The Tower.—Few Norman towers, situated on the crossing of the nave, transepts, and choir, have not fallen[3] or been in extreme danger of doing so owing to the early architects having a very limited knowledge of the weight of superimposed masses and of the thrust of arches, which, as the orientals declare, “never rest.” The central tower of St. David’s was no exception; it fell in 1220. But it can hardly be that any tower has suffered worse than has this one from injudicious attentions even till the general restorations under Sir G. Scott in 1862. After the fall of 1220 the western piers and arch were allowed to remain, and the other three arches and piers were rebuilt from the ground. This, however, did not deter Bishops Gower and Vaughan adding, the first a Decorated and the latter a Perpendicular stage on to the same faulty substructure. In the rebuilding after the disaster of 1220 apparently but little effort was made towards fully introducing the new style in vogue. In fact, it is one of the most curious features of the whole of the details of the building that all the work is behind the accepted contemporary types in the matter of architectural advancement.
Internally the one old arch remaining is, of course, more or less semicircular, but the three new ones are pointed and consequently the string-course above them is carried at a higher level. Over this string-course on the west side is an arcade of pointed arches with slender shafts and foliated capitals. A corbel composed of a fox’s head carries the centre shaft. Altogether these form a graceful combination of shafts, corbels, and large bowtells with shaft-bases. Above is the characteristic Norman billet string-course.
CEILING OF CENTRAL TOWER.
Bishop Gower’s stage, above a string with the ball-flower ornament, contains on each face a tall two-light window, having pointed arches opening to a wall-passage, and externally a niche on either side. The third storey (of Bishop Vaughan, c. 1515) has a top-heavy effect and a most unusual parapet, with polygonal angle-shafts and a set of eight pinnacles. There are at present three bells, and the one that is used most and strikes from the clock is outside on the tower roof under a wooden diminutive belfry. There are two bells at the west end on the nave floor. Apparently there was an octave in the middle of the fourteenth century, when the bells were recast and the largest was lost at sea. About 1690 there were five (some cracked), and in 1748 the Chapter ordered that the four large bells should be taken down as they were both useless and dangerous, and in 1765 two were sold. The upper part of the interior of the tower consists of an elaborate wooden vault, which was raised by Scott and finely emblazoned. As the roof of the tower must obviously have been raised at least twice before, it seems hardly necessary for Scott to apologise (vide Report, 1869, Appendix) for doing so again. His success, however, is very patent.
The South Side.—Beginning at the west end, the first noticeable feature is the South Porch in the second bay, with the parvise or first floor chamber. The inner doorway has been, as Freeman[4] justly says, “one of the most magnificent displays of ornament in the whole building ... and, contrary to the common rule, the original Norman doorway has given way to a later successor.... The present doorway is Decorated (Bishop Gower, 1328-47), without shafts, but with a superb display of sculptured decoration, besides crockets and the ordinary four-leaved flower. The arch is adorned with a series of sculptures, which are sadly mutilated, but in which we may still trace the familiar representation of the Root of Jesse. The position, however, necessarily involves some singularities, and, as in the better known example of the Dorchester window, the genealogy is by no means easy to follow. The western impost is occupied by what appears to be a figure of Adam, with Eve issuing from his side; the other supports the recumbent figure of Jesse, from whom springs the branch, along which the figures are introduced, somewhat after the manner of the Norman medallions at Iffley. Some of the figures may still be discerned reading at desks; David with his harp may also plainly be seen, as well as a representation of the Crucifixion. Over the apex is an effigy of the Holy Trinity, with angels on each side bearing censers. The doorway has pinnacles at the sides, but they are cut off by the vaulting of the porch, which is plain quadripartite, springing from corbels,
SOUTH ELEVATION.
Drawn by F. Taylor Scott.