  Dedication: St. Mary. Chief feature: Chapter-House. For many centuries the Church of St. Mary, Southwell, was under the dominion of York. The clergy had many privileges, held property, lived in their own houses, like country gentlemen, and hunted in the forests which Robin Hood and his merry men had made romantic; for Southwell is not far from legendary Sherwood. The church became a Cathedral in 1884. It dates in the main from the Twelfth Century, though a few fragments are older. It is supposed that the first Saxon church was destroyed by the Danes; the next is said to have been built by King Edgar in 960; and in the time of Henry I. was rebuilt in the Norman style. Walter de Grey, Archbishop of York (see page 264), rebuilt the nave of Southwell, and was assisted by John Romeyn, subdean (see page 264). “In the Curvilinear Period (1315-1360) was erected quite the loveliest choir-screen in England; next comes that of Lincoln, evidently by the same hand. Eastern and western sides are entirely different in design; on the western side the artist parts reluctantly with the beautiful geometrical design of the Thirteenth Century; on the eastern side he accepts unreservedly the reign of the ogee arch. Magnificent sedilia and stone stalls of similar character were erected, which only survive in part. Very beautiful, too, is the cusping of the reticulated windows inserted in the north transept chapel. The upper parts of the Chapter-House and the north transept chapel also were The general appearance of the Cathedral is Norman. “The West Front has been altered in character from its original Norman work. We see a huge Perpendicular window with an embattled parapet over it, an alteration made in the Fifteenth Century. The windows in the lower stages of the towers are modern imitations of Norman work. The towers have seven stages and the sixth is enriched with fine arcading composed of intersecting arches. The present spires are modern imitations of the originals destroyed by fire in 1711. These were immediately restored but removed in 1802, and have now again been replaced. The old Norman doorway is remarkably fine. It has five orders, the zigzag and the filleted edge roll being the chief mouldings. “Passing to the south side we see the walls of the nave pierced by apparent Norman windows, but these are modern imitations. The most western window in the north side is the only original Norman window; the rest are copied from it, and were erected in 1847. Four Perpendicular windows were inserted in the Fifteenth Century. There is a row of small square windows above which light the triforium, and the clerestory has a curious series of circular windows which are unique in this country. The roof is high-pitched, having been erected in modern times by the architect Christian, and the parapets are Perpendicular in style. The south doorway should be noticed, of Norman workmanship with zigzag string-course over it.”—(P. H. D.) The Choir is Early English and much resembles that of Lincoln. The dog-tooth is very evident. The windows are lancet. The two flying-buttresses on the south were added in the Decorated period. The Chapter-House is on the north, and its similarity to that of York will strike every one who has seen the flos florum of the great Minster of the north. It is supposed the same architect (probably John Romeyn) designed both. This is octagonal. The windows are of three lights, with trefoil and circular ones in the heads. The roof is modern. The North porch is much admired. The inner doorway has a zigzag and beak-head moulding. In the parvise above (very unusual in a porch of this date), the wife of William Clay, a hunted Royalist, was hidden during the Civil War. Here her child was born. We enter by the west door and gain a view of the Nave. “Looking down the nave (1110-1150) we are impressed by the massive appearance of the interior. The piers are rather short, only 19 feet high, six on each side, with square bases and round capitals. The triforium is large, and above is the clerestory with its unique plain circular windows. The Norman mouldings, zigzag, billet, hatchet, etc., are easily recognized. The present roof was erected in 1881. The Font, erected in 1661, is a poor substitute for the one destroyed by the soldiers of Cromwell. The Pulpit is modern. The second pillar from the east on the south side is called Pike’s Pillar, and retains faint traces of a mural painting of the Annunciation; the nave aisles have some good vaulting. A plain stone bench runs along the walls. This was common in old churches and was the origin of the saying ‘Let the weakest go to the wall,’ where they could sit and rest, as the days of pews were not yet. The only original Norman window which remains is at the west end of the north aisle.”—(P. H. D.) The Transepts are Norman. At the east end of each the original plan included an apsidal chapel. The south transept still retains the arch with its zigzag and cable mouldings that connected it with the transept. The chapel at the east end of the north transept has also gone, but here we find on its site a Late Early English construction, with still later windows (Decorated). In the upper floor the Library is situated. The Tower is Norman, built in 1150. A cable moulding runs around the four large arches. It contains a peal of bells. “A stone screen of rich Decorated work separates the transept from the choir, over which is now the organ (a modern instrument). The screen is richly ornamented, and a noble specimen of the work of the period. There are three arches opening to the space beneath the tower, separated by slight piers of clustered shafts, the capitals carved with foliage of a Late Decorated character. The walls of the screen support the old rood-loft, access to which is gained by two staircases. “Entering the Choir we see on each side of the doorway three prebendal stalls with misereres, on which are carved some foliage. The Bishop’s Stall was once occupied by Cardinal Wolsey. The choir was built by Archbishop Grey in Early English style (1230-1250). There are six arches, with piers of eight clustered shafts. The dogtooth moulding is conspicuous in the arches and on the vaulting of the roof. It will be noticed that the triforium and clerestory are blended together. The east window consists of two rows of lancets, the lower ones containing old glass brought from Paris in 1815, where it was formerly in the Chapel of the Knights Templar. The Baptism of Our Lord; Raising of Lazarus (Francis I. is to be seen in a crimson cap); Christ entering Jerusalem (Luther is near Our Lord, Louis XI. and the Duke of Orleans); the Mocking of Our Lord (the figure of Dante appears). “The Sedilia were erected in 1350 and are good Decorated work. They have the unusual number of five seats on the same level. The arches are ogee-shaped and are richly carved. The sculptured figures are remarkable, and represent the Creation and the Redemption. Beginning at the east we see the Father holding the world (two groups uncertain), Joseph’s Dream, the Nativity and Flight into Egypt. “The Lectern belonged to the monks of Newstead Abbey, who threw it into the lake to hide it from the commissioners of Henry VIII. Its date is about 1500.”—(P. H. D.) Entering a beautiful doorway in the north-choir-aisle we pass through a vestibule into the Chapter-House. “The transition between the Early English work of the choir and the Decorated style of the Chapter-House is very gradual. The doorway, with its two arches and shafts of Purbeck marble, is remarkably fine. There is a small cloister court, with a stone-covered well. In the vestibule we see the walls covered with beautiful arcading of lancet arches of an Early English character. The capitals are beautifully carved with foliage. There is a curious boss of sculpture representing a secular priest shaking the regular monk by the hair, which figuratively depicts the supremacy of the former in the church of Southwell. “The Chapter-House (1285-1300) is described by Ruskin as ‘the gem of English architecture,’ and all architects agree in singing the praises of this noble building. It much resembles that of York, but is smaller and perhaps more beautiful. It is octagonal, has no central pillar, and is remarkable for its fine sculpture. The historian of Southwell says: ‘The foliage everywhere is most beautiful: the oak, the vine, the maple, the white-thorn, the rose, with a vast variety of other plants, are sculptured with exquisite freedom and delicacy; and no two capitals, or bosses or spandrels are found alike. Everywhere we meet, in ever-changing and ever-charming variety, with some fresh object of interest and admiration. Figures are introduced amid the foliage, heads with branches issuing out of their mouths, birds and lizard-like monsters. In the |
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