of these, the central window has been filled with stained glass by Hardman; too minute perhaps in design for the height at which it is placed, but very good. The subjects in this window are the Saviour in Majesty, the Resurrection, the Crucifixion. The subjects in the north and south lancets will comprise the principal events of our Lord’s Passion.

The reredos [Plate II.] below was designed by Mr. Cottingham, jun., as a memorial for Joseph Bailey, Esq., M.P. for the county of Hereford, who died in 1850. It is in oolite (Bath stone) and marble; and although too high for its position, is a fine work. Between the five canopied compartments rise small shafts, supporting angels, who carry the instruments of the Passion. The pierced leafage at the back of the canopies is very beautiful. The subjects in the panels are—the Agony in the Garden, Bearing the Cross, the Crucifixion, with floating angels above the Cross, the Resurrection, and the three Maries at the Sepulchre.

At the back of the reredos rises a pier from which spring two pointed arches, leaving a broad tympanum or spandrel, closing the upper part of the Norman arch. This is a restoration of Mr. Cottingham’s. The pier itself is ancient. The spandrel is covered with modern sculpture, having, above, the Saviour in Majesty, with the Evangelists holding scrolls; and below, a figure of Ethelbert, King of East Anglia, who was murdered by Offa, King of Mercia, and is said to have been interred in the first Saxon church on this spot. (See Pt. II.) Miracles were reported as having occurred at his tomb, and the second church here was dedicated to St. Ethelbert.

The very good brass of Bishop Trilleck (died 1360) is placed on the chancel floor. The graceful arrangement of the vestments—which do not include the tunic—and the architectural design of the canopy deserve special notice. The greater part of the inscription has been lost[35].

Against the easternmost pier on the south side of the choir is a small figure on a bracket, which possibly represents St. Ethelbert. It was found about the year 1700, buried at the entrance of the Lady-chapel, (where it is said to have been concealed during the siege of 1645,) and was replaced in what is believed to have been its original position. The figure wears a coronet terminating in leaves. The strings of the long mantle are crossed on the breast. Whatever the hands once held has been destroyed. The figure is certainly not earlier than the first half of the fourteenth century.

On the north side of the choir, in the easternmost bay, is the effigy of Bishop Stanbery, (died 1474,) whose chantry opens from the aisle opposite; (§ XIV.) The Bishop wears the alb, stole, and chasuble, the flowing ornament on which should be noticed. It should here be mentioned that Wyatt, following the same destructive course as at Salisbury, removed many monuments in the cathedral from their original positions; thereby rendering even their identification a matter of some difficulty.

In the next bay is the effigy of a bishop, fully vested, holding the model of a tower. This is assigned to Bishop Giles de Bruce, (died 1215); and Godwin (De Præsulibus) conjectured that the model indicated this bishop as having been the builder of the central tower—a conjecture which has been assumed as a certainty by every succeeding writer. But whatever architectural work Bishop Giles may have done, the tower, as was pointed out by Professor Willis, is nearly a century later. His effigy is one of ten which were erected during the Perpendicular period as memorials of earlier bishops, and which are now scattered in different parts of the cathedral. (In the same manner, many effigies of earlier bishops were sculptured at Wells (see that Cathedral) in the first half of the thirteenth century, and are all of Early English character.)

In the same bay is the monument of Bishop Bennett, (died 1617). He wears the rochet, and a close black cap, and rests his feet on a lion; an unusual instance of the retention of an earlier form. The Bishop was buried on this spot.

The stalls of the choir range up to this bay. They are Decorated, and very good. The small heads and ornaments of the shafts which support the projecting canopies should especially be noticed. The misereres are interesting, but of no special excellence. Two on the south side represent a cook throwing a platter at an intruder, and a pair of wrestlers with ropes about their necks. The whole of this ancient work has been carefully cleaned, and restored where necessary, under the direction of Mr. Scott. The new carving, which is very fine, and well worthy of its companionship with fourteenth-century wood-work, is entirely by Messrs. Ruddle and Thompson of Peterborough. Some of the new misereres, and the elaborately carved ends or heads, sixteen in number, deserve careful attention. The panel-work in front of the stalls is an exact reproduction of that before the episcopal throne.

The floor of the whole choir has been laid with tiles, manufactured (as are those throughout the church with the exception of the nave) by Godwin of Lugwardine. The pavement of the sacrarium is especially rich and elaborate.

The organ (by Renatus Harris, but remodelled and reconstructed by Davison under the direction of Sir Frederick Ouseley) is to be placed within the first archway on the south side of the choir.

XI. Through the north arch of the tower we pass into the north transept, [Plate III.]; one of the finest and most interesting parts of the church, which fortunately remained untouched until the cathedral was placed under the care of Mr. G. G. Scott, by whom this transept has been carefully restored. The date of its erection has not been recorded; but we cannot be wrong in assigning it to the period between the death of Bishop Cantilupe (1282) and his translation in 1287. The Bishop was at first buried in the Lady-chapel, but was

BAY OF THE NORTH TRANSEPT.

Plate III.

removed to this transept in 1287. The miracles reported at his tomb had already brought large sums to the Church; and the rebuilding of the transept for the reception of his shrine must have been completed before the removal of his body in 1287.

The Norman arches opening to the aisles of nave and choir resemble those which correspond to them on the south side of the church. The transept beyond them was, as we have seen, entirely rebuilt, and is one of the most remarkable examples of the period remaining in England. The unusual form of its arches, and its pure, lofty windows, are sufficiently impressive now; but their effect must have been wonderfully increased when the windows were filled with glass displaying the history and miracles of the sainted Bishop, and when the shrine itself was standing on its pedestal within the eastern aisle, rich with the gold and jewels offered by the numerous pilgrims who knelt daily before it.

The west side of the transept (which is of two bays beyond the aisle passage) is entirely filled by two very lofty windows, of three lights each. The heads of the narrow lights are sharply pointed; and the tracery above is formed by three circles enclosing trefoils. These windows are set back within triangular-headed arches. On the north side is a double window of the same character, divided by a group of banded shafts. The triple lights on either side of these shafts, and the foiled circles above them, precisely resemble the windows on the west side of the transept. The central tracery of the window is formed by a foiled circle, with a larger circle, enclosing a sexfoil, above it. The whole window is set back within a segmental pointed arch, with banded shafts at the angles of the jambs. The eastern aisle of the transept is divided into two bays by a clustered pier, the shafts surrounding which are alternately of sandstone and dark marble. Their capitals are enriched with foliage, and small knots of foliage are placed between the bases. The main arches are sharply pointed, and have many plain mouldings, with one band of dog-tooth ornament, highly detached. The triforium above (which extends beyond the actual transept, over the Norman arch opening to the choir-aisle) is especially striking. In each bay are two sharply pointed arches, each subdivided into three lesser arches, with foiled headings; and with three open quatrefoils as tracery above. The main arch is surrounded by a row of dog-tooth. The large spandrel spaces between the arches are entirely covered with a diaper of leaf-ornament, in low relief. The clerestory windows are octofoils, set far back within pointed arches. On the exterior, the form of the window openings is triangular, like those of the triforium at Westminster and those in the clerestory of the nave at Lichfield. On the interior, the sills of the windows slope forward with overlapping courses of stone, to the stringcourse at the top of the triforium. The sills of the great windows in the transept are formed in a similar manner, with overlapping courses of stone.

PEDESTAL OF THE SHRINE OF BISHOP CANTILUPE.

Plate IV.

The shafts at the angles of all the windows are ringed, and the triangular arches, throughout the transept, are slightly stilted. Such arches are by no means common. They occur, however, in the clerestory on the south side of the nave in Worcester Cathedral, but of later date than this transept, which was possibly imitated by the Worcester architect.

This transept has been carefully and truly “restored,” under the direction of Mr. G. G. Scott. The stone-work has been freed from whitewash and cleaned; and the plain quadripartite vaulting has been touched with colour, and the bosses gilt, with excellent effect. The vaulting springs from clustered shafts, the corbels supporting which, on the east side, are beautiful and singular, and resemble bunches of reeds, terminating in a small open flower. The small heads below these corbels, at the intersection of the main arches, should also be noticed.

The transept has been laid with red and green tiles in panels, the divisions being marked in grey sandstone.

XII. The eastern aisle is lighted by three very beautiful windows, each of three lights, with three quatrefoils in the tracery. They are set back within wider arches, as is the case with the windows in the main transept. In this aisle, in a line with the central pier, is the pedestal of the Cantilupe Shrine. [Plate IV.] (For a sketch of the life of St. Thomas Cantilupe, the last Englishman canonized before the Reformation, see Pt. II.) Bishop Cantilupe died on his way to Rome, at Civita Vecchia, Aug. 25, 1282. His remains were divided. A portion was interred near Orvieto; the heart was brought to Ashridge in Buckinghamshire; and the bones were brought to his own cathedral at Hereford, where they were deposited in the Lady-chapel. The reputation of Bishop Cantilupe had been great during his life. Numerous miracles were recorded as having taken place at his tomb, which soon became one of the most frequented places of pilgrimage in the west of England; and in 1286 (April 6) his remains were translated to a more stately resting-place in this transept, which had probably been rebuilt in his honour. The King, Edward II., was present at the translation. Bishop Cantilupe was not canonized until 1320[36]; but the pedestal of his shrine, which alone now exists, is (with the exception of the western end, which seems to be at least thirty years later) of the date of his translation.

This is a long parallelogram, narrowing toward the lower end, and is entirely of Purbeck marble. It has two divisions; the lower closed, like an altar-tomb, the upper a flat canopy, supported on small open arches. Upon this rested the actual shrine, containing the relics of the saint. Cantilupe was Provincial Grand Master of the Knights Templars in England; and round the lower division of the pedestal are fifteen figures of Templars in various attitudes, placed in the recesses of a foliated arcade. All are fully armed, in chain-mail, with surcoat, shield, and sword. All are seated, and tread on various monsters, among which are dragons, and swine muzzled. The spandrels in this arcade, and the spandrels between the arches in the upper division, are filled with leafage of the most beautiful and varied character. It is the leafage of the first Decorated period, retaining some of the stiff arrangement of the Early English, but directly copied from nature. In the lower spandrels it is arranged in sprays; in the upper it is often laid in rows of leaves, among which occur oak, maple, and trefoil. The whole of this work will repay the most careful examination. (It should be compared with the foliage of the capitals of the shafts surrounding the central pier of the aisle, which is far more stiff and conventional.) On the top of the lower division of the pedestal was a brass of the Bishop, of which the matrix alone remains.

The position of the shrine in this transept may be compared with that of St. Frideswide at Oxford, and with that of St. Richard de la Wych at Chichester. All had an altar immediately adjoining the shrine, which was dedicated to the saint, and at which the offerings of pilgrims were made. In these cases, however, the usual position of a great shrine—at the back of the high altar—was, for some special reason, departed from. At Hereford, this position of highest honour was probably occupied by the shrine of St. Ethelbert; and the shrine of St. Thomas Cantilupe must have taken an inferior place, had it been fixed near that. This was avoided by the dedication of the entire transept to the sainted Bishop. In the same manner, the south transept at Chichester seems to have been occupied by the shrine of St. Richard de la Wych; in whose honour the great south window was probably inserted.

On a bracket against the wall adjoining the shrine is a bust of Bishop Field, (died 1636). On the floor is a slab with effigy of John d’Acquablanca, Dean of Hereford, (died 1320). He was the nephew of Bishop d’Acquablanca, whose monument (see post) is close by. Under the north window of the aisle is a stone coffin, found under the centre of the north arch of the tower, during the restoration of the piers. It may be the coffin of Bishop John de Breton, (died 1275).

Under the great north window of the transept is a richly canopied tomb with effigy of Bishop Thomas Charlton, (died 1369). This effigy was not disturbed by Wyatt, and remains in its original position. West of this monument is the effigy of Bishop Westfaling, (died 1602). The canopy was destroyed by Wyatt. This is the bishop who is said so rarely to have smiled after his consecration to the episcopate; (see Pt. II.)

In the pavement adjoining the choir-aisle, a very good small brass has been inserted for John Philips, (died 1708, aged 32,) whose family were natives of Herefordshire, although the poet himself was born at Bampton in Oxfordshire, of which place his father was rector. His principal work, however, “Cider,” belongs essentially to Herefordshire. A monument to Philips was placed in Westminster Abbey by Lord Chancellor Harcourt, and bears an inscription written by Bishop Atterbury.

MONUMENT OF BISHOP D’AQUABLANCA.

(FROM THE NORTH TRANSEPT.) Plate V.

XIII. The north choir-aisle is entered through the original Norman arch; which (together with that opening from the nave-aisle) was cleared by Mr. Cottingham from the masonry with which it had been nearly closed, in order to strengthen the tower piers. Between this aisle and the eastern aisle of the transept is the very beautiful monument of Bishop d’Acquablanca, (1240-1268). [Plate V.] The effigy lies under a canopy supported by light shafts of Purbeck marble. The gables of the canopy are crowned with floriated crosses, the central cross bearing a figure of the crucified Saviour. The monument may be compared with that of Bishop Bridport at Salisbury, (died 1262,) which is, however, far richer and more elaborate. The tomb of Bishop d’Acquablanca was originally richly coloured; and an attempt at restoration was made by an amateur in 1861. It was soon, however, discontinued,—not unwisely, as the commencement remains to prove.

The Norman piers of the choir and the monuments described in § X. should be noticed from the aisle, the pavement of which has been laid in square panels of red and green tiles, with a border of grey stone. In the north wall of the aisle is a series of arched recesses, of Decorated character, with the open-flower ornament in the mouldings, episcopal heads at the crown of the arches, and heads of ecclesiastics at the intersections. In the first of these recesses east of the transept, is an effigy assigned to Bishop Geoffry de Clive, (died 1120). This is one of the series of Perpendicular effigies already noticed, (§ X.) Beyond this recess a door opens to the turret staircase leading to the Archive Room and Chapter Library, (see § XXIII.,) above the north transept. The effigy in the next recess (also Perpendicular) is given to Bishop Hugh de Mapenore, (died 1219). The window above is filled with stained glass, by Clayton and Bell, as a memorial of John Hunt, organist, died 1842, and his nephew James, “who died of grief three days after his uncle;” as appears from an inscription on a small brass plate at the side of the window. Beyond the entrance to Bishop Stanbery’s chapel is an arch open to the chapel itself, under which is a Perpendicular effigy assigned to Bishop Richard, (called “de Capella,”) died 1127.

XIV. Bishop Stanbery’s Chantry (1453-1474) [Plate VI.] is a good example of rich late Perpendicular. It is 16 ft. by 8 ft.; with two windows on the north side, (filled with stained glass, which forms part of the Musgrave memorial; see post,) and on the south the entrance, and the arch with effigy already mentioned. The west end is covered with tracery and shields in panels; and the east has shields with emblems above the place of the altar. The ceiling is richly groined. The grotesque capitals at the angles of the chapel should be remarked; as should the shields with emblems of St. Matthias, St. Thomas, and St. Bartholomew, over the arch on the south side. Other shields bear the arms of the see and of the deanery, with those assigned to St. Ethelbert, and to Leofric of Mercia.

Bishop Stanbery’s monument (§ X.) is on the wall of the choir immediately opposite his chantry. On the

BISHOP STANBERY’S CHAPEL.

Plate VI.

BISHOP STANBERY’S CHAPEL.

Plate VI.

panels toward the aisle are figures of saints, and angels bearing shields. In the wall of the aisle above the chantry, which is only 11 ft. in height, is a Decorated window filled with stained glass as a memorial of the late Dr. Musgrave, Archbishop of York; who, as Bishop of Hereford, was among the first to set on foot the restoration of his cathedral. The glass, which is by Warrenton, exhibits the principal events in the life of St. Paul. The subjects are continued in the windows of the chantry, which form part of the memorial.

XV. The north-east transept opens immediately beyond Bishop Stanbery’s chantry. The main character of this lesser, or eastern transept, is at present early Decorated, (geometrical); but it retains traces of the original Norman ground-plan. The Norman cathedral, like most great churches in England of that period, seems to have terminated in a triple apse, of which the arrangement may have resembled the eastern apses of Norwich and Gloucester, (see those Cathedrals). Portions of the central apse remain in the walls of the vestibule to the Lady-chapel; and parts of the apses which opened from the choir-aisles have been retained in the existing transept. These are all of transitional Norman character; and are considerably later than the Norman choir or nave.

Extensive alterations had been made in this part of the Norman cathedral before the great north transept was rebuilt in order to receive the shrine of St. Thomas Cantilupe. The Lady-chapel, dating from the early part of the thirteenth century, was the first addition; and its building must have followed very closely on the completion of the Norman retro-choir with its apses, the side walls of which were retained in the vestibule of the Lady-chapel. Considerably later, (at the beginning of the fourteenth century), after the completion of the north transept, the terminal apses of the choir-aisles were almost entirely removed, and the existing transept constructed. It is much to be regretted that none of these works have any recorded date.

A peculiar character is given to this transept by an octagonal pier, which rises in the centre, and assists in carrying the vaulting. The vaulting is quadripartite, with very good bosses of leafage. The windows are early Decorated. In the west wall of the transept are some Norman arches, which belonged to the original apse.

The transept has been restored under the direction of Mr. G. G. Scott. The tiles of the pavement are laid in panels, in which red and yellow are the prevailing colours. In one of the panels is a good modern brass for members of the Terry family.

Under the north-east window is a monument which has been assigned to Bishop Godwin, (died 1633); but which is in reality much earlier. Under the adjoining window, west, is the canopied tomb of Bishop Swinfield, (1283-1317). The episcopal effigy has long disappeared, and that which is now seen on the tomb is the effigy of some unknown lay person, dug up in the cloisters. The arched canopy has the ball-flower in its mouldings; and at the back of the recess is a much

COFFIN SLAB IN THE NORTH-EAST TRANSEPT.

Plate VII.

mutilated sculpture of the Crucifixion, surrounded by vine-leaves and tendrils. The work resembles the leafage of the Cantilupe Shrine, and is possibly by the same hand. In a recess decorated with the ball-flower under the arch opening to the vestibule of the Lady-chapel, is the effigy of an unknown lady, (fourteenth century,) dug up outside the church during the restorations. Against the walls of the transept are ranged some coffin slabs, with floriated and enriched crosses, found at different times and in various parts of the cathedral. One of these (circa 1250?) is given in Plate VII.

XVI. From the transept we pass into the ambulatory, or retro-choir, at the back of the altar. This is transitional Norman, and its two bays are divided by a pointed arch, which springs from circular shafts, at the back of the altar and at the entrance to the vestibule of the Lady-chapel. The ribs of the quadripartite vaulting are enriched with chevron and diamond mouldings of late character. The arches at the back of the choir-screen were decorated (see § X.) by Mr. Cottingham. On the base of the central shaft is an inscription recording the erection of the screen as a memorial of the late Joseph Bailey, Esq.; (see § X.)

The existing arrangement seems to indicate (although this has not been directly proved) that the Norman ground-plan, like that of Norwich, comprised an ambulatory or “procession-path,” passing round at the back of the high altar, and giving access to the central and side apses, which opened from it.

Window in vestibule of Lady-chapel.

XVII. The walls of this central apse are retained in the vestibule to the Lady-chapel. They are pierced north and south with transitional Norman window openings; pointed arches, with massive mouldings, one of which, an enriched diamond, runs round the soffete, and is carried on the capitals of triple side shafts. The foliage of the capitals is of completely Early English character. These windows (the glass in which, as is indicated by their rebated jambs, was fixed in wooden

EASTERN BAY OF LADY-CHAPEL.

Plate VIII.

frames) were built up in the wall, until the restoration of this part of the cathedral by Mr. Cottingham.

In the south wall of the vestibule is the very interesting monument, with effigy, of Dean Berew, or Beaurieú, (died 1462). The head of the effigy, delicately featured and full of expression, and the arrangement of the robe, especially at the feet, are very striking, and should be noticed. The feet rest on a boar; and in the hollow of the arch-moulding are boars and rue leaves, forming a “rebus” of the Dean’s name. Over the whole monument there are traces of painting, and at the back of the recess the kneeling figure of an ecclesiastic is distinguishable; possibly that of Dean Berew himself.

On the floor is the very fine brass of Richard Delamare (1435) and his wife Isabella. There is also here the brass of a priest in cope, circa 1450.

XVIII. An ascent of five steps (rendered necessary by the height of the crypt below; see § XXVI.) leads to the Lady-chapel, [Plate VIII.]; very rich Early English, and dating from the first half of the thirteenth century, (circ. 1220). It is 45 ft. by 24, and consists of three bays, in each of which, on either side, (except where the bay on the south side is filled by the Audley Chantry,) are two large windows. When Professor Willis made his report in 1841, the eastern gable of this chapel (then used as the Chapter Library) was in a state of “ruinous disintegration;” and one of the first works entrusted to Mr. Cottingham was the rebuilding of this eastern end. The pavement of the Lady-chapel, and other restorations, have happily been completed under the direction of Mr. G. G. Scott.

At the east end are five narrow lancets, set back within arches resting on clustered shafts, and much enriched with the dog-tooth ornament. The wall above these windows is pierced with five foiled openings; of which the three central are oval, the exterior on either side circular. The windows have been filled with stained glass designed by Cottingham and executed by Gibbs, as a memorial to the late Dean Merewether,—to whom the cathedral is so greatly indebted,—who is interred at the north-east angle of the chapel. The subjects commence with the early life of the Virgin, and proceed through that of our Lord, terminating with the supper in the house of Mary and Martha. The glass is good, but suffers from the want of white and neutral tints.

A black marble slab, with a brass plate by Hardman, has been placed over the grave of Dean Merewether. The inscription bears record that “to the restoration of this cathedral he devoted the unwearied energies of his life till its close on the 4th of April, 1850.”

The very rich clustered shafts and arches of the side windows should be especially noticed. The capitals of the shafts are of Early English leafage; and there are small heads at the intersections and crowns of the arches. A circle enclosing a quatrefoil pierces the wall above these windows. The vaulting is plain quadripartite, and springs from shafts which descend upon a base raised slightly above the pavement.

The modern pavement of the Lady-chapel is laid with red and green tiles, in large square panels. The whole design is broad and good in outline; and is somewhat richer at the altar end, which is raised on one step. The aumbry and double piscina on the south side of the altar are reproductions of the originals, which were in a state of extreme decay. Of the two stained windows on the south side, the most eastern (of late fourteenth-century character) was removed from St. Peter’s Church in Hereford, and was given to the cathedral by the late R. B. Phillipps, Esq. The window below is filled with Munich glass.

In the central bay on the north side of the chapel is a very fine Perpendicular monumental recess, within which is laid the effigy (much earlier than the recess) of a knight of the Bohun family. The recess itself has an upper stage or canopy, with open tabernacle-work, in the arches of which figures have been placed, none of which originally belonged to it, with the exception of the two central ones, now headless, representing the Saviour and the Blessed Virgin. The figures on either side were found imbedded in a mass of mortar behind the oaken choir-screen, on its removal by Mr. Cottingham. They represent St. John the Baptist, St. Thomas Cantilupe, and St. Thomas of Canterbury,—the latter distinguished by the pall and the patriarchal cross,—the fourth figure is uncertain.

The effigy placed in this recess has generally been assigned to Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, temp. Edward III. He was not however interred in this cathedral; and although the effigy is certainly of that date, it probably represents some less distinguished member of that great family. The features, uninjured, are fine. The chain-mail, the fringed poleyns at the knees, the surcoat, and all the details, should be noticed. The dog at the feet turns upward, licking his paw.

The monument, with effigy, in the most eastern bay on this side, is that of Joanna de Bohun, Countess of Hereford, (called Joanna de Kilpeck, from her castle there,) (died 1327). It has been painted in accordance with the remains of colour on its several portions; but with very indifferent success. The effigy is a good example of costume. Male and female heads project at the angles of the canopy; and the border of the slab on which the effigy rests has small human heads and roses with their leaves, alternately. The will of the Countess bequeaths a considerable estate to the cathedral.

XIX. In the central bay on the south side is the Audley Chapel or Chantry, [Plate IX.,] constructed by Bishop Edmund Audley, (1492-1502,) before his translation to Salisbury in the latter year. The chantry here was no doubt intended for the place of his own interment; but during his episcopate at Salisbury (1502-1524) he built a second chantry in the choir of that cathedral, (see Handbook for Salisbury,) within which he was buried.

The Audley Chapel at Hereford is of two stages, access to the upper being afforded by a circular staircase at the south-west angle. The lower story is separated

THE SCREEN OF BISHOP AUDLEY’S CHANTRY.

Plate IX.

from the Lady-chapel by a lofty stone screen with pierced panels. Figures of saints and of religious persons are represented on this screen, which has been restored and painted. The iron-work on the door opening to the staircase is excellent as an example, and should be noticed. The lock bears the Bishop’s initials.

The chapel is five-sided, and is lighted by two windows. There is a third window, opening through the screen into the Lady-chapel. The vaulted ceiling shews the remains of rich colour; and at the east end, over the place of the altar, are traces of a large painting with trees and figures. The upper story has five windows, in which are some good remains of the original glass. On the central boss of the groining is the Virgin, crowned, and surrounded by an aureole of rays. The arms of the Deanery, (Azure, five bends or,) and those of Bishop Audley, appear on other parts of the ceiling, with a shield bearing the initials (R. I.) of some unknown person. The top of the screen forms a parapet, dividing this story from the Lady-chapel. There are no traces of an altar here; and the upper story of this chantry probably served—like those of the chantries of Abbots Farley and Hanley at Gloucester, (see that Cathedral,) which are also attached to the Lady-chapel, and are constructed on a similar plan—as an oratory.

XX. The south-east transept resembles that opposite; but it was perhaps altered from the Norman apse at a somewhat later date. Its details are not so good as those of the north-east transept; and the window tracery is of almost flamboyant character. Bases of the earlier work remain in the walls.

Under the wall dividing the vestibule of the Lady-chapel from this transept is the monument, with effigy, of Bishop Lewis Charlton, (died 1369). Above it is that of Bishop Coke, (died 1646). In a square recess, in the east wall, is the fine bust of a Mr. James Thomas, who is buried near this place; and under it the brass of Sir Richard Delabere, (1514,) and two wives. In the recess, with the bust, are placed some carved Norman capitals, of early character. Under the south wall of the transept are monuments for Bishop Lindsell, (died 1634,) and Dean Harvey, (died 1500); neither of any great interest. Some fragments of brasses are attached to the walls of this transept, but are of little importance. The north-east window has been filled with stained glass by Warrenton, at the sole expense of Lord Saye and Sele, as a memorial of Bishop Huntingford, (1815-1834). The subjects are from the life of St. Peter.

XXI. In the south wall of the south choir-aisle are four arched recesses, of the same date and character (Decorated) as those in the aisle opposite. They contain four Perpendicular effigies; assigned (beginning from the east) to Bishop William de Vere, (died 1199); Bishop Hugh Foliot, (died 1234); Bishop Robert de Betun, (died 1148); and Bishop Robert de Melun, (died 1167). On the floor is the fine brass of Dean Edmund Frowsetoure, (died 1529,) in a richly diapered cope. Among the figures in the canopy are those of St. Ethelbert and of St. Thomas Cantilupe.

Between the two easternmost piers of the choir is the monument, with effigy, of Bishop Mayew, (1504-1516; see Pt. II.) The elaborate canopy has been restored, so far as any authority remained for the details. The panels in front of the monument are filled with figures of saints. The effigy, fully vested, and wearing a richly jewelled mitre, should be especially noticed. Under an arch opening to the choir, in the next bay, is a Perpendicular effigy assigned to Bishop de Losinga, (died 1096). Above it is a fragment of good wooden screen-work, of Decorated character.

A door in the westernmost bay of this aisle opens to two plain Norman rooms, now used as vestries. In the Perpendicular period an “eastern chamber” of two stories was added to this Norman building, and served as the treasury of the cathedral.

XXII. The great south transept retains much of its Norman work, but was much altered during the Perpendicular period. The east wall is entirely Norman, and is covered with five ranges of arcades, all of which are blank except those at the levels of the triforium and clerestory, which open to a wall-passage. The transept is only lighted on this side by two Norman windows in the clerestory. A large Norman arch, including two smaller, all much enriched, occupies the triforium space above the arch opening to the choir-aisle; and perhaps indicates that the Norman triforium

BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY.

Plate X.

has been already mentioned, to the Archive Room and Chapter Library, above the great north transept. This room has been thoroughly restored by Mr. G. G. Scott. The Library contains about 2,000 volumes, many of great rarity and interest. Nearly all are chained to the shelves; and the general appearance of the carefully guarded treasures is sufficiently curious. [Plate X.] Among the most remarkable printed books are—A series of Bibles, ranging from 1480 to 1690; Higden’s Polychronicon, by Caxton, 1495; Caxton’s Legenda Aurea, 1483; and Lyndewode Super Constitutiones Provinciales, 1475. Of the MSS., by far the most interesting is an ancient Antiphonarium containing the old “Hereford Use.” This “sets forth not only the services of particular days, the chants to be used and the lectures to be read, but contains a treatise on music and an ample calendar, in which are noted the obits of the benefactors and bishops of the church; and by which, with the aid of the Dominical letter, we are enabled to assign to the volume the date of 1265[37]”. It was purchased at a book-stall in Drury-lane about the year 1820; and redeemed by the Dean and Chapter, who restored it to its original and legitimate resting-place. Here also is preserved, carefully protected by plate glass, the remarkable Map of the World, [Plate XI.,] which is one of the most valuable relics of mediæval geography. It was the work of a certain Richard of Haldingham and of Lafford, (Holdingham and Sleaford in Lincolnshire,) who has commemorated himself in the following verses:—

“Tuz ki cest estorie ont
Ou oyront, ou luront, ou veront,
Prient à Jhesu en deyté
De Richard de Haldingham e de Lafford eyt pité
Ki l’at fet e compassé
Ke joie en cel li seit doné.”

The latter part of the thirteenth century is the date which has usually been assigned to it; but M. D’Avezac, President of the Geographical Society of Paris, who has recently examined the map with much care, arrives, from internal evidence, at the conclusion that it was designed at the beginning of the year 1314[38]. The map itself (drawn on thick vellum, and glued to a framework of oak) is founded on the mediæval belief that all geographical knowledge resulted from the observations of three philosophers, (here named Nichodoxus, Theodotus, and Policlitus,) who were sent forth by Augustus Cæsar to survey the three divisions of the world, when it was about to be taxed at the birth of our Lord. The Emperor is accordingly figured giving his directions to the philosophers. The world is represented as round, and surrounded by the ocean. At the top of the map, which represents the east, is Paradise,

ANCIENT MAP.

Plate XI.

with the Tree of Life, and Adam and Eve. Above is the Last Judgment, with the Virgin interceding for mankind. Jerusalem appears in the centre of the map; and near it, the crucifix is planted on “Mount Calvary.” Babylon has its famous tower; Rome bears the inscription, “Roma caput mundi tenet orbis frena rotundi;” and Troy is described as “Troja civitas bellicosissima.” (These four cities were regarded as the most important in the world: Troy, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, was a favourite subject of romance.) The British Isles occupy a considerable space; and Hereford, with its cathedral, is by no means obscurely placed. A great part of the map is filled with inscriptions taken from Solinus, Isidore of Seville, and others; and with drawings of the monstrous animals and peoples which the mediæval cosmography supposed to exist in different parts of the world. The monkey is assigned to Norway; the scorpion to the banks of the Rhine; and the “oroc” (aurochs) to Provence. Lot’s wife, the labyrinth of Crete, the columns of Hercules, and Scylla and Charybdis, should also be noticed. “The portrait of Abraham is seen in Chaldæa, and that of Moses on Mount Sinai. Amid the deserts of Ethiopia St. Anthony is recognised, with his hook-beaked satyrs and fauns. St. Augustine in his pontifical habit marks the situation of his own Hippo[39].”

The history of this very remarkable map is uncertain. It was discovered, probably about a century ago, under the floor of Bishop Audley’s Chapel; and Dean Merewether suggested (but apparently without the slightest authority) that it might have served originally as an altar-piece[40].

In the church is preserved a very curious chair of the thirteenth or fourteenth century, closely resembling those often represented in early sculpture and painting. It is formed in great measure of little turned balusters; and may be compared with a chair figured by M. Viollet-le-Duc[41] from sculpture at Auxerre. The Hereford chair (which at first sight looks like work of the seventeenth century, but is undoubtedly early, and a most valuable remnant of antiquity) may perhaps have served as the bishop’s throne, before the construction, in the fourteenth century, of that now in use;—or it may have been the bishop’s chair at the altar.

XXIV. A door at the eastern end of the south nave-aisle opens to the cloisters, of which only two walks, the east and south, remain. The west walk was pulled down in the reign of Edward VI. to make room for the

THE CLOISTERS, WITH THE LADIES’ ARBOUR.

Plate XII.

Grammar School, (taken down in 1836,) and a north walk never existed. (Hereford Cathedral, it should be remembered, had no monastic establishment attached to it; and this cloister, [Plate XII.] unlike that at Gloucester, was little more than an ornamental walk, connected with the Bishop’s Palace). The cloister is of Perpendicular date, with window-openings which deserve notice. The south walk is more richly groined than the east. At the south-east corner is a square turreted tower, called the “Ladies’,” or “Ladye Arbour,” the original purpose of which is not clear; nor has it been possible to trace the origin of the name, which apparently has some reference to the Virgin.

Some good old iron-work on a door between the cloister and the chapter-yard should be noticed. In the cloister are placed monuments for—Dr. Matthews, (with sculptured figures); Bishop Huntingford, (died 1832); and Bishop Grey, (died 1837).

Between the cloister and the Bishop’s Palace, a remarkable chapel, which seems to have been early Norman, existed until it was pulled down by Bishop Egerton, (1724-1746). It had an upper and a lower story, in which were altars dedicated respectively to St. Mary Magdalene and to St. Catherine. One wall alone remains, and deserves notice.

From the east walk of the cloister a door opened to the vestibule of the chapter-house. This was ruined by the Parliamentarian troops; and much of its stone-work was used by Bishop Bisse, (died 1721,) and by his successors until recently, for the repairs of the episcopal palace. The foundations and fragments which remain shew that it was rich Decorated, in shape a decagon, with a projecting buttress at each angle.

At the south-west angle of the lesser transept is an entrance to the Vicars’ Cloister; (see § XXVII.)

XXV. The exterior of the great north transept should be especially noticed. The remarkable windows shew to great advantage from the outside, in connection with the massive buttresses, of which those at the angles are turreted, with spiral cappings. The clerestory windows are, as has already (§ XI.) been mentioned, triangular on the exterior, and resemble those in the outer wall of the triforium in the nave of Westminster. The upper window in the north wall opens from the Archive Room, (§ XXIII.) The external sills of all these windows resemble those of the interior, (§ XI.) They were walled up, but have been restored by Mr. Scott from original portions found embedded in the walls, partly in their places, and partly detached.

The date of the central tower, which rises above this transept, has not been recorded, but it may safely be placed between 1300 and 1310. It was probably undertaken immediately after the completion of the north transept, and the cost of its erection, like that of the transept, was no doubt defrayed from the sums which continued to be offered at the shrine of St. Thomas Cantilupe[42]. The tower (161 ft. high to the top of the pinnacles) is of two stages above the roofs, with buttresses at the angles. (The pinnacles which cap these buttresses are modern, and date from 1830.) The arcades and window-openings, as well as the buttresses, are covered with the ball-flower ornament, which is scarcely anywhere found in such profusion as here, and in the south aisle of the nave of Gloucester; (see that Cathedral).

The Stanbery Chapel (§ XIV.) projects between the great and the eastern transept. The graceful Decorated window of the choir aisle, which rises above it, and the Early English arcades which cover the wall of the choir between the clerestory windows, as well as the windows themselves, (see § IX.,) should here be noticed.

XXVI. On the south side of the Lady-chapel a porch opens to a staircase leading to the crypt. The porch (which is finely recessed) is, like the crypt, of the same date—Early English (see § XVIII.)—as the Lady-chapel, under which it extends. The crypt extends under the whole of the Lady-chapel; and is the solitary example in an English cathedral of a crypt constructed after the end of the eleventh century[43]. It is lighted by plain lancets, and consists of a nave and aisles 50 ft. long, and divided by plain clustered shafts. The crypt was repaired in 1497 by Andrew Jones, “Mercator hujus civitatis,” whose altar-tomb,—covered with an incised slab of large dimensions and elaborate decoration, representing the merchant and his wife—remains in the centre. This crypt is called the “Golgotha”—from its having been used as the charnel or domus carnaria—the place appropriated for the decent reception of disinterred fragments of the bodies of the defunct, and special services for the repose of their souls. Adjoining Worcester, Norwich, and some other cathedrals, a chapel, separated from the cathedral itself, was used for this purpose.

The east end of the Lady-chapel was, it must be remembered, rebuilt by Mr. Cottingham, (§ XVIII.) The gable above the five lancet windows is by no means an exact reproduction of the original, and the work is not too good. The Audley Chantry (§ XIX.) projects very picturesquely on the south side of the Lady-chapel. The side pinnacles were reproduced by Mr. Scott from old drawings; the finials are original, having been preserved in the crypt.

The existing west front of the cathedral is, as has already been said, a composition of Wyatt’s, and is unworthy of notice. The total exterior length of the church, including the buttresses, is 344 ft.

XXVII. On the south side of the Lady-chapel is the entrance to the College of Vicars Choral, (incorporated in 1396,) a very picturesque quadrangle, with an inner cloister. It is for the most part Perpendicular, (circa 1474). A long cloistral walk (109 ft.) leading from the quadrangle of the college to the south-east transept of the cathedral has the oaken beams of its roof very finely carved.

The episcopal palace lies south between the cathedral and the river Wye. It is almost entirely formed out of an ancient Norman hall with pillars of timber, and is consequently of considerable interest. In the Deanery is preserved a small reliquary, of Limoges work, dating from the early part of the thirteenth century. On it is represented the martyrdom of St. Thomas of Canterbury: on the lower part the murder, on the upper part the entombment of the saint. It no doubt contained a relic of the Archbishop. Similar reliquaries, with the same subjects, exist in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries, and of Sir Philip Egerton.

HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.

PART II.

History of the See, with Short Notices of the principal Bishops.

ARCHBISHOP USHER asserts that Hereford was the place of an episcopal see in the first half of the sixth century, when (A.D. 544) one of its bishops was present at a synod convened by the Archbishop of Caerleon. However this may have been, it is certain that the existing succession of bishops dates from A.D. 676; when Putta, Bishop of Rochester, whose Kentish cathedral had been plundered and desolated by Ethelred of Mercia, was placed at Hereford by Sexwulf, Bishop of Lichfield. Hereford was at this time a place of no great consequence. It lay about one mile distant from the Roman road which ran from Magna Castra (Kenchester) to Wigornia (Worcester); but it was not itself a station, and its later importance arose mainly from its position on a ford of the Wye, which Athelstane fixed as the boundary between the English and Welsh, in the same manner as he made the Tamar the boundary of the English and the Cornish of “West Wales.” Hereford thus became a frontier town; and one of the strongest castles on the marches of Wales rose near the cathedral, on its south side.

[A.D. 676-688.] Putta, the first Saxon bishop, received no great wealth with the church of Hereford. He was, says Bede, “more careful about ecclesiastical than secular matters.” During his rule here he taught, “wherever he was asked,” the chants of the Church,—those ancient Gregorian tones which Augustine had introduced at Canterbury, and which Archbishop Theodorus was now carefully disseminating throughout England.

The permanent establishment of Hereford as the place of an episcopal see was also the work of Archbishop Theodore, who after the Council at Hertford (A.D. 673) divided the great diocese of Mercia, as he had done that of East Anglia, into several bishoprics. (See Lichfield, Pt. II.) Of the bishops of Hereford between (688-1012) Putta and Æthelstan little is recorded beyond their names. Cuthbert (736-740) is an exception. In the latter year he was translated to Canterbury. (See that Cathedral, Pt. II.) It was during his archiepiscopate that the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed were ordered to be universally taught in English.

[A.D. 1012-1056.] Æthelstan, (“vir magnæ sanctitatis,” according to Florence of Worcester,) rebuilt his cathedral from the foundations. He was blind for thirteen years before his death; and the affairs of his diocese were administered by Tremerig, Bishop of St. David’s. In 1055, the year before Bishop Æthelstan’s death, the town of Hereford (Herefordport as it is called in the Saxon Chronicle[44]) was harried by a large body of Irish and Welsh, under Ælfgar, the exiled Earl of Mercia. “They burned the town,” says the Chronicle; “and the great mynstre which the venerable Bishop Æthelstan had before caused to be built, that they plundered, and bereaved of relics and of vestments, and of all things; and slew the folk, and led some away[45].” In the following year Bishop Æthelstan died, and was buried in this desolated church.

The great treasure of Æthelstan’s minster was the body of St. Ethelbert, King of East Anglia; whose head, says the Saxon Chronicle, was “stricken off by the command of Offa, King of the Mercians, A.D. 792.” This is the only notice of Ethelbert in the Chronicle; and Florence of Worcester is almost as brief. We know nothing of the real history of Ethelbert. Later accounts asserted that he was murdered at Sutton’s Walls, a chief palace of the Mercian kings, about eight miles from Hereford, where he had gone at the invitation of Offa, who had offered him the hand of his daughter Elfrida. His body was secretly interred at Marden, close to Sutton’s Walls. Three nights afterwards, Ethelbert appeared to a certain Brithfrid, and telling him where he had been buried, ordered him to remove his body to the “chapel of Our Lady at Fernlege,”—generally supposed, but without much authority, to have been on the site of the existing cathedral of Hereford. Brithfrid obeyed; and the translation took place, not without the occurrence of miracles on the way. Many others followed. The murdered king of the East Angles was recognised as a saint; and a sumptuous monument was raised over his remains by Offa, in token of his penitence. Bishop Æthelstan translated the relics into his new “minster,” which was dedicated to St. Ethelbert. His festival was duly celebrated until the Reformation. A fine Early English church, dedicated to St. Mary and St. Ethelbert, remains at Marden, where the body was first interred.

[A.D. 1056.] Leofgar, “Earl Harold’s mass-priest,” succeeded Æthelstan. “He,” says the Chronicle, “wore his kenepas (headpiece?) in his priesthood, until he was a bishop; he forsook his chrism and his rood, his ghostly weapons, and took to his spear and to his sword, after his bishophood, and so went in the force against Griffith the Welsh king; and he was there slain, and his priests with him, and Ælfnoth the shire-reeve, and many good men with them, and the others fled away. This was eight nights before Midsummer[46].” After Leofgar’s death the see remained vacant for four years, during which it was under the rule of Ealdred, Bishop of Worcester.

[A.D. 1061-1079.] Walter of Lorraine, chaplain of Queen Edith, was consecrated at Rome by Pope Nicholas II. (He had accompanied Bishop Ealdred of Worcester to Rome, on his elevation to the see of York.) Bishop Walter was a prelate of questionable sanctity, if the story told of him by William of Malmesbury is not an invention of his enemies.

[A.D. 1079-1095.] Robert de Losing, like his predecessor a native of Lorraine, is said to have been one of the most learned of the bishops consecrated by Lanfranc. Bishop Robert found his cathedral in ruins. It had apparently remained uncared for during the troubled times of the Conquest, and it had been partly burnt, as we have seen, by the Welshmen under Earl Ælfgar. The Bishop rebuilt it, taking for his model the church of Aachen, (Aix la Chapelle,) founded by Charlemagne. The existing choir (see Pt. I. § II.) has been regarded as part of Bishop Robert’s work.

Remigius of Lincoln, who had also been rebuilding his cathedral, had fixed the day for its dedication, and invited Bishop Robert of Hereford to be present. He refused to undertake the journey, however, saying, according to William of Malmesbury, that the stars assured him the dedication would not take place in the lifetime of Remigius; who died, in fact, the day before that appointed. Bishop Robert is said by Malmesbury to have received a forewarning of his own death from St. Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, with whom he had lived in the closest friendship. When Wulfstan was on his death-bed, Robert was absent with the King. His friend, says the Chronicler, appeared to him in a dream, and directed him to hasten to Worcester if he wished to see him once more. Bishop Robert set out at once, but whilst resting at Cricklade he was again visited by Wulfstan, who said, “Thou hast done what was possible, but in vain, for I have now departed. Thou, however, shalt not remain here long; and as a token that I speak true, thou shalt to-morrow receive a gift from me.” Accordingly, the Prior of Worcester, where Robert arrived the next day, presented him with a cope lined with lamb-skins, which St. Wulfstan had been in the habit of wearing on his journeys. The Bishop recognised the token, and returning to Hereford died there in the following June, (1095). St. Wulfstan’s death occurred in January.

[A.D. 1096, trans. to York 1101.] Gerard, nephew of Walkelin, Bishop of Winchester, and Chancellor under the Conqueror and William II. On his translation to York, Roger Lardarius was nominated to the see of Hereford by the King, Henry I. He died before he could be consecrated. Reinhelm was then chosen, and received the temporalities as bishop-elect from the King, by the delivery of the ring and pastoral staff. Anselm (see Canterbury, Pt. II.) refused to consecrate the bishops who had been thus invested; and Reinhelm accordingly restored the temporalities to the King, who, enraged by his submission to the Archbishop, banished him from the court.

[A.D. 1107-1115.] Reinhelm, the Queen’s Chancellor, was, however, consecrated by Anselm in 1107, after the King had conceded the main points in dispute, and the Archbishop had returned from his exile. (See Canterbury, Pt. II.) Reinhelm is commemorated in an obituary of the Canons of Hereford, as “fundator ecclesiæ S. Ethelberti;” and it has accordingly been considered that he completed the church begun by Robert de Losing. But of this there is no direct proof.

[A.D. 1115-1120.] Geoffry de Clive succeeded. “Bonus quidem et ille,” says William of Malmesbury, “continentissimusque; indifferenter cibis et vestibus quæ minori pretio taxarentur utens; agriculturæ studens.” He greatly improved the lands belonging to the see; but was more careful to increase than to distribute; “leaving great stores behind him to no heir.”

[A.D. 1121-1127.] Richard, called “de Capella,” a clerk of the King’s chapel. A bridge across the Wye, at Hereford, was partly built by this bishop. His successor,

[A.D. 1131-1148.] Robert de Bethune, had been nominated by the King (Henry I.) in 1129, but was not consecrated until 1131. Bishop Robert was a member of the noble house of Bethune; and received his early education from his own brother Gunfrid, a teacher of some celebrity. He became a canon in the Augustinian priory of Llanthony; and on the death of Hugh de Lacy, Earl of Hereford, was appointed to superintend the building of a religious house at Weobly, where the great Earl was buried. Here he worked as a common labourer, and is said to have injured his health so greatly, that he was recalled to his priory, of which he soon afterwards became the superior. When the see of Hereford became vacant, Robert de Bethune was recommended to the King by the Earl of Gloucester, and at last accepted the bishopric, “quamvis invitus.” During the troubles of Stephen’s reign Hereford suffered greatly. The cathedral was deserted and desecrated, and the Bishop himself was compelled to take flight in disguise. On his return, he “cleansed and repaired” the building. In 1148, Bishop Robert was present at the Council of Rheims, convened by Pope Eugenius III., then an exile in France; and died there, (April 16). His remains were brought to England, and interred in his own cathedral.

A short life of Bishop de Bethune, who was one of the best and worthiest bishops of his age,—a man of peace and religion, when by far the greater number of English bishops were little better than the most turbulent barons,—was written by William of Wycumb, his successor in the priory of Llanthony, and was printed by Wharton in the second volume of his Anglia Sacra.

[A.D. 1148, trans. to London 1163.] Gilbert Foliot, Abbot of Gloucester, the inflexible antagonist of Becket. Foliot “was admitted to be a man of unimpeachable life, of austere habits, and great learning. He was in correspondence with Popes Cælestine II., Lucius II., Eugenius III., and Alexander, and with a familiarity which implies a high estimation for ability and experience. He is interfering in matters remote from his diocese, and commending other bishops, Lincoln and Salisbury, to the favourable consideration of the pontiff. All his letters reveal as imperious and conscientious a Churchman as Becket himself, and in Becket’s position Foliot might have resisted the King as inflexibly. He was, in short, a bold and stirring ecclesiastic, who did not scruple to wield, as he had done in several instances, that last terrible weapon of the clergy which burst on his own head, excommunication[47].” It was Foliot who uttered the “bitter sarcasm” on Becket’s consecration as primate, “The King has wrought a miracle, he has turned a soldier and a layman into an archbishop;” but in spite of this, Becket “acquiesced in, if he did not promote, the advancement of Foliot to the see of London,” vacant when Becket was consecrated, at Whitsuntide, 1161. Foliot’s translation took place in 1163. From that time he appears on the King’s side, in opposition to the Archbishop, and Becket accuses him of aspiring to the primacy. The life of Foliot belongs too completely to the public history of his time, and is too closely associated with the career of Becket, to be dwelt on here at any length. He was among the bishops excommunicated by Becket on Ascension-day, 1169, and again in Canterbury Cathedral, on the Christmas-day before the Archbishop’s murder; and it was Foliot who preached in that cathedral on the memorable day (July 12, 1174) of King Henry’s penance. He died in 1187.

The letters of Bp. Foliot have been edited by Dr. Giles, (Oxon. 1845,) and form two volumes of the series illustrating the life of Becket. Foliot was annually commemorated by the canons of Hereford, as one who “multa bona contulit Herefordensi capitulo.”

[A.D. 1163-1167.] Robert de Melun (of Maledon), called by the annalist of St. David’s “Episcopus Anglorum sapientissimus.” He was present at the famous scene between Becket and Henry at Northampton, when he attempted, with Foliot, to take the cross from the hands of the Archbishop, to whose side he seems to have adhered.

[A.D. 1174-1186.] Robert Foliot, a friend and fellow-student of Becket, and probably a relative of Bishop Gilbert of London, although this is not certain. He was one of the four English bishops who in 1179 attended the Lateran Council convened by Alexander III., in which the Albigenses and Waldenses were excommunicated[48].

[A.D. 1186-1199.] William de Vere, son of Alberic de Vere, third Earl of Oxford. Bishop de Vere is said by Godwin to have built much, (multa dicitur construxisse,) but no part of the existing cathedral can be assigned to him, and indeed the authority for Godwin’s statement does not appear.

[A.D. 1200-1215.] Giles de Bruce, or de Braose, son of William, Lord Brecknock. He sided with the barons against King John, and was compelled to leave his see, the temporalities of which were seized by the Crown. He was afterwards allowed to return, and died at Gloucester in 1215. Bishop Giles is generally said to have built the central tower of his cathedral, but this (see Pt. I. § X.) is undoubtedly an error.

[A.D. 1216-1219.] Hugh de Mapenore, Dean of Hereford.

[A.D. 1219-1234.] Hugh Foliot, Archdeacon of Salop; founded and endowed a hospital at Ledbury.

[A.D. 1234-1239.] Ralph of Maidstone, “vir magnæ literaturæ, et in theologia nominatissimus,” according to Wyke the chronicler. He bought for the see a house in London, together with the advowson of the adjoining church, St. Mary Monthalt. In 1239 Bishop Ralph resigned his see, and became a Franciscan at Oxford, whence he afterwards passed to the house of the Franciscans at Gloucester, where he died.

[A.D. 1240-1268.] Peter d’Acquablanca, whose fine tomb remains in the cathedral, (Pt. I. § XIII.,) was one of the intruding “foreigners” by whom England was oppressed during the long reign of Henry III., and whose exactions and tyranny were among the chief causes of the rising of the barons under Simon de Montfort. Like the contemporary Archbishop of Canterbury, Boniface, Bishop Peter was a native of Savoy, and had come to England in the train of William of Valence. He obtained the see of Hereford in opposition to a canon of Lichfield,—“vir per omnia commendabilis,” says Matthew Paris,—who had been elected by the canons; but the King affected none but strangers. In 1250 Bishop Peter took the cross, and went, under the banner of the King of France, to the Holy Land. He returned in 1258, bringing letters, which are said to have been forged, but which professed to be those of the Pope, Innocent IV., commanding all religious houses to grant a tenth of their property toward the crusade. During his absence (in 1257) he spent large sums in endeavouring to procure for himself the see of Bordeaux, when the death of the Archbishop had been reported. But after the money had been spent, the Archbishop of Bordeaux proved to be still alive, and the unfortunate Bishop Peter became, says Paris, the subject of infinite jests. In 1263, with other “foreigners,” he was expelled from England; but he returned to the country, though not to his diocese, in the following year, when Henry III. reprimands him by letter, saying, that “coming to Hereford to take order for the disposing the garrisons in the marches of Wales, he found in the church of Hereford neither bishop, dean, vicar, or other officer to discharge the spiritual functions, and that the church and ecclesiastical establishment was in a state of ruin and decay[49].” The Bishop was soon afterwards in Hereford, where he was taken by Simon de Montfort, who seized all his wealth, and imprisoned Bishop Peter in “Ordelay” [Urdley] Castle. He died in 1268, leaving behind him no good reputation, although he had bought the manor of Holme Lacy for the cathedral, and left money for the annual distribution of much corn to the clergy of his church and to the poor. He founded a monastery at his birthplace, Aquabella, or Aquablanca, in Savoy, where his heart was conveyed for entombment, and where a monument with an inscription still remains. His body was interred in his own cathedral, under the canopied tomb already noticed.

[A.D. 1269-1275.] John Breton; has usually been considered the author of a treatise De Juribus Anglicanis, and is described by Sir Edward Coke as “a man of great and profound judgment in the common laws, an excellent ornament to his profession, and a satisfaction and solace to himself.” Selden, however, proved that the treatise contains references to statutes passed long after the death of Bishop Breton; and Bishop Nicholson suggests, with much probability, that the true writer of the abstract was a “John Breton,” one of the king’s justices (together with Ralph and Roger de Hengham) in the first year of Edward II.

[A.D. 1275-1282.] Thomas Cantilupe, who succeeded, was the last Englishman canonized before the Reformation. He was the son of William Lord Cantilupe, and his wife Millicent, Countess of Evreux. The future bishop and saint was educated at Oxford and at Paris, and after being made Chancellor of the former University, became Chancellor of England under Henry III. in 1265. He was, moreover, a clerical pluralist of the first order, being at once canon and chantor of York, archdeacon and canon of Lichfield and Coventry, canon of London, canon of Hereford, and archdeacon of Stafford. It is possible, however, that as in the case of Bishop Walter de Merton, who held the great seal immediately before Cantilupe, the King may have found no more ready means of paying his great officer than by such preferments. In 1275 he became bishop of Hereford. His episcopate was not a tranquil one. He vigorously maintained the rights of his see against both Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, and John Peckham, Archbishop of Canterbury, the latter of whom insisted on the visitation of Bishop Cantilupe’s diocese, as his metropolitan; a claim which the archbishops were then vigorously prosecuting. After a long dispute, Peckham solemnly excommunicated the refractory Bishop of Hereford, who at once proceeded to Rome, to lay his case before the Pope, Martin IV. There is reason to believe, however, that as an excommunicated person he could obtain from the Pope nothing more than “the promise of a quick despatch and removal of delays;” and that he only received absolution in the hour of his death, which occurred near Orvieto, August 23, 1282. Richard Swinfield, his successor in the see of Hereford, who had accompanied Bishop Cantilupe to Italy, proceeded, probably at his own request, to separate the flesh of his body from the bones by boiling. The flesh was interred in the church of Santo Severo, near Orvieto; the heart was conveyed to the monastic church of Ashridge in Buckinghamshire, founded by Edmund, Earl of Cornwall; and the bones were brought to his own cathedral at Hereford. As they were being conveyed into the church, says the compiler of the Bishop’s “Life and Gests,” Gilbert Earl of Gloucester approached and touched the casket which contained them, whereupon they “bled afresh.” The Earl was struck with compunction, and made full restitution to the Church of all the lands which Bishop Cantilupe had rightly claimed from him.

Swinfield, who had been the constant companion of Cantilupe, and many of the contemporary chroniclers, bear witness to the purity and excellence of the Bishop’s life, and his tomb soon became distinguished by miracles. The first of these, according to the annalist of Worcester, occurred in April, 1287; at the time, apparently, of the removal of his remains from the tomb in the Lady-chapel to the shrine which had been provided for them in the north transept. The number of marvels increased daily; for, “superstition,” in Fuller’s words, “is always fondest of the youngest saint;” and in 1289, Bishop Swinfield, who had brought Cantilupe’s bones from Italy, wrote to the Pope requesting his canonization. Many difficulties, however, were interposed; and in spite of numerous letters from Edward I. and his son Edward II., it was not until May, 1320, that the bull of canonization was issued by Pope John XXII.[50] It is possible that the excommunication of Cantilupe, and his connection with the Knights Templars, of which Order he was Provincial Grand Master in England, were among the causes of the delay. The Templars were arrested throughout England in 1307; condemned in 1310; and in 1312 the Order was finally dissolved in the Council of Vienne.

A book entitled “The Life and Gests of Saint Thomas Cantilupe,” said to be compiled from evidences at Rome, collected before his canonization, was published at Ghent in 1674. “No fewer than four hundred and twenty-five miracles,” says Fuller, “are registered, reported to be wrought at his tomb.... Yea, it is recorded in his legend, that by his prayers were raised from death to life three-score several persons, one-and-twenty lepers healed, and three-and-twenty blind and dumb men to have received their sight and speech[51].”

The arms of Cantilupe—Gules, three leopards’ heads jessant, with a fleur-de-lis issuing from the mouth, or—have since his canonization been assumed as those of the see of Hereford.

[A.D. 1283-1317.] Richard Swinfield, a native of Swinfield in Kent, from which place he is said to have transported a small colony of Kentish men to Herefordshire, laboured throughout his episcopate to procure the canonization of his predecessor, which was not effected until 1320. Bishop Swinfield, however, translated the remains of St. Thomas Cantilupe to the new transept in 1287; and besides this transept, the clerestory and upper portion of the choir, the central tower above the roof, and the eastern transept as it now exists, were either completed, or were in progress during his episcopate. A curious roll of the household expenses of this Bishop for the years 1289-1290 has been edited for the Camden Society, with some very interesting annotations, by the Rev. John Webb.

[A.D. 1317, trans. to Worcester 1327.] Adam Orleton This Bishop had joined the barons, under the Earl of Lancaster, against Edward II. and the Spencers; and in 1323,—two years after the defeat of the barons at Boroughbridge,—he was impeached in Parliament as having given “countenance and assistance to the rebellion.” He refused, as a Churchman, to be so tried, and was delivered to the custody of the Archbishop of Canterbury, whence he was afterwards brought before the bar of the King’s Bench. “These proceedings being looked upon as a violation of the liberties of the Church, the Archbishops of Canterbury, York, and Dublin, came immediately, with their crosses erected, into the court, and carried off the Bishop without giving him time to answer to the indictment[52].” The Bishop was tried in his absence, however,—(the first English bishop brought to trial in a temporal court,)—found guilty, and his temporalities confiscated. But these had been restored before 1326, when Bishop Orleton joined the party of Queen Isabella. He preached before her at Oxford, on the text “doleo caput,” (2 Kings iv. 19,) inferring that a distempered “head” should be removed; and the Queen proceeded with him to Hereford, where the younger Spencer was hanged. Thence the Bishop wrote his famous letter to the keepers of Edward II. at Berkeley Castle,—“Edwardum regem occidere nolite timere bonum est.” In 1327 he was translated, by the influence of the Queen, to Worcester; and in 1333 to Winchester, where he died in 1345.

[A.D. 1327-1344.] Thomas Charlton, Canon of York. In 1329 he was Treasurer of England. In 1337 he was sent to Ireland as Chancellor, and was afterwards Justiciary and “Warden” of that kingdom. In 1340 he returned to Hereford.

[A.D. 1344-1360.] John Trilleck. Little is recorded of this Bishop, whose fine brass remains in the choir of the cathedral. (Pt. I. § X.) He prohibited the performance of miracle-plays in churches within his diocese.

[A.D. 1361-1369.] Lewis Charlton; of some distinction as a theologian.

[A.D. 1370, trans. to London 1375.] William Courtenay, son of Hugh Courtenay, Earl of Devon. From London Bishop Courtenay passed to Canterbury in 1381, and died 1396. As Bishop of London, and as Archbishop, he was a strong opposer of Wickliffe. (See Canterbury Cathedral, Pt. II.)

[A.D. 1375, trans. to St. David’s 1389.] John Gilbert; was translated to Hereford from Bangor. In 1386 he was Treasurer of England.

[A.D. 1389-1404.] John Trevenant: sent on an embassy to Rome by Henry IV. in 1400.

[A.D. 1404-1416.] Robert Mascall: had been a Carmelite friar at Ludlow; whence he proceeded to Oxford, and there, by his learning, attracted the notice of Henry IV., who employed him on various embassies. He built great part of the church of the Carmelites in London, where he was buried. Bishop Mascall was present with Bishop Hallam of Salisbury, at the Council of Constance, 1415, 1416.

[A.D. 1417, trans. to Exeter 1420.] Edmund Lacy. (See Exeter Cathedral, Pt. II.)

[A.D. 1420, trans. to Chichester 1421.] Thomas Polton, Dean of York. From Chichester he passed to Worcester in 1426.

[A.D. 1422-1448.] Thomas Spofford, Abbot of St. Mary’s at York; to which monastery he returned in 1448, having resigned his see. “The record of his abdication is printed in Rymer’s Fœdera, vol. x. p. 215: in Wilkins’s Concilia, vol. iii. p. 538, is a writ of pardon for abdicating in favour of his successor, who was to allow him one hundred pounds yearly out of the revenues. The Pope testified by his bull that Spofford had expended on the buildings of his cathedral upwards of two thousand eight hundred marks[53].” No part of the cathedral itself can be of Bishop Spofford’s time; but possibly he erected the cloisters.

[A.D. 1449, trans. to Salisbury 1450.] Richard Beauchamp. For this Bishop, one of the best architects of his time,—the superintendent of the works at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor,—see Salisbury Cathedral, Pt. II.

[A.D. 1451, trans. to Lichfield 1453.] Reginald Boulers, Abbot of Gloucester.

[A.D. 1453-1477.] John Stanbery, translated to Hereford from Bangor. Bishop Stanbery was born at Stanbery, in the parish of Morwenstow, on the north coast of Cornwall; and bequeathed a “cross of silver gilt” to his baptismal church there. “He was bred,” says Fuller, “a Carmelite in Oxford, and became generally as learned as any of his order, deserving all the dignity which the University did or could confer on him. King Henry the Sixth highly favoured, and made him the first Provost of Eton; being much ruled by his advice in ordering that, his new foundation. He was by the King designed Bishop of Norwich, but William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, got it from him for his own chaplain, and Stanbery was fain to stay his stomach on the poor bishopric of Bangor, till, anno 1453, he was advanced Bishop of Hereford[54].” The Bishop was faithful to Henry VI. throughout his adversity, but was taken prisoner after the battle of Northampton, (July, 1460,) and was long confined in Warwick Castle. After his release he retired to the Carmelite monastery at Ludlow, and died there in May, 1474. He was interred in his own cathedral, in the chantry which he had built and endowed during his life. (Pt. I. § XIV.)

[A.D. 1474-1492.] Thomas Milling, Abbot of Westminster, Privy Councillor of Edward IV., and godfather to his son, Edward V. He was buried at Westminster, where a stone coffin remains which is supposed to have contained his body.

[A.D. 1492, trans. to Salisbury 1502.] Edmund Audley. (See Salisbury, Pt. II.) During his tenure of the see of Hereford he constructed the chantry on the south side of the Lady-chapel. (Pt. I. § XIX.) He was interred in the chantry he afterwards built at Salisbury.

[A.D. 1502, trans. to Bath and Wells 1504.] Hadrian de Castello, who had been entrusted by Henry VII. with the management of all business between England and the Papal Court, received both his English bishoprics at Rome, and never saw either. (See, for a fuller notice of him, Wells Cathedral, Pt. II.)

[A.D. 1504-1516.] Richard Mayew, Archdeacon of Oxford, President of Magdalen College, and Chancellor of the University, was Henry the Seventh’s Almoner, and was sent to Spain in order to conduct Catherine of Arragon to England. He received the bishopric of Hereford after his return. His fine tomb and effigy remain on the south side of the choir. (Pt. I. § XXI.)

[A.D. 1516-1535.] Charles Booth, Chancellor of the Welsh Marches, is best known as the builder of the north porch of his cathedral at Hereford. His tomb adjoins it. (Pt. I. § VII.)

[A.D. 1535-1539.] Edward Fox, Provost of King’s College, Cambridge, Almoner to Henry VIII., by whom he was employed on various embassies. It was Fox who first introduced Cranmer to the King, and Fuller calls him “the principal pillar of the Reformation, as to the management of the politic and prudential part thereof, being of more activity, and no less ability, than Cranmer himself[55].” He had been the first to instigate Wolsey, as papal legate, to commence a visitation of the professed as well as secular clergy, in 1523, in consequence of the general complaint against their manners. Bishop Fox died in London in 1538, and was interred in the church of St. Mary Monthalt.

[A.D. 1539-1552.] John Skip. On Fox’s death, Edmund Bonner was elected Bishop of Hereford, but before his consecration to that see he was removed to London. Bishop Skip had been Archdeacon of Dorset. He was one of the “notable learned men” associated with Cranmer in drawing up the “Order of Communion,” (1548,) and was probably one of those who assisted in compiling the first Common Prayer-book of Edward VI.[56]

[A.D. 1553-1554.] John Harley, was compelled to resign on the accession of Mary because he was a “married priest,” and died a few months afterwards.

[A.D. 1554-1558.] Robert Parfew, or Wharton, was translated from St. Asaph.

[A.D. 1559-1585.] John Scory, translated from Chichester. As Bishop of Hereford, Bishop Scory alienated many of the best manors belonging to the see, but it is very doubtful whether it was in his power to resist effectually the rapacity of the courtiers. It has been proved (see Exeter Cathedral, Pt. II.—Bishop Veysey) that in many cases the bishops of this period have been blamed for alienations which they had done their best to resist.

[A.D. 1586-1602.] Herbert Westfaling, Prebendary of Christ Church, Oxford. Godwin, who knew him intimately, describes him as a bishop of unusual excellence, of great purity of life, of great honesty and integrity, and of such serious gravity that he was hardly ever seen to smile. Sir John Harrington relates, that while Bishop Westfaling was preaching in his cathedral, a mass of frozen snow fell from the tower upon the roof, and so frightened the congregation that they endeavoured to escape in all haste. But the Bishop remained unmoved in his pulpit, calmly exhorting them to sit still and fear no harm. All the revenues of his see were expended in works of piety and hospitality by Bishop Westfaling, who left nothing but his private inheritance to his family. He was buried in the north transept, where his effigy remains. (Pt. I. § 12.)

[A.D. 1603-1617.] Robert Bennett, Dean of Windsor. Bishop Bennett was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where, says Sir John Harrington, he was “an active man, who played well at tennis, and could toss an argument in the schools even better than a ball in the tennis court.” He was a vigorous defender of the privileges of his see against the corporation of Hereford, and both he and his predecessor Westfaling expended large sums in the restoration of the episcopal residences at Hereford and at Whitbourn. Bishop Bennett’s tomb with effigy remains on the north side of the choir. (Pt. I. § X.)

[A.D. 1617-1633.] Francis Godwin, translated to Hereford from Llandaff. Bishop Godwin was the compiler of the “Catalogue of the Bishops of England,” to which all succeeding writers on English Church history have been greatly indebted. He was the son of Thomas Godwin, Bishop of Bath and Wells, and was born at Harsington in Northamptonshire. In the year 1601 he became Bishop of Llandaff, and in 1605 published the first edition, in English, of his “Catalogue.” It was again published in Latin, in 1616, and in 1743 this Latin version was edited, in a large folio volume, by Dr. Richardson, Canon of Lincoln, and Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Richardson made considerable additions to the book, besides correcting numerous errors; and it is his edition of the Commentary De Præsulibus Angliæ that is alone to be relied upon. “Bishop Godwin,” says Fuller, “was a good man, grave divine, skilful mathematician, pure Latinist, and incomparable historian. The Church of Llandaff was much beholding to him; yea, the whole Church of England; yea, the whole Church Militant; yea, many now in the Church Triumphant had had their memories utterly lost on earth, if not preserved by his painful endeavours. I am sorry to see that some have since made so bad use of his good labours, who have lighted their candles from his torch, thereby merely to discover the faults of our bishops, that their personal failing may be an argument against the prelatical function[57].” Bishop Godwin also wrote a life of Queen Mary, inserted in Kennet’s History of England, vol. ii.; and “Annals of England under Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Mary.” He was interred at Whitbourn, where the bishops of Hereford had a palace, April 29, 1633. A good portrait of Godwin, engraved by Vertue, is prefixed to Richardson’s folio.

[A.D. 1634, died in November of the same year.] Augustine Lindsell, translated from Peterborough.

[A.D. 1635, trans. to Norwich in the same year.] Matthew Wren. (See Norwich Cathedral, Pt. II.)

[A.D. 1635-1636.] Theophilus Field, had been Bishop successively of Llandaff and St. David’s.

[A.D. 1636-1646.] George Coke, translated from Bristol. He was brother of Sir John Coke, Secretary of State under James I. and Charles I. Bishop Coke fell upon the evil days of the civil war, and like the rest of the bishops, was deprived of his see. “He was a meek, grave, and quiet man,” says Fuller, “much beloved of such as were subjected to his jurisdiction[58].” He died in 1650.

For fifteen years the see remained vacant. In

[A.D. 1661, died the same year,] Nicholas Monk, Provost of Eton, was consecrated Bishop of Hereford. He was the brother of the great Duke of Albemarle. Bishop Monk never visited his diocese, but, dying at Westminster, was interred in the abbey church there.

[A.D. 1662-1691.] Herbert Croft, had been Dean of Hereford before the Rebellion. In his youth he had embraced Romanism, and had been received into the Order of Jesuits, but was reconverted by Bishop Morton of Durham. Bishop Croft is said to have been especially careful to promote none but the clergy of his own diocese to honourable positions within it.

[A.D. 1691-1701.] Gilbert Ironside, translated from Bristol.

[A.D. 1701-1712.] Humfrey Humphries, translated from Bangor. Wood declares him to have been “excellently versed in antiquities.”

[A.D. 1713-1721.] Philip Bisse, translated from St. David’s. Bishop Bisse expended much on the cathedral and on the palace. In the former he erected a Grecian altar-screen, which has been happily removed during the late restoration.

[A.D. 1721, trans. to Salisbury 1723.] Benjamin Hoadly, trans. from Bangor. See Winchester Cathedral, (to which see he was trans. from Salisbury,) Pt. II.; but it should be added that the passage there quoted from Hallam’s Constitutional History is far too favourable to the character of Bishop Hoadly.

[A.D. 1724-1746.] Henry Egerton, fifth son of the third Earl of Bridgewater.

[A.D. 1746-1787.] James Beauclerk, eighth son of the Duke of St. Alban’s.

[A.D. 1787-1788.] John Harley, third son of the third Earl of Oxford.

[A.D. 1788-1802.] John Butler, translated from Oxford. Bishop Butler owed his elevation to his powers as a political pamphleteer. He was an effective assistant to Lord North in vindicating the American War.

[A.D. 1803, trans. to Worcester 1808.] Ffolliott Herbert Walker Cornewall, translated from Bristol.

[A.D. 1808, trans. to St. Asaph 1815.] John Luxmoore, translated from Bristol.

[A.D. 1815-1832.] George J. Huntingford, translated from Gloucester. Bishop Huntingford had been made Warden of Winchester College in 1789, and retained the wardenship until his death.

[A.D. 1832-1837.] Edward Grey.

[A.D. 1837, trans. to York 1847.] Thomas Musgrave.

[A.D. 1848—.] Renn D. Hampden.

LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET

WORCESTER CATHEDRAL.

A HANDBOOK
TO
WORCESTER CATHEDRAL.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
WITH 7 ILLUSTRATIONS.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1866.

CONTENTS.

Part I. HISTORY AND DETAILS.
	PAGE
History and Dates	[3]
General Character	[7]
North Porch	[8]
Nave	[10]
Western Bays	[10]
Triforium	[10]
Clerestory	[14]
Nave Vaulting	[15]
South Nave Aisle	[16]
North Nave Aisle	[18]
Central Tower, Piers of	[19]
Great Transept	[19]
South Transept	[20]
North Transept	[22]
Choir-screen	[23]
Choir	[25]
Stone Pulpit	[29]
Monuments	[30]
Tomb and Effigy of King John	[30]
Prince Arthur’s Chantry	[33]
South Choir-aisle	[34]
South-east Transept	[35]
Sculpture and Monuments in South-east Transept	[37]
Effigy of Audela de Warren	[38]
Retro-choir	[38]
Lady-chapel	[40]
Effigies in the Retro-choir	[41]
North-eastern Transept	[44]
North Choir-aisle	[45]
Cloisters	[46]
Sepulchral Slab, “Miserrimus”	[47]
Slype	[48]
Chapter-house	[48]
Refectory	[49]
Dormitory	[49]
Crypt	[50]
North and West Doors	[53]
Central Tower	[54]
Guesten Hall	[55]
Edgar Tower	[56]
Deanery	[57]
Part II. HISTORY OF THE SEE, WITH SHORT NOTICES OFTHE PRINCIPAL BISHOPS.
History of See	[58]
Saxon Bishops, Oswald—Wolfstan—Living—Aldred—Wolfstan II.	[59-62]
List of Bishops from 1096 to 1861	[67-81]
Mauger—Cantilupe	[68], [69]
Giffard	[70]
Carpenter	[73]
Latimer	[74]
Prideaux—Stillingfleet	[77], [78]
Hough—Hurd	[79-80]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

[General View ]	[Frontispiece.]
[Tomb of King John ]	[to face 1]
[Plan of Cathedral]	[” 1]
[Part of Choir and Lady-chapel]	[” 25]
[Chantry of Prince Arthur ]	[” 34]
[Chapter-house]	[” 48]
[Crypt ]	[” 50]

TOMB OF KING JOHN.