Notice the wall at the back of the feretory, with its beautiful tabernacle work of Decorated period, under which images once stood. The names of the worthies appear below. "The Holy Hole" formerly led to the crypt but has now been closed. On the north side of this wall is Bishop Gardiner's Chantry, who was the leader of the Roman Catholic party at the Reformation and was styled the "Hammer of Heretics." He took a leading part in the Marian persecutions. On the south side is the Chantry of Bishop Fox (1500-1528), the founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, who bore the pelican as a device.
The south wall of the south aisle of the presbytery is Late Perpendicular work. Another instance of heart burial is recorded on the wall opposite, that of Bishop Nicholas of Ely (1280), and an inscription tells of the burial of Richard, son of William the Conqueror, who was killed while hunting in the New Forest.
We now enter the south transept, the architectural features of which are similar to those of the north transept. Silkstede's Chantry should be visited. This worthy prior loved a rebus, and here carved a skein of silk to represent his name, also the letters thoMAs appear on the screen, the MA being formed differently from the rest to represent his patroness, Mary the Virgin. Isaac Walton's tomb is here, the author of the Angler. There are some good mural paintings. The monument of Bishop Wilberforce forms a conspicuous object in the transept. Adjoining Silkstede's Chapel is the Venerable Chapel, with a fine screen. On the west side are the chapter-room and the old treasury. Passing through the chamber on the south we enter the slype.
The Cathedral
West Front.
The library has some treasures, notably a Vulgate of the twelfth century and some valuable MSS. The crypt is entirely Norman work, except the east part, which is Early English. The cloisters and old chapter-house were destroyed in 1563. The Deanery was formerly the home of the prior; its entrance belongs to the time of Henry III., and the hall within the house to the fifteenth century. Over the dean's stables is a long room which was probably the guest-house for pilgrims; rude carvings can be seen on the beams of the roof probably made by the pilgrims.
Dimensions
Total length, 556 ft.; length of nave, 262 ft.; width of nave and aisles, 88 ft.; height of vault, 78 ft.; area, 53,480 sq. ft.
Principal Building Dates
1079-1093—Transepts, crypt and cores of piers and wall; 1120—central tower rebuilt; 1202—retro-choir and eastern chapels; 1320—presbytery rebuilt; 1360—west front and two bays of nave; 1394-1486—nave reconstructed; 1487—east end of Lady Chapel; 1520—alterations in presbytery by Bishop Fox.