II. These dates will assist us in examining the existing cathedral. Of St. Wulfstan’s Church, begun as we have seen, in 1084, the crypt, which extends at present under the choir and aisles, is the only certain relic. But portions of Norman work, belonging, according to Willis, to the first three quarters of the twelfth century, remain in the nave, at the western end of the choir, and in the walls of the great transept. The two westernmost bays of the nave are transition Norman, and there is Norman work of the same period (the last quarter of the twelfth century) in the great transept.
The choir, retro-choir, and Lady-chapel, with the choir-aisles and the eastern transepts, are Early English, and were commenced in 1224. The nave, with the exception of the two western bays, is of later date, Decorated, (1317-1327,) on the north side; and Decorated with a strong tendency to Perpendicular (circ. 1360?) on the south. The central tower is also Decorated, and was no doubt the tower for which the legacy of Bishop Nicholas of Winchester (1281) was intended. The cloisters are Perpendicular.
The Early English portion of the cathedral (the whole of the church east of the central tower) is by far the most interesting, and affords some very good examples of design and sculpture. On the whole, however, although the entire building deserves, and will repay, careful examination, it can hardly be said to rank among English churches of the first class. The Norman cathedral, which covered nearly the same ground as that which now exists, terminated eastward (as appears from the crypt, § XXII.) in a broad apse, with small apsidal chapels attached at the sides. The ground-plan of the existing building forms a double or patriarchal cross[62], with a square eastern end. The whole north front of the cathedral is seen at once as the Close is entered from the High-street; but although the length (450 ft.) and general mass are imposing, the view is hardly picturesque [Frontispiece]. The transepts do not project far enough to break the long line satisfactorily, and the whole work of the exterior (including the central tower) is unusually plain. This view has, however, been greatly improved by the recent (1865) lowering of the ground on the north side of the church (including St. Michael’s churchyard) to the depth of at least four feet. No good general point of view can be obtained on the south side of the cathedral.
Since the year 1857 very extensive works, amounting in fact to a rebuilding of much of the eastern portion of the church, have been carried on under the superintendence of Mr. A. E. Perkins, architect to the Dean and Chapter. These will be pointed out as we proceed. It may be said here, however, that besides the great desecration and injury which the building suffered from the troops of Essex in 1642, and again from Cromwell’s soldiers after the battle of Worcester in 1651, it underwent much unfortunate “restoration” during the eighteenth century. Much of the work then done it was desirable to remove; and the condition of the stone in many parts of the cathedral was such as to render extensive repair absolutely necessary[63]. The stone used by the Norman and Early English builders was from the Higley quarries, near Bridgenorth; these quarries are in the sandstone; as are those at Holt, which were used by the builders of the Perpendicular period. For the repairs and rebuilding (1857-1863) stone has been brought from Ombersley, near Droitwich.
III. The entrance in the west front of the cathedral is said to have been closed by Bishop Wakefield, (1375-1395); who re-opened the original north entrance, which had been closed, and built the present north porch, through which we enter the cathedral. This is plain and of little interest. The details of the original composition, which had been much mutilated by injudicious repairs, have been carefully restored under the direction of Mr. Perkins; and the lowering of the ground on this side of the cathedral has permitted the removal of a flight of steps, within the porch, which formerly descended to the level of the nave. The roof is groined.
IV. The nave (which has undergone, 1863-1865, a complete restoration, externally and internally), is of nine bays, from the west front to the central tower. It covers the same ground as the original Norman nave, portions of which remain—at the north-east angle of the north aisle, (a shaft and capital); on the west side of the outer face of the north door, (a shaft and capital); and in the centre of the second piers from the west, from both of which great Norman shafts project. There is also a series of Norman arched recesses in the south aisle[64]. All these fragments are pure Norman, and belong to the first three quarters of the eleventh century. The two western bays are transition Norman, of the last quarter of the century, and remain in their original state.
The piers of the two western bays are recessed in three orders, and, together with the pointed arches that rest on them, have more Early English feeling than Norman. The capitals of the shafts are of plain Norman character. The triforium is very peculiar. A pointed arch (of which there are two in each bay) encloses three circular ones. Between and beyond these inner arches rise reeded shafts, from the capitals of which springs a zigzag moulding, repeating, in the tympana, the forms of the circular arches. Below and above the zigzag are placed knots of curled leafage, giving a dotted appearance to the whole composition, which has neither the dignity of the earlier Norman nor the grace of the Decorated work east of it. The clerestory has three arches in each bay; the central arch round, with the zigzag moulding, and much higher than the pointed side arches. The window openings, at the back of the central arch, are filled with Perpendicular tracery. “In the pier arches and triforium arches a plain round molding is employed, which runs without a base up the pier, and continuously over the arch, forming an external order or frame to it. A similar molding in front of this runs by the side of a triple group of vaulting-shafts up to the clerestory string, but is there cut off by the later vaulting-shafts.... Continuous moldings are in Norman work usually confined to the inner arches of doors and to windows. But I have observed the molding just described, as framing a group of shafted pier arches, in several cases in the west of England—as at Gloucester, the north side aisle of the choir at Lichfield, and at Bredon Church, near Worcester—the latter evidently the work of the architect of the western compartments of the cathedral[65].” The clustered vaulting-shafts terminate in capitals of transitional character, at the base of the clerestory. The vaulting itself is of the same apparent character (Perpendicular) as that eastward of these two bays; but Professor Willis has shewn that it must have been erected before (though perhaps not much before) the vaulting of the rest of the nave[66].
The west end of the nave was entirely altered by Bishop Wakefield, (1375-1395). He closed the western entrance; but the pointed arch, with a circular arch on either side, which, until the late restoration, were seen on the wall below the window, dated only from the last century. Traces of Norman doors, however, were discovered by Mr. Perkins at the ends of the aisles and in the central wall; proving that Bishop Wakefield retained the original wall, and shewing us the extent of the Norman nave. The space above the arches was entirely filled by a large debased window, the glass in which was inserted in 1792. This window has been happily replaced (1865) by an Early Decorated window of eight lights, of the same architectural character as the Decorated work on the north side of the nave, and equally enriched. (It is the gift of the Hon. and Rev. John Fortescue, Canon of Worcester.) The Norman portal beneath this window, the jambs of which were quite perfect, has been opened.
Beyond the two western bays the nave is Decorated on the north side, and early Perpendicular on the south, and the main arches rise much higher. The two sides differ in the capitals and bases of their piers, in the capitals of the vaulting-shafts, in the clerestory arches, and in the ornamentation of the triforium. The north side, which is the earlier, is also the richer.
Leland asserts that Bishop Cobham (1317-1327) vaulted the north aisle of the nave. This fixes the date of the Decorated work on the north side. The bases of the piers differ from those opposite, and the capitals of the shafts are enriched with excellent leafage, much undercut. This “runs continuously round the pier, being inflected around the shafts, so as to distinguish the groups without separating them, and with the richest effect.” At the angles of the exterior hood-mouldings are small heads of kings and bishops. The triforium has two pointed arches in each bay, each arch enclosing two smaller ones. The shafts which support these arches have capitals of leafage, and the tympana in the heads of the larger arches are filled with sculptured figures. These, before the late restoration, were so greatly decayed as to be quite undecipherable. They have been re-worked as carefully as possible, but in most instances the original subject was completely uncertain. The clerestory consists of three pointed arches, with leafage on the capitals of the shafts, and at the angles of the outer mouldings. The windows at the back are Perpendicular insertions. Professor Willis has been the first to point out that the triforium and clerestory of the two bays adjoining the transition Norman work on this side of the nave, differ from the rest, and are in fact Perpendicular, of the same character as the entire south side. “We may conclude, therefore, that the north side of the Norman nave was taken down first, and that when the portion in the Decorated style had been completed, a pause in the work or a change of architects happened, and the triforium and clerestory of these bays were then completed in a different style[67].”