Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Carlisle

INTE

and north and south transepts without aisles, but with a chapel on the east side of the south tra

00 feet of the nave, and it has never been rebuilt. This mutilation has had a serious effect upon the proportions of the building, and induces a feeling of want of balance. The open timber roof, raised to the orig

each compartment a semi-circula

with carved capitals; the centre arch, which is larger than

y that th

ro

s of prodig

wall between each arch is a semi-circular engaged shaft reaching to the base of the triforium. The arches near the tower have been partly crushed owing to the shifting of the tower piers caused by fau

egiment, who fell in the Crimea, and in India during the mutiny. Three Old Testament warriors appear in stained glass-Joshua, Jerubbaal ("who is Gideon"), and Judas Maccabeus

g as the priory church, in accordance with a very common practice of the Augustinian body

parishioners. After the civil wars it was cut off from the transepts by a stone wall, and furnished with galleries and a pulpit. A new church to accommodate the parishioners having been built in the abbey grounds in 1870, all these addit

as light as a fay's, a complexion of the clearest and lightest olive; eyes large, deep-set, and dazzling, of the finest Italian brown; and

ndow shows the matrix of what

ronze figures of St. John Baptist, the Virgin and Child, and St. Philip. It

NAL SECTI

one extends from one side of the eastern tower arch to the other. It was built by Willis (1856), and

very dark. It is about 22 feet wide, and its

outhwards and across the nave, a capital general view of the r

red by another fire that broke out about a hundred years later, Bishop Strickland reb

as a buttress to the tower arches. To the right is a late thirteenth-century window filled with glass in memory of the Rev. Walter Fletcher, Chancellor of Carlisle (died 1846). This window

orner communicates w

hildren of A.C. Tait, Dean of Carlisle, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury. They al

ecently railed off, and used as the consi

tern side opening with a single arch, similar t

corated in style; above this is a portion

THE TRANSE

he old Norman choir aisle, an exact counterp

open timber one of

his, it is said, was done by a former dean, on the supposition that the wel

of the nave. The added columns have capitals carved with birds and foliage, and are carried up to the arches of the tower. This rebuilding was rendered necessary by the shifting of its foundations. The piers sank nearly one foot, a

side by a single column terminating in a bracket at about the level of the base of the triforium. Thi

e town and Warden of the Marches under Henry IV., and it is probable that he aided in the work of the bishop. The western arch capitals have,

upper capitals is a depressed arch

The ancient wall, eight feet thick, is quite suitable for a fortress. A richly-decorated moder

ANSEPT AND ST. C

rch, opening to the south aisle of the nave has also been distorted. To the left is a round-headed

has a plain ro

construction, the architecture being merely massive and destitute of ornam

It is Norman, ornamented with a simply executed but very pleasing zigzag: the capitals of the piers are cushio

eption of the small doorway (which was buil

is another Norman arch, which is the entrance to St. Catherine's Chapel-a cha

aisles, was then denominated a chantry: in it the tomb of the founder was generally placed, and it was separated from the rest of the church by a screen. In the fourteenth century this custom greatly increased, and small additional side aisles and transepts were often a

gious offices for the souls of Sir Thomas Skelton, knight, and Mr. John Glaston, two gentlemen with whom he had been on terms of intimate friendship

Y OF T

was founded are not known. It was granted by Edward VI. 'with all messuages, lands, tenements, profits

portion of its revenues being fraudulently detained, Bishop Appleby commanded the chaplains of St. Mary's and St. Cuthbert's to give public notice that the offenders were required to make restitution within ten

can be seen in the arch between

tury, and attributed to Prior Gondibour. Its great beauty, and the skilful variations of the designs, will repay careful inspection. The chapel now se

ding. The position of Carlisle on the border making it liable to sudden attacks in early times, it is probable that the inhab

th a slab of dark blue marble. An inscription runs thus: "The tomb of Simon Senhouse, Prior of Carlisle in the reign of Henry VII. The original

tenants of the priory were

CATHERINE

ith a pane of glass) is an inscription which was discovere

a thasi rynr a

these runes o

e not often found, but the former are scarcer still

let containing a medallion

rength and simpli

evolence and

oman

ot born

y and industr

ever

and a disciple of

erance of all

partner. He gave up travelling for orders in 1841, but soon suffered in health. As a remedy he took to following the hounds, and later (in 1844) went on a three months' trip to America. On his return he started on his career of philanthropy which has made him famous. A few of the institutions for which he worked, and to which he contributed largely, may be mentioned; the Cumberland Benevolent Society, the Commercial Travellers' S

spent,

saved,

gave, I

R, LOOKI

as bound apprentice to a pattern-drawer in his native city. He went to London to pursue his calling, and he seems to have been led to attempt to write poetry through hearing some imitation Scottish songs sung at Vauxha

oir. In point of beauty the choir compares favourably with any we possess in England, and the eye can rest upon it again and again with renewed satisfaction and delight. Its superb main arcade, with the boldly-designed and finely-carved capitals represen

t 6 inches wide between the columns, and

columns of both nave and choir on the south side are

the centre of the west wall, in consequence of which there is an u

he east wall, which is about six feet thick. The western bays may have lost the space taken for the choir entrance. They have very acute arches, and at the west end rest o

oir, and the last bay but one (in which the altar

of Early English, "of the Pointed style in all the purity of its first period." They were underbuilt with Early Decorat

ints of the compass are larger than the intermediate ones, which are filleted. The base moulding is very deep and hollow. These piers support the Early English arches, with dog-tooth ornamen

l executed. On the north side, where the presbytery begins, is a

sent the domestic and agricultural occupations of the months. The first capital on the south side (east end) shows a creature with a man's head, wings, and a tail terminating in the head of a serpent, which b

OF THE

. He has three faces-two in profile-and is drinking with

is face is woe-begone, and he is sitting over a fire, holding out one boot upside down as if to drai

of a leafless tree. Other decorations are, a squirrel, a be

g a tree. On this capital are also two figures half-hu

ch she offers to a young man clad in a tunic, with his hood thrown back.

of roses in his left hand. There are also some half-human figures, and men playing

dition there are owls car

s a conical hat, and grasps a crutch with one h

man reaping w

f; he is engaged in cutting grapes. A fox carrying o

a basket. There is a stag on his r

out to fell an ox which another man holds by the

everal heads, and a man

cery. The principal mullions have octagonal bases. On account of their r

smooth and well-proportioned as those beneath. The workmen do not seem to hav

ht with gr

een part, For the g

LOOKING EAS

high-pitched arches, the middle one being higher than those at the side, and more than twice a

atrefoil decoration is slightly different. There are only three quatrefoils in the centre and two smaller ones on each side. This parapet is in gr

three lights in the central and single lights on

bay has no

ll different, there are but six v

the next window occurs in the second window on the south side. The third and fifth are alike. Th

ourth, and sixth from the east. The second is like the window opposite,

second from the east

to be seen. The trefoil heads above the mullions have a brown border with the

up in the year 1764, hid this fine timber roof until its removal in 1856. It was then found that enough remained of the original to allow a faithful restoration to be made.

the first occasion when Dean Close found himself beneath the roof, then glowing in all the brilliancy of modern

foliated, but not so naturally as the capitals below. Great semi-circular rafters spring from the capitals and cross the choir. Smaller rafters start from the cornice of the clerestory. These are intersected i

-timber roof like that of the Great Hall at Westminster. But having decided on the waggon-headed roof, they did not trouble to remove these beams. Wall pieces and curved strut

nament the cornice, and the following t

hen thou goest to the house

e sanctuary and bless th

ame of the Lord

His sanctuar

od and worship at His f

e Thy tabernacles, O Lord

hee in the great congre

and let us exalt His name

Thine house for ev

y of the cathedral. It is unsurpassed by any other in the kingd

and the easy flow of its lines rank it even higher than the celebrated west window of York, which it also excels in

n for window tracery in the world. All the parts are in such just harmony the one to the other-the whole is so constructive

dow) is entirely new, although it reproduces m

xternally are nearly destroyed, owing to the perishable nature o

f the choir, being 51 feet high from the sill to the t

the restoration of the cathedral, 1856. The tracery (Decorated) is composed of eighty-six pieces struck from 263 centres. Some of the pieces forming the chief divisions are nearly five feet in length. Although the stone-work is modern, the design has been most faithfully copied from the original. In the lower part there are nine lights, no o

ng a third. The York window, on the contrary, is altogether one complete design, fr

e York window is more than two feet higher, the Carlisle window is greatly superior in t

acery in the Carlisle window is not so dependent. Neither in skilful workmanship nor in variety of ornament is the York window equal to that at Carlisle. With the exception of four quatrefoils (placed above each alternate mullion) it is composed of t

t glass. It is of the time of Richard II., and was no doubt preserved becaus

esurrection, the Last Judgm

of the Blessed to the Palace of Heaven; the Place of p

o quatrefoils, easily distinguished by their silvery appearance. These represent the Procession of the Redeemed to the heavenly Jerusalem, whose towers and pavilions are shown in the quatrefoil to the right. St. Peter stands in the gateway in an attitude of welcome; at his fe

ested, but laity rise naked, though kings wear their crowns: several bishops are among the crowd, and a pope wearing the triple tiara. Some of

t, who was Governor of Carlisle from 1380 to 1384. It is said that he supported the prior, William de Dalston, who refused obe

R AND EA

mory of Bishop Percy (d. 1856). It represents events in the history of our Lord. Although the colours do not harmonise well with the old glass,

OUTH SIDE O

e Stalls, which are of black oak, and oc

ls, which in many instances are "like a whole wood, say a thicket of old hawthorn, with its topmost branches spared, slowl

anopy decorated with quatrefoils, and battlemented. This is surmounted by three smaller canopies and pedestals which were originally occ

top of the large pinnacle. These buttresses have, alternately, a pedestal with a canopy above; and

o have added the tabernacl

south-west angles the elbows of the seats are carved with the head of a king supposed to represent Henry IV. The

re wider than the others, and are used by

t. This arrangement is said to have existed since the time of ?thelwulf. He was the

ed to keep the monks from falling asleep while at prayers. The carvi

ist of the subjects

IDE SOU

swallow

and y

n and

s, one with

gure with

evouring

on of th

grif

n its act

nd lion

nd two yo

ns joined

eating ou

ings, claws,

ic mu

ea

-heade

and

odies with a

ying an i

o eagles pluc

ions with human f

ag

beast f

on two an

ed d

d ser

ts with

en fi

with hum

and f

lding the hea

and

ure with

dragon f

earing

and dr

n its act

illing

ing two

killing

rm

nd lion

naissance work, erected about 1542 by Lancelot Salkeld, last prior and first dean of Carlisle. It is divided into three compartme

e lower part is panelled, each panel having two heads carved i

work similar to that in St. Catherine's Chapel. In 1764 these screens were removed and stored in the Fratry crypt as lumber. In the end they were used as firewood; only a few pieces preserved by the neighbouring gentry escaping destruction. A stone

, was also designed by the late Mr. Street. The

h of black Manx marble, and ornamented with carvings in white alabaster, of scenes from the New Testament. In shape it is hexagonal, with shafts

centre pediment of which has I.H.S., and its point the Deity and Christ, is a brass figure of a bis

c

in si

maniple, has a rich crosier. On a

us vivit et novissio

ea videbo deu sa

his

sa Bell presul

prior his pos

nuit primum su

udu poscendo

dge round

hac luce migravit videlicet vicesimo Quarto die ... Anno Domini.... Et omnium f

e presence of Bishop Halton, Robert Bruce took an oath of fidelity to Edward I. Ten years later he pr

ting his horse at the cathedral door rode through the priory gateway bent on the conquest of Scotlan

d by a handsome Decorated arch, a very

ows, is Early English, and dates from the period immedia

e space divided into four parts by shafts, barely detached from the wall, supporting

gs to the retro-choir

ht lancet windows, with their slender columns,

From the outer columns in the blank divisions, the shoulder, or hipped rib, after rising a short distance, sinks to the level of the capitals of the vaulting columns. At the side of the window columns two small c

SLE OF T

e north transept. Like the aisle it dates from about the last half of the thirteenth century. On its cap

isle. This column would then have been part of it. The existence of an offset on the north face of the ais

shafts instead of three. A rib springs from the additional shafts to the centre

ng from after the Civil Wars. Beneath this there was former

er 1292, although, perhaps, it is com

ful foliated bracket; the foliated boss at its bas

eive the statues of the bishops who did their best to repair the ravages of the fire in 1292. The arches are almost flat, and decorated with a kind of chevron mould

lly placed in its present position at the time of the restoration of the cathedral, and the other niche filled up. It may possibly represent Bishop Silvester of Everdon. It has suffered damage during its migratio

binson (1598-1616.) He was a native of Carlisle, and, entering Queen's College, Oxford, as a "p

om the attack of wolves. Below the candle is a group of figures bearing implements of agriculture and peaceful industry; near their feet is a wolf playing with a lamb; and various warlike instruments scattered and broken. Each part is illu

urnished). Above this building is the delineation of a cathedral; over the entrance is inscribed-Intravit per ostium (he entered by the door); on a label across the entrance is Permansit fidelis (he endured faithful to the end), and below, on the steps, under

of the plate in the cathedral is a Latin inscription to this effect: 'To Henry Robinson of Carlisle, D.D., a most careful provost of Queen's College, Oxon, and afterwards a most watchful bishop of this church for eighteen years, who

his two wives, Jane (d. 1791), and Catherine (d. 1819). On a bra

re

ed the

m Pale

ied M