George Edmund Street: Unpublished Notes and Reprinted Papers

by George Edmund Street

Eastern Bay.—Tracery of windows as before; the quatrefoil is not moulded. Jambs have two shafts (one stone and one marble) on each side, and a detached marble shaft in the centre. From these a richly-moulded rear-arch springs, with tracery of two lights corresponding with that of the windows. The whole composition of this window is of extreme beauty.

The arches between aisles and nave in this bay are richly moulded, and the centre of the soffit is enriched with a large dogtooth, making it much more ornate in character than the other arches.

The windows in the south wall correspond generally with those in the north, and exhibit the same graduation of enrichment. In the window in the eastern bay there are two circular bosses of foliage in the spandrels of the internal tracery;[72] in the opposite window these circles are plain sunk circles without any sculpture: and it appears that the architect, wishing to avoid the expense of sinking the whole surface of the stone, so as to leave the sculpture in advance of it, let in his bosses into a rebate in the stone work. This is a very rare mode of construction, but appears to be perfectly lawful.

The east window of the north aisle is richer than any of the others in the nave. It is of four lights, with two marble shafts in each jamb, and one in the centre monial. The tracery has quatrefoiled circles over the side-lights, under enclosing arches, and a large cusped circle in the head: the arch is extremely pointed. The mouldings throughout are more delicate than anywhere else in the church, and the large circle has a dogtooth enrichment. Externally this window is exceedingly simple: the rich mouldings of the interior being changed to a plain chamfer and broad flat tracery bars, very peculiar in their effect. This window was entirely blocked up, the cusping in the tracery concealed, and a four-centred brick arch under it connected the aisle with the Wilshyre chantry. We have taken away this brick arch, restored the old jambs and sill, and supported them on a flat stone arch. The flat roof of the chantry crosses the window just below the springing, and the portion above is to be glazed with stained glass, whilst that below is open through to the chantry. This was the best arrangement that could be made with the double object of preserving the old window in all its integrity and yet making the chantry available for use by the congregation.

The east window of the south aisle is much less magnificent than that last described: it is of two lights, with two marble shafts in each jamb, and an engaged stone shaft in the monial. Externally this window is remarkable for the curious freak by which the outer chamfer is gathered in with a curve some six inches on each side just at the springing.

The chancel arch is more richly moulded on the west face than any of the others, and has a band of foliage enrichments of very magnificent character, very elaborate developments of the dogtooth; each being the general shape of a dogtooth, but filled up with intricate and beautiful foliage. Above the chancel arch on either side are two quatrefoils, within which are carved exquisite compositions of foliage, arranged in the form of a cross. Brilliant traces of red colour remain on these carvings. These quatrefoils were completely concealed by plaster before the restoration, and their re-opening has amazingly improved the effect of the wall above the chancel arch. The side walls of the nave are finished at the top with a moulded string-course, which is returned for about a foot on either side at the east, and was probably continued all round the church.[73]

The whole body of the church was covered with a coat of plaster. Most fortunately this had been put up by some pious plasterer, who, though he loved plaster well, loved the church better, and had no heart for hacking holes in its walls to afford a key for his plaster. The consequence was, that in an hour or two the whole of the walls were stripped of their covering, and displayed their old masonry fortunately intact. The walls above the arcades are faced with chalk, regularly squared and coursed on the side towards the nave, and built roughly on the sides toward the aisles, and are finished with a course of Gatton stone below the string-course at the top. The aisle walls are built of rough flint at their base; above this a course of squared chalk below the principal string-course, and on this there are traces of a thirteenth century pattern, painted in red. Above the string-course the walls are built entirely with coursed chalk, with quoins and dressings of Gatton stone.

The removal of the plaster between the two eastern windows in the south wall disclosed a portion of an arcade. This seems never to have been completed, for whilst the lower stone has the dogtooth enrichment of the arch finished, the upper stone has it simply blocked out in the square: we found a corresponding fragment of arcading built into the upper part of the chancel wall, and whilst that which exists in the south wall appears to have been always in the same place, it seems pretty clear that the other piece was never fixed near it. The conclusion at which I arrive is, therefore, that these are fragments of a work commenced but abandoned for another scheme at the very time the work was going on.

Before going to the chancel a note should be added here, as to the painted decorations which have been discovered. A portion of these are architectural in their character, the rest pictorial. Among the former, is the running pattern forming a border under the string-course in the south aisle. This I hope to continue all along the wall, it being sufficiently clear in the one place where it occurs to warrant restoration; and I have no doubt of the importance attached by the old architect to decoration on a line so marked as that of the principal string-course. There is also a faint border round the chancel arch, painted in red, but rather later in its character than the string-course. The pictorial decorations are all on the north aisle wall. Between the first and second windows is a large sitting figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary nursing our Lord: S. Mary has a veil, and is not crowned, and has a red robe and a blue cloak. She is seated on a throne with shafts at the angles, and the canopy is a gabled trefoil with triple pinnacles on either side. As far as I can judge, this work appears to be very late thirteenth century or early fourteenth century work, and was evidently rich in colour. The painting between the two next windows is so damaged that I have been unable to decide what it represents. On the wall east of the eastern window is another figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also nursing our Lord, and seated under a trefoiled canopy. No other traces of painting remain, save the colour, already mentioned, on the sculptured crosses over the chancel arch, and some painted crosses on the east wall of the chancel.

From this description it will be seen how systematically all this portion of the work has been designed: subject to the carrying out of the general scheme there are, however, some small peculiarities which may point, either to the Gothic love of variety on the part of the architect, or (and as I think, more probably) to the fact that portions of the work may have been special offerings or donations from different persons. Certainly I see no other way of accounting for the repetition within a few years of two copies of the same painted subject on the north aisle wall.