CARLISLE CATHEDRAL". MARCH 31, 1842. IN consequence of the frequent destruction of its records, the history of the cathedralchurch of Carlisle is involved in great obscurity. It was originally the conventual church of the priory of St. Mary, which was commenced in the reign of William Rufus, and completed, A.D. 1101, by Henry I when it was dedicated in honour of the blessed virgin. The priory had existed ltttle more than thirty years, when the king erected Carlisle (which had previously been included in the diocese of Durham), into a distinct see. St. Mary's now became the cathedral-church of the new diocese, and continued after this accession to its honours, for upwards of a century and a half, to flourish in its original splendour. un PRICE lad. made a temple meet for the solemnities of divine service. church-hatred which distinguished the fana- about 330 feet; and, although not so large nor In the year 1292 a great portion of the edifice was destroyed by a fire which is said to have laid the city in ruins. The extent of the injury caused by this conflagration is known. The east limb, it is probable, was either entirely demolished, or so much de-a either entirely demolished, or so much defaced, as to require to be rebuilt from the foundation, as was also the north transept; the south transept and the nave appear to have escaped with little or no damage, being evidently portions of the original Norman structure. In consequence of the unsettled state of the borders at this period, the cathedral remained long in a state of desolation; and, although the canons and the citizens were grieved to see their sanctuary prostrate, and it pitied them to see the stones of her ruins, yet upwards of a century elapsed hefore it was completely restored, and again ⚫ See Jefferson's History of Carlisle. VOL. XII.NO. CCCXXXVI. thirty-five feet from the cross, but ninety-six The nave formerly extended a hundred and feet having been demolished during the great rebellion, only thirty-nine remain. These form two compartments of the original building, and are in the pure Norman style, of a simple and massive character. The main arches are semicircular, with plain architraves, springing from immense piers, whose height is only fourteen feet two inches, while their circumference is seventeen feet and a [London: Joseph Rogerson, 24, Norfolk-street Strand.] ૨ half. Some of their capitals have the chevron | and bell ornaments, but others of them are plain. A panelled ceiling of wood has been inserted immediately above the main arches, by which the whole of the upper part of the building is concealed from the spectator below. The exterior is more enriched, the windows having small detached shafts inserted at their sides for the springing of the arches, which have the zigzag, billet, and other usual ornaments of this style. The transept is a hundred and fourteen feet in length, and twenty-eight in breadth, and has no aisles. The south transept is in the same style as the nave: it consists of three stories, and has the chapel of St. Catherine on its east side, which is now used as a vestry by the choristers; its screens are ancient, and contain some curious tracery, with the initials of prior Gondibour. The north transept appears to have been erected in a hurried and incorrect manner. The whole of the eastern limb is in a later style than the nave, though earlier than the tower, having been rebuilt between the years 1292 and 1402. The choir is a hundred and thirty-eight feet in length; its height to the ceiling is seventy-two feet, and its breadth, together with the aisles, is seventy-two feet; being both broader and loftier than the nave. It consists of eight arches; those at the several extremities are narrower than the rest, and the most easterly of them serve as a passage behind the altar. The general style of this part of the edifice is early English: at its junction with the transept the flat mouldings of the arches indicate an early character of that style; but towards the east it becomes more advanced, and the last division, with the whole east end, is in the decorated style. The main arches of the choir are equilaterally pointed, and have a deep architrave, consisting of various mouldings, enriched with the toothed ornament and finished with a drip-stone, whose extremities are supported by a variety of heads. These arches spring from fine clustered piers, of eight shafts, arranged in the form of a diamond, and their capitals are ornamented with foliage and grotesque figures, illustrative of domestic and agricultural practices, such as sowing, reaping, grape-gathering, and the like; on one of these capitals is represented a monk, sitting over a fire, on which is a pot boiling, holding up his boot to dry, as also the foot from which it was taken. At the base of the piers on the south side, the foundations of the original Norman piers of the old choir are to be distinctly traced. The triforium has, grouped in each di vision, three flat pointed arched openings, each of which is divided by a mullion into two lights, and has flowing tracery in its head. The arches of the clerestory have a pierced parapet ornamented with quatrefoils, now almost entirely broken down; its windows, in each compartment, consist of three pointed arches, the centre one being carried higher than the other two; they are early English windows, but are filled with tracery of the succeeding style, which nearly corresponds in each alternate group; they have beneath them on the exterior an ornamental course of wavy panelling. The early English windows of the aisles are strangely diversified in their style, form, and arrangement; and not less so in the execution of their workmanship. The form which prevails in the north aisle is that of four long lancet arches of equal height, with rich mouldings: of these the two middle ones have been pierced for windows; they have detached shafts, with bands and capitals between them, and the space between their heads is occupied by a quatrefoil panel. But there are singular variations from this form; and there are also some decorated and perpendicular insertions. Under these windows against the wall, on both sides of the church, is a range of elegant small arches, with cinque-foil heads, and a series of deep and rich mouldings running round the cinque-foil, and springing from shafts which are generally detached, but towards the east end they form an integral part of the wall: two crowned heads occur in the south-east corner of the building. The ceiling of the choir was originally vaulted with wood, divided into square compartments, and the bosses at the intersection were charged with the armorial bearings of those who contributed to the restoration of the edifice, after the conflagration in the year 1292. This ceiling having gone to decay, was removed in the year 1764, when the choir was repaired. The stalls are composed of ancient and very beautiful tabernacle work, which was supplied by bishep Strickland, about the year 1401: it contains niches which were formerly filled with numerous small images of wood, and their canopies terminate with enriched pinnacles. "The images," says Dr. Todd, "were all taken away about 1649, lest they might give offence." Under the seats of the stalls (which turn upon hinges), are knots of curious carving in a great variety of grotesque designs, and forming small shelving seats called "misereres." The whole design of the choir may be pronounced elegant; but that which contributes most to its effect is the great east window. This beautiful portion consists of an equilateral pointed arch, divided by slender mullions into nine lights, and has elegant and delicately-arranged flowing tracery in its head. It belongs to the decorated English style, and is enriched with modern stained glass, which forms the borders of the several divisions. The colours appear too fresh, and not sufficiently varied to accord with the pleasing shadows cast from the head of the window, which is entirely filled with coloured glass of great antiquity, representing several scripture incidents: the ascension of our Lord is beautifully limned in the upper compartment. "The east front," says Rickman, contains one of the finest, if not the finest decorated window in the kingdom. It is considerably decayed; but its elegance of composition and delicacy of arrangement, the harmony of its parts, and the easy flow of its lines, rank it even higher than the celebrated west window of York cathedral, which it also exceeds in the number of divisions." This window, from the tablet on which it is set to the highest point of the mouldings, is fiftyeight feet in height, and its breadth is thirtytwo feet six inches; it fills up the whole space between two uncommonly bold buttresses which rise, at eleven stages, to the ridge of the roof, where they are terminated with fine crocketed pinnacles; they have niches with enriched canopies, now much mutilated, and robbed of the statues which formerly occupied them. The whole of the accompaniments, including the shafts, mouldings, and buttresses, are exceedingly chaste and beautiful. The gable, which is not centrically placed, has crockets and crosses, now mostly broken off. The tower has an embattled parapet, with a small turret at its north-east angle; its height to the top of the vane is about one hundred and thirty feet: this is the most recent part of the cathedral, and was erected about three hundred years after the nave: it consists of four stories. WHAT DO THE PARSONS DO? No. VI. THE WORKING CLERGY. "I AM very free to acknowledge that the working clergy in the establishment are a very indefatigable body of men. I am sure our curate, or rather the call him our ourate; for I am, as you say you believe, curate of the parish, is so. You know I can scarcely a conscientious dissenter; and I do trust I am a dissenter from principle, and not from any rancorous hostility to the church. I would not appear upon a consideration, though I have been repeatedly urged to platform to denounce the established church for any do so. I never could bring myself to be mixed up with the motley crew who band together in political unions, where each one cares not what his neighbour's creed may be in other matters, provided he holds this fundamental article- the establishment must come down, for it is an intolerable burthen to the country; it destroys more souls than it saves.' Now, from all such persons I entirely withdraw myself. I would not allow what is termed a dissenting newspaper to come into my house. I took one of great note for a few months for my family's use; but it so entirely disgusted me by its gross and malevolent mis-statements, its scurrility, its unchristian tone, that I really was not 'Patriot' enough in the cause of nonconformity to suffer it to be any longer introduced into my house." The individual who thus spoke to me, though a man not of very enlarged views, of much education, or without many prejudices, was one of what I may term the "old school" of nonconformists-that steady, sober, honest-minded class, which never for a moment dreamt or thought of the subversion of the establishment-who, while they deplored the decay of spiritual preaching in their own meeting-houses, hailed with delight the revival of it in the church; to many institutions connected with which he liberally contributed. He was an honest man. He never grumbled at a church-rate: he paid it cheerfully: he knew he was bound to do so, as every dissenter knows. The vicar of his parish certainly was not now a working clergyman, for old age and grey hairs had come upon him, and found him at his post; but, at the advanced age of four-score years and seven, he could with difficulty rise from his elbow chair, and a working clergyman still. His indefatigable curate saw him each evening, and told him all the events of the day--for his mind was still active, and had lost none of its powers-and nightly did they offer their supplications in behalf of their beloved flock. The his eyesight had entirely failed him: and yet he was nonconformist referred to frequently called on the aged incumbent, and paid him every attention. He often read to him; for he had never married, and his companion sister, who used to keep house for him, had berries, the first ripe bunch of grapes, the finest dozen been dead some years. The first basket of strawof peaches from the dissenter's garden, one of the choicest in the neighbourhood, all found their way to the parsonage. On one occasion, when the old expressly referred to in the service at the meetingman's life was regarded as in danger, he was house. The influence of the Ecclesiastical Knowledge Society had not been so overwhelming as to bring the congregation of the meeting under it had resolutely held out its tyrannical sway: against such interference. Many a poor clergyman, be he rector, vicar, or curate, would have found a right hospitable welcome in my friend's comfortable mansion; while a very reserved and cold reception would have met the astonished feelings of some diswondering inhabitants of Rthat the gospel was S. J. not preached in the church, that the vicar was idle, In the aisles at the back of the stalls are a a number of curious monkish paintings and legends, of great antiquity, and very rudely executed. Över each picture is a barbarous doggrel couplet, supposed to have been written by prior Senhouse: they were for some time concealed by whitewash, but were restored by dean Percy, afterwards bishop of Dromore. They consist of paintings of the twelve apostles, each having a part of the apostles' creed written over him, and legends of St. Anthony, St. Cuthbert, and St. Augustine. The diocese is of small extent, comprising Fortions of Cumberland and Westmoreland; but it is proposed to add the remaining pa-senting delegate, sent down from town to assure the rishes in these counties which form part of the diocese of Chester. |