The South Transept is only one bay: The arch into the choir-aisle is Norman with zigzag ornaments and cushion capitals. Another Norman arch opens into St. Catherine’s Chapel, now a vestry. It was founded by John de Capella, a wealthy citizen. The beautiful screen is Late Decorated.
The Choir consists of eight pointed arches: it is 138 feet long and 72 feet high.
“We now enter the choir by the door in the organ-screen. This is one of the finest in England—spacious, lofty, well-proportioned and rich in all its details. The arches of the main arcade are Early English, as the mouldings and dog-tooth ornament testify. These remained after the fire of 1292 and were retained. The piers are Early Decorated and were evidently built to support the arches after the fire. The capitals were carved later in the Late Decorated period, when the upper parts of the choir, triforium, clerestory, roof and east end were rebuilt. The builders were probably Bishops Welton and Appleby (1353-1395). When the choir was rebuilt in Early English times, the architect determined to enlarge it, and as the monastic buildings on the south prevented any expansion in that direction, the south piers of the choir retained their old position, while the north were moved further northward, and a new north aisle added. Thus the choir and the tower and nave are not quite symmetrical, and there is a blank wall at the north-west end of the choir which is thus accounted for. The details of the architecture of the choir merit close attention, especially the sculpture. Small figures of men, animals and monsters are mingled with the foliage. There are some admirable representations of the seasons, beginning with the second capital on the south, counting from the east end. There is a very fine timber roof, constructed about the middle of the Fourteenth Century. The scheme of colour decoration is, unfortunately, not original.”—(P. H. D.)
The East Window is one of the finest Decorated windows in existence. The stone-work is not new, but it is believed to be an exact reproduction of the original. It is composed of 86 distinct pieces of stone and is struck from 263 centres. There are nine lights. The glass of the upper portion is ancient, dating from the reign of Richard II. The pictures are the Resurrection, the Final Judgment and the New Jerusalem. Hell is shown with all the terrors familiar to the Mediæval mind. The modern glass below represents scenes from the life of Christ.
The Stalls are Late Perpendicular and are beautifully carved. The fine tabernacle-work is dated about 1433. The misereres represent the usual grotesque monsters, such as dragons, griffins and fables in which the crafty fox is prominent. A Fifteenth Century brass to Bishop Bell (1495) on the floor of the choir deserves notice.
A Renaissance screen partitions off the north-choir-aisle. Here we notice the Early English arcade and the windows with two lights, dog-tooth ornament and deep mouldings. The last bay eastward is Late Decorated; the last bay westward contains a Perpendicular window.
In the north wall two Early English sepulchral recesses are unique because of their chevron moulding. The effigy lying in one of them is supposed to be Silvester of Everdon (1254). The stalls in the North-choir-aisle are ornamented with very strange paintings of the Fifteenth Century illustrating the lives of St. Anthony and St. Cuthbert, with descriptive verses.
The South-choir-aisle, with a similar screen to the opposite one, also contains painted stalls representing the life of St. Augustine. It resembles the north-choir-aisle.
The narrow Retro-choir is of the same date as the big window.
The lower part of the Choir is Early English with the exception of the Perpendicular window in the west bay and a Decorated one in the east bay. The clerestory is Late Decorated, the windows noticeable for their flowing tracery. Everywhere the ball-flower ornament abounds, and carved heads and weird gargoyles are omnipresent.