Strengthening Arches.
East Transepts.
The uniformity of the architecture in the first beauty of Gothic conception, the long rows of sepulchral monuments of warriors and bishops, and the noble proportions of the building, add greatly to the charm of this building; and yet it lacks much of the beauty which once shone here. Little of its stained glass, which once shed wondrous light on all we see, has been saved from the wreck caused by Reformation zeal and the wanton destruction of Wyatt. The triforium with its flat-pointed arches, sub-divided into four smaller ones, ornamented with trefoils and quatrefoils, alternating with cinquefoils and octofoils, greatly resembles that at Westminster. The clerestory windows are triple lancets. The vaulting is plain, the arches rising from clustered shafts with foliated capitals, and resting on corbel-heads. The west wall has a triple-lancet window, and beneath this is an arcade of four arches, each of which contains two sub-arches. In the west window has been collected fragments of old glass saved from the wreck. It is possible to discover the figure of our Lord in Majesty, the Virgin, Zacharias in the Temple, the Adoration of the Magi. There is some Flemish glass also here. The glass in the west windows of the aisles is ancient (1240-1270), and we see here the arms of Bishop Jewell (1562) and John Aprice (1558). The aisles have double-lancet windows. There is a curious stone bench on each side of the nave, upon which the piers stand. This was so placed in order to distribute the great weight of the building resting on these piers, as the foundations were not laid upon any very firm ground, the nature of the soil being formerly marshy, and the situation liable to floods. This ingenious plan has evidently had the desired effect, as the building has stood for nigh 700 years. The nave contains a fine series of monuments which were arranged here by Wyatt in a barbarous fashion. This vandal was guilty of every enormity. Not only did he remove the monuments from their original positions, but he seems to have mixed up the effigies and put them on tombs to which they did not belong. Beginning at west end of south side, leaving the figure of Hibernia, which graces Lord Wyndham's monument (1745), we see the monuments of the following:—
1. Bishop Herman (1078), which was brought from Old Sarum.
2. Bishop Jocelyn (1184), which was brought from Old Sarum (the head is later than the rest).
3. Bishop Roger (1139), which was brought from Old Sarum. (There is some uncertainty about the identity of these.)
4. Incised slab to an unknown personage.
5. Bishop Beauchamp (1481), whose chantry was destroyed by Wyatt.
6. Robert, Lord Hungerford (1459), whose chantry was destroyed by Wyatt. Notice the plate armour and collar of saints, also sword and dagger.
7. Lord Stourton, hung in the market-place in 1556 for the murder of the Hartgills, accomplished in a brutal fashion. He was hung, as a concession to his noble birth, with a silken cord. The "wells" on each side allude to the six heads of the Stour river, which rise near the Stourton mansion.
8. Bishop de la Wyle (1271), mutilated. The base is made up of fragments of much later date.
9. William Longespée, first Earl of Salisbury of that name, son of Henry II. by Fair Rosamond (1226). Notice the chain-armour and surcoat, shield with arms of Anjou, and the decoration of the tomb—silver diaper work. He fought in the Crusades and in France, and was present at the signing of Magna Charta.
Crossing to the north side we see the monuments of—
10. Sir John Cheyney (1509), standard-bearer of Henry of Richmond at battle of Bosworth, unhorsed by Richard III.
11.} Walter, Lord Hungerford, and his wife.
12.}13. Sir John de Montacute (1389), fought at Creçy and in Scotland under Richard II. Notice armour, especially gauntlets.
14. Chancellor Geoffrey.
15. Person unknown.
16. Longespée, Earl of Salisbury (1250), son of the above-mentioned earl, a Crusader killed by the Saracens. The fact that this is a cross-legged effigy does not prove that all cross-legged effigies represent Crusaders.
17. "Boy Bishop," the great attraction of the ordinary visitor and tourist. The ceremony of the boy bishop is well known. One of the choir boys was elected on St. Nicholas Day, and presided until Innocents' Day, and a special service and procession took place during his rule. The old idea was that this boy died during his brief episcopacy, and was thus honoured with an effigy. It is now generally believed that such small figures represent heart burials. In bygone times the body was usually buried at the place where the person died, and not infrequently the heart was conveyed to the special church associated with the family or life of the deceased. The library, however, contains the order of service of boy bishop, and the ceremony lingered on until the time of Elizabeth.
18. Person unknown.
Near the entrance is a monument to Dr. Turburville, an oculist of Salisbury (1696).
The North Transept is entered by a Perpendicular arch, by Bishop Beauchamp (1450-1481). It was designed to support the tower. The style of this transept resembles that of the nave. The two-light windows, which take the place of the triforium on the north side, and the beautiful clerestory windows, with their slender pilasters, should be noticed. There is an eastern aisle, divided into chapels, which Wyatt robbed of their screens. The monuments here are:—Brass to John Britton, the eminent antiquary; James Harris, author of Hermes, by Bacon; Earl of Malmesbury, by Chantrey; W.B. Earle, by Flaxman; Bishop John Blythe (?) (1499); Sir R. Hoare, the Wilts historian, by Lucas; Richard Jefferies, the charming modern writer on country life; Walter and William Long, by Flaxman; Bishop Woodville (1484).
The South Transept resembles the north. Here are monuments of:—Bishop Mitford (1407), a fine tomb of white marble; Bishop Fisher (1825); Edward Poore (1780).
The Choir-Screen is good modern work, and replaced a patchwork structure of Wyatt's handiwork, made up of spoil taken from his destroyed chantries. The organ is modern.