Within a great Norman arch of five orders stands the modern Reredos, at the back of which rises a great pier from which spring two pointed arches. The spandrel, or Tympanum, is covered with modern sculpture—the Saviour in Majesty and the Evangelists; and below a statue of King Ethelbert, who was said to have been buried in the first Saxon church somewhere about this spot.
From the Retro-choir we pass into the Vestibule of the Lady-Chapel, the walls of which are broken with transitional Norman window openings,—pointed arches with massive mouldings. The foliage of the capitals is Early English.
Five steps (necessitated by the height of the crypt below) lead up to the Lady-Chapel, very rich Early English, dating from the first half of the Thirteenth Century. It is 24 × 45 feet and of three bays. On the north side each bay contains two large windows; on the south side, the third bay is filled by the Audley Chapel.
“The very rich clustered shafts and arches of the side windows should be especially noticed. The capitals of the shafts are 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.”
Ferguson has remarked that
“Nowhere on the Continent are such combinations to be found as the Five Sisters at York, the east end of Ely, or such a group as that which terminates the east end of Hereford.”
Many of its features were hidden until the restorations and repairs were undertaken in 1841.
“The glorious EAST-WINDOW consists of five narrow lancets recessed within arches supported by clustered shafts, the wall above being perforated with five quatrefoil openings, of which the outside ones are circular and the centre three are oval. 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. The double PISCINA and AUMBRY south of the altar are restorations necessitated by the dilapidated state of the originals.”—(A. H. F.)
In the central bay on the north side lies the effigy of Sir Peter de Grandison (died 1358) under a canopy of open tabernacle work. The armour is very interesting. Once the effigy was supposed to be Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford. On the same side lies Joanna de Bohun, Countess of Hereford (died 1327). Her effigy is a splendid study in costume. She left a large estate to the Cathedral.
A black marble slab, with brass, marks the resting-place of Dean Merewether (died 1850). Dean Berew, or Beaurieu, in the south wall of the vestibule, is one of the best specimens of sculpture in the Cathedral. He died in 1462.