‘Ut Rosa flos florum
Sic est Domus ista Domorum.’
[‘As the Rose is the flower of flowers, so is this House the chief of Houses.’]”
The date of this building is generally given as 1320.
A curious doorway at the north-east end of the north transept opens into the vestibule that takes us into the Chapter-House. This is a narrow passage running north for three bays, then turning at right angles and running east for two bays. It is Decorated in style. Traces of ancient painting may be observed, and the windows display their original glass, chiefly Decorated. In the upper lights there are some fragments of Norman and Early English glass.
The Chapter-House differs from most chapter-houses in having no central pillar. It is octagonal and is divided into eight bays. An acutely-arched window, with geometrical Decorated tracery, fills each of the seven bays. The space over the entrance is occupied with blank tracery like that of the windows. The windows contain five lights, each light terminating in a trefoiled arch. The glass, chiefly medallions and shields, dates from the time of Edward II. and Edward III. The one modern window declares itself.
Passing to the East Front we find that it is square, and, like the West Front, it is almost entirely filled with an enormous window. The great East Window contains nine lights, beautifully divided by mullions and crossed by three transoms. The arch of the head is filled with a great number of small divisions. Over the window is an ogee gable, surmounted by a pinnacle. Panelling forms a kind of background for it. Buttresses, tall and narrow, and containing six tiers of niches, flank the window on either side. Each is finished with a spire. The two aisle windows also have ogee gables, surmounted with finials. Above them runs a band of panelling. At each corner rises a tall buttress, finished with a lofty spire.
“The Choir and Lady-Chapel are Perpendicular work. The four eastern bays constituting the Lady-Chapel, are earlier than the later ones of the choir and vary in detail. The triforium passage in the former is outside the building, and the windows are recessed. Strange gargoyles, with figures of apes and demons, adorn the buttresses. The east end is mainly filled with the huge window, the largest in England, which does not leave much space for architectural detail. Above it is the figure of Archbishop Thoresby, the builder of this part of the Cathedral. Panelling covers the surface of the stone, and below the window is a row of seventeen busts, representing our Lord and his Apostles, Edward III. and Archbishop Thoresby. There are two aisle windows; buttresses adorned with niches separate the aisles from the central portion, and others, capped with spires, stand on the north and south of this front.”—(P. H. D.)
From the south-east we gain a very satisfactory view of the central tower and the ornate and elegant South Transept (Early English), dating from 1216-1241. The gable, with its large rose-window, cusped lights, turrets, buttresses, and lancet windows, all make a harmonious architectural picture. The south porch is considered rather small and has been much restored. Dog-tooth moulding is plentiful along the arches. It also occurs on the windows and gable.
Pinnacles and weird gargoyles decorate the Nave, divided into seven bays by tall buttresses.
The north side of the Minster is far less ornate than the south. Of course, the chief features here are the Chapter-House, with its curious roof and lovely windows, and the North Transept, very fine Early English of 1241-1260. Here we have the famous group of lancets, the Five Sisters ([see page 270]), and seven beautifully arranged lancets in the gable above—a very fine contrast to the gable of the south transept, with its rose-window. A vestibule leads from the North Transept to the Chapter-House, that splendid octagonal building, perhaps the finest example of Early Decorated in existence. Buttresses, topped with pinnacles, project at each of the eight corners. The strange pyramidal roof is surrounded by a battlement and curious gargoyles; among them bears peer out into space.