Southwark Cathedral
From Bell's Cathedrals: Southwark Cathedral, by George Worley, 1905
If the first London Bridge was built by Roman engineers during the Roman occupation, it may be assumed that the bridge existed before the church. That the first bridge was a Roman structure has been almost proved by the discovery of Roman coins and other relics among the débris of the original work during the erection of later bridges. We have an evidence of the antiquity of the site in some Roman tesserae, discovered in 1832, while a grave was being dug in the south-east corner of the churchyard, and still preserved in the pavement, near the entrance, in the south aisle of the choir. These tesserae, with the pottery, tiles, coins, lachrymatories, sepulchral urns, etc., excavated from time to time in and about the church, are clear indications of an important Roman settlement.
It is known that after the destruction of Roman London by Boadicea, a great many Romans made their escape into Southwark, where they
continued to live, and contributed greatly to the size and importance of the southern suburb. The principal buildings sprang up round the site of St. Saviour's Church, and it has been reasonably conjectured that a temple stood on the very spot that the church now occupies.
It is doubtful whether the sub-title "Overie" means "of the ferry," or "over the river," or whether the form "Overies," which the word sometimes takes, does not suggest a derivation from "Ofers," "of the bank or shore," a meaning contained in the modern German _Ufer_. John Overy, or Overs, was the father of Mary, the original foundress, but whether the surname was derived from the place, or _vice versa_, is uncertain. In any case, the name, whether by accident or design, includes a reference to the foundress as well as to the locality of her foundation.
The character of the foundation, altered by St. Swithun, was again altered in 1106, under Bishop William Giffard, with the co-operation of the two Norman knights to whom Stow refers. They not only erected the first Norman nave, but made a radical change within by abolishing the "College of Priests," in whose place they introduced "Canons regular" of the Augustinian Order, governed by a Prior, thus
transforming the Collegiate Church into a monastery. Except as regards the sex of the inmates, the change was a reversion to the idea of the foundress.
The Norman work of this period is the earliest of which any traces remain in the present church, unless the doubtful signs on a shaft in the exterior are to be taken as evidence of Saxon workmanship. This shaft is attached to the north wall of the Chapel of St.John-the-Divine (now used as a clergy vestry), which is perhaps the oldest part of the fabric. The undoubted Norman remains consist of three arches in the same chapel, where their outline is justdiscernible among the brickwork; the fragment of a string-course, with billet moulding, on the inner wall of the north transept; a portion ofthe Prior's entrance to the cloisters; the old Canons' doorway; and an arcaded recess. Of these, it may be briefly remarked that the remains of the Prior's door, showing the mutilated shafts and the zigzag
moulding of the jambs, are preserved, _in situ_, in the outer face of
the north wall to the new nave. The outline of the Canons' entrance,
obviously of much simpler moulding, will be seen on the inner side of
the same wall, towards the west end. The Norman recess lies still
farther to the west on the same side.
Early in the thirteenth century London was visited by one of those
great fires, which occurred at rather frequent intervals, before the
greatest of all, in 1666, led to the rebuilding of the city, and
better means for its protection. The date of the particular fire is
sometimes given as 1207, sometimes as 1212 or 1213. It is not
unlikely that there were several, in one or other of which London
Bridge, Southwark, and the church were seriously injured.
The repairs were soon taken in hand by Peter de la Roche, otherwise de
Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester (1205-1238), who altered the nave into
the Early English, which was then generally superseding the heavier
Norman work, and shortly afterwards built the choir and retro-choir in
a still lighter and more ornate style. The architecture gives us the
approximate date of de la Roche's work as the early part of the
thirteenth century, which is about as near as we can get to it in the
absence of a more precise record than that it was "begun after the
fire." In consequence of this, or some previous fire, the Canons were
led to found a hospital close to the Priory for the relief of the
distress and disease caused by the disaster. During the restorations
by Peter de Rupibus, in or about 1228, he had the hospital transferred
to a more favourable site in the neighbourhood, where the air was
fresher and water more abundant, and dedicated it to St. Thomas of
Canterbury, to whom the chapel on London Bridge was also dedicated.
In the reign of Richard II there was another fire, involving repairs;
and then, as well as in the reign of Henry IV, Perpendicular features
were introduced by Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester
(1405-1447), aided by John Gower, the "Father of English Poetry." The
Cardinal is said to have restored the south transept at his own
expense, and is there commemorated in a sculptured representation of
his hat and coat of arms affixed to a pier by the door. The difference
in style between the two transepts shows that on the north to be of
somewhat earlier date, though it was probably not left untouched by
the restorers. The poet Gower founded a chantry in the Chapel of St.
John Baptist, in the north aisle, where he was eventually buried, and
where daily masses were said for the repose of his soul before the
Reformation. His monument was transferred to the south transept during
the "repairs and beautifications" of 1832, but is now restored to its
original place over the poet's remains in the fifth bay (from the
west), of the north aisle of the nave. The chapel and chantry have
unfortunately disappeared.
In 1469 the stone roof of the old nave fell down. The accident has
been attributed to the removal, in the reign of Richard II, of the
flying buttresses by which the vault was originally supported, as is
still the case with the choir walls. Another roof of groined oak was
soon substituted, as less likely to suffer from its own weight. That
it was not a specially light structure, however, may be inferred from
the massive bosses preserved from it, and now to be seen on the floor
of the north transept.
The crowning piece of work, which very shortly preceded the ruin
brought about by the Dissolution, was set upon the Priory Church by
Bishop Fox in 1520, in the magnificent altar-screen, which through all
its mutilations has borne witness to his work in his favourite device
of the "Pelican in her piety," and the humorous allusion to his name,
in the figure of a man chasing a fox, among its sculptured ornaments.
The west end of the church was considerably altered, and a new western
doorway inserted, with a six-light window above it, at about the same
time; when also the upper stages of the tower were erected. The
window is said to have been altered for the worse in the seventeenth
century, and in its last phase the whole façade presented what Mr.
Dollman describes as "a heterogeneous mass of masonry and brickwork,"
not worth preserving when the modern restoration was taken in hand.
It is generally admitted that by the sixteenth century the monastic
institutions had so far departed from the ideal of their founders, and
outlived their usefulness, as to call for some drastic measures for
their improvement. Steps had been taken from time to time with this
object, before the reign of Henry VIII, when a combination of
circumstances, into which we need not now enter, enabled the King to
carry out his scheme for the Dissolution of the monasteries,
comprising the two chief classes of abbeys and priories into which
they were divided. The coming storm was heralded at St. Mary's on 11th
November, 1535 on which date, "by command of the king," a solemn
procession was held in the church to inaugurate its downfall by a
Litany, in which the Prior and Canons took part, "with their crosses,
candlesticks and vergers before them," as if in mockery of the state
of which they were so soon to be deprived. The "Act of Suppression,"
passed in 1536, sealed the fate of the smaller foundations, to be
followed three years later by the "voluntary surrender" of their
property by the larger monasteries, thus making a clean sweep of the
whole. The last Prior, Linstede, has been blamed for so far
acquiescing in the measure as to accept a pension from the royal
bounty; but with the fate of the last Abbot of Glastonbury before him,
who had been hanged for his resistance, he probably thought that his
own opposition would only have led to a useless martyrdom without
averting the fall of his priory.
St. Mary Overy now enters on a new phase of existence. By an Act of 1540, three churches were united into a single parish, under the title
of St. Saviour's, thenceforward the official designation of the
Collegiate Church and surrounding district. From 1540 the Priory Church and Rectory
were leased to the parishioners by the Crown, at a rental of about £50
per annum, till 1614, when the church was purchased right out from
James I for the sum of £800.
The proceedings which
strike us as most sacrilegious occurred in the Lady Chapel. Perhaps
they cannot be better described than in Stow's graphic words: "The chapel was leased and let out, and the House of God made a
bakehouse. Two very fair doors ... were lathed, daubed, and
dammed up, the fair pillars were ordinary posts, against which
they piled billets and bavens. In this place they had their
ovens, in that a bolting place, in that their kneading trough,
in another (I have heard) a hog's trough, for the words that
were given me were these: "This place have I known a hog-stie,
in another a storehouse to store up their hoarded meal, and in
all of it something of this sordid kind and condition."
In the reign of Edward VI the Prayer-book and its vernacular services
were introduced. The people had hardly got used to them before the
accession of Queen Mary, and the consequent papal reaction, restored
the Latin mass, around which most of the religious controversies of
the time were furiously raging. During that brief reign the
retro-choir was turned to more respectable use as a Spiritual Court,
though the memories attaching to it in that character constitute a
gloomy chapter in its history which we would gladly eliminate.
On Monday, 28th January, 1555, and the two following days, a
commission, appointed by the Cardinal Legate, sat there for the trial
of certain preachers and heretics. It was presided over by Bishops
Gardiner, of Winchester, and Bonner, of London, and included eleven
other Bishops, besides several eminent laymen. On the first day the
proceedings were open to the public, but as the crowd was
inconvenient, and the example or logic of the accused thought likely
to be contagious, the doors were closed on the Tuesday and Wednesday,
except to a few privileged spectators. The trials ended in the
condemnation of six clergymen of high standing; The Rev. Lawrence Saunders, Rector of Allhallows', Bread Street; The Rev. John Bradford, Prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral; The Rev. John Rogers, Prebendary of St. Paul's, and Vicar of St.
Sepulchre's, Newgate Street; The Rev. Rowland Taylor, Rector of Hadleigh, Suffolk; The Right Rev. Robert Ferrar, Bishop of St. David's; and The Right Rev. John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester, all of whom were
afterwards burnt. They are commemorated in the windows of the chapel.
In the early seventeenth century considerable alterations were made in the interior of
the church to bring it into line with the current spiritual
discipline [High Church Anglicanism]. In or about 1615 galleries were set up for the first time
across the north and south transepts, and in 1618 a screen and gallery
in place of the old rood loft between the nave and choir, were "worthily contrived and erected." Somewhere between this date and 1624
an inner porch, of semi-classical design, was inserted at the west
end. Closed and rented pews were introduced at this period.
In May, 1821, the restoration of the choir was proposed and
entertained for the first time, a restoration which the dilapidated
state of the clerestory and triforium showed to be necessary. The
proposal was not allowed to pass without opposition, for a counter
motion was submitted for the complete destruction of the whole
building except the tower, to which a brand-new church was to be
adapted. Fortunately this latter scheme was negatived by a large
majority of the parishioners, and the work of restoration was
committed to the then famous Gothic architect Mr. George Gwilt. He did
his work most carefully and conscientiously, adhering as far as
possible to the original, though hampered throughout his progress by
contradictory instructions from the managing committee, who, like most
bodies of that kind, were apt to fluctuate between motives of economy
and a sense of what was due to the ancient fabric. The Gothic revival
was then in an incipient stage, and Mr. Gwilt, or his committee, must
be held responsible for the removal of the old east gable, with its
five-light Tudor window, erected by Bishop Fox, in place of which a
new window of three lights was inserted. During this restoration the
Church of St. Mary Magdalene was demolished in 1822, together with
some old houses, which are less to be regretted as having encroached
too closely on the walls of the choir.
In 1825 the restoration of the nave began to be seriously considered,
its dilapidated state having been made more conspicuous by contrast
with the restored chancel. Tenders for the work were invited by public
advertisement, but nothing important was done while the vestry were
discussing the respective advantages of "rebuilding" and "repairing,"
and the nave was neglected till it got beyond repair. In the meantime
the two transepts were restored by Mr. Robert Wallace in 1830.
He substituted new designs of his own for the original tracery in the
most important window in the south transept; and (probably influenced
by an economical committee) made the fatal mistake of employing cement
instead of stone for the interior mouldings, and a soft Bath stone for
his repairs to the exterior. The action of time and weather has shown
the false economy of the work. In the same year the "Bishop's Chapel"
was destroyed, as before mentioned. In 1832 a much graver act of
vandalism was threatened by the Bridge Committee in their proposal for
widening the roadway, which meant the entire destruction of the
retro-choir. The suggestion was to leave a space of sixty feet wide,
afterwards extended to seventy, between the east end of the church and
the bridge. This was too much for the inhabitants of Southwark,
who rose to the occasion in a vigorous protest by which the venerable
building was saved.
The retro-choir was saved, and Mr. Gwilt completed the good work by
restoring it, giving his services gratuitously. The nave had been
already doomed. It had got into such a ruinous state by 1831 that at a
Vestry Meeting holden on the 3rd, and confirmed on the 10th, of May,
it was resolved:
"That the whole of the roof, from the western door to the west
end of the tower, called the nave, consisting of ceiling,
roof, walls, and pillars, as far as dangerous, be sold and
cleared away; the remainder of the walls, pillars, and family
vaults to be left open to the weather. And that the choir,
north and south transepts, be enclosed, to the eastern part of
the church, for divine service; and that the pews, situated in
the nave, be removed into such part, for the accommodation of
the inhabitants."
In 1838 the nave, having been sufficiently operated on by the climate
and other destructive forces, was taken down; and in the following
year the foundation stone of a mean and flimsy substitute, in the
"Gothic" of the period, was laid by Dr. Sumner, then Bishop of
Winchester. The interior, thus limited and reduced, was fitted up with
timber staircases, wainscoting, galleries, high pews, and a
"three-decker" pulpit, which answered the double purpose of obscuring
the sanctuary and enabling the preacher to command his audience in the
galleries.
The barbarous result did not escape the sensitive eye of Mr. A.W.
Pugin, the great Gothic revivalist, who gave vent to his indignation
in a scathing article in the "Dublin Review." He said:
"It may not be amiss to draw public attention to the
atrocities that have lately been perpetrated in the venerable
church of St. Saviour's, Southwark. But a few years since it
was one of the most perfect second-class cruciform churches in
England, and an edifice full of the most interesting
associations connected with the ancient history of the
Metropolis. The roof was first stripped off its massive and
solemn nave; in this state it was left a considerable time,
exposed to all the injuries of wet and weather; at length it
was condemned to be pulled down, and in place of one of the
finest specimens of ecclesiastical architecture left in
London--with massive walls and pillars, deeply moulded arches,
a most interesting south porch, and a splendid western
doorway--we have as vile a preaching-place ... as ever
disgraced the nineteenth century.
"It is bad enough to see such an erection spring up at all,
but when a venerable building is demolished to make way for
it, the case is quite intolerable. Will it be believed that,
under the centre tower, in the transepts of this once most
beauteous church, staircases on stilts have been set up,
exactly resembling those by which the company ascend to a
booth or race-course?... Nothing but the preaching-house
system could have brought such utter desolation on a stately
church; in fact, the abomination is so great that it must be
seen to be credited."
In November 1889,Sir Arthur Blomfield was chosen as architect for the
restoration. The miserable structure of 1839 was at once swept away,
and on 24th July, 1890, King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, laid
the foundation stone of the new nave. It was completed within seven
years by Messrs. T.F. Rider and Sons after the design of Sir Arthur
Blomfield. Guided throughout by the remains of the old work, and many
existing drawings of the ancient nave, as a whole, and in its separate
details, the architect has succeeded in a practical reproduction of
the original building.[12] The erection, with other reparatory work,
was accomplished at a cost of over £40,000; but he who had initiated
it was not spared to witness its completion. Shortly after its
commencement, Bishop Thorold was transferred from Rochester to
Winchester, and died in the summer of 1895.
On Tuesday, 16th February, 1897, the building was reopened after
restoration, and reinstated in its position as a Collegiate Church,
with the added dignity of a pro-Cathedral, in anticipation of its
becoming the Cathedral Church of the new diocese of Southwark already
in view.
THE EXTERIOR
At the present day St. Saviour's Cathedral is most unfortunate in its
surroundings, and cannot be seen as a whole from any point, near or
distant. Hemmed in as the church is by London Bridge on the east, the
Borough Market and railway arches on the south, and by tall warehouses
on the other sides, the confined space in which it stands is a decided
hindrance to the near perspective, while the surrounding buildings
shut off the view from a distance in all directions.
The railway line from Cannon Street commands a fairly good prospect
from the south-west, as it passes the church in its course. A closer
prospect is to be obtained from the London Bridge approach which takes
in the Lady Chapel, the east and south sides of the choir, the tower
and south transept. A few yards further up the slope we, of course,
lose the south aspect, but get a fair view, from the north-east
corner, of part of the east front and the north transept, including
the new Harvard window in the chapel beneath it. If we descend the
short flight of steps at the foot of the bridge, and take up a
position in the south-east corner of the open ground outside the
church railings, we get a fairly good view of the south side from the
Lady Chapel to the south-west porch, but lose sight of much of the
east end, and therefore of one of the most characteristic external
features.
The church lies in a general east and west direction, and is cruciform
in plan, consisting of a nave, north and south transepts, a central
tower, and choir, beyond which is the retro-choir, or so-called Lady
Chapel. The nave and choir have aisles, but the transepts have not.
While strict orientation has been secured in the main building, it
will be noticed that the chancel is slightly deflected towards the
south, in supposed mystic allusion to the drooping head of the Saviour
upon the Cross, a piece of symbolism very frequent in Gothic churches,
and here rendered peculiarly appropriate by the dedication.
Starting our perambulation at the =East End=, it will be noticed that
the so-called Lady Chapel is actually an enlargement of the choir,
such as we find on a much grander scale at Durham or Fountains, and
may be compared to the "Presbytery" at Chichester, from which the Lady
Chapel projects, or to the "New Building" at Peterborough Cathedral.
This addition was made to the church by Peter de Rupibus in the
thirteenth century, as a retro-choir or ambulatory. It was carefully
restored by Mr. George Gwilt, in 1832, from much external mutilation
to something like its original state. The eastern side consists of
four bays, divided by buttresses, and surmounted by pointed gables,
with ornamental crosses on the apices. In each of the gables there is
a triplet of narrow lancet windows, which light the space between the
internal vault and the roof. They have sculptured heads in the
moulding above the central light in each triplet. The bays below are
lighted by a similar series of larger windows of simpler
construction, the moulding of the sides being carried over the lancet
points in unbroken continuity. In the north-east corner there is a
short hexagonal stair turret, but the opposite corner is simply
supported by ordinary buttresses. The walls are made up of rubble and
flints, with ashlar dressing, as is supposed to have been the case
throughout the original church, where, however, the flints are said to
have been squared. In the reign of Edward III, a small Lady Chapel was
built against the east end of this retro-choir: it projected from the
second bay from the south, where the window was removed to connect it
with the church. After the interment of Bishop Andrewes within it,
this little appendage became popularly known as the "Bishop's Chapel."
It was demolished in 1830, on the ground of its supposed interference
with the approach to the new London Bridge; but as it only projected
thirty-four feet (a distance which would have placed it well within
the present churchyard railing) its destruction seems to have been an
unnecessary act of vandalism. The retro-choir itself narrowly escaped
sharing its fate, but was fortunately spared, and the tomb of Bishop
Andrewes was removed to its present position immediately behind the
high altar. The true Lady Chapel being destroyed, the dedication seems
to have been popularly transferred to the structure so closely
associated with it, and most people concerned are now very unwilling
to part with the familiar name.
Above the Lady Chapel, as it is now called, we have a view of the
=East End of the Choir=, as restored by Mr. Gwilt at the same time.
This part of the church having been considerably altered by Bishop
Fox, in or about the year 1520, the restoring architect, though
anxious to go back to the thirteenth century work, had scarcely any
data to guide him to its reproduction. The result was the more or less
original elevation that we now see. It consists of a three-light
lancet window at the east end of the choir, with a small circular
window, with seven cusps, in the gable above, surmounted by a cross,
and a stair-turret, terminating in an octagonal pinnacle at each end
of the elevation.
The pitch of Mr. Gwilt's gable was below that of its predecessor; but
with this exception (the responsibility for which lies rather with the
building committee than with him) his work must be considered very
satisfactory. His body now lies at rest in the family vault in the
south-east corner outside his work, and he is commemorated in a window
within, as well as in a marble tablet behind the altar-screen.
The =South side of the Lady Chapel= contains a central window of three
lights and geometrical tracery, with a lancet window on the right and
left. The mouldings of these side windows are not exactly alike, that
on the right (of the spectator) being extremely plain, while the other
is supported by slender shafts, terminating in delicate floral
capitals.
This aspect of the chapel was completely hidden by the parish church
of St. Mary Magdalene Overy, erected against it in the thirteenth
century, and destroyed in 1822, after having undergone many
alterations. The choir entrance, at the intersection of the choir and
south transept, is not remarkable, and need not detain us.
The South Transept, which has a public doorway on its eastern side,
was erected, with its companion on the north, in the first half of the
fourteenth century (circa 1300-1350) in the Decorated style of that
period. It was rebuilt by Cardinal Beaufort in the following century,
which accounts for certain architectural differences between the two
transepts, chiefly noticeable in the windows and in the interior
walls. The front of this transept was repaired in brick in 1735, and
the restoration of both was taken in hand by Mr. Wallace in 1830. At
the earlier date the original window in the south elevation was
"enlarged and beautified," which means that the tracery was taken out,
and a cheap substitute inserted, without tracery, and with plain
mullions instead of the original elaborate lights. Mr. Wallace
improved upon this feeble design by introducing another window, on a
pattern partly of his own invention, partly based on a circular window
in the adjacent Winchester Palace, which is said to have been
singularly ill adapted for stained glass.
When the restoration was undertaken by Mr. Wallace, enough of the old
work remained to show that the original design had a high-pitched
roof, with a gable recessed behind a straight parapet, and that the
large window, though all cusping and tracery had disappeared, was
similar, in its main divisions, to that which Sir Arthur Blomfield has
inserted. Mr. Wallace's restorations, here and elsewhere, were made
quite independently of the suggestions to be found in the ancient
work, which Sir Arthur was before all things anxious to reproduce. In
the present window we have a practical reproduction of the original,
as far as its features could be ascertained. It consists of five
lights, combining the earlier geometrical with the later flowing
tracery of the Decorated period, and an element of Perpendicular.
Below the transoms there is a series of unglazed panels, which have
not escaped criticism as spoiling the proportions of the window; but
most people are satisfied with them in the interior, where the wall
arcading at once explains the necessity, and gives effect to the
whole. A simple three-light window has been placed in the gable above.
The windows on the east and west sides of this transept, though
renovated by Sir Arthur Blomfield, date from the time of Edward III,
as Mr. Wallace did not interfere with them beyond shortening the
length of one on the east. Below the great window in the south
elevation there had formerly been an entrance to this transept, to
which a wooden porch was added. These are now swept away, and the
entrance has been transferred to the eastern side, formerly blocked up
by the church of St. Mary Magdalene. Mr. Wallace had changed the
design of the buttresses, and affixed pinnacles to them, on the
authority of certain old engravings which represent them as existing
at an earlier period. It may be said, however, that the old pictures
differ very much from each other in such details, and cannot be relied
on for accuracy. Sometimes, no doubt, though almost contemporaneous,
they represent alterations actually made at the church within a short
time of one another; but the discrepancies between them are just as
likely to be due to the caprices of individual engravers. On the other
hand, it is fair to them to remember the innovations, for better or
worse, which the vestry and churchwardens thought it right to make at
frequent intervals. Some of them occur in the history of this very
transept. For instance, the original gable was removed early in the
eighteenth century, and a covering substituted, of a kind which Mr.
Dollman humorously describes as "the pleasing novelty of a hipped
roof." Again, in 1679 a sundial was placed over the central window, to
give way in 1735 to an ingenious combination of sundial and clock, for
which a triangular arrangement, presenting a clock of two faces, was
substituted four years later. _See_ illustration, p. 27. All these may
now be regarded as among the things that have never been, except in
the historical lessons they contain.
The Tower, at the intersection of the nave and transepts, is 35 ft.
square externally, and rises to the height of 129 ft. 6 in., exclusive
of the pinnacles, which stand 34 ft. higher. The exterior walls
throughout consist of the intermixture of flint and stone,
characteristic of the rest of the church, except the transepts, which
are of Bath stone. It has been stated that the tower was originally
supported at the angles by buttresses, but it is not at all certain
that this was the case, and it would have been an unusual and
dangerous experiment to remove them, unless the tower had been
altogether rebuilt. That the old builders did not shrink from such
daring alterations, however, is proved by their having removed the
flying buttresses from the original nave, which led to the collapse of
the roof in 1469. In a bird's-eye view of Southwark, including St.
Saviour's Church 'as it appeared' in 1543, the buttresses are absent.
In an engraving by Hollar (usually accurate), dated 1647, the
buttresses are shown. The present appearance of the tower is against
the theory, as there is next to nothing for the buttresses to rest on;
but it is probable that the angles were altered at the same time, and
Mr. Dollman has given his weight to the conjecture, apparently relying
on Hollar's correctness, in preference to less known engravers. The
first stage of the tower, just visible above the roof, was erected at
the same time as the adjoining transepts. The two upper stages are
attributed to Bishop Fox (circa 1520), and are in the Perpendicular
style of his date. The uppermost stage is chamfered at the quoins,
leaving a small off-set at the level of the next. Each story contains
two windows of two lights, transomed, the whole terminating in an
embattled parapet, with crocketed pinnacles at the corners, surmounted
by vanes. These were put up by Mr. Gwilt in 1818, in place of the old
vanes, dated 1689, the pattern of which was slightly different. If the
early engravings are to be trusted, Mr. Gwilt also made a
considerable alteration in the design of the pinnacles at the same
time. The two rooms within the tower are reserved for the ringers and
the peal of twelve bells which the church has possessed since
1735.
The South side of the Nave brings us to Sir Arthur Blomfield's chief
restoration, or rather rebuilding, of 1890-1897.
As explained in the introductory chapter, the nave had been walled off
from the eastern portion of the church and allowed to drop into
ruinous neglect from 1831 till 1839, when a flimsy substitute was
begun. The foundation stone was laid by Dr. Sumner, then Bishop of
Winchester. The fragile nature of this work may be inferred from the
fact that it was finished in the following year, and as the floor was
raised seven and a half feet above the old level it was impossible to
use the new nave in connection with the choir and transepts.
Guided by the ground plan of the thirteenth-century nave, showing the
position of the columns of the arcade, and the outer walls generally,
as revealed when the modern brickwork was removed, Sir Arthur has
succeeded in giving us a practical reproduction of the original, both
in character and material.It will be no disparagement to his
admirable work to say that it was made more easy by the labours of his
predecessors, Mr. Gwilt and Mr. Dollman, and especially by the careful
plans and drawings which the latter gentleman left behind him after
fourteen years' patient study of the fabric. The south elevation
exhibits seven bays, divided and supported by flying buttresses, each
bay of the clerestory being lighted by a plain lancet window.
The flying buttresses had been removed from the old nave, with
disastrous consequences to the original roof, as already stated. They
are now replaced, and at once give strength and effect to the
elevation, besides bringing it into harmony with the architecture of
the choir, where the flying buttresses were never removed. The wall
spaces in the aisle below are occupied by five lancet windows,
matching those in the clerestory, except in the bay next the transept,
where there is a beautiful window of three lights. Before describing
it, the interesting fact may be mentioned that the window in the
westernmost bay of this aisle had been concealed and protected, while
its neighbours were destroyed, through having a small wooden house, or
shed, built up against it. The single window thus accidentally
preserved, was taken as a model for the new ones throughout the aisle
and clerestory, with the exception of the larger aisle window just
referred to. This, though also entirely rebuilt, is a modified
reproduction of that which filled the same space in the time of Edward
II--a fine example of the Decorated style. Divided by sub-arcuation
into three lights, surmounted by circles of quatrefoil tracery in the
spandrels of the arches, and supported by composite shafts, with
moulded bases and foliated capitals, this elegant window had been
allowed to drop into a ruin. Drawings of it had fortunately been taken
before it was too late, and the present work gives us the leading
features, and practically the details, of the original.
The most conspicuous object in the whole of this elevation is the
Doorway to the south-west, which is the principal entrance to the
Cathedral. In all probability the door was placed in this position
when the Norman nave was built by Bishop Giffard (circa 1106); but
its character was altered by Peter de Rupibus, a century later, to
bring it into harmony with the rest of his Early English work, when he
remodelled the nave in that style.
The porch that we now have agrees in its main features with the
drawings taken of the earlier one before it was destroyed. A deeply
recessed and acutely pointed arch is divided into two by a central
shaft, with moulded base and foliaged capital. The jambs contain five
shafts on each side, which differ from that in the centre, in that
they are of Purbeck marble, and banded, in pleasing contrast to the
plain stone of their own bases and capitals, and of the (unbanded)
central shaft. In the tympanum of the double doorway thus formed,
there is a pointed arcading, consisting of a central arch and two
smaller arches on either side. The deep soffit of the arch in which
this elegant arcading is enclosed, is adorned with a series of
quatrefoil panels.
From the remains of a bracket discovered in the ruins of the former
arcading, it is obvious that the central space was intended for a
statue. We are not left to mere conjecture on this point, but have
documentary evidence to confirm it, which shows that the recess held a
seated figure of the Blessed Virgin, the patroness of the church.
The arch is now vacant, though supplied with a suggestive pedestal;
and there is one other detail in which the restorer appears to have
departed from his original, viz., in not reproducing the small
clusters of foliage that were distributed along the hollows of the
mouldings.
The long gargoyles projecting horizontally on either side of the roof,
and the floriated cross on the apex, are worth notice. The modern
restoration is indicated by a cross (patée) carved on the central
buttress on this side of the Cathedral, which marks the stone laid by
King Edward VII on 24th July, 1900, when His Majesty was Prince of
Wales.
The West Front is chiefly remarkable as presenting a dead wall where
we usually expect to find the grand entrance. It is a debated question
among antiquaries and architects whether the first Norman church ever
had a doorway in this front; and the question has not got beyond
conjecture as to the Early English church which superseded it in the
thirteenth century. It is certain, however, that a rich and elaborate
entrance, deeply recessed, was inserted here in the Perpendicular age
(sixteenth century), about the same date that the upper stages of the
tower were set up, either for the first time, or in place of an
earlier doorway.
The same uncertainty attends the history of the great west window; all
traces of the original having disappeared when a window of the
Perpendicular style was introduced in agreement with the doorway
below. Before the alterations, or mutilations, of the seventeenth
century, this window was of six lights transomed, with cinquefoil
tracery at the heads of the lower (and probably also of the upper)
lights, as inferred from the fragments which survived its
mutilation.
In the absence of data as to the Early English façade, the architect
for the restoration has been thrown to a large extent upon his own
resources. The question of the doorway he has answered in the
negative. The window he has given us consists of three lancet lights
corresponding with those at the east end, but considerably longer,
with an unglazed panel of similar design, on either side, diminishing
in height from the central light outwards in harmony with the lines of
the roof. The north and south ends of the façade are flanked by
stair-turrets, square in their lower portion, rising into octagons,
and surmounted by sharply pointed roofs. To relieve the monotony of
the horizontalism, a simple arcading has been inserted in the wall
spaces above the central window, and above the aisle windows (plain
lancets) on the right and left. Independently of the question of
precedent, the absence of a doorway in this front is quite
intelligible at the present day, when the church wall almost touches
the narrow public pavement, and the close street of lofty business
houses allows no room for perspective, or even convenient access.
The North Side of the nave corresponds with the south, each bay
containing a lancet window in the clerestory. The spaces in the aisle
below are similarly lighted, except in one bay towards the east, where
Gower's monument in the interior necessitates a shorter window, which
is here made a double lancet. At the extreme eastern end of this side
of the nave we come to a most interesting relic in the remains of the
Norman Doorway (twelfth century), which had been the Prior's
entrance from the cloisters. Shut in and completely hidden by
brickwork, it was discovered in 1829 in a shocking state of
mutilation, but fortunately _in situ_. It was further mutilated, and
bricked up again during the building operations of 1839, to be again
revealed when the rubbish of that date was cleared away for the new
nave, where the fragments are now carefully preserved in the wall. The
archivolt is no more, all that we have being some fragments of the
jambs on which it rested, one of which, on the east side (on the
returned face), shows two old consecration crosses. In its perfect
state this fine specimen of late Norman work is known to have
consisted of three orders of shafts (banded) in the jambs, with
moulded bases and sculptured capitals, the bold archivolt also
displaying three orders.
Of these the outermost was of leaf ornament, the second zigzag, and
the third a conventional floral design, suggesting a combination of
the trefoil and Greek honeysuckle. The zigzag moulding forming the
innermost order was continuous along the jambs and arch. Close to this
doorway, on its eastern side, there is a smaller, but equally
interesting, relic in the remains of a _Holy-water Stoup_. It is fixed
in a large and deep recess, with an angular arch above it, too
dilapidated to afford a hint as to the original moulding, which we
can only assume was not unworthy of the rich doorway by its side.
A few yards westwards we are reminded of the antiquity of the site by
a mass of Roman tiles, arranged herring-bone fashion, as if they had
been used in the wall of some earlier (probably Saxon) building on the
spot. They are now tightly packed in a case, exactly as they were
discovered, for their better protection against relic hunters, whose
ideas of property, when it happens to be of a portable kind, are a
constant source of anxiety to the vergers.
Our progress along the north wall is here interrupted by the
projecting transept, which touches the wooden fence separating the
Cathedral from private property. Neither the north end of this
transept, nor the north side of the "Lady Chapel," is to be seen from
the exterior. It may be mentioned, however, that the windows on the
east and west sides of the north transept are extremely simple
compared with that in the end of the same transept or with those in
the south arm; and that the north side of the "Lady Chapel" differs
slightly from the south in the disposition of the windows. Here the
largest (a fine example of modern work) is in the easternmost bay, the
other two bays being lighted by simple lancets, whereas on the
opposite side the largest window occupies the central bay, with a
lancet in the bays on either side of it.
Before entering the church, it may be well to walk once more along the
east front to see the outside of the new Harvard window in the chapel
below the north transept, which stands out in marked contrast to the
older work around it. It may also be noticed that while the windows in
the choir clerestory are all plain lancets, like those in the restored
nave, there is a considerable difference in the glazing. In the choir
we have an ornamental pattern of Mr. Gwilt's invention. In the nave
Sir Arthur Blomfield has preferred small square panes of glass, as
more in character with the lancet type of window, and the other Early
English work, which he has so well reproduced.
THE INTERIOR
The Nave was entirely rebuilt by Sir Arthur Blomfield in 1890-1897.
Not the least difficult part of the architect's work was the removal
of the unsatisfactory structure, of 1839-1840, without destroying the
few Norman and Early English features imbedded in the plaster and
brickwork, which it was desired to recover as far as possible, and
preserve intact and _in situ_. This has to a great extent been done,
thanks to the care with which the debased nave was taken to pieces,
every stone that was worth preserving being carefully released from
its accretions, measured, and reinstated in its proper place in the
new work. Fortunately the earlier nineteenth century builders had not
disturbed the bases of the old piers, but had contented themselves
with building round them, and when their superstructure was cleared
off, enough of the old work remained to show the position of every
pier, as well as the lines of the original ground plan. In nearly
every part also the old foundations were found satisfactory, though,
of course, they were thoroughly tested, and renovation generally
applied. The old lines have been adhered to throughout the
restoration, and the new nave is a practical reproduction of its Early
English predecessor in every detail, with the single exception to be
afterwards noticed. This minute adherence to the original includes
such intentional irregularities as the unequal distances between the
piers and the varying width of the aisles, which not only differ from
each other, but are not of the same width throughout in each case.
Ancaster stone has been chiefly employed, except in the roof, where
the ribs of the vaulting are of Bath stone, the filling being made up
of chalk and firestone.
The nave consists of seven bays on each side, divided by piers,
alternately circular and octagonal, like those in the choir, with
triple vaulting shafts on the north and south sides (the central shaft
in each case being of Purbeck), and a single shaft on the east and
west, corresponding with the interior order of the arches. The
vaulting shafts are banded. The deeply moulded arches are somewhat
loftier and more acutely pointed than those in the choir, placing the
triforia on a slightly higher level, but the triforia of nave and
choir are alike in that in both cases they consist of four arched
openings in each bay. Every bay is walled off from its neighbours on
either side, but has an opening at the back into a passage above the
aisles, which is continuous throughout nave and choir. In the
westernmost bay on either side, the triforium arcade has a wall
immediately behind the shafts. In the other bays it is recessed, and
open above the level of the aisle vaulting. In these respects the
architect has reversed the old arrangement, as in the original nave
the two westernmost bays had open triforia, the others simply
containing a shallow arcading. This arrangement, taken in conjunction
with traces of an incipient tower discovered within the two western
bays, seems to show that these bays were intended to form a narthex,
or vestibule, to the church, but it does not appear that the tower was
ever erected, or that the vestibule ever went beyond the conception.
The clerestory is lighted by plain lancet windows, enclosed in an
elegant arcading.
Entering the church by the great doorway at the south-west, and
looking towards the east, we get a fine perspective of over two
hundred feet, including the nave arcading in its three stages, the
groined and vaulted roof, and a good view of the choir, terminating in
Bishop Fox's fine stone screen, with the three-light window above it.
In both aisles there is an interesting series of modern windows
intended to memorialise the great names associated with the Church,
the Borough of Southwark, and the history of England--all excellent
specimens of the revived art of glass-staining, and all at present
designed by Mr. C.E. Kempe. The visitor will find it convenient to
begin his examination of the interior at the =North Aisle=. The window
at the extreme west end of this aisle contains a figure of St.
Augustine of Hippo, as Patron of the Augustinian Canons, introduced
early in the twelfth century, when the Collegiate Church was
transformed into a monastery.
The next three windows are at present vacant, but they are already
destined for three great names included in the memorial scheme, viz.:
Oliver Goldsmith, Dr. Johnson, and Dr. Sacheverell, each of whom has a
place in the history of Southwark entitling him to commemoration in
the church. Goldsmith once set up as a medical practitioner at
Bankside. His friend Dr. Johnson was on friendly terms with the Thrale
family, whose successors (Messrs. Barclay, Perkins and Co.) still
retain the Doctor's chair on their premises. Dr. Sacheverell was
Chaplain at St. Saviour's from 1705 to 1709, and appears to have
engaged Johnson's attention, as a preacher, in his childhood.
Beneath the Goldsmith window there is a fine relic in the shape of a
late Norman Recess, which has escaped serious mutilation. A
segmental arch, surmounted with a simple chamfered moulding with
quirks, supported at each end by a column with moulded base and
capital, would seem to indicate a seat rather than a tomb, and the
date as about the end of the twelfth century. Beneath the Johnson
window there is another Norman relic, of about the same date, in the
outline of the old =Canons' Doorway=, formerly connecting the aisle
with the cloisters. The extreme plainness of the moulding will be
contrasted with the elaborate work in the Prior's entrance further
east, on the exterior of the same wall. The next window contains a
memorial to Alexander Cruden, compiler of the Scripture Concordance,
who died on 1st November, 1770, and was buried in the parish. This
window is the gift of Mr. W.H. Francis.
John Bunyan is commemorated in the window beyond it, as having
preached and worked in Southwark, and as author of the immortal
"Pilgrim's Progress." The cost was defrayed by subscriptions from
children of the parish.
The next bay is occupied by a short two-light window (at present
plain), and by John Gower's Tomb in the space below. This fine
monument was removed to the east side of the south transept during the
destructive alterations of the early nineteenth century, but had been
worse treated by its friends in 1748, when a large sum was spent on
its "embellishment." Its history, combined with that of the Priors who
erected it, may be summed up in the opening words of the inscription
which was placed in a marble tablet at the back of the tomb to
commemorate the embellishment referred to, not without a touch of
sarcasm, though, of course, unintentional: "Hoc viri inter inclytos
memorandi." Gower died in 1408, eight years after his friend Chaucer.
He had been a liberal benefactor to the Church, and founded a chantry
in the Chapel of St. John the Baptist, where he was eventually buried.
The chapel and chantry are no more, but the monument marks the spot,
having been restored in 1894 to its first position. It is in the
Perpendicular style, and consists of an altar-tomb, with a dado,
ornamented by seven panels in front, on which lies the effigy of the
poet, surmounted by a canopy of three ogee arches, with an inner order
of five cusps, and terminating in crocketed pinnacles. There is a
pilaster set angle-wise at each end, banded at the separate divisions
of the monument, and also rising into crocketed pinnacles. There are
similar pinnacles between the arches of the canopy. Behind the canopy
is a screen, divided into open panels of three trefoil-headed lights.
The cornice at the top is modern, and the hands and nose of the figure
are restorations.
The poet is represented lying on his back, with his hands joined in
prayer, and his head resting upon the three volumes on which his fame
depends, the "Speculum Meditantis," "Vox Clamantis," and "Confessio
Amantis." He is vested in a long dark habit, buttoned down to the
feet, after the manner of a cassock, the ordinary dress of an English
gentleman at the time. There is a garland of four roses round his
head, and at his feet a lion couchant. The SS collar adorns the neck,
with a pendant jewel, on which a swan is engraved--the device of
Richard II, to whom Gower was Poet Laureate. On the wall of the
canopy, at the foot of the tomb, there is a sculptured and coloured
representation of the poet's own shield of arms, crest, and helmet. On
the back wall of the recess, above the effigy, there were formerly
three painted figures, representing Charity, Mercy, and Pity, each
bearing a scroll with an invocation, in Norman-French, for the soul of
the departed. After undergoing repainting more than once, with
modifications, the figures were scarcely recognisable in 1832, when
the monument was repaired, but the figures were unfortunately
obliterated. The inscription along the ledge of the tomb, which had
also been destroyed, is now replaced: "Hic jacet I. Gower, Arm. Angl:
poeta celeberrimus ac hoc sacro benefac. insignis. Vixit temporibus
Edw. III, Ric. II, et Henri IV." The short window above Gower's tomb
is not without suggestion in its vacancy. The last bay of the aisle
was occupied by the Prior's doorway, the existing fragments of which
are preserved in situ on the exterior.
The window above it is most appropriately dedicated to Gower's
contemporary, Chaucer. It was presented by General A.W. Pigott in
memory of his sister, and was unveiled by the present Poet Laureate on
25th October, 1900, the fifth centenary of Chaucer's death. The artist
has succeeded in compressing a rather large subject into the single
lancet. The middle compartment depicts the pilgrims setting out from
the old "Tabard" inn, above which (in the upper division) rise the
tower of St. Saviour's and the spire of Canterbury, the starting-point
and the goal of the pilgrimage. The compartment beneath contains a
full-length figure of Thomas Becket, a study in ecclesiastical
vestments, his right hand raised in blessing, the left holding the
archiepiscopal cross. The whole is crowned with a medallion portrait
of the author of "The Canterbury Tales."
If the visitor will now turn to the right and take up a position
outside the chancel railings, he will probably be at the best point
for seeing the East Window, unless a strong light happens to be
behind it to bring out the details at a distance.
It is placed in an elegant quintuplet arcading, the outer arches of
which are blind, leaving the central arches for the three lancets
composing the window. It contains the Crucifixion in the central
light, with the attendant figures of St. John and the Blessed Virgin
at the sides, the whole thus forming a pictorial substitute for the
rood-screen that formerly stood before the choir. The design of this
window is also by Mr. Kempe, but it shows a certain departure from his
characteristic style in that it is more of a picture and less of a
kaleidoscope than most of his other windows. In colouring and accuracy
of delineation (anatomical and otherwise) it is perhaps more modern
and less mediaeval in treatment than we should be led to expect from
the artist's better known manner. The predominant tone is blue,
relieved by a delicate base and canopy of amber, and the whole
composition is full of the devotional spirit of the old masters in
stained glass, though obviously subject to modern influences. A
complete contrast, in subject and in colouring, is presented in the
great West Window, by Mr. Henry Holiday. This window also consists
of three lancet lights, which, though considerably longer than those
at the east end, scarcely afford room for the many details of the
extensive theme that has been chosen. It is a combination of the six
"Days" of Creation with the _Benedicite omnia opera_ as a hymn of
praise from created nature. In some respects the treatment of the
subject suggests the influence of the school that we associate with
the names of Burne-Jones, William Morris, and Rossetti. This gift to
the Cathedral came from Mr. T.H. Withers. The space beneath the west
window, usually occupied by a porch, is lined with two series of
arched panels, seven in the higher row, nine in the lower. The latter
are less acutely pointed, and much shorter, than the others, and also
differ from them in that the shafts are of Purbeck marble.
On the inner south-west wall there are some extremely interesting
fragments of the ancient thirteenth-century wall arcade. The peculiar
construction can be inferred from the three arches that are left,
viz., that in every bay one of the three arches rested on a corbel,
while the others were supported by shafts, with moulded bases and
foliated capitals; a precedent which has been followed in the new
arcading on the west wall.
The Choir was erected by Peter de Rupibus in the early part of the
thirteenth century. In its more mature and elaborate work it shows a
considerable advance on the simplest form of Early English, though the
apparently low elevation, and massiveness of the piers and lower
arcading, are obviously not free from Norman influences. It is divided
into five bays by alternate circular and octagonal piers, the dwarfed
appearance of which is relieved by triple vaulting shafts on the north
and south sides, and single shafts to support the arch mouldings. The
central shafts are not of Purbeck, as in the nave, and they are not
banded, except where crossed by the abacus moulding of the capitals
and the triforium string-course. The piers have all plain capitals and
well cut base mouldings. The triforium arcade, like that in the nave,
consists of four arched openings in each bay, and, unlike the
clerestory, has no continuous passage along the choir wall. Each bay,
however, has an opening at the back into the space between the vault
and roof of the aisle.
While both sides of the choir are alike in their main features, there
is an interesting difference in detail, especially to be noticed in
the greater simplicity of the south side, where the triforium capitals
are less elaborate, and the dog-tooth ornament is omitted from the
outer jambs of the openings.
On the south side, moreover, the arches have corbels, with sculptured
heads, to support their inner mouldings, in place of the full-length
shafts which occur on the responds at the ends, and on all the piers
of the opposite side. These differences, though perhaps partly
referable to the delightful vagaries of Gothic architecture, are
supposed to have a special significance at St. Saviour's, where the
north was the side of the Prior.
The roof is not strictly original, most of it having been rebuilt in
1822-1824, when, however, the old material was worked in again as far
as possible, and the old quadripartite groining adhered to. It may be
noticed that the vaulting is carried out very systematically and
correctly, the only defect being that the wall-ribs die into the
vaulting surfaces, instead of being brought down to the clerestory
sill. The plough-share surfaces (as they are called) are nevertheless
well cut back to concentrate the lateral pressures against the
external buttresses. In the nave the new vaulting has the wall-ribs
properly supported by light shafts in the angles of the clerestory
openings, whilst in the transepts the inner archivolt of the windows
answers the same purpose.
It is highly probable that the choir formerly extended to the western
side of the tower, as indicated by the step between the nave and tower
pavement.
Behind the altar rises the magnificent Screen, erected by Bishop Fox
in 1520, which almost fills the eastern end of the choir. This fine
work had been more or less mutilated through the iconoclastic zeal of
ultra-reformers, who deprived it of the sculptured figures in the
niches. It was further ill-treated during the architectural supremacy
of Sir Christopher Wren and his school, when the smaller canopies and
other projections were pared off to make a level surface for the
classical piece of woodwork placed in front of it. When this
incongruous structure was removed and the restoration taken in hand
(in 1833) by Mr. Wallace, liberties were again taken with the
unfortunate screen, more or less spoiling the design, though
undertaken on a good motive. Perhaps the least objectionable of these
innovations was the insertion of panels for the Creed, Lord's Prayer,
and Ten Commandments, in perpetuation of those in the wooden
altar-piece, where the formulae had been set up in the spirit of the
Injunctions of 1536 and 1538. Above the stages Mr. Wallace introduced
rows of angels, the highest row being surmounted by a cornice of
strawberry-leaf ornament for which there was no sort of precedent,
either in the original work here, or in other altar-screens of similar
character elsewhere.
The screen is about thirty feet in height, and extends to the main
arcades on either side. Three tiers of canopied niches, ten in each
tier, divided down the centre by a perpendicular series of three
larger niches, all occupied by statues, made up a composition which
was at once "a thing of beauty" and an object lesson on the
Incarnation. The total number of niches (thirty-three) suggested a
mystic reference to the years of our Lord's earthly life, while the
image of the Pelican "in her piety," here and there, besides being a
reminder of Bishop Fox (whose peculiar device it was), also typified
the sacrament of the altar. The original materials of which the screen
was built are quoted as "Caen and fire-stone," for which Mr. Wallace
substituted stone from Painswick in Gloucestershire, as more easily
obtained and agreeing in colour with the old work.
Above the altar the first architect had left a vacant panel (square)
possibly intending it for the reception of sculpture or mosaic. This
space, as well as some of the side panelling, was covered by the
Decalogue, etc., before mentioned. The space is now vacant, pending
the complete restoration of the screen, and is simply concealed by the
dorsal and lateral curtains. The doors on each side will be noticed,
with their depressed ogee headings, which indicate that this screen is
of somewhat later date than the corresponding one (also by Bishop Fox)
at Winchester. Another indication to the same effect has been detected
in the grotesque carvings in the spandrels, which are here of a
humorous character, whereas at Winchester the minor decorations are
entirely sacred, e.g., the Annunciation and Visitation.
On the north side of the choir, in the easternmost arch, is the
Monument of Richard Humble, erected by his son Peter in 1616. He
quotes his father in the inscription as "Alderman of London," which is
supposed to be inaccurate, as the prospective alderman, though
represented in the official gown, is said to have declined office for
political reasons. The monument is a good specimen of the Jacobean
style. Under an arched canopy, supported by Ionic pillars, Richard
Humble is kneeling at a small altar, or _prie-Dieu_, with his two
wives behind him, the second wearing a conical hat, his sons and
daughters being represented in bas-relief on the north and south sides
of the basement. On the altar side there are also some verses, by an
unknown author, in which human life is compared to "the damask rose
and blossom on the tree," with other images of its vanity and
shortness. There is a dash of Elizabethan vigour in the versification,
mixed with a certain quaintness which points to the decadence, and the
lines have been attributed to such different writers as Francis
Beaumont and Francis Quarles. The figures in the monument have been
"beautified" with imitations of marble and alabaster. The canopied
stalls for the Canons were erected as a memorial to Bishop Thorold,
from the diocese of Rochester, as notified on a plain brass tablet.
Those for the choir and cathedral officers were provided by an
anonymous benefactor. The absence of "return stalls" is accounted for
by the fact that St. Saviour's is a parish church as well as a
cathedral, for which reason it is desired to keep the choir as open as
possible.
The Retro-choir (now known as the Lady Chapel) was erected by
Peter de Rupibus at about the same time as the choir, but in a much
lighter and more graceful fashion, which places it among the best
examples of Early English architecture in the country. The groined
vault rests on six slender pillars, with detached shafts. The
divisions thus formed make up twelve compartments of nearly equal
size. Perhaps the best general prospect is to be obtained from the
south-east corner, which takes in the whole length of the chapel, with
the altar, now on the north, and the tomb of Bishop Andrewes on the
western side. In the central bays on that side there were formerly two
arches open to the choir, one on each side of the space now occupied
by the tomb. These were converted into triplet openings during the
reign of Edward III, with flowing tracery in the head of each arch.
When Bishop Fox's screen was erected in the sixteenth century, these
openings were walled-up, and the doorways already mentioned inserted
below the tracery, in correspondence with the design of the screen, of
which they formed part, one on each side of the high altar.
Another good view is to be gained from the south-west corner, which
includes the series of triplet windows in the four eastern bays. The
northernmost of these was till recently occupied by the altar, but it
has been transferred to the central bay on the north side, thus
sacrificing the orientation for a supposed better position, in regard
to the general shape of the chapel, there being no central space for
it on the eastern side, where another altar was required to balance
the irregularity. Before the Reformation there certainly were two
altars on that side, one at each extremity, where piscinae were
discovered during the restorations of 1832. The piscina at the north
end was then restored, and is still in existence: as the other was too
far gone for repair, the space was filled up.
It has been conjectured that each of the four eastern bays formerly
contained an altar, one of them being dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.
This circumstance has probably contributed to the popular designation
of the retro-choir as the Lady Chapel, since the demolition of the
so-called "Bishop's Chapel," to which the title properly belonged.
This "Little Chapel of Our Lady," as it was originally called,
extended eastwards from the bay (the second from the south), now
occupied by the "Benson" window, where two straight joints in the
masonry indicate the position of the arch that once led into it. In
the north-east angle is a slender shaft supporting a diminutive statue
of a bishop, in cope and mitre, with his right hand raised in the act
of benediction. This has taken the place of another figure, with
flowing hair, supposed to represent St. Mary Magdalene, to whom the
demolished church, adjoining the south choir-aisle, was dedicated.
Beneath this statue is a door, which used to give access to the
staircase in the turret already noticed in the angle outside. The
staircase, however, is destroyed. In the same bay on the north wall,
there is a stone bench, in the shape of a coffin, about nine feet
long. This has been assumed to be the burial-place of the Foundress,
but it is more probable that it was the base on which the "Easter
Sepulchre" was placed in Holy Week.
The Tomb of Bishop Andrewes. On the destruction of the so-called
"Bishop's Chapel" in 1830, the tomb was removed from its eastern end
to the honourable position it now occupies. There had been a fire in
1676, which destroyed the roof of the little chapel, and the canopy of
the monument, but the tomb and effigy were fortunately uninjured. The
canopy was not replaced, and the tablet which once stood at the feet
is now at the head of the recumbent figure. Otherwise the monument
remains in its original state, and is an interesting example of the
Renaissance style at a period of transition. There had been a doubt as
to the exact whereabouts of the Bishop's remains, some people thinking
they had been deposited in a vault beneath. The question was settled
at the removal, when the leaden coffin was found, resting on a cross
of brickwork, within the tomb. The coffin was exposed for a few days
for the public satisfaction, and then replaced in the interior of the
tomb, where it now lies. The painted figure above it represents the
Bishop vested in chimere and rochet, enveloped in a rich mantle, with
the cross of St. George, encircled by the Garter and motto of the
Order, "Honi soit qui mal y pense," embroidered on the left
shoulder--insignia to which Lancelot Andrewes was entitled as Bishop
of Winchester and Prelate of the Order. The head wears an academic
cap, and rests upon a cushion, and the right hand holds a book,
probably intended for the famous "Manual of Devotions."
The tablet at the head is surmounted by the arms of the See of
Winchester, impaled with the private arms of Dr. Andrewes, supported
by two figures in a sitting posture. These represent the cardinal
virtues, Justice and Fortitude, so conspicuous in the Bishop's life.
The figures formed part of the original decoration of the canopy. The
Latin inscription at the head is from an entry in Archbishop Laud's
"Diary," and shows a slight inaccuracy in grammar as well as in the
date. This is given as September 21st, 1626, whereas Dr. Andrewes is
known to have died on September 25th. The grammatical error is
unimportant, while the gist of the sentence sums up the life and
character of the departed in the brief form of an epigram: "Lumen
Orbis Christiani." The inscription at the foot simply refers to the
restorations of the monument in 1703 and 1810.
On the western wall a granite tablet is to be noticed to the memory of
George Gwilt, the architect who did so much work at the church in his
day, and gave his services gratuitously during the restoration of this
chapel. He died at the age of eighty-one, in the year 1856, and is
buried in the family vault outside the southern wall.
In the choir aisle two recesses will be noticed,
exactly alike in size, and in their segmental headed and traceried
canopies. Their proximity and close resemblance formerly led to the
conjecture that they were the tombs of the two Norman knights, William
Pont de l'Arche and William Dauncey, who co-operated with Bishop
Giffard in refounding the Priory. If this is the case, the tombs must
have undergone alteration at a later date, as the decoration is in the
Perpendicular style, and much more ornate than that of the recess at
the west end of the same wall, undoubtedly of late Norman, or
Transitional, design. The westernmost of the two, again, has been held
to be the burial-place of Thomas Cure, a local benefactor in the
reigns of Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth, who is commemorated by a
tablet within it. The Latin epitaph (1588) is a string of punning
allusions to his name. The most recent theory, and the most probable,
respecting the recesses, is that they mark the tombs of Priors
belonging to the Tudor period. The easternmost now contains the effigy
of a supposed Crusader, which, after undergoing many "translations"
from its unknown original place to the lumber of the church, and then
to a ridiculous upright position against the north wall, has now found
shelter in the recess which happens to hold it exactly. It is a
remarkably fine piece of oak carving, and represents a knight clad in
chain armour, consisting of a hauberk with sleeves, over which is
thrown a surcoat crossed by two belts, one round the waist for the
sword, the other crossing the body diagonally to hold the shield. The
cross-guard of the sword is of metal, and is probably a reparation.
The head wears a conical helmet, and the feet rest upon a lion. The
legs are crossed at the knees, and the knight is in the act of placing
his sword in the scabbard, both of which details are open to various
interpretations. Conjecture has also been busy as to the person
represented, who is now thought to have been a member of the de Warren
family, several of whom were buried in the church, and the style of
armour, unless a clever imitation, points to the date of Edward I or
Edward II. After having been overlaid with successive coats of paint,
which completely blocked up and concealed the delicate chain-work, the
figure has been more or less redeemed, but not restored to its
original colour. This appears to have been mainly a pale blue, not
unlike the real armour, but it is now coated with bronze.
The most conspicuous monument in the aisle is that of John
Trehearne, servant to Queen Elizabeth and "Gentleman Portar" to
James I. Flanked by two pilasters, carved in the Italian style,
supporting a plainer canopy, the monument consists of three parts:
first a plain base; then a plinth, on the front of which (in
bas-relief) are the four children of the deceased in a kneeling
posture; and, lastly, on the top of the tomb, the kneeling figures of
Trehearne and his wife in the picturesque costume and ruff collars of
the age. The principal figures are holding a tablet between them
inscribed with a eulogistic epitaph in English, the moral of which is
that if Trehearne's royal master could have retained his services, his
heavenward progress would have been considerably delayed. The Vestry
minute for 15th October, 1577 (quoted by Dr. Thompson), shows the
deceased to have been a passive resister in the matter of tithes, for
which he had to pay double in the long run. He died on 22nd October,
1618, and was buried the very next day. His wife died on 22nd January,
1645. She was followed by the eldest son on 22nd of August in the same
year, and they were all buried in the one grave.
A door in the aisle communicates with the Chapel of St. John the
Divine, at present used as a clergy vestry. Fortunately it has not
shared the fate of the companion chapel of St. John the Baptist. Up to
a quarter of a century ago it had been turned to account as a
Magistrates' Court, and still retains the Royal Arms over the large
pew erected for the purpose. This, with the iron safe and wooden
cupboards set up against the walls, still gives the chapel some of the
appearance of a Committee room, and helps to conceal some most
interesting architectural features. A shaft had long been visible on
the exterior which was thought to show signs of Saxon workmanship.
This fragment, added to the known fact that the chapel was one of the
oldest parts of the church, if not the oldest of all, has led to a
fuller examination in recent years, revealing the outlines of three
Norman arches in the inner walls, and still more recently the shafts
of a wall-arcade on the eastern side, apparently indicating an apsidal
termination.
Henceforth the chapel will be associated with the name of John
Harvard, who was born in the parish, and baptized in the church on
29th November, 1607, and its restoration is intended to take the form
of a memorial to that great and good man. It is not unlikely, in
fact, that his name will popularly supersede the original dedication
(almost forgotten already) much in the same way as the "Little Chapel
of our Lady" was overshadowed by the great name of Bishop Andrewes.
The first practical step in this direction was taken by the Hon.
Joseph H. Choate, who manifested great interest in the ancient fabric
while he was American Ambassador, and presented the east window to the
chapel in commemoration of John Harvard, founder of the renowned
university which bears his name. The window, 'unveiled by Mr. Choate
on Monday, 22nd May, 1905, is of three lights, transomed, as designed
by Sir Arthur Blomfield and Sons, the glass being made in America
under the supervision of Mr. Charles F. McKim, the famous American
architect. The design is by Mr. John La Farge. In the central light of
the lower division the Baptism of Christ is depicted, attendant angels
occupying the sides. The upper division contains the arms of Emmanuel
College, Cambridge, where John Harvard was educated, and of the
Harvard University, with its mottoes, _Veritas_ and _Christo et
Ecclesiae_. The base bears the inscription, "In memory of John
Harvard, founder of Harvard University in America, baptized in this
church, Nov. 29, 1607."
The window is a noteworthy example of modern work, and the treatment
of the familiar subject is distinctly original, in which respect, as
well as in colouring, it presents a very striking contrast to the
other windows, especially to those of mediaeval character, throughout
the church. Perhaps it is fortunate that it occupies an isolated
position in the chapel, where the brilliance and peculiarity of the
colouring are seen to full advantage without detriment to the other
windows.
It is hoped that this generous gift inaugurates the restoration of the
old chapel to its original dignity, as a worthy memorial to him whose
name will henceforth be inseparable from it. The intention is to equip
it with an altar and other necessary fittings for use at early
celebrations and small gatherings of people, at present without
accommodation. A new vestry for the clergy is badly wanted, as well as
for the choir, whose cassocks and surplices now hang in the adjacent
aisle.
The South Choir Aisle is lighted by a small lancet above the
entrance porch representing the Good Shepherd; by another lancet to
the memory of John Herd, an inhabitant; and by a window of three
lights. The last commemorates George Gwilt, the distinguished
architect who did so much for the restoration of 1832-3, elsewhere
described.
Two tablets in the same aisle are worth noticing. The first is a
brass, dated 1652, on the pier between the choir and aisle entrance,
in memory of Susanna Barford, who died at the early age of ten years
and thirteen weeks. The inscription quotes her as, "The Non-such of
the world for Piety and Vertue in soe tender years." Below these words
there is an epitaph in rhyming couplets and complimentary terms,
separated from the inscription by a death's head and crossbones, and a
pair of wings supporting an hourglass, on the dexter and sinister
sides respectively. This is the only brass with any approach to
antiquity in the Cathedral, though the matrix of another, evidently
thought more worthy of a private collection, has been detected in one
of the recesses, lately described, in the opposite aisle.
The North Transept differs materially from the south in the
dimensions and character of the windows, which in the south transept
are larger and more elaborate. In the north transept there are three
on each side, those next the tower being simple lancets, the others of
two lights without tracery. All these at present contain plain glass.
The two-light windows are exact reproductions of the originals, from
fragments of which they were first restored by Mr. Wallace in 1833.
The exceptionally large window on the north side is the gift of Mr.
F.L. Bevan, and was unveiled by the Duke of Connaught on 22nd June,
1898, in double commemoration of the Prince Consort and the Diamond
Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The present window, by Mr. Kempe, takes the
place of an inferior one set up in 1861 to the memory of Prince Albert
shortly after his death.
It contains in its four lights the figures of Gregory the Great, King
Ethelbert, Stephen Langton, and William of Wykeham. The subjects were
chosen as illustrating important stages in the history of England and
the National Church, which it is sought to epitomize in the decoration
of this representative Cathedral.
A relic of the Norman age is preserved in the north wall, above the
aumbrey, viz., a portion of a string-course with billet moulding--a
further evidence of the age of this part of the church. The arches
between the choir and nave aisles are worth notice as architectural
curiosities. The former shows a strange angular introduction in the
moulding of its southern side. The latter has an acute arch, without
moulding, constructed within it, apparently to strengthen the walls.
On the floor by the eastern wall lies one of those charnel house
memorials, in the shape of a ghastly and desiccated human figure, of
the kind not uncommon in tombs of the sixteenth century. To whose
tomb this figure belonged there is no evidence to show.
[Now in the north choir aisle.]
Against the east and west walls are piled some curious bosses from the
old oak roof erected in 1469, after the stone roof had fallen down.
There were originally about a hundred and fifty of these grotesque
specimens of wood-carving, but there are now only about one-third of
them left, including those placed in the new roof within the tower.
[These have now been repositioned to the west wall of the nave.]
On the western wall of this transept there is a remarkable monument,
which cannot be better described than in the words of John Strype:
"The Austin Monument," he says, "is emblematical of Christ
and of the Resurrection, according to the pious fancy of the
devout Mr. Austin, who set it up at first. First, there is the
representation of a rock, upon which is writ 'Petra erat
X.T.S.', i.e., the Rock was Christ. Down this rock runs a
stream of water, and through this same rock is creeping a
serpent; whereby he strips off his old skin, which hangs on
that part which is not yet got through. At the foot of this
rock, and out of it, grows up standing corn, on which is a
label with these words, 'Si non moriatur, non reviviscit,'
i.e., if it dieth not, it liveth not again. Underneath this
corn, upon the basis, is this significant motto, 'Nos sevit,
fovit, lavit, coget, renovabit, 'i.e., He hath sown,
cherished, washed us, and He shall gather us together, and
renew us. Upon the top of this rock standeth an angel; in his
left hand a sickle, his right hand pointing up towards the sun
shining in his glory, with a label upon the lower rays of it,
'Sol Justitiae,' i.e., the Sun of Righteousness. On the
right and left sides of this monument are instruments of
husbandry hanging by a riband out of a death's head, as
ploughs, whips, yokes, rakes, spades, flails, harrows,
shepherds' crooks, scythes, etc., over which is writ, 'Vos
estis Dei Agricultura,' _i.e._, ye are God's husbandry. On the
outside of these, on the right and left, are two harvest men
with wings, the one with a fork, the other with a rake behind
him. They are in light garments, sitting, and leaning their
heads upon their hands, their elbows resting upon their knees,
as weary and tired, and resting after their harvest work; and
having straw hats on, very comely; underneath them these
words, 'Messores congregabunt,' i.e., the reapers shall
gather. Under all this is a winnowing fan, within which is the
representation of a sheet of parchment, as it were, stretched
upon it; on which is writ the inscription."
The inscription (Latin) agrees in its figurative language with the
character of the monument. It practically states that William Austin
had the tomb constructed, while he was yet alive, as a burial-place
for his wife, his mother (Lady Clarke), and himself, and that the
three were laid there in succession in 1623, 1626, and 1633. William
Austin was a barrister, who wrote a number of devotional pieces in
verse and prose. He died on 16th January, 1633, and his second wife
published them in 1635, "as a surviving monument of some part of the
great worth of her ever-honoured husband." The son William, like his
father a poet and a lawyer, was also buried at St. Saviour's.
Another noteworthy monument is that on the north wall to Lionel
Lockyer, inventor and patentee of the miraculous pills, "Radiis Solis
Extractae," to be taken early in the morning against fogs, contagious
airs, and all diseases known and unknown, to improve personal beauty,
and make old age delightful. The glowing epitaph of twelve lines is at
once a eulogy on the man, and a bold advertisement of the medicine.
Lockyer died on 26th April, 1672. An air of sanctimonious benevolence
will be noticed on the face of the recumbent doctor--probably a
faithful portrait--not unlike the expression given to the quack doctor
in one of Hogarth's famous pictures. The face of the cherub above
wears a look of intense agony, which frivolous people are wont to
attribute to the panacea. Higher up on the same wall there is a
Hatchment, with the armorial bearings of the person to whom it refers,
and the motto _Resurgam_. The conspicuous place and large characters
look as if specially chosen with reference to the fabric, to which the
word may well be applied.
On the east wall hangs an escutcheon of the arms of Queen Anne, with
the motto Semper eadem. The arms seem to have been painted over some
previous heraldic achievement, which includes the figures of "Justice"
and "Mercy," or two similar characters, standing on a platform in the
middle of a Rotunda. There is a peculiarity also in the omission of
the year, which is usually given with the Royal Arms hung up in
churches. The escutcheon is said to have been brought from the
neighbouring Sessions Court, and set up in the first instance in the
choir, to commemorate the visit of Queen Anne, when she came to hear
Dr. Sacheverell. Appearances seem to show that it was repainted, and
the Queen's initials inserted, to suit the occasion.
The South Transept.--The solid panels, noticed outside as
diminishing the effect of the great south window, are accounted for in
the interior, where the mouldings of two lofty arches occupy the wall,
their apices reaching to the window sill. These the restorer has
wisely left intact, and the window, seen from within, appears in
admirable proportion, and well suited to its place. It is of five
lights, and occupies the entire breadth of the transept. The style is
described by the architect, Sir Arthur Blomfield, as "Transitional
between Flowing Decorated and Perpendicular." Presented by Sir
Frederick Wigan, Bart., in memory of his daughter, the glazing of this
fine window was entrusted to Mr. C.E. Kempe. He has taken as his
subject the "Tree of Jesse," as a connecting link between the
scripture subjects represented elsewhere, and the modern historical
windows, whether commemorating distinguished clergy or laity of the
Catholic Church.
There was formerly a doorway cut through one of the arches beneath
this window. The space is now filled up, restoring the arcading to its
original state, and the entrance transferred to the eastern wall,
where the inner porch occupies the space beneath the organ front.
There are three windows above, of three lights each, corresponding
with those on the opposite side, except in the tracery. The window
over the door, as well as that facing it, is in memory of Mr. Henry
Wood, Warden of the Great Account (1899-1900). The six divisions in
each contain the same number of figures from the Old Testament, viz.,
in the eastern window, Enoch, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph;
and in the western, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Hosea, David, Ezekiel.
Both these windows are due to Sir Frederick Wigan, who presented them
in 1900.
Next to the "Wood" window, on the western side, there is another fine
one to the memory of Elizabeth Newcomen, a great benefactress to the
neighbourhood, buried in the church in 1675.
This window came from the Governors and Scholars, past and present, of
the school which she founded, and from the parishioners. The glass is
by Kempe. The figures in the upper division are St. John Baptist,
Elijah, and Malachi; and in the lower, Zechariah, Solomon, and St.
Elizabeth, the last a tribute to the lady's own Christian name.
It will be seen from this description that there are three windows
awaiting subjects (and donors) in the south transept, two on the
eastern, and one on the western side. The whole series is intended to
illustrate the Gospel genealogy and the Incarnation, in continuation
of the idea suggested in the Jesse Tree.
The most important monuments in the south transepts are those of John
Bingham, Richard Benefeld, William Emerson, and the Rev. Thomas Jones.
The "Bingham" monument (1625) was formerly in the Magdalene Church,
whence it was removed to the west side of this transept when the
church was destroyed. An arched recess, flanked by consoles, contains
a half-length coloured effigy of the deceased, in gown and ruff. Below
this is a panel, surmounted by arches and supported by pilasters,
enclosing a tablet, with the inscription to John Bingham, Sadler to
Queen Elizabeth and James I. The spandrels of the arch above the
figure contain the arms of the City of London and the Sadlers'
Company. The family arms surmount the whole. Bingham is quoted in the
inscription as "a good benefactor to the parish and free school";
besides which he was one of the Trustees to whom the church was
conveyed by James I, and we have to thank him and his _confrères_ that
it has not gone the way of the Priory buildings formerly surrounding
it.
The "Benefeld" monument (1615) is chiefly interesting for its quaint
Latin epitaph. This speaks of his remains as purified by the
frankincense, myrrh, amber, etc., which symbolise the discipline of
life.
William Emerson and his family, ancestors of the better known Ralph
Waldo, were also good benefactors, especially to the poor of the
parish, who still enjoy the pensions founded by their bounty. The
inscription on William Emerson's monument (1575) describes him as
having "lived and died an honest man," and concludes with the warning,
_Ut sum sic eris_, illustrated by a small _memento mori_, in the form
of a skeleton, recumbent on the base.
An ornamental marble tablet (1762), on the south wall, commemorates
the Rev. Thomas Jones, who died of a fever contracted during his
parochial visitings, and was buried in a vault in the "Little Chapel
of Our Lady." He was chaplain at St. Saviour's from 1753 till he died
at the early age of thirty-three. A faithful and zealous evangelical
pastor at a period of general debility in the Church of England, he
was hampered throughout his ministrations by the governing body, who
not only had the right of selecting their ministers, but exercised a
jealous censorship on their teaching and practice, when they showed
any tendency to "unsoundness" or undue enthusiasm. Above the tablet
containing the inscription there is a bust of Mr. Jones, in the
clerical dress and necktie of his date, with a cherub on each side.
The architectural differences between the north and south transepts
are largely accounted for by the rebuilding of the latter, in the
fifteenth century, by Cardinal Beaufort.
On a pier by the transept door his work is commemorated in a
sculptured and coloured representation of his arms--the fleur-de-lis
of France, quartered with the lions of England--surmounted by a
cardinal's hat, with its tasselled strings, twisted into a
true-lover's knot, pendent on either side.
Henry Beaufort, born in 1377, was a natural son of John of Gaunt by
Catherine, widow of Sir Hugh Swynford. His parents were married in
1396, and their issue legitimated by Richard II in the following year;
but the bastardy is supposed to be indicated in the _bordure compony_
surrounding the shield. Henry Beaufort was translated to Winchester in
1404, in succession to William Wykeham. He was raised to the
cardinalate in 1426, and died in 1447. Among the famous marriages that
have taken place in the church, perhaps the most famous is that
between James I of Scotland and the Cardinal's niece, Joan Beaufort,
in the year 1423, when the wedding banquet was served in the adjacent
Bishop of Winchester's palace.
In the restoration by Sir Arthur Blomfield, the windows of both
transepts were rebuilt, the pointed roofs raised to their old level,
and the walls underpinned and refaced (externally) with Box Ground and
Bath stone, in place of the inferior material employed in 1830, care
being taken to place the stone in the natural direction of the strata.
All whitewash and plaster facing have been stripped off the walls
throughout the old parts of the church, to make the restoration as
complete as possible, not only in the purity of the new work, but in
the removal of what was fictitious and incongruous from the old.