The Cathedrals of Great Britain: Their History and Architecture

by P. H. Ditchfield

North-West Tower—Upper Tier—

102. Eve, a distaff in her hand.
103. Old Figure. This and four others are the only remaining fourteenth-century figures which have survived the wear of time and the violence of the Civil War.
104. Sarah, three cakes in her hand.
105. Old Figure. Fourteenth century.
106. Rachel, crook.
107. Deborah, scroll.
108. Old Figure. Fourteenth century.
109. Hannah, with the boy Samuel at her side.
110. Samuel, anointing horn and scroll.
111. Aaron, scroll.
112. Old Figure. Fourteenth century.
113. Old Figure. Fourteenth century.

St. Anthony over the belfry window on south side of south-west tower.

The west window presented by James II. when Duke of York has been removed and a Decorated window inserted.

Passing round to the north side we see the interesting north doorway, which is a double one, with five orders, and of Early English style (1240 A.D.). The dog-tooth ornament is evident. Carved figures appear in the mouldings. The genealogy of our Lord, beginning with Jesse, is on the east side; on the west St. Chad and the Apostles. Kings and prophets appear on the middle moulding, and angels on the inner. These are good specimens of Early English carving, and are original, though somewhat restored. A modern figure of St. Anne is in the central niche, and above a figure of our Lord. The figures of SS. James and Jude are examples of the hideous Roman cement work which once was so plentiful here.

Continuing our pilgrimage round the church we see the chapter-house and the Lady Chapel, which has been too much restored with new niches and statues of holy women mentioned in the Bible. The lower row (New Testament) has figures of Priscilla, Anna, Dorcas, Mary of Bethany with box of ointment, Martha with a dish and cloth, Lydia, Phebe and Elizabeth; above Esther, Ruth with corn, Naomi, Rizpah, Deborah, Miriam, Rachel and Rebecca. Passing the so-called mortuary chapels, probably vestries, we notice a noble figure of the Madonna on south side, and though the head has been defaced, and the child knocked away, it remains a beautiful study of fourteenth-century pose and drapery. On the corners of the sacristy are figures of Godefroi de Bouillon and St. Chad. The south portal has been much restored. It is similar to the north doorway, but not so rich in architectural details. On the tympanum are shields with arms of the diocese, and on the west the arms of Lady Catherine Leveson, a benefactress of the time of Bishop Hacket, and an inscription recording her munificence on the east. A row of niches is over the door, formerly filled with figures of Roman cement. Happily they have disappeared. The rose window is very fine.

Interior

We enter the church by the west door, and are struck with the richness and beauty of the view of the nave and choir, the clustered columns with richly-carved capitals, the elaborate reredos of marble and alabaster, and the stained glass of the Lady Chapel. It will be noticed that the choir inclines considerably to the north. This difference in orientation is observable in many churches, and has been interpreted as a figurative representation of the bending of our Lord's head upon the Cross. We believe that this beautiful fancy has no authority, and most probably the inclination was accidental. No records tell us when this nave was built. It is earlier than the west front, and was begun about 1250, at the time when the Early English style was being merged in that of the Decorated. There are eight bays. The piers are octagonal, with many shafts, the capitals enriched with foliage of Early English type. The triforium has two arches in each bay, each arch has two sub-arches, with cusped heads, and a quatrefoil in the tympanum. Dog-tooth ornament is used copiously. The clerestory windows are triangular, with three circles in each, and a trefoil in each circle. Mr. Petit stated, "Nothing can exceed this nave in beauty and gracefulness." The roof was originally of stone. This the besiegers damaged, and after its restoration the stone vaulting was found too heavy for the walls and piers; hence it was removed, except the portions at the immediate east and west end. Wyatt covered the rest with plaster to imitate the original work. The roof has now been coloured, so that it is impossible to discover any difference between the stone and plaster ceiling.

The Aisles are similar in style to the nave, and are very narrow. The wall arcading is very fine Early Decorated work. The windows have three lights, with three foliated circles in their heads. In the north aisle are tablets to the memory of Gilbert Walmesley, the friend of Dr. Johnson and David Garrick; to Lady Mary Montagu, the introducer of the inoculation for small-pox; to Ann Seward, the "Swan of Lichfield" (1809), a window; brass to the memory of officers of the Staffordshire regiment, and its colours. In the South Aisle are two curious semi-effigies of ancient date—the heads and the feet are carved, the rest of the body is left a blank in the stone; a good brass of the Earl of Lichfield (d. 1854); and the monument of Dean Addison (1703), the father of a more famous son—the essayist.

We now pass to the South Transept, which is earlier than the north, and was begun about 1220. The north transept and chapter-house were built twenty years later. Doubtless for the building of the transepts Henry III. in 1235 and 1238 granted licence to the dean and chapter to take stone from the Royal Forest of Hopwas, south of Lichfield.[14] Both transepts have east aisles. All is Early English work, except the windows. The large south window is Perpendicular, probably inserted by Bishop Blyth (1503-1533). The stone vault is also Perpendicular, erected in place of a wooden one, which served as a model of that at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, according to the order of Henry III. There is some Flemish glass in the south window of the aisle, similar to that in the Lady Chapel. It was brought from Herckenrode. We notice the memorial of one of Nelson's men—Admiral Sir W. Parker. The south window is fitted with good modern glass. In the North Transept we see that the style has advanced since the construction of the south transept, twenty years earlier. The arcading here has trefoiled arches. The windows have Perpendicular tracery, and a large north window was inserted in Perpendicular times, but it has recently been removed and the Early English window restored. The curious monument is of Dean Heywood, representing his skeleton. The organ occupies the aisle.