Taking all into account, 1305 may be taken as an approximate date for this superb work. It is usually assigned to the year 1296, on the ground of similarity of design to that of the Westminster tomb of Edmund Crouchback who died in that year; but that is to forget that he died in debt, leaving instructions that he was not to be buried till his debts were paid: it is likely therefore that his tomb is several years later than 1296; indeed, except that its main arch has not ogee arches in its cusping, it is not much earlier in design than the adjoining tomb of Aymer de Valence, who died in 1324. Comparison may be made also with the monument in Winchelsea church of Gervase Alard, who was still alive in 1306; and with the monuments in Ely cathedral of Bishop Louth (ob. 1298) and in Canterbury cathedral of Archbishop Peckham (ob. 1292).
Chichester
On the other hand in Chichester cathedral ([36]), the ogee motive is supreme. There are no more pointed arches; every arch is an ogee; and the cresting consists of wavy tracery surmounted by a battlement. The cusping of the upper ogee arches is compound; the foliage of pronounced bulbous character. It is unlikely that this work can be much earlier than that of the Ely stalls, which were not begun till 1338. On the evidence of costume and armour it would seem that the misericords were in course of execution between c. 1320 and c. 1340; the stallwork would probably be the last part of the work; and
as the Chichester Records are reported to assign the work to Bishop John Langton, who died in 1337, we may assign 1335 as an approximate date to the stalls.
Ely
When we come to Ely, we deal with ascertained dates; it is known that the stalls were commenced in 1338. They are on
a noble scale, but have been "improved" by restorers, who among things have actually inserted Belgian carvings in the upper niches. These stalls have two distinct tiers of canopies, so that they rise to a considerable height. Each of the lower canopies has a pointed arch with compound ogee cusping; above each of these is a niche with three gabled canopies carrying a low spirelet which is flanked by ornate pinnacles; the whole forming a very beautiful composition. It is a great advance from the one-story design of Chichester ([36]), to the two stories of Ely.
