“the chamber is a sort of gallery or cloister on the ground floor, about ninety feet long by forty feet wide, traversed in the centre by a row of pillars (with one exception cylindrical), which divide it into six double bays, from which pillars, and four corresponding ones at each side, spring the intersecting arches by which the building is vaulted. The side pillars are as entirely Norman in their character as the centre ones, being simply the square pier, on each face of which is the pilaster attached; the groining of the roof is without the finish of ribs at the joints, a finish characteristic of a later period. The chamber, which has at present only a borrowed light from the cloisters on the east, was originally lighted from the west side, by a window in each bay, except the second bay from the south end, in which was a principal entrance. This doorway and the windows are now all choked up by the adjoining garden. On the same side, and at the north end, is a very large chimney and fire-place. A glance at the groining and arches at the north end, informing us that the chamber did formerly end here, I was induced to think, by this situation of the fire-place, that its length was originally very much greater. I have since found the termination of the chamber in the cellars of the present Registry, where the groining is supported by corbels, which shew that the vaults extended there, but no further. One double bay, therefore, added to the present remains, gives us the entire length of the building,—about one hundred and five feet. In this last bay, on the east side, is a principal doorway (four inches wider than the one on the west side), leading towards the refectory. On the east side also, and near the north end, is a postern from the cloisters and a spiral staircase, partly constructed in the thickness of the wall, leading to the chamber above, of which there are now no remains. Two small archways at opposite sides of the chamber, precisely similar in form and size, and rising from beneath the level of the floor, seemed to indicate a subterranean passage connecting them. An excavation round each has, however, discovered no channel between them. In considering the character and situation of this vaulted chamber it should be borne in mind that though now apparently subterranean, it is only so with reference to the west side, the level of the floor being four feet above the level of the nave of the cathedral. The ground which now rises above it on the west side is all made ground of late date, belonging to the Palace, the original level of which is identical with this chamber, as shewn by the area round the present Palace kitchens, and by those apartments belonging to the Abbot’s residence, which yet remain.” [74]
Mr. Ashpitel, in his interesting lecture on Chester Cathedral, bestowed the name of Promptuarium on this Norman cloister, he says, “these are vaulted apartments of early Norman work, and are described in the charter of Henry VIII., by which he divides the properties between the bishop and dean, promptuaria et pannaria, the former derived from a word denoting a butler or steward, probably a buttery; and the latter, from pannus, a cloth, probably the place for clothing.”
Mr. Ayrton, in an able paper on the Norman remains of the cathedral, read before the Chester Archæological Association, entered into an elaborate inquiry on the subject, stating his reasons for concluding that this is not a Promptuarium, but, in his opinion, a spacious hall, where the splendid hospitality of the Abbots was displayed to strangers, friends, and dependents. His arguments are marshalled with great ingenuity and force; and as every contribution which tends to throw light on the use, to which this remain of the ancient monastery was devoted, possesses much importance and interest; we will here insert his observations upon it:—
“Let us see how far we have any authority for considering this building a ‘Promptuarium,’ that is, a store-room or buttery. All that Ormerod says of it is, that ‘it is a kind of crypt, consisting of a double row of circular arches, springing, with one exception, from short cylindrical columns. This building was probably used as a depository for the imported stores of the abbey, of which we may form no mean idea from a charter from the King of the Isles to the Abbot of St. Werburgh, granting ingress and egress to the vessels of the Monks of the Abbey of St. Werburgh, with sale and purchase of goods, toll free, and right of fishing upon his coasts.’ (Vol. I. page 218.) But he gives us no authority for the use ascribed to it; only his own unsupported supposition hazarded when the building was not so far cleared or intelligible as at present. The name “Promptuarium” was bestowed on it by Mr. Ashpitel when it was cleared out and restored to its present condition at the expense of the British Archæological Association, under the direction of the Local Committee, preparatory to the Congress of 1849. He derives the name from a sentence in Henry the VIII’s. charter (dividing the properties between the Bishop and the Dean and Chapter,) and speaks of this building in the plural, which agrees with his reading of the charter, but does not agree with the fact. He says, in his lecture on Chester Cathedral, ‘These are vaulted apartments of early Norman work, and are described in the charter of Henry VIII., by which he divides the properties between the Bishop and the Dean as Promptuaria et Pannaria, the former derived from a word denoting a butler or steward, probably a buttery, and the latter from pannus, a cloth, probably the place for clothing.’ The sentence to which Mr. Ashpitel alludes, and which he applies to this building, is the one describing the chamber which was called the “secunda aula”—“nec non secundam aulam, seu interiorem cum suis pannariis, promptuariis, et ceteris ejusdem membris.”
“No doubt the hall, which was of great importance, had its Promptuaria and pannaria, with its other appropriate offices; but I see no ground for applying these plural designations to a single chamber of such extent and character. We find the same terms used elsewhere in the charter with reference to other parts of the building, where there is no such chamber on which to bestow them. I must also suggest that we do not elsewhere find in remains of this date, buildings of such unbroken extent, magnitude, and continuous design, for such a purpose. Store-houses and offices there were attached to every conventual building of like importance, but we shall find them, I apprehend, always more equally quadrangular, more confined, and with a regard to convenience which predominates over the attention paid to style and effect. Here we have a chamber of vast extent (we have now ascertained its original length to have been 105 feet), in which the design has been kept carefully unbroken by the details or partitions necessary to offices such as the word ‘Promptuarium’ describes. We see throughout the whole extent great attention paid to the arrangements, the regularity, and the ornamentation of the building; and we find the pillars, the capitals, shafts, and bases, unbroken and uninjured save by the hand of time, and, notwithstanding the friable nature of the stone, for the most part as sharp and well defined as they were left by the chisel of the mason. It appears to me impossible to reconcile all these particulars with the purposes assigned to the building by Ormerod, or by Mr. Ashpitel.
“I may now perhaps be asked, ‘If this chamber was neither a store-room nor a Promptuarium, what was it?’ It is not without hesitation that I attempt to answer that question. From its length, its double bay of arches, and its situation between the church, the refectory, and the Abbot’s apartments, I should have deemed it a cloister; probably the Norman cloister, when the ground occupied by the present cloisters was differently appropriated; but, unlike a cloister, it is closed on every side, and the existence of the fire-place does not agree with that assumption; added to which the original windows are all on the side belonging to the Abbot’s apartments, the side to the church having been entirely closed with the exception of the postern. My belief is, that it was no other than the “Secunda Aula” itself, mentioned in Henry the Eighth’s charter; a sort of spacious hall for the accommodation of the Abbot’s friends and dependents, for the reception of strangers, and the exercise of that large hospitality which was dealt out so freely and bountifully in the eleventh and succeeding centuries in all important monastic establishments. That its claim to the title of the “Secunda Aula” has hitherto been overlooked, may arise from its having been erroneously considered (as by Ormerod) a sort of crypt, or subterranean building; whereas a little consideration of its level, and the ground around it, will shew us that it has only assumed that character since the sixteenth century.” [78]
There is a vaulted passage at the south end of the “Promptuarium,” or “Secunda Aula,” leading from the Abbot’s apartments to the Cathedral. It is groined in exactly the same proportions as the bays of the Norman chamber, and the arches are circular, springing from pillars precisely similar, but the groining is ribbed, and not with cylindrical, but eliptical mouldings. These mouldings stamp a semi-Norman character on the work, being almost a transition to the early English style.
Two beautiful Norman doorways gave ingress and egress from this passage, and still remain, though the one which opened to the present west cloister is closed, and sadly disfigured by the alterations of the sixteenth century. The other doorway to the west, is perfect, excepting the shafts of the pillars, which are gone. The capitals supporting one side of the architrave are foliated and of late character for Norman work.
At the south end of the east cloister, and forming the present entrance from that cloister to the cathedral, is a Norman doorway, of about the same date as the arcade adjoining it. The architrave is very ornate, bearing the billet ornament, accompanied by a bead which runs between the mouldings. Unfortunately the stone has perished more in this doorway from exposure than in those of the vaulted passage; but still more has been lost from the unmerciful treatment it has received at the hands of the plasterer. It is quite choked up with plaster and colouring, which might, with a little care and trouble, be all removed, and the door restored to something more like its original effect. The capitals of the pilasters are foliated, and identical with those already noticed in the Norman doorway of the vaulted passage.
In 1843, a liberal subscription for the purchase of two painted windows having been made, the Dean and Chapter made an appeal for an additional fund, for the praiseworthy purpose of restoring some portion of the ancient beauties of the cathedral. The appeal was most liberally responded to by the subscription of the munificent sum of £4000. A new organ has been erected at a cost of £1000., built by Messrs. Gray and Davidson, of London; it is a large and splendid instrument, of great power and richness of tone; the top of which is carved with tabernacle work, in unison with that of the choir. The instrument contains the following stops:—
The Great Organ, extending from CC to F, contains Double Diapason, sixteen feet—Open Diapason, eight feet—Open Diapason, eight feet—Stopped Diapason and Clarabella, eight feet—Fifth, six feet—Principal, four feet—Flute, four feet—Twelfth, three feet—Fifteenth, two feet—Sesquialtra, three ranks—Furniture, two ranks—Mixture, two ranks—Trumpet, eight feet—Clarion, four feet.