Lastly, there is the lowest row, which is broken three times by the doors; these are St. Cyprian, St. Bartholomew, St. Simon, St. James the Less, St. Thomas (then the northern door), St. Philip, St. Andrew (then the central door with its seven niches and five statues already described), St. Paul, St. Matthew (then the southern door), St. James the Greater, St. Jude, St. Stephen, St. Clement, St. Werburga.
There is also a small figure of St. Antony over the belfry window on the south side.
A tour of the cathedral, starting by the north side, leads past the nave with its buttresses and flying-buttresses looking picturesque in their unrestored state, and there can be seen outside the seventh bay of the nave the remains of the entrance to Dean Yotton's chantry. Coming to the front of the north transept, it will be noticed that the doorway has steps inside leading down into the cathedral, while on the opposite side it will be found that the steps lead from the south door down outside; the level of the ground on the two sides of the cathedral being very different.
The North Doorway is extremely fine, and is deeply recessed. Like the other two main doorways of the cathedral,—that at the west end and that in the south transept—this doorway is double, the main arch being divided into two. The archivolts of these are lancet-shaped and covered with foliage, but not foliated as in the west door. Outside the double-arched doorway proper, the architrave is divided into five principal and several smaller mouldings; the larger ones being very finely carved, as to two, the second and fourth, with inter-twisted foliage and scroll work; and as to the other three, the inner, middle, and outer, with small lozenge-shaped plaques containing bas-relief figures. These figures in the inner moulding are angels, in the middle one probably they are patriarchs and prophets. In the outer one, on the left or eastern side, the figures show the genealogy of Christ, beginning with Jesse at the springing stone, and ending with the Virgin and Child near the crown; while on the right-hand side, opposite Jesse, is the figure of St. Chad baptising the sons of King Wulphere, and above, the Apostles from St. Matthias to St. Peter at the crown. The whole architrave is surmounted by a weather moulding in the form of a gable, with a recently executed cross in the style of the thirteenth century at the top. The pillars on each side of the doorway have finely carved capitals, and the outer pillars are separated by lines of dog-toothing. The central pillar is very graceful, and consists of four slender shafts with carved capitals. The whole forms a magnificent example of a doorway in the Early English style, but showing signs of its derivation from the Norman. There is a niche in the tympanum which was apparently in Britton's time empty; but it must soon after have been filled with an image of St. Anne in Roman cement; this has recently been replaced by a statue of the same saint by Mr W. R. Ingram, while above some Roman cement work in the top of the gable has been removed, and a vesica containing a bas-relief of Our Lord in Glory by Mr Bridgeman reproduces no doubt the original architect's idea. The doorway, though it has been considerably restored, was not so much injured as a great deal of the rest of the cathedral, and so contains some very charming carving of the thirteenth century. There are two figures in Roman cement, one on each side of the doorway, representing St. Jude with a scroll, and St. James the Less with a club. No doubt these will both disappear before long, and their place be filled with modern statues.
Passing by the somewhat plain octagonal chapter-house, where we may perhaps wonder whether the small niches in the top of the buttresses which stick up like little turrets ever contained images, we come to the side of the choir and presbytery, which has not yet been restored, and then to the Lady Chapel.
The outside of the Lady Chapel has recently been very much altered; and the old buttresses, which but the other day were as left by Bishop Langton, with only the hand of decay showing on them, are now gone, and in their place are brand new buttresses, with brand new niches and saints. Those in the top row are the holy women of the Old Testament, while below them are the holy women of the New Testament. The lower row represent Priscilla, Anna, Dorcas, Mary, Martha, Lydia, Phœbe and Elizabeth; and above are Esther, Ruth, Naomi, Rizpah, Deborah, Miriam, Rachel, and Rebecca.