One of the great builders of the first race of Anglo-Normans was Gundulph, a monk of the famous Abbey of Bec, and the friend of Lanfranc, who, in 1077, consecrated him as Bishop of Rochester.
He rebuilt his cathedral, originally founded by the missionary Bishop Justus; but it is very doubtful whether any important part of his cathedral now exists.[27] He founded, also, the Castle at Rochester, though he did not build the magnificent keep usually attributed to him. He did, however, build the still more stupendous keep of the Tower of London, including the chapel already described, having been regularly employed by the king as the surveyor of the work.[28] The existing remains of Norman style at Rochester differ so entirely from this in character that I am convinced that the parts of the cathedral which he built were just the eastern portion,—raised high on its crypt,—which were rebuilt again in the thirteenth century.
Though not precisely in order of date, I will take next the great cathedral of East Anglia, which was erected, not on any ancient site, but wholly anew at Norwich; and of which nearly the entire shell of the original fabric has come down to our own day.
It was commenced in 1096 by Bishop Herbert de
Fig. 264.—Plan, Norwich cathedral.
Losinga, who (O tempora! O mores!) had, among other acts of simony, purchased the see of the sacrilegious Rufus for £1900!—a sum equal in our money to nearly £40,000. His apologist excuses this on the ground that it is lawful for the clergy to purchase the rights of the church if they cannot obtain them otherwise, adding the apostolic words, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” The Pope, however, did not take this view, and sentenced him, for his simoniacal practices, to build a number of churches at his own cost, of which this stupendous edifice would appear to have been one, for it is distinctly stated that he built it at his own charges,—a most amazing fact, though he held the see for twenty-eight years; and our surprise is increased when we recollect that the stone of which it is constructed was transported from Northamptonshire.
The plan of the church ([Fig. 264]) differs from that of St. Alban’s mainly in there being only one apsidal chapel to each transept, the aisle being continuous round the great apse, and in the projection therefrom of three chapels; also in the absence of western towers. Two of the chapels last named remain, and are of remarkable plan, a circle, from the eastern part of which projects an apse. The nave attains the vast number of fourteen bays; each transept has four; and the eastern arm a like number to the commencement of the apse. The length is 420 ft. without the eastern chapel, now lost; that of the transept is 195 ft. Like St. Alban’s, we have here the original central tower rising to its full height of 135 ft. It is richly decorated, both without and within, with ranges of arcading and other ornamental features. Within it rises a lofty lantern, round which are triforium passages on two levels. The angle buttresses without consist of a group of numerous shafts forming an octagon, and ending in turrets now terminated in another style. The upper part of the walls is curiously filled up with two ranges of large circles. The tower is a very noble work, though somewhat eccentric in its design.