Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lichfield / A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Espicopal See

by A. B. Clifton

THE INTERIOR

Lichfield is one of the smallest cathedrals in England. In length it only measures 370 feet from the inside of the west door to the extreme end of the inside of the Lady Chapel, while the interior of the nave, with its aisles, is only a little more than 68 feet wide; and yet its smallness is not the first fact that will strike the visitor on entering the west door: rather, on the other hand, its immense length in proportion to its height and width will be noticed, but probably all other feelings will be forgotten in the beauty of the vista that lies before him. The long line of arches and the long low roof, with its almost countless bosses, lead the eye down to the Lady Chapel, where a mass of blue and red shows that the cathedral has some of the most beautiful glass in the kingdom.

The orientation of the nave and choir are not the same—the choir and Lady Chapel being considerably inclined to the north. Many have been the theories raised by the curious discoveries made as to the deflections of various parts of this cathedral. They are too numerous to quote here, and it will be sufficient to note that the total deflection of the east end from the true east is about ten degrees.

The Nave.—The view of the interior of the cathedral from the inside of the west door is, as we have said, extremely beautiful. This beauty is much enhanced by the general appearance of unity in the whole design. There seems to be no mixture of styles, and though a closer examination of the details of the interior shows that there is a very marked difference between the style in which the nave is built and that which was in vogue when the Lady Chapel and presbytery were erected; yet the whole, having been built at a time when the Early English style was giving place gradually to the Decorated, or, in the more eastern portion, when that later style was well established, the general effect of the cathedral, seen from this aspect, is one of unity. The exact date of the nave cannot be determined, and there is no direct evidence on which to base a theory; but it is very clear, from a comparison of its style with that of churches whose history is known, that it must have been commenced and carried to a speedy conclusion about the middle of the thirteenth century. Professor Willis gives the date as 1250, and other archaeologists at various dates between that and 1280. There is no doubt, at any rate, that it was built at the transitional period of the Early English style, and it would be described by some as belonging to the Early Decorated period, and by others as belonging to the geometrical period of the Decorated style. The nave, including the western front, consists of eight bays, having aisles on the north and south sides, with the same number of bays; but the spaces underneath the two western towers are considerably larger than the other aisle bays, though not large enough to be looked upon as western transepts, as is possible in some churches where there is a similar arrangement. Many writers have complained of the insufficient height of the nave, and that the general effect is thereby spoilt, and to a very limited extent this may be true. Probably the nave roof was at one time of much higher pitch; the course on the outside of the great tower suggests it, as also does the fact that the great west window runs into the roof. Probably the roof was lowered when the presbytery was built, and the whole roofing of the cathedral brought down to the same level.

The piers are large, and consist of clustered shafts, lozenge-shaped in plan, set on much moulded bases, and having beautifully carved foliated capitals from which spring architrave mouldings of great variety. From the base and up the centre of each pier runs a cluster of three fine columns to capitals, also foliated, at the top of the triforium; from these spring five vaulting ribs, three of which diverge to an ornamental central rib, and two to a small similarly decorated transverse rib. There are finely carved bosses at the intersection of all the various ribs. The top of each arch touches the string course, above which is the beautiful triforium. This consists of a row of double arches, each arch being sub-divided into two lights with geometrical tracery above. The mouldings are highly decorated with dog-toothing, and the string course between the triforium and the clerestory, as well as the moulding enclosing the clerestory windows, has this same ornament, which is freely used and produces a very rich effect. The clerestory windows are spherical triangles enclosing three circles with quatrefoil cusps; the form of these windows is somewhat rare, but similar windows are to be seen at Westminster, Hereford, Carlisle, and York. The spandrels of most of the pier arches are ornamented with a large circle with five cusps, across which the vault shafts pass; this decoration will be seen again in the choir. A notable feature in these bays is the size of the triforium in proportion to the size of the pier arches and clerestory; this gives it unusual importance in the general scheme. At Lincoln, where there is a similar triforium, a very different effect is produced by its comparative smallness. The open tracery here is very much like that in Westminster Abbey.

It will be seen that the dripstones of the arches and windows terminate in small sculptured heads: a usual arrangement at this period. It may be added that the beautiful capitals have scarcely been restored at all; so little damage had been done

to them, that when the whitewash was removed during the recent restorations, they were found to have been hardly touched either by decay, Puritans, or previous restorers.