Photo. G.P. Heisch.
THE LADY CHAPEL OR RETRO-CHOIR.[ToList]
The Retro-choir (now known as the Lady Chapel) was erected by Peter de Rupibus at about the same time as the choir, but in a much lighter and more graceful fashion, which places it among the best examples of Early English architecture in the country. The groined vault rests on six slender pillars, with detached shafts. The divisions thus formed make up twelve compartments of nearly equal size. Perhaps the best general prospect is to be obtained from the south-east corner, which takes in the whole length of the chapel, with the altar, now on the north, and the tomb of Bishop Andrewes on the western side. In the central bays on that side there were formerly two arches open to the choir, one on each side of the space now occupied by the tomb. These were converted into triplet openings during the reign of Edward III, with flowing tracery in the head of each arch. When Bishop Fox's screen was erected in the sixteenth century, these openings were walled-up, and the doorways already mentioned inserted below the tracery, in correspondence with the design of the screen, of which they formed part, one on each side of the high altar.
Another good view is to be gained from the south-west corner, which includes the series of triplet windows in the four eastern bays. The northernmost of these was till recently occupied by the altar, but it has been transferred to the central bay on the north side, thus sacrificing the orientation for a supposed better position, in regard to the general shape of the chapel, there being no central space for it on the eastern side, where another altar was required to balance the irregularity. Before the Reformation there certainly were two altars on that side, one at each extremity, where piscinae were discovered during the restorations of 1832. The piscina at the north end was then restored, and is still in existence: as the other was too far gone for repair, the space was filled up.
It has been conjectured that each of the four eastern bays formerly contained an altar, one of them being dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. This circumstance has probably contributed to the popular designation of the retro-choir as the Lady Chapel, since the demolition of the so-called "Bishop's Chapel," to which the title properly belonged.[29]
This "Little Chapel of Our Lady," as it was originally called, extended eastwards from the bay (the second from the south), now occupied by the "Benson" window, where two straight joints in the masonry indicate the position of the arch that once led into it. In the north-east angle is a slender shaft supporting a diminutive statue of a bishop, in cope and mitre, with his right hand raised in the act of benediction. This has taken the place of another figure, with flowing hair, supposed to represent St. Mary Magdalene, to whom the demolished church, adjoining the south choir-aisle, was dedicated. Beneath this statue is a door, which used to give access to the staircase in the turret already noticed in the angle outside. The staircase, however, is destroyed. In the same bay on the north wall, there is a stone bench, in the shape of a coffin, about nine feet long. This has been assumed to be the burial-place of the Foundress, but it is more probable that it was the base on which the "Easter Sepulchre" was placed in Holy Week.
Photo. G.P. Heisch.