The South-West Choir Aisle.—At the corner of this aisle we may notice the arcade which shows the combination of the Norman rounded arch and double zigzag ornamentation with the pointed arch and dogtooth tracery of William. Here also are two tombs, which have given rise to a good deal of speculation. The more easterly one used to be regarded as the monument of Hubert Walter, who was chancellor to Richard Cœur de Lion and followed him and Archbishop Baldwin to Palestine, and, on the death of the latter, was made primate in the camp at Acre: it is thought more probable, however, in the light of recent research, that he is buried in the Trinity Chapel. The other tomb used to be the resting place of Archbishop Reynolds, the favourite of Edward II., but it also affords food for discussion, as there is no trace of the “pall”—a Y-shaped strip of lamb’s wool marked with crosses, a special mark of metropolitan dignity which was sent to each primate by the Pope—on the vestments of the effigy. Hence conjecture doubts whether these tombs are tenanted by archbishops at all, and inclines to the theory that they contain the bones of two of the Priors, perhaps of d’Estria. From this point we can notice the ingenious apparatus connected with the organ.
St. Anselm’s Tower and Chapel.—Proceeding eastward, towards the Trinity Chapel, we pause to examine the chapel or tower of St. Anselm, which corresponds to that of St. Andrew on the north side of the cathedral. Both these chapels probably at one time were much more lofty, as they are described as “lofty towers” by Gervase; it was in order to bring them into the church, when it was reconstructed after the fire, that the eastward contraction, which presents such a curious effect as seen from the choir, was found necessary. They are now, as Willis points out, “only of the same height as the clerestory of the Norman Church, to which they formed appendages, and consequently they rose above the side-aisles of that church as much as the clerestory did. The external faces of the inward walls of these towers are now inclosed under the roof of William’s triforium, and it may be seen that they were once exposed to the weather.” The arches in St. Anselm’s tower were originally set up by Ernulf, but there is reason to believe that they were rebuilt after the great conflagration. “The arch of communication,” says Willis, “is a round arch, at first sight plainly of the Ernulfian period, having plaited-work capitals and mouldings with shallow hollows. A similar arch opens on the eastern side of the tower into its apse. But a close examination will shew that both these arches have undergone alteration.... I am inclined to believe that both these arches were reset and reduced in space after the fire, probably to increase their strength and that of their piers, on account of the loss of abutment, when the circular wall of the choir-apse was removed.” The alterations that were made in these arches were probably not important, and did not extend beyond the re-modelling of the mouldings on the side of the arch towards the choir-aisle; for we may notice that above both the arches we can still trace the notched decoration which is peculiar to Ernulf’s work. This chapel was originally dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, and a very interesting relic of this saintly patronage has lately been discovered. Apparently, in order to strengthen the building, two of the three windows in the chapel were blocked up, and a buttress was built across a chord of the apse, in the early part of the thirteenth century. In the course of the restoration of the tower which was recently carried out, this buttress was taken away, and its removal laid bare a fresco painting, representing St. Paul and the viper at Melita. This piece of decoration, as need hardly be said, must have been put in before the construction of the buttress which has concealed and preserved it for nearly seven centuries; it is conjectured, with a good deal of reason, that a similar presentment of St. Paul was painted at the same time on the opposite wall, but as it had no buttress to protect it, it has been altogether effaced. A copy of the fresco of St. Paul has been placed in the cathedral library. The altar of SS. Peter and Paul stood at the east end, and behind it was the tomb of the celebrated Archbishop Anselm, by whose name the chapel is now commonly called. A very interesting feature of this tower is a large and elaborate five-light window of the Decorated period. It replaced the original south window of the chapel, and was inserted by Prior d’Estria in 1336; it is remarkable as being one of the few instances of Decorated architecture in the cathedral, and also because of the detailed account that has been preserved of its erection and cost. The passage in the archives runs as follows:—“Memorandum, that in the year 1336, there was made a new window in Christ Church, Canterbury, that is to say, in the chapel of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, upon which there were expended the following sums:
| £ | s. | d. | ||
| “Imprimis, for the workmanship, or labour of the | ||||
| masons | 21 | 17 | 9 | |
| Item, for the breaking down of the wall, where the | ||||
| window now is | 0 | 16 | 9 | |
| —— for lime and gravel | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| —— for 20 cwt. of iron bought for said window | 4 | 4 | 0 | |
| —— for the labour of the smiths | 3 | 5 | 4 | |
| —— for Caen stone bought for same | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| —— for glass and the labour of the glaziers | 6 | 13 | 4 | |
| — | — | — | ||
| Total | 42 | 17 | 2.” |
On the heads of the lights of this window were pendent bosses, like those of the door in the choir-screen, which, as has been said, was also the work of Prior de Estria. These bosses and the stones from which they were suspended, have altogether disappeared, otherwise the internal tracery of the window is in good preservation. “The outside, however, is in a very bad condition for the purpose of the antiquarian; for, apparently on account of the decayed state of its surface, the tracery has undergone the process of splitting, namely, the whole of the outer part has been faced down to the glass, and fresh worked in Portland stone; Portland stone mullions, or monials as they are more properly called, have also been supplied. And as this repair was executed at a period when this class of architecture was ill understood, the mouldings were very badly wrought, which, with the unfortunate colour and surface of the Portland stone, has given the window a most ungenuine air. However, the interior is as good as ever it was, and it is on account of its date, as well as for its beauty, a most valuable example” (Willis).
The insertion of the window in question probably had the effect of weakening the walls of the chapel; at any rate they show signs of a tendency to settle. Beneath it is the tomb of Archbishop Bradwardine, a great scholar and divine, whose primacy only lasted three months. Opposite to him lies Simon de Mepeham—archbishop from 1328 to 1333—whose tomb forms the screen of the chapel. It is a black marble monument well worthy of examination, with a double arcade and a richly decorated canopy; the ornamentation has been greatly damaged, but the shattered remains show traces of beautiful work. Mepeham’s short primacy was brought to an untimely end by the contumacy of Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter, who refused to allow him to enter Exeter Cathedral, actually guarding the west door with an armed force. The pope sided with the recalcitrant bishop, and Mepeham died, according to Fuller, of a broken heart in consequence of this humiliation.
The Watching Chamber.—Above the Chapel of St. Anselm is a small room, which is reached by a staircase from the north-west corner. A window in it commands a view into the cathedral, and from this circumstance it has been inferred that a watcher was stationed here at night to protect the priceless treasures of St. Thomas’s shrine from pillage by marauders. Some doubt has been thrown on this assumption, since the site of the shrine is not fully seen from the window, but the room is still generally known as the Watching Chamber. Probably the shrine was much more efficiently guarded than by the presence of a solitary monk in a chamber, from which even if he could see thieves he certainly could not arrest them; for we know that “on the occasion of fires the shrine was additionally guarded by a troop of fierce ban-dogs” (Stanley). It is also said that King John of France was imprisoned in this chamber during his stay at Canterbury, but this is most unlikely, seeing that he was treated by the Black Prince more as a sovereign than as a captive.
Trinity Chapel.—Passing further east, we ascend the flight of steps, deeply worn by innumerable pilgrims, and enter the precincts of the Trinity Chapel. All this part of the cathedral, from the choir-screen to the corona, was rebuilt from the ground, specially with a view to its receiving the shrine of St. Thomas. It is still, however, called by the name of the Trinity Chapel, which previously occupied this site, and was burnt down by the fire which destroyed Conrad’s choir. In this chapel Thomas à Becket celebrated his first mass after his installation as archbishop, and his remains were laid for some time in the crypt below it. This portion of the building was all carried out under the direction of English William. Gervase relates that when William of Sens, after his accident, “perceiving that he derived no benefit from the physicians, returned to his home in France,” his successor, English William “laid the foundation for the enlargement of the church at the eastern part, because a chapel of St. Thomas was to be built there; for this was the place assigned to him; namely the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, where he celebrated his first mass—where he was wont to prostrate himself with tears and prayers, under whose crypt for so many years he was buried, where God for his merits had performed so many miracles, where poor and rich, kings and princes, had worshipped him, and whence the sound of his praises had gone out into all lands.” As to the extent to which the second William was guided by the plans of his predecessor we have no means of judging accurately. Certainly the general outline of this part of the building must have been arranged by William of Sens, for the contraction of the choir, in order to preserve the width of the ancient Trinity Chapel had been carried out up to the clerestory before his retirement. Willis deals with the subject at some length: “Whether,” he says, “we are to attribute to the French artist the lofty elevation of the pavement of the new chapel, by which also so handsome a crypt is obtained below, must remain doubtful. The bases of his columns, as well as those of the shafts against the wall are hidden and smothered by the platform at the top of these steps and by the side steps that lead to Becket’s chapel. This looks like an evidence of a change of plan, and induces me to believe that the lofty crypt below may be considered as the unfettered composition of the English architect.... The Trinity Chapel of the Englishman is under the influence of the French work of which it is a continuation, and accordingly the same mouldings are employed throughout, and the triforium and clerestory are continued at the same level; but the greater level of the pavement wholly alters the proportion of the piers to their arches, and gives a new and original, and at the same time a very elegant character to this part of the church compared with the work of the Frenchman, of which, at first sight, it seems to be a mere continuation. The triforium also of this Trinity Chapel differs from that of the choir, in that its four pointed arches instead of being, like them, included under two circular ones, are set in the form of an arcade of four arches, of two orders of mouldings each. The mouldings are the same as in the choir, but the effect of their arrangement is richer. Also in the clerestory two windows are placed over each pier-arch, instead of the single window of the choir. The mixture of the two forms of arches is still carried on, for although the semicircular arch is banished from the triforium, it is adopted for the pier-arches.
“However, in the side-aisles of the Trinity chapel, and in the corona, our English William appears to have freed himself almost as completely from the shackles of imitation, as was possible. In the side-aisles the mouldings of the ribs still remain the same, but their management in connection with the side walls, and the combination of their slender shafts with those of the twin lancet windows, here for the first time introduced into the building, is very happy. Slender shafts of marble are employed in profusion by William of Sens, and Gervase expressly includes them in his list of characteristic novelties. But here we find them either detached from the piers, or combined with them in such a manner as to give a much greater lightness and elegance of effect than in the work of the previous architect. This lightness of style is carried still farther in the corona, where the slender shafts are carried round the walls, and made principal supports to the pier-arches, over which is placed a light triforium and a clerestory; and it must be remarked that all the arches in this part of the building are of a single order of mouldings, instead of two orders as in the pier-arches and triforium of the choir.”