"Its symmetrical proportions, before completely spoilt; the remnants of its ancient painting, which were traceable beneath the whitewash; the fair disclosure of the monuments of Joanna de Kilpec, a benefactress to this very edifice, and Humphry de Bohun, her husband, both of exceeding interest; the discovery of two aumbries, both walled up, but one with the stones composing it reversed; the double piscina on the south side, the chapel of Bishop Audley; but especially two of the most beautiful specimens of transition arches which can be found in any edifice, bearing the Early English form, the shafts and capitals and the lancet-shaped arch above, but ornamented[pg 061] in their soffits with the Norman moulding, and the zig-zag decoration, corresponding with the remarkable union of the Norman intersecting arches on the exterior of the building, with its pointed characteristics. The appearance of the central column with a base in the Early English and its capital with the Norman ornament might be added: the stairs to the crypt, and the discovery of several most interesting relics in[pg 062] the adjoining vaults opened in reducing the floor to its original level."
SECTION THROUGH LADY CHAPEL AND CRYPT.
ARCH DISCOVERED AT ENTRANCE OF LADY CHAPEL.
It was as a memorial to Dean Merewether, to whom the cathedral owes so much, that the stained glass designed by Cottingham was placed in the east windows in the narrow lancets that he loved so dearly. It represents scenes in the early life of the Virgin and the life of Christ; the last being the supper in the house of Mary and Martha. In the side windows the visitor should especially notice the rich clustered shafts and arches, the Early English capitals, and the ornamentation of the arches. Above these windows, corresponding to the openings above the east window, a quatrefoil opening enclosed by a circle pierces the wall. The quadripartite vaulting springs from slender shafts, which descend upon a slightly raised base.
The double piscina and aumbry south of the altar are restorations necessitated by the dilapidated state of the originals.
Monuments in the Lady Chapel.—Of great beauty and interest is the Perpendicular recess in the central bay on the north side of the Lady Chapel, in which is the recumbent[pg 063] effigy which tradition has assigned without evidence to Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, who died in the 46th year of the reign of Edward III., 1372. He was, however, buried in the north side of the Presbytery in Walden Abbey, Essex.
The Rev. Francis Havergal considers this to be the monument of Peter, Baron de Grandisson, who died 1358. In any case, the knight was probably one of the Bohun family, and husband of the lady whose effigy lies under an arch in the wall adjoining. The costume is of the earlier part of the fourteenth century; full armour, and covered (a rare example) by a cyclass, a close linen shirt worn over the armour in Edward III.'s reign. This shirt is cut short in front and about 6 inches longer behind. The visitor should also notice the fringed poleyns at the knees.
The upper story of the recess itself has open tabernacle-work, now containing a series of figures representing the crowning of the Virgin; on one side are figures of King Ethelbert and St. John the Baptist, and on the other St. Thomas à Becket (with double crozier) and Bishop Thomas de Cantilupe. Of these, however, only the two central carvings are in their original positions, the others having been discovered by Mr. Cottingham when the oak choir-screen was removed.