The west window is of Perpendicular tracery. A fine Norman arch, partly closed by a Perpendicular screen, marks the entrance to the Chapel of St. John. Both transepts are aisleless. The South aisle of the nave is Norman and Transitional. The Font is modern.
The Choir was begun in 1224. The eastern transepts were added at the same time. A little of the old Norman work betrays itself here and there. No one seems to know why Bishop Godfrey de Giffard (1268-1301) placed gilded brass rings around the columns, unless it was for the sake of adding extra strength.
“The beauty of the pier-arches and those of the triforium, relieved so handsomely by the black shafts of Purbeck marble bearing Bishop Giffard’s brass rings, and by the finely proportioned spandrels of each bay, is by no means to be under-estimated.
“The choir is of five bays, including the eastern crossing, which is of greater width than the others. The pier-arch mouldings are of two patterns, one very similar to those of the choir and presbytery at Salisbury, having one of the ribs flanked by a double range of dog-tooth. The piers themselves, as well as those in the Lady-chapel, are octagonal, and have detached Purbeck shafts, eleven of which are fixed with a narrow course of marble embracing the shaft in the manner of a ring; and the remaining eight with brass rings; the two processes being used symmetrically, so that shafts similarly fixed stand opposite to each other.
“The triforium consists of two large arches in each bay, subdivided again into two. During the restoration the pillars, which had been whitewashed, were restored to their original rich black colour, and the rings which bind them made visible. The sculptures in the spandrels are restorations by Boulton. The inner wall of the triforium walk is decorated with a finely-proportioned arcade, which adds greatly to the general effect. The clerestory has a triplet of pointed lights in each bay, the centre one being considerably higher than those at the side, although they rise from pillars of equal height. The vault of the roof springs, in each severy, from a single shaft terminated with a foliated capital; it is simple in character, and was probably completed before the end of the first half of the thirteenth century. The elaborate pavement of Devonshire marble and encaustic tiles is modern.”—(E. F. S.)
The Choir-stalls (restored) date from 1379. The thirty-seven miserere seats represent Biblical, mythological and contemporary figures.
The Reredos, behind the High Altar, composed of alabaster, inlaid with coloured marbles, lapis lazuli, agates and malachite, is modern. The Bishop’s Throne is also modern; but the richly carved Pulpit of white stone dates from about 1630. It bears the arms of England, France, Scotland and Ireland.
In the centre of the choir in front of the altar steps stands the Tomb of King John. When John died in the Castle of Newark in 1216, his body was brought to Worcester Cathedral and buried before the High Altar. In 1797 the tomb was opened. The effigy, now gilded, is the earliest royal effigy in England. It dates from the early Thirteenth Century and is probably a good likeness of the Magna Charta king. Bloxam’s description in 1862, gives an idea of its original appearance:
“The effigy was originally the cover of the stone coffin in which the remains of that monarch were deposited in the Chapel of the Virgin, at the east end of the cathedral. The altar tomb is of a much later period, probably constructed early in the sixteenth century, when the tomb of Prince Arthur was erected.... The sides of this tomb are divided into three square compartments by panelled buttresses; each compartment contains a shield bearing the royal arms within a quatrefoil richly cusped; the spandrels are also foliated and cusped.... It is, however, the effigy of the king, sculptured in the early part of the Thirteenth Century, and probably the earliest sepulchral effigy in the cathedral, to which our chief attention should be drawn. This effigy represents him in the royal habiliments; first, the tunic, yellow, or of cloth of gold, reaching nearly to the ankles, with close-fitting sleeves, of which little is apparent. Over the tunic is seen the dalmatic, of a crimson colour, with wide sleeves edged with a gold and jewelled border, and girt about the waist by a girdle buckled in front, the pendant end of the girdle, which is jewelled, falling down as low as the skirt of the dalmatic. Of the yellow mantle lined with green little is visible. On the feet are black shoes, to the heels of which are affixed spurs. On the hands are gloves, jewelled at the back; the right hand held a sceptre, the lower portion of which only is left; the left grasps the hilt of the sword. On the head is the crown; there are moustaches and beard, and the light-brown hair is long. On either side of the head is the figure of a bishop holding a censer, perhaps intended to represent St. Oswald and St. Wulstan, between whose tombs the king was interred in the Chapel of the Virgin.”
On the south side of the sanctuary we find the Chantry of Prince Arthur, son of Henry VII., who died at Ludlow Castle in 1502. This is the most famous piece of work in the Cathedral, and one of the best examples of Tudor architecture in existence. It was erected in 1504, and