Among those who have been buried in the presbytery aisles is Bishop de Pontissara, of whom Rudborne says that he was buried ex aquilonari plaga majoris altaris. Accordingly we find his monument on the north side. Close by him, and still nearer the altar, was laid Hardicanute, the last Danish king, who was brought hither from Lambeth for interment. His death was attributed to "excessive drinking." In the southern aisle are Richard, the Conqueror's younger son; Edward, eldest born of Alfred the Great; and Bishop Nicholas de Ely's heart.
Eastward of the feretory the building is known by the name of the Retro-choir, and presents a very old and pure example of Early English work from the hands of Bishop de Lucy. The aisles are said to have been used as a model in the building of Salisbury Cathedral. Similar processional aisles may be seen also at Hereford on a minor scale. This part of the cathedral is lower and consequently appears broader than the more westerly portion. There is a considerable amount of wall-space, only interrupted by the numerous imposing chantries erected on the floor. The lower part of the walls is remarkable for some fine, though simple, blank arcading, dating also from De Lucy's time; while light is given by pairs of lancet windows, the rear arches being borne on groups of detached shafts. Many of the original chased tiles of the pavement remain to this day, and, in fact, there has been little interference with De Lucy's work. Unfortunately, however, as has been remarked, much of it has settled considerably, throwing the south-eastern angle altogether out of the perpendicular, one vaulting-shaft having in this manner been bent back and cracked in half. The effects of the subsidence can easily be seen in the photograph of the south aisle of the retro-choir looking toward the east.
As one passes beyond the feretory through the retro-choir, the Chantry of William Waynflete stands to the north of the central alley. The canopy is very elaborate and beautiful, and plentiful traces of the original colour still can be seen, especially on the groining. On each side are three flat-headed arches, those at the east end being closed, while on each side of the piers adjoining the west end there are narrow open arches. Corniced and battlemented screens fill these arches to mid-height. The figure on the tomb is a modern restoration, very elaborately clad in full pontificals, while the hands are clasped about a heart, representing the sursum corda, or lifting up of the heart. The chantry is kept in repair by Magdalen College, Oxford, which Waynflete founded. Its situation, like that of the companion tomb of Cardinal Beaufort, makes it very impressive. There is no altar now. At the east end is a blank wall surmounted by three empty canopied niches, while at the other are two open gratings.
In the corresponding position to the south is the Chantry of Cardinal Beaufort, now kept in repair by the Dukes of Beaufort. In Britton's time, as he tells us, there had fallen a "horse-load of the pinnacles in the canopy of Cardinal Beaufort's chantry." Owing, however, to the extreme elaboration, the effect is hardly impaired by this loss. The plan of the tomb is two groups of four clustered piers at each end, supporting a mass of canopies, niches, and pinnacles, which "bewilder the sight and senses by their number and complexity," as Britton quaintly says. The screen at the west end is closed, that at the east end open. The vault displays some elaborate fan-tracery. The body of the cardinal is presented in his scarlet official robes and the tasselled and corded hat, and the serenity of his face suggests very little the traditional portrait of him, as represented, for example, in Shakespeare's "Henry V." His death-bed moments, it is well known, have been much misrepresented. The inscription originally on his tomb has been destroyed, but Godwin quotes one sentence of it thus:—Tribularer si nescirem misericordias tuas.
Against the north wall, not far from Waynflete's chantry, is an unknown tomb with part of an effigy, to the east of which is the grave of one William Symonds, "Gentleman, of Winchester twice Maior and Alderman," as his epitaph of 1616 relates. The last four lines of the inscription run as follows:—
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His Merrit doth Enherit Life and Fame, For whilst this City stands Symonds his name In alle men's harts shall never be forgotten, For poores prayers rise when flesh lyes rotten. |