Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Winchester / A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See

by Philip Walsingham Sergeant

The vaulting of the presbytery, which is of timber carved to imitate stone, is remarkable for its very fine and brilliantly coloured bosses, forming a quite unique collection of designs. Milner mentions as the chief among these, "the arms and badges of the families of Lancaster and Tudor, the arms of Castile, of Cardinal Beaufort, and even of the very sees held successively by Bishop Fox. The part of the vaulting from the altar to the east window bears none but pious ornaments: the several instruments of the Saviour's Passion, including S. Peter's denial, and the betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane, the faces of Pilate and his wife, of the Jewish high priest, Judas kissing Jesus, Judas' money-bag, the Veronica"—this is immediately above the place of the cross on the reredos—"the Saviour's coat, with the Cross, crown of thorns, nails, hammer, pillar, scourges, reed, sponge, lance, sword with the ear of Malchus upon it, lanthorn, ladder, cock, dice, etc." Under the tower the vaulting is of wood, dating from 1634. Before this year the choir-lantern was visible from below, with its striking late Norman stonework divided into two tiers. It has been proposed to re-open the lantern, but this would necessitate the removal of the bells from the tower, a matter of considerable expense. It would also be a pity to take down the vaulting with its various devices, including the arms, etc., of Charles I., his queen, and the Prince of Wales, a medallion of the two former, the Scotch and Irish arms, and those of Archbishop Laud, Bishop Curie, and Dean Young. The central emblem is that of the Trinity, with a "chronogram" indicating the year 1634 thus:—sInt DoMUs hUjUs pII reges nUtrItII regInae nUtrICes pIae. The larger letters, picked out in red, serve as Roman figures which added together make up the required number.

From the commencement of the choir to the high altar are eleven steps, making nineteen in all from the level of the nave. This elevation, of course, much enhances the imposing effect of the altar and reredos as seen from the lower plane. It is due to the existence of the Norman crypt beneath, and can be paralleled both at Canterbury and at Rochester. The raised platform includes the presbytery with its aisles and the retro-choir, and extends under the central tower to the second pillar beyond. The nave and transepts are thus on a lower level. Before the altar are rails which date from the reign of Charles I., while the Altar Books were presented to the cathedral by Charles II.

The great Reredos, which separates the presbytery from the feretory and the eastern end of the church, is, to judge from its style, late fifteenth-century work. It has been attributed to Cardinal Beaufort, and to Bishop Fox and Prior Silkstede, but no inscription or armorial details can be discovered to confirm either of these suppositions. It is similar in character to the altar-screens of Christchurch Priory, Hants, and S. Mary Overy (S. Saviour's, Southwark); but, less fortunate than the former, it was despoiled of all the statues which once filled its niches, while it has not "the exquisite grace of detail which marks the choir of angels at Southwark." The reredos at S. Albans, in the same style, though not so large, was erected between 1476 and 1484; and, as at Winchester before 1899, shows a cross-shaped space where, according to legend, a huge silver crucifix was placed. Now once more, as in the sixteenth century, there is a figure on the great cross. It is curious to note an attempt, during the rage for pseudo-classic architecture in the last century, to beautify the reredos by placing sham funeral urns in its niches. These were fortunately removed in 1820, and in recent years they have been replaced by a series of statues intended to reproduce as far as possible the original effect. In the Builder for October 10, 1892, a large reproduction was given of a very interesting drawing by the late Mr J.W. Sedding, showing the whole screen completely restored; but this scheme was unfortunately not used. A large oil-painting, "The Raising of Lazarus," by Benjamin West, purchased in 1782 by Dean Ogle, till 1899 hung immediately over the altar. Before 1818 a huge wooden canopy in Jacobean style, freely enriched with gold, covered all the central portion of the screen. This was due to Bishop Curie.

The reredos is so large that it occupies the whole of the space between the choir piers, and, being constructed of a very white stone, is the prominent feature of the choir. The work is very elaborate, the whole screen being arranged in three tiers with canopied niches containing eighteen large statues, while smaller figures—kings, saints, angels, etc.—occupy the splays between. The pinnacles are pierced and crocketted, and there is a central projecting canopy over the place of the original crucifix. On either side of the high altar is a door leading to the feretory at the back of the reredos, and these have in their four spandrels interesting groups of fifteenth-century sculpture, representing various scenes in the life of the Virgin, the Annunciation, and the Visitation of S. Elizabeth, still showing traces of colour. The fact that these carvings have escaped destruction, just as the lower tier at Christchurch escaped, is only to be explained on the assumption that they were hidden behind some panelling since removed, for of all images which provoked iconoclastic fury those representing the Virgin were the most certain to be attacked. The whole is crowned by a triple frieze of leaves, Tudor roses, and quatrefoils, at a height little short of the corbels which support the arches of the roof.

The eighteen larger statues were, and are now, since the restoration of the reredos, arranged in the following order. In the uppermost tier, to the left and right of the head of cross, were S. Peter and S. Paul, who were the patron saints of the church. Two on either side of these were the four Latin Doctors, SS. Augustine, Gregory, Jerome, and Ambrose. "Below these, on the middle tier, we had two great local bishops, S. Birinus, first occupant of the see, standing beside the figure of the Virgin, and on the other side S. Swithun, the benevolent bishop, patron-saint of the church: beyond them, over the two doors, were SS. Benedict and Giles,[3] the one founder of the Order to which the Priory belonged, the other the Hermit Saint, who always pitched his tabernacle just outside the walls of medieval cities; he is here set in honour to commemorate S. Giles' Hill, and especially S. Giles' Fair, from which the Convent reaped great benefit" (Dean Kitchin: "Great Screen of Winchester Cathedral"). Outermost on this tier stand the statues of the two deacons, SS. Stephen and Lawrence. In the lowest tier, on either side of the altar, stand SS. Hedda and Ethelwolf, two of the most famous Anglo-Saxon bishops of the see of Winchester. Next these saints there is the doorway on either side and beyond these doors are statues of King Edward the Confessor, and S. Edmund the King. Between the figures of SS. Swithun and Birinus, stand statues of the Virgin and S. John, while above the arms of the Cross are the four Archangels, Uriel, Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael. In all there are now fifty-six statues on the screen, the smaller figures including famous kings, bishops, women, and a representation of Izaak Walton.