Bell\'s Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Winchester

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Transcriber's note:

1. Words and phrases which were italicized in the original
have been surrounded by underscores ('_') in this version.
Words or phrases which were in bold face have been
surrounded by pound signs ('#').

2. Inconsistencies in hyphenation or the spelling of proper
names and dialect or obsolete word spellings have been
left as they were in the original.

THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF WINCHESTER

A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the
Episcopal See

by

PHILIP W. SERGEANT
Late Scholar of Trinity College, Oxford

[Illustration: WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL FROM NORTH-WEST END OF CLOSE.
_S.B. Bolas & Co., Photo._]

[Illustration]

With Fifty Illustrations

London George Bell & Sons 1899
First Published, Jan. 1898
Second Edition, Revised 1899

W. H. White and Co. Limited

Riverside Press, Edinburgh

GENERAL PREFACE

This series of monographs has been planned to supply visitors to the
great English Cathedrals with accurate and well illustrated guide-books
at a popular price. The aim of each writer has been to produce a work
compiled with sufficient knowledge and scholarship to be of value to the
student of Archaeology and History, and yet not too technical in
language for the use of an ordinary visitor or tourist.

To specify all the authorities which have been made use of in each case
would be difficult and tedious in this place. But amongst the general
sources of information which have been almost invariably found useful
are:--(1) the great county histories, the value of which, especially in
questions of genealogy and local records, is generally recognised; (2)
the numerous papers by experts which appear from time to time in the
Transactions of the Antiquarian and Archaeological Societies; (3) the
important documents made accessible in the series issued by the Master
of the Rolls; (4) the well-known works of Britton and Willis on the
English Cathedrals; and (5) the very excellent series of Handbooks to
the Cathedrals originated by the late Mr John Murray; to which the
reader may in most cases be referred for fuller detail, especially in
reference to the histories of the respective sees.

GLEESON WHITE,
E.F. STRANGE,
_Editors of the Series._

PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION

It would be useless to attempt to record all the sources of information
to which it has been necessary to have recourse in preparing this short
account of Winchester Cathedral and its history; but I should like to
acknowledge the main portion of the debt. "The Proceedings of the
Archaeological Institute of Great Britain in 1845" must, of course, take
the first place, for to Willis's paper every one must go who wishes to
know the cathedral well. Britton's "Cathedrals," Browne Willis's "Survey
of the Cathedrals," and Woodward's "History of Hampshire," with the more
recent Diocesan History of Winchester by Canon Benham, and the
"Winchester Cathedral Records" of various dates, have been of great
service. An article in the _Builder_ of October 1, 1892, and one on St
Cross in _Architecture_ for November 1896, must also be mentioned. Above
all, I am glad to be able to express my gratitude to one of the editors
of this series, Mr Gleeson White, without whose assistance this account
would never have been commenced. The engraving of the iron grill-work is
reproduced from Mr Starkie Gardiner's "Iron-work," Vol. I., by
permission of the Science and Art Department, South Kensington.

PHILIP WALSINGHAM SERGEANT.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.--History of the Cathedral 3

CHAPTER II.--The Cathedral Building and Close 16
The Exterior 19
The West Front 20
The North and South Sides 26
The Central Tower 27
The Transepts 27
The East End 28

CHAPTER III.--The Interior 33
The Nave 34
The Minstrels' Gallery 40
The Grill-work 43
The Norman Font 44
Wykeham's Chantry 46
Edingdon's Chantry 50
The Choir 50
The Tomb of "William Rufus" 52
The Reredos 55
The Transepts 61
North Transept 65
South Transept 65
The Library 71
The Feretory 72
The Holy Hole 72
Gardiner's and Fox's Chantries 74
The Mortuary Chests 76
The Retro-choir and its Chantries 79
The Lady Chapel 84
The Guardian Angels and Langton Chapels 90
The Crypts 93
The Stained Glass 94

CHAPTER IV.--History of the See 96

CHAPTER V.--The Bishops of Winchester 101

CHAPTER VI.--Other Institutions connected with the Cathedral 118

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
The Cathedral from the North-West _Frontispiece_
The Deanery 2
Old View of the North Side of the Cathedral 11
Monument to Bishop Ethelmar 15
The Cathedral from the Deanery Gardens 19
The West Front 21
North-West Bay--Exterior 25
East End--Exterior 29
Nave, showing Screen before Restoration 31
Transformation of the Nave 35
The Nave, looking East 37
The Nave, looking West 39
The Grill-work from S. Swithun's Shrine 41
The Norman Font 45
William of Wykeham's Chantry 47
The Choir, looking East 51
The Choir Stalls 53
The Altar and Reredos 57
The North Transept 59
View in North Transept 63
Door to Henry de Blois' Treasury 66
Bishop Wilberforce's Monument 67
South Aisle, from Transept 69
Back of Feretory, with Bishop Gardiner's Chantry 73
Bishop Fox's Chantry and Details 75, 76
South Aisle of Retro-choir 77
Cardinal Beaufort's Chantry 81
The Lady Chapel 85
Details of Lady Chapel 85
Bishop Langton's Chapel and Details 89, 90
Queen Mary's Chair 91
Mortuary Chest in Choir 95
Carving on Choir Stalls 111
Details of Font 117
Winchester College: "School" 119
Winchester College: The Outer Gateway 120
Winchester College: Chantry Chapel 121
Winchester College: Inscription and The Trusty Servant 122, 123
St Cross from the South 124
St Cross from the Quadrangle 125
St Cross: East End from Nave 126
County Hall with Round Table 127
The City Cross 129
Tombstone in Churchyard 131
The West Gate 132
PLANS OF THE CATHEDRAL AND CRYPTS 134, 135

[Illustration: THE DEANERY, WINCHESTER.
_S.B. Bolas & Co., Photo._]

WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL

CHAPTER I

HISTORY OF THE CATHEDRAL

Unlike many of our cathedral cities, "Royal" Winchester has a secular
history of the greatest importance, which not only is almost
inextricably interwoven with the ecclesiastical annals down to a
comparatively recent date, but should at times occupy the foremost
position in the records of the place. To attempt, however, to trace the
story of the city as well as that of the cathedral would be to
recapitulate the most important facts of the history of England during
those centuries when Winchester was its capital town. Its civic
importance, indeed, was not dependent upon the cathedral alone, for
before the introduction of Christianity into the island Winchester was
undoubtedly the principal place in the south of England. The Roman
occupation, though it seems a mere incident in its record, lasted over
three centuries, about as long as from the reign of Henry VIII. to that
of Queen Victoria. Richard Warner (1795) sums up the various names of
Winchester when he speaks of "the metropolis of the British Belgae,
called by Ptolemy and Antoninus Venta Belgarum; by the Welch or modern
Britons, Caer Gwent; and by the old Saxons, Wintancester; by the Latin
writers, Wintonia" ("Collections for the History of Hampshire").

Even, therefore, when we read the account of the legendary king of the
Britons, Lucius, founding a great church at Winchester in A.D. 164, we
do not touch the source of its fame, nor have we discovered the record
of the first building devoted to religious worship on the site of the
present cathedral. How far certain references to early pagan temples may
be trusted does not here concern us; but at Christchurch Priory, some
thirty-five miles to the south-west in the same diocese, bones "supposed
to be those of sacrificial birds" have been exhumed on the site of its
church. There was, however, a relapse into paganism after the first
dedication of the Christian building, so that there can be no certainty
about the date of such discoveries.

On the authority of Vigilantius' "_De Basilica Petri_" (_i.e._ at Wynton
or Winchester), quoted by Rudborne in "_Anglia Sacra_," John of Exeter,
and other writers, we have it that a great church was rebuilt from its
foundations at Caergwent by Lucius after his conversion in A.D. 164; and
that he erected also smaller buildings with an oratory, refectory, and
dormitory for the temporary abode of the monks until the monastery
itself should be completed. Quotations from another lost author,
Moracius, provide us with the dimensions of this edifice, the length
being variously given as 209 and 200 _passus_, the breadth as 80 and
130, while the tower was 92 _passus_ in height. This church, it was
said, was dedicated to S. Saviour in November 169, and endowed with
property formerly held by the pagan priests. "The site of the monastery
to the east of the church was 100 _passus_ in length toward the old
temple of Concord and 40 in breadth to the new temple of Apollo. The
north position was 160 in length and 98 in breadth. To the west of the
church it was 90 in length and 100 in breadth, to the south 405 in
length and 580 in breadth." Willis, from whom the above dimensions are
quoted, does not attempt to reconcile the figures except in so far as he
suggests _pedes_ for _passus_, substituting one foot for five. During
the persecution of the Christians by Diocletian in A.D. 266 the
buildings were destroyed; and the new church, dedicated to "S.
Amphibalus," who was said to be one of the martyrs in that persecution,
was not so large as its predecessor. In writers of the period we find
occasional references to the "Vetus Coenobium" or old monastery at
Winchester. The new building was not destined to remain long undisturbed
in the service for which it was intended, for when Cerdic, King of the
West Saxons, was crowned at Winchester and the pagans once more gained
the ascendancy, the monks were slaughtered and the church, devoted to
other rites, remained a temple of "Dagon" from 516 to 635. In the latter
year S. Birinus, in pursuance of his mission from Honorius to "scatter
the seeds of the holy faith in those farthest inland territories of the
English which no teacher had yet visited," converted King Cynegils to
Christianity. This king intended to erect a great new church, and, with
that end in view, destroyed the desecrated building and granted the law
for seven miles round to the monks whom he destined to take possession
of the new building. He died, however, within six years of his
conversion, and was buried before the altar of the partly-erected
church. His son Cenwalh therefore completed the building, which S.
Birinus dedicated to Christ in honour of the Holy and Indivisible
Trinity. Birinus was followed by Aegelberht, afterwards Bishop of Paris,
who resigned in 662; Wina, who died as Bishop of London, ejected in 666;
and Eleutherius, who died in 676.

So far the see was not at Winchester, but was temporarily placed at
Dorchester in Oxfordshire. Under Hedda, the fourth successor of S.
Birinus, the seat was at last moved to Winchester, in accordance with
the intention of the royal founder, and at the same time the body of the
saint, which had hitherto rested at Dorchester, was removed to the
cathedral city. King Cenwalh himself also on his death was buried in the
building which he had completed.

Practically nothing is known of the actual Saxon building, and the very
legends are scanty. We learn that the city was ravaged by the Danes two
years after the death of S. Swithun, but the cathedral itself appears
fortunately to have escaped damage.

The bishopric of Athelwold, commencing with his consecration by Dunstan
on November 29, A.D. 963, has more importance in the history of the
cathedral than that of his immediate predecessors. He was chosen by King
Edgar to undertake the work of a new monastery in which the king took
such pleasure that he is said to have measured the foundations himself.
This work carried out at Winchester by Athelwold is described at great
length in a Latin poem by Wolstan. No doubt the florid eulogy of the
poem is open to grave suspicion where it concerns the details of the
building, but, even when we make full allowance for poetic exaggeration,
the church appears certainly to have been a large and important one. The
poem in its first form is reproduced in Mabillon's version of Wolstan's
"Life of S. Athelwold," but in its entirety it consists of an epistle of
over 300 lines to Bishop Elphege Athelwold's successor. Some passages
deserve quotation. "He built," says Wolstan, "all these dwelling places
with strong walls. He covered them with roofs and clothed them with
beauty. He repaired the courts of the old temple with lofty walls and
new roofs and strengthened it at the north and south sides with solid
aisles and various arches. He added also many chapels, with sacred
altars which distract attention from the threshold of the church, so
that the stranger walking in the courts is at a loss where to turn,
seeing on all sides doors open to him, without a certain path. He stands
with wondering eyes until some experienced guide conducts him to the
portals of the farthest vestibule. Here marvelling he crosses himself
and knows not how to quit, so dazzling is the construction and so
brilliant the variety of the fabric that sustains this ancient church,
which that devout father himself strengthened, roofed, endowed, and
dedicated." Later Wolstan speaks of Athelwold's addition of "secret
crypts," of "such organs that the like were never seen," of a sparkling
tower reflecting from heaven the sun's first rays, "with at its top a
rod with golden balls and a mighty golden cock which as it turns boldly
sets its face to every wind that blows." More might be quoted, but it is
sufficient here to refer those interested in the matter either to the
chronicle itself or to Willis in the "Proceedings of the Architectural
Institute" for 1845. Though Wolstan thus describes Athelwold's
undertaking at great length, it does not appear that the bishop actually
did more than commence the restoration of the original buildings, for
his successor is exhorted in the letter to carry out Athelwold's design.
The chronicler Rudborne makes mention only of the dedication of a
minster in honour of the Apostles Peter and Paul, in the presence of
King Aethelred, Archbishop Dunstan and eight other bishops, on October
20, 980 A.D. John of Exeter ascribes to Athelwold the entire rebuilding
of the cathedral, but the Winchester annalist does not mention
Athelwold's great works.

From Athelwold's death to the succession of Walkelin the history of the
cathedral is little more than a record of its bishops; but with Walkelin
we reach a very important epoch in its existence. In 1079, the
Winchester Annals relate, this bishop began to rebuild the cathedral
from its very foundations, as was commonly done by the Norman
ecclesiastics of the time. According to this account, it was in 1086
that the king granted Walkelin, for the completion of his new building,
as much wood from the forest of Hempage (three miles distant from the
city on the Alresford road) as he could cut in four days and nights.
Walkelin collected all the men he could, and within the given time
removed the whole forest. The king, passing its site, cried: "Am I
bewitched? or have I taken leave of my senses?" But the bishop, when he
heard of his anger, pleaded to be allowed to resign the see if he might
but keep the chaplaincy and the king's favour. At this William relented,
saying: "I was as much too liberal in my grant as you were too greedy in
availing yourself of it" (Willis). In 1093 the new church was formally
consecrated, and on April 8, "in the presence of almost all the bishops
and abbots of England, the monks came with the highest exultation and
glory from the old minster to the new one: on the Feast of S. Swithun
they went in procession from the new minster to the old one and brought
thence S. Swithun's shrine and placed it with honour in the new
buildings; and on the following day Bishop Walkelin's men first began to
pull down the old minster, and before the end of the year they
demolished the whole of it, with the exception of one apse and the high
altar." When the old high altar was pulled down, we are told, "the
relics of many saints were found." The cathedral, as Walkelin designed
it, was for the most part so strong that its core and much of its actual
work remains to this day; but the central tower lacked the stability of
the rest, for on October 7, 1107, during the vacancy which occurred
after Walkelin's death, it fell. The monkish chroniclers attributed the
fall to the fact that William Rufus, "who all his life had been profane
and sensual and had expired without the Christian viaticum" (Rudborne),
was interred beneath it in 1100. William of Malmesbury, however, with a
degree of incredulity rare in his days, says it may have been that it
would have fallen in any case "through imperfect construction." He
describes the burial thus:--"A few countrymen conveyed the body, placed
on a cart, to the cathedral of Winchester, the blood dripping from it
all the way. Here it was committed to the ground within the tower,
attended by many of the nobility, but lamented by few. The next year the
tower fell; though I forbear to mention the different opinions on this
subject, lest I should seem to assent too readily to unsupported
trifles."

After Walkelin's death the history of the building is lost sight of for
some time, owing to the continual disturbances which all England was
undergoing. With De Lucy's accession, however, in 1189, considerable
additions were made to the cathedral, in the form of the Early English
retro-choir, of which the details are given later in this volume. De
Lucy's work, it has been pointed out, was carried out in such a way as
to leave the Norman building undisturbed as long as it was practicable
to do so, the circular apse being left _in situ_ until the new external
walls had been erected, while the presbytery itself was not touched
until the Decorated Period set in. De Lucy would doubtless have made
further alterations but for his death in 1204. As it was, two years
before that event he instituted a confraternity to carry on his work for
the space of five years, and to this body is due some of the work which
is attributed loosely to him.

It was during De Lucy's tenure of Winchester that Richard was re-crowned
by the Archbishop of Canterbury after his return from captivity. He
passed the night before at S. Swithun's Priory, and was brought thence
in the morning to the Cathedral "clothed in his royal robes, with the
crown upon his head, holding in his right hand a royal sceptre which
terminated in a cross, and in his left hand a golden wand with a figure
of a dove at the top of it, ... being conducted on the right hand by his
chancellor, the Bishop of Ely, and on the left by the Bishop of London"
(Roger de Hoveden). The Bishop of Winchester himself does not seem to
have been present, probably on account of a dispute with the king.

Another period of disturbance follows the comparatively quiet rule of
Bishop De Lucy, and it is not until we reach 1346 that we come to a
fresh outburst of architectural zeal on the part of the incumbents of
Winchester. But Edingdon, and still more his successor Wykeham, left
very lasting monuments of their occupancy at Winchester. It must not be
forgotten that, while to Wykeham is due the credit of most of the actual
transformation of the building, Edingdon must have first conceived,
however vaguely, the design. Edingdon's attachment to Winchester is well
illustrated by his quaint reason for refusing the offer of Canterbury:
"if Canterbury is the higher rack, Winchester is the better manger." He
is, indeed, charged with having left a considerable debt on the
building, since his successor seems to have recovered a large sum from
his executors, who had also to compensate Wykeham for large numbers of
cattle which had "disappeared from the various farms of the bishopric."
Yet it appears from Edingdon's own will that he began rebuilding the
nave and left money for the continuation of the work.

Wykeham, as we shall see, had already a reputation for architectural
skill when first introduced to Edward III., and this reputation stood
him in good stead in the matter of preferment. When he was elected to
Winchester he found the bishop's palaces of Farnham, Wolvesey, Waltham,
and Southwark in a very dilapidated condition, and he set these in order
before he turned his attention to anything else. New College, Oxford,
and Winchester College practically occupied him up to 1393; whilst his
work in the cathedral was really the last great undertaking of his life,
inasmuch as it was not finished at the time of his death. The actual
method of Wykeham's transformation of the interior is described more
fully elsewhere, and we will not therefore do more than quote a few
words from Willis on the work done. "The old Norman cathedral was cast
nearly throughout its length and breadth into a new form; the double
tier of arches in its peristyle was turned into one, by the removal of
the lower arch, and clothed with Caen casings in the Perpendicular
style. The old wooden ceilings were replaced with stone vaultings,
enriched with elegant carvings and cognizances. Scarcely less than a
total rebuilding is involved in this hazardous and expensive operation,
carried on during ten years with a systematic order worthy of remark and
imitation.... Judging from the provision of his will of the expenditure
for the last year and a half, the cost of this great work to the bishop
in present money cannot be estimated at less than L200,000."

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