“consists of six bays of open tracery divided by panels of canopied niches containing figures and heraldic bearings surmounted by a battlemented rail and pinnacles. Within is a richly groined roof, with unusual flying supports, east and west. At the east end are the mutilated remains of a rich stone reredos, containing a figure of our Lord, and others hardly recognisable, which was above the altar formerly placed here. At the west end is a small figure of Henry VII. seated.
“The tomb itself of the Prince stands in the centre of the chantry. It is singularly plain, in contrast to the richness of its surroundings, almost the only ornament being the arms of England and France within panels on the sides. Around the top runs a painted inscription, obviously a late substitute for a brass which has been removed, to this effect: ‘Here lyeth buried prince Arthur, the first begotten sonne of the righte renowned Kinge henry the Seventhe, whiche noble Prince departed oute of this transitory life ate the Castle of Ludlowe, in the seventeenth yeere of hys father’s reign, and in the yeere of our Lorde god on thousande fyve hundred and two.’”—(E. F. S.)
The Chapel of St. John, projecting from two bays of the south-choir-aisle, is on the site of a Norman chapel. The Norman arch at the west end is its finest feature. It has three windows filled with modern glass and a piscina in the south wall.
The Eastern transepts demand careful attention.
“The design of the walls ... is extremely beautiful. Two lofty triplets of lancet lights are placed the one above the other. The lower triplet has a gallery in front of it immediately above the arcaded wall, and at the same level as the sill of the adjacent side aisle windows. The upper triplet has a similar gallery at the level of the triforium. Rich clustered shafts rise from the lower gallery in two orders; the inner order carries molded arches to correspond with the heads of the lower triplet; the shafts of the outer order rise from the lower gallery up to the impost of the upper triplet, grouping themselves with the shafts that stand in front of the upper triplet, and uniting in one group of capitals at the impost, where they carry a range of three arches with deep rich mouldings. Thus the entire composition represents a gigantic window of six lights.”—(W.)
One of the finest features of the Cathedral is the arcade that runs along the whole extent of the eastern transepts and across the Lady-Chapel.
“This is a series of trefoil headed arcades of three mouldings, resting on slender Early English shafts, each spandrel having been filled with carvings which take high rank among the best of the English school of the Thirteenth Century. They have now been, to a great extent, restored (by Boulton), and many, including all at the east end, are entirely new. The best of the old ones are figured by Aldis; and the most interesting, whether entirely ancient or partly restored, are as follows, starting from the west wall of the south-eastern transept:
“Two crusaders fighting a lion. A centaur. An angel weighing a soul, and the devil pulling down the scale. Devils roasting a soul in hell. The Jaws of Death. A body borne to burial. Expulsion of Adam and Eve. An angel leading a righteous soul to heaven. The dead rising from coffins. Christ enthroned. The archangel blowing the last trump. An angel holding a cross.
“South Aisle.—Two monks building. A queen instructing an architect. Two monks discussing plans. A devil with bird’s claws, riding on a man’s shoulders. The Crucifixion.
“Lady-Chapel.—Centaur and crusader. Prophets and Bible subjects (modern), grotesque.