“This is the architectural gem of the Cathedral. The idea of it probably came from Hereford, where the retro-choir is a few years earlier. At Hereford, however, the retro-choir projects picturesquely and forms an eastern transept. The central piers of the Chichester retro-choir are remarkably beautiful. They consist of a central column surrounded by four shafts very widely detached; columns and shafts are of Purbeck marble. The capitals are Corinthianesque; their height is proportioned to the diameters of the column and shafts. This beautiful capital was reproduced a few years later by St. Hugh at Lincoln. The triforium is of quite exceptional beauty, as indeed is the whole design. Semicircular arches occur in the pier arcade and triforium, and some of the abaci are square; otherwise the design is pure Gothic. Here, as at Abbey Dore, St. Thomas’s, Portsmouth, Boxgrove and Wells, we see the transition to the ‘pure and undefiled Gothic’ of St. Hugh’s choir at Lincoln. In these beautiful churches the ancient Romanesque style breathed its last.
“The aisles of the new retro-choir were continued on either side of the first bay of the Norman Lady-Chapel whose three bays had probably been remodelled before the fire in Transitional fashion. The capitals of the Lady-Chapel are of exceptional interest and importance, as showing experimental foliation which had not yet settled down into the conventional leafage of early Gothic. The apse also of the south transept was replaced by a square chapel, now used as a Library, in the vaulting of which the Norman zigzag occurs.
“A little later in the Lancet period was built (1199-1245) the lovely south porch, with small exquisite mouldings, and the charming foliated capitals and corbels. The difference between early Transitional, late Transitional and Lancet foliation may be well seen by examining successively the capitals of the Lady-Chapel, the triforium of the retro-choir and the south porch. The north porch is almost equally fine. The vaulting ribs, square in section, show that the two porches both belong to the very first years of the Thirteenth Century. Rather later, the sacristy was built on to the south porch, with a massive vault supported by foliated corbels.”—(F. B.)
Chichester’s saint was one of its own bishops—Richard de la Wych—who died in 1253. He was canonized in 1261. In 1276, his remains were removed from their first resting-place to the shrine in the south transept opposite the beautiful Early Decorated window (one of the loveliest examples of this style in England). Edward I., his Queen and the Court were present at the Translation. From that time the shrine received many visits from pilgrims.
The central tower was built during the first half of the Fourteenth Century, and the spire was completed at the end of the Fourteenth Century. The campanile was built by Bishop John de Langton (1305-1336). Bishop Sherborne (1507-1536) added the upper portion of the choir-stalls and the decorations of the south transept. These are the ornamentations referred to by Fuller, who quaintly says Bishop Seffrid “bestowed the cloth and making on the church, while Bishop Sherborne gave the trimming and best lace thereto, in the reign of Henry VII.”
In 1643, the Parliamentarian troops broke the organ, defaced the monuments and hacked the seats and stalls, which, of course, necessitated restorations and repairs. Repairs, restorations and alterations were also made from 1843 to 1856, the most important of which was the reconstruction of the central tower and spire under Sir Gilbert Scott. In 1867 the floor of the Lady-Chapel was lowered to its original level and the Gilbert Chapel restored; and during the last half of the Nineteenth Century, the cloister was restored and the roof of the Lady-Chapel, and a new north-western tower designed by Mr. J. L. Pearson.
“The Cathedral stands on the south of West Street, where a fine view may be had of the whole of the north side of the building and of the detached Campanile. The Close occupies entirely the south-west quadrant of the city, being bounded by South and West Streets and the City Wall. The central tower and spire, rising to a height of 277 feet, are conspicuous for many miles around, but the west front is much shut in. Perhaps the most pleasing view is that seen from the meadows on the south of the city, from which point the Campanile fits in admirably with the general mass of the building.”—(J. C.-B.)
This Campanile, in which eight bells hang, stands on the north side of the Cathedral, and was built in the Fourteenth Century. It covers a square of 50 feet and consists of two cubes with an octagonal lantern (8 feet).
The Central Tower and its delicate Spire have had a peculiar history. Exposed to the south-west gales from the Channel, the authorities in the Seventeenth Century had fears for its safety; and, consequently the upper part was taken down and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, who placed within it a pendulum-stage of wood and iron to steady it. This ingenious invention lasted until 1861; and it is said that Wren’s contrivance prevented the spire from toppling over when the collapse occurred.
About 1859 this spire showed signs of weakness, and underpinning was of no avail. On the 21st of February it inclined slightly to the south-west, then seemed to right itself; and then, amid a great cloud of dust, descended perpendicularly into the walls of the tower, doing no harm to the roof of the church. The fall only lasted a few seconds. As this happened in Queen Victoria’s reign, the old Sussex prophecy was fulfiled: