We must notice in the north-choir-aisle one window in which King David is teaching the singers of the House of God. The glass is old Flemish.
Now we have the Lady-Chapel, the gem of the whole Cathedral, rendered exceptionally beautiful because of the old glass in the windows.
“In shape it forms a symmetrical extension, both in height and width, to the choir, but without aisles; and it has an octagonal apse—the only example, it is said, of such a termination in the country. It is lighted by nine high windows, with Decorated tracery. This tracery has recently been restored in the style of that in the three end windows; until this was done most of the windows contained Perpendicular tracery.
“The windows rest on an arcade of very beautiful design. The arcade may be said to consist of a series of small decorated canopies, supported by shafts with carved capitals, and separated by ornamented buttresses. The canopies, which bow forward, have trefoil ogee arches, surmounted with crockets and finials. Above the arcade is a similar embattled parapet to that in the choir, with a similar passage round the chapel behind it.
“The vaulting of the roof is like that in the choir; the same number of ribs diverging from the slender shafts which run right down to the bends of the arcade. Halfway up these shafts are niches, the brackets and canopies to which are beautifully carved. These are old, but until recently were empty, and no authentic record remained as to what were the characters represented.”—(A. B. C.)
In 1895 ten virgin saints and martyrs, by C. E. Kempe, were placed here.
Of course, all the glass was crashed during the siege of Lichfield; and, therefore, the windows are filled with other than the original. The seven most eastern windows contain what is called the Herkenrode glass, originally in the Abbey of Herkenrode near Liège. The designs are supposed to be by Lambert Lombard of the Sixteenth Century. Two of the windows depict founders and benefactors of the abbey, and the other five, scenes in the life of Christ. The Herkenrode glass (340 pieces) was bought by
Lichfield: from East Window