The Norman Lady-Chapel was partly destroyed by the fire of 1169, and was succeeded by an Early English chapel of the Thirteenth Century. This was destroyed in the Sixteenth Century; but the finely proportioned entrance arches still remain. They are ornamented with the dog-tooth.
It is not often that ancient altar-pieces are found in the English cathedrals; but Norwich possesses a Retable, supposed to be the work of an Italian painter of the Fourteenth Century. It is in five panels—The Scourging, Bearing the Cross, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. It was formerly in the Jesus Chapel.
The Cloisters are in their usual position—on the south. Originally these were Norman, and perished by fire in 1272. The present ones were 133 years in building, and so they reveal the developments of architecture during 1297-1430. The cloister garth is about 145 feet square.
“The arches are filled with open tracery carried by two mullions.
“On the east side it is geometrical in character, the work being transitional between Early English and Decorated; on the south side the tracery is more flowing and has advanced to Decorated; on the west side again, we get the transitional style between Decorated and Perpendicular, with some flamboyant or flame-like detail; while on the north and latest side it is frankly Perpendicular.”—(C. H. B. Q.)
They are entered from the south side of the nave, of course. The Monk’s Door, opening into the East Walk, is an ornate specimen of Perpendicular; and the Prior’s Door, opening into the West Walk, a fine specimen of Early Decorated.
ST. ALBANS
Dedication: St. Alban. Church of a Benedictine Monastery.
When Sir Gilbert Scott began to restore and repair the old abbey church of St. Albans, in 1870, he found it in a very dilapidated condition. Among other base uses to which various parts of the Cathedral had been put, the Lady-Chapel had been converted into a grammar-school, and a thoroughfare had been made through the retro-choir. After Scott’s death, in 1878, Lord Grimthorpe, who had been diligent and liberal for years regarding restorations, succeeded in getting control of the entire work. He made various changes and additions, and inserted windows at his own pleasure, not always with judgment, nor in the best taste. The consequence is that St. Albans is open to much criticism. Yet it remains an interesting old pile in many respects.
St. Albans did not become a cathedral until 1877. It was a famous old abbey church, dating back to the days of Offa II., King of the Mercians, who founded a Benedictine monastery here about 793. From this time until the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII., the Abbey of St. Albans was of the greatest importance. Its Abbot had a seat in the House of Lords, and took precedence of all the abbots in the kingdom. Naturally, therefore, the list of abbots is notable. Some of them were related to the royal family. Among those especially distinguished were: Paul of Caen, John de Cella, William of Trumpington, John of Hertford, Roger of Norton, Hugh of Eversden, Richard of Wallingford, Thomas de la Mare, John de la Moote, John of Wheathampstead, and Thomas Wolsey, the great cardinal.