On the north and south of the Angel Choir is a small chantry. That on the north is the Fleming Chantry, built by Richard Fleming, Bishop of Lincoln in 1419-1431, and the corresponding one the Russell Chantry, built by John Russell, who held the See from 1480 to 1494. This is similar to the Fleming Chantry, Perpendicular in style. Very similar is the Longland Chantry, on the other side of the south door, or Bishop’s Porch. This chantry was built by John Longland, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1521-1547.
There is no Lady-Chapel.
The great East Window is the finest specimen of its kind in England. It is formed of eight lights; and the great wheel of the head is composed of a six-foil, surrounded by six quatrefoils.
“Bar-tracery being fully developed, the general appearance of ‘the window is rather Decorated than Early English, but the mouldings still belong to the earlier style.’ ‘This window ... together with the whole of that part of the choir is singularly and beautifully accommodated to the style of the rest of the building.’”—(R.)
The glass is modern and deals with scenes from the life of Christ, and the Old Testament.
“The aisle windows are each of three lights, with three circles in the head, two filled with cinquefoils and one with a quatrefoil. The two east windows of the aisles are similar to the others. The wall below the windows is decorated all round with arcading of a richer design than that in the nave. Two trefoiled arches are included in a larger arch, with a quatrefoil within a circle filling the head. The spandrels have sunk trefoils. The bosses of the stone vaults to the aisles are carved with sacred subjects, foliage, and grotesque figures.
“The east windows of the north and south aisles are filled with beautiful stained glass of the Early English period. The subjects are arranged within medallions, and, though somewhat difficult to decipher, appear to represent scenes in the lives of two saints whose story has many points of resemblance—St. Thomas of Canterbury and St. Hugh of Lincoln. The glass is said to have been moved about the end of the last century from the windows of the nave aisles. The date of the medallions may be placed towards the middle of the Thirteenth Century, about the time of the erection of the nave, and, of course, earlier than the windows which they now occupy. The grisaille into which they are now reglazed, is considered by Westlake to be the earliest in England.”—(A. F. K.)
One of St. Hugh’s characteristics was the peculiar double arcading on his walls. We find it in the choir and transepts.
The Western Transept was begun by St. Hugh; and his work is thought to end at the walls of the six chapels that run along the eastern side. These are dedicated to St. Nicholas, St. Denis, St. James, St. Edward the Martyr, St. John the Evangelist and St. Giles, and are separated from the transept by screens placed between the piers. Four of these screens are of carved oak and date from the Fifteenth Century; but the one of carved stone is of the Fourteenth. The western transept is famed for its two large circular windows in each end. As one looked upon the Deanery and the other upon the Bishop’s Palace, they were called respectively the Dean’s Eye and the Bishop’s Eye. These nicknames appear in the Metrical Life of St. Hugh, written between 1220 and 1225.