bRISTOL THPDRAL AND SEE ^^' I NA 5440 B8« VI 'dm:^^ ^^iHP J ^"■iti., J ^,-zi^^ii 1 ^4 ^:^»^^^ii^stt^'^^»>^'^ . lES T3f*.T^5 PrTTT"" ^^ tcfflege of Arrtiitecture Library Cornell U»ivpr=:ity BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Z891 .^y../.j^.S4'.Jl'pr.. ^.^/^!:./..9M..-^.. 5474 Cornell University Library NA 5460.B8 The cathedral church of Bristol; a descri 3 1924 015 345 881 B Cornell University 9 Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924015345881 BELL'S CATHEDRAL SERIES BRISTOL 7'\'^l Cko'u to THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF BRISTOL A DESCRIPTION OF ITS FABRIC AND A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL SEE H. J. L J. MASSE, M.A. LONDON GEORGE BELL & SONS igoi MA 7^ H-l C 10-2-. GENERAL PREFACE This series of monographs has been planned to supply visitors to the great English Cathedrals with accurate and well illus- trated 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: — (i) 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. AUTHOR'S PREFACE My special thanks are. due to Mr. Robert Hall Warren, F.S.A., of Clifton, who knew the Cathedral well more than fifty years agOj and remembers what it has gone through during that lapse of time; to the Clifton Antiquarian Club for permission to reproduce three illustrations from the Club Proceedings ; and to the never-failing courtesy of Mr. W. Hayward, the Sub-Sacrist of the Cathedral. H. J. L. J. M. CONTENTS Chapter I.— The History of the Church Dedication, Arms, Bells . Chapter II.— The Exterior . West Front . Central Tower Cloisters North Porch . Chapter III.— The Interior . Norman Nave Present Nave ... Transepts North Transept South Transept Central Tovirer. The Choir ... The Tudor Choir Screen . Organ .... Choir Aisles ..... Newton Chapel .... Berkeley Tombs in South Choir Aisle Sacristy i Berkeley Chapel .... Windows in South Choir Aisle The Lady Chapel .... Reredos of the Lady Chapel Sedilia ...... Tombs of Abbots Newbury and Hunt Tomb of Abbot Newland East Window . . .' . . Other Windows in the Lady Chapel Tomb of Bishop Bush The Elder Lady Chapel . Chapter IV. — The Precincts The Sanctuary, College Green The High Cross Monastic Buildings . Great Gateway Cloisters Chapter House Dormitory, Infirmary Gateway in Lower College Green The Bishop's Palace Chapter V. — The Abbots . The See Bishops Deans Appendix — (William Wyrcestre) Dimensions Index ILLUSTRATIONS The Cathedral from the North West Front and Gateway .... View from the North. (From an old print) . West End in 1817 View from the South-East in 1830 . Details of Carving from old Choir Screen Central Tower and South Transept The Nave — Eastward View .... Frieze on the Tomb in the Berkeley Chapel . Ground Plan in 1828 The Nave and North Aisle .... South Aisle of Nave .... The North Transept in 1817 .... Doorway in the Choir Screen (destroyed) Section of the East End .... South Aisle of the Choir .... Tiles — formerly in the Cathedral . Entrance to the Vestibule of the Berkeley Chapel Vaulting in the Vestibule of the Berkeley Chapel Remains of Chancel Screen in South Choir Aisle The Lady Chapel The Elder Lady Chapel .... The Reredos Details of Carving from old Choir Screen Door of Refectory ...... Entrance to South Transept from Cloisters Entrance to Chapter House . The Chapter House Arcading in the Chapter House Coffin Lid Gateway in Lower College Green . Plan Frontispiece 9 22 23 26 28 34 35 36 41 43 46 55 59 61 62 64 66 69 70 80 83 84 89 90 92 93 94 95 97 ro8 ? BRISTOL CATHEDRAL CHAPTER I. THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. For a period of four hundred years previous to the creation of the See of Bristol there had been a church and monastery of Augustine canons, founded by Robert Fitzharding, or Fitzhardinge, as the name is spelled by the present owners of Berkeley Castle. This Robert seems to have been the son of the Harding employed by Bishop Geoffrey of Coutances, a praepositus or reeve of the town of Bristol, as his father had been before him. The origin of this elder Harding is not very clear. A MS. in Berkeley Castle describes the father of Robert Fitzharding as "ex regia prosapia regum Daciae." This is not definite enough to be of any real value, and we must perforce begin with Robert Fitzharding himself. Of the date of his birth, which is not material, nothing is known. What is certainly known about him is that during Stephen's reign he gave much assistance to the cause of Henry and Matilda, and that he became richer in consequence. It seems, too, as certainly a fact that in the year 1142 he began to build the "abbeye at Bristowe, that of Saint Austin is," in honorem Dei, et pro salute anitnce suce. This date is fixed by the mention of the fact (in Smyth's Lives of the Berkeley s) that King Henry II. was nine years old at the time, having been born in 1133. The site chosen was near the spot where St. Jordan's Chapel was erected ; as Leland writes : " ibique in magna area (prob- ably College Green) sacellum in quo sepultus est S. Jordanus, unus ex discipulis Augustini Anglorum Apostoli." 4 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. Another tradition, seeking, no doubt, to account for the dedication to St. Augustine, says that the building was on the site of St. Augustine's oak. This site was bought from Robert, Earl of Gloucester, who, in right of his wife, was lord of the Castle of Bristol, and it was part of the manor of Bedminster, a manor including the vill of Redcliffe, and also that of Billeswick. From its position on the rising ground it will be seen that the site was well chosen, almost the best that could have been selected at that time. '. From a document at Berkeley Castle we learn that " upon Easter day, the nth of April, in the 13th year of the reign of King Stephen, in the year of our Lord 1148, the four Bishops of Worcester, Exeter, Llandaff, and S. Asaph consecrated the church and buildings, which the said Robert (Fitzharding) had built near to the town of Bristol, dedicating them to God and to St. Augustine, the English Apostle, then newly, by the said Robert, built upon the manor of Billeswick, at the place once called St. Augustine's Green ; and then, inducting the Abbot and Canons, amongst other possessions, then endowed that church and monastery by his deed which he laid down upon the altar there, with the manor of Almondsbury, the manor of Horfield, the manor of Ashleworth, the manor of Cromhall, since called Cromhall Abbots ; and with divers lands and tenements ;in Aslingham, with half of his fishings there, to hold in frankalmoign, and willed in the same deed that the same, upon his blessing, should quietly be enjoyed." These dates are not to be accepted as quite certain, though the facts seem sufificiently ascertained. The convent, no doubt, was begun in 1142, but either the consecration in 1148 is too early, or the Christian names of the bishops are wrongly given. The prelates who took part were, in all accounts, the Bishops of Worcester, assisted by the Bishops of Exeter, Llandaff, and St. Asaph, but their Christian names belong to those of bishops some years later. Then, again, if the first canons came from Wigmore, their introduction must have been later than the ordinarily received date, as they could not have come from thence before the year 11 79. The first canons are said to have been brought from Wigmore, and one of them was Richard, the first Abbot. Fitzharding himself, during the last few years of his life, THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 5 was a canon of the monastery which he had caused to be built. In 1 155 Fitzharding, who had been enriched by a gift from Henry II. of the lately forfeited estates of Roger de Berkeley, could quite well say that the buildings were finished. In all probability they had been finished in a slightly more elaborate manner than had been originally intended by the founder. The Chapter-house shows two styles of work, with clearly indicated signs of later alterations to what had been previously erected. The canons, wherever they came from, were regular Augustine canons of the order of St. Victor. They were considered to be " the least ascetic of the monastic orders." For dress they wore a long black cassock, a white rochet, a black cloak and hood, together with a leather girdle, and square caps. Their rules in brief were these. All property was relin- quished by a postulant for admission, and a canon leaving the order took nothing away with him. No property offered for acceptance could be accepted without the prior's sanction. All quarrels and disagreements were to be referred to the propositus, who also settled the punishment for contumacy. Certain psalms were to be sung at the hours, and nightly readings after vespers. Work was prescribed from the early morning till sext. or noon: from noon till nones {i.e., 3 p.m.) reading was enjoined, and again after refection till vespers. On any convent business two canons were to be sent, and no eating or drinking was allowed to them while outside the house. The rule was as binding on them when abroad as at home. When at home idle talking and gossip was distinctly forbidden, silence being enjoined. The rules provided for "all things being held in common " as an antidote to pride. Regulations as to attention to the words of the service, and a prohibition against using different words, abstention from offensive gait, habit and gestures, staring at women', show that the canons were no better than their brethren in the world. They were even enjoined to go two together to preserve their modesty when in a church where women were present. Fasting and abstinence apparently led to malingering, and this was a punishable offence. Washing of clothes was done at the order of the superior, as was also washing of the person. Minor regulations dealt with the treatment of the sick and 6 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. delicate, the obtaining of books at stated hours, impUcit obedience to the superior, punishment for theft and other offences. The superior was to rule by love rather than by fear. The oath taken by the abbots is interesting, and is here given from Noake's History of Worcester Cathedral. " Ye shall swere that ye shall be faithfuU and tru, feith and trouyth shal here to the king our souvrairi lord, and to hys heyres, kings of Englonde of lyfife and lymme and earthly worshippe for to lyffe and dye agenst all pepple, and diligentlie ye shal be attendante unto ye kingis nedis and besoignes after youre witt and power, and the kynges counsell ye shall kepe and layne and trulie ye shal knowledge and the servyce due of your monasterie of Seint Awsleyns besid Bristow the which ye clame and holde of oure sov. lorde and kinge and the which he geveth you and to hym and hys commandements in that to you atteynoth and belongeth for your temporalities ye shall be obeysant as God helpe you and his sayntis." Founders' intentions in olden times were as a rule loyally carried out, and there were then no commissioners to upset their bequests. Robert Fitzharding's name was long kept in remembrance on the anniversary, as will be seen by the accompanying extract from " Abbot Newland's Roll," or rather from the copy of it at Berkeley Castle. " For which good lord Sir Robert our founder, and dame Eva his wife, these be the special things due for them, besides the general prayers, continually done in divine service by day and by night : firstly a daily special prayer said for them and all other foundators and benefactors, at the hour of seven in the mornings and also daily prayers by name in our chapter- house openly. Also they have other rites solemnly sung with ringing on the eve of their anniversary, and on the morrow commendations ; the abbot for the founder, and the prior for the foundress, executing the divine service. On the morrow of the day of the anniversary, an loo poor men be refreshed, everyone of them having a canon's loaf of bread called a myche, and 3 herrings therewith, and amongst them all two bushels of pease : also another dole that day shall be given of money, cake and loaves ; the abbot having a cake price four- pence, with two castes of bread and fourpence for wine, the prior, sub-prior, and almoner, everyone of them two cakes THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCPt. 'j price twopence each, with one cast of bread and twopence for wine; every secular servant of the household within the monastery to have a penny cake and a cast of bread ; every friar within every house of the four orders of Bristol to have a loa,f ; and likewise every prisoner within the gaol of Newgate of Bristol, a loaf ; and all the rest of the bread undealt to be dealt at the gate of the said monastery among poor people, and every man taking part of this dole shall have 40 days pardon. And on the day of the anniversary of dame Eva his wife, shall be dealt to 50 poor men, 50 loaves called niyches, with three herrings apiece, and amongst them all a bushel of pease." The charter of Maurice, the second Lord Berkeley, states : "I, Maurice, son and heir of Sir Robert Fitzharding, have granted and confirmed for the health of my soul and all my ancestry, to the Church of St. Augustin, by Bristol, which my lord and father hath founded; all such things which my said father hath given and granted to the canons of the said Church, viz. : within Berkeley Harness, Almondsbury, Horfield, Ashleworth, and Cromhall, which he gave unto them when he became and was a canon ; the which Sir Robert died February 5, 11 70, and was buried between the abbot's and prior's stall, and next to the abbot's stall entering in the choir, and Eva his wife was buried by himj she died the 12th of March following.'' The convent, together with the range of monastic buildings, which were not destined to remain very long in their original condition, comprised a cruciform church with a short choir of three small bays, a square east end, transepts of the same dimensions (as far as area is concerned) as those now in exist- ence, a nave somewhat over 100 feet in length and including aisles (which were half of the present width) 56 feet in width — or, to compare it with the nineteenth century nave, 12 feet shorter and 13 feet narrower, both of these being internal measurements. Whether the west front contained a Galilee porch, and whether the belfries at this end were contained wholly or partly within the plan, is a matter of complete uncertainty. The thickness of the walls, as given by Mr. Street, was 5 feet 9 inches, but it is difficult to see how even with this thickness the front could have measured 85 feet in the fifteenth century, as stated 8 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. by William Wyrcestre, who wrote, " the length of the antiqua eccksia (by which he probably meant the nave) is 80 gressus." Interpreting this by his measurement of the width of the choir and its aisles, 50 gressus, it would give the nave a length of 100 feet, or thereabouts, to the eastern walls of the western towers. He also says that there were two befifrays, but he does not make it clear whether his length of 80 gressus included or excluded the length of the space occupied by these beifrays. Of Early English work the Elder Lady Chapel on the north side of the north aisle is the chief specimen remaining, opening into the north transept, but with a space between the wall of the chapel and the wall of the Norman north choir aisle (just as at Tewkesbury). This chapel is assigned by Mr. Godwin to Abbot John (1196-1215), but it is probably the work of the next abbot, David (1215-1234), who was buried in the chapel soon after his resignation of the Abbacy. The Early English Lady Chapel was itself altered by the insertion of a larger east window towards the end of the century, probably in Hugh de Dodington's Abbacy (1287-1294), and under the supervision of Edmund Knowle, who was then treasurer.! There was more work done at this same period. Probably alterations were made in the corresponding position in the south transept, where the Newton Chapel now stands ; and there were considerable traces of Early English work ruthlessly destroyed, and removed to make room for the present modern west front. There are traces, too, in the Berkeley Chapel of some later Early English work- in the front of the table tomb in a recess, in the north wall. The canons at Bristol, in spite of their vows, never seem to have enjoyed the reputation of keeping them, and, as was the case elsewhere, trouble came upon them for breach of rules. In 1236 some of the officers were removed by the Bishop of Worcester, and the Abbot himself thought it better to resign. Again, in 1278, we find that Godfrey, Bishop of Worcester, the visitor, found the abbey, both in temporal and ' In Dallaway's edition of William Wyrcestre he terms this chapel Bradeston's Chantry. The name probably refers to some other Early English work which has disappeared, or it may mean that Bradeston finished the chapel after Abbot David's resignation in 1234. 10 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. spiritual matters, sadly deteriorated {damnabiliter prolapsum), and that he ordained that in future the canons should " not as bees fly out of the choir as soon as service is ended, but return to God thanks for their benefactors." The bishop also found that the Abbot (John de Marina) " was not sufficiently instructed to propound the word of God in common, and appointed others in his stead." Greater economy and decorum were ordered in the refectory — the canons being admonished to refrain from "detraction and obscene speech." The sick were to be better attended, but malingering was under a special episcopal malediction, as it was found that the canons were in the habit of feigning sickness and congregating in the infirmary for the sake of " drinking and surfeeting," and meeting with secular friends. The admis- sion of the latter to the infirmary was forbidden, with the exception of the physician and his servants. The accounts seem to have been badly kept, and the Abbot was advised to keep a disburser and a receiver of accounts, and to dismiss Henry of the granary, Hugh the seller of corn, and Roger the porter : further, to make all future servants swear to be faithful in the fulfilment of their duties, and to see that everything was in order by the next visitation. Abbot Edmund de Knowle, who presided over the monastery for twenty-six years (1306-1332), was a feeble Abbot, but an excellent architect, and to him we owe the design, and the execution of the greater part, of the eastern half of the fabric. He doubled the length of the Norman choir, and it will be admitted that he has successfully grappled with the problem of building a large, bright and cheerful choir, the very opposite of its small, dull, and gloomy predecessor. His work is thoroughly well planned, original in conception, and well carried out. It has needed no restoring internally, and seems structurally as sound as at the date of its completion. The distinguishing feature of the eastern half is the equality in height of the choir aisles and the choir itself.^ Abbot Knowle began his work eight years before he became Abbot — probably as treasurer under Abbot Barry. Abbot ' During the repaying of the choir, the foundations of the east end of the Norman church were found a little to the east of the second pier from the tower. They point to. the fact that the east end was not apsidal but square. THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. II Newland's Roll says: "He built the Church area from the foundations, with the vestry," and that he " began that great work the 6th day after the Assumption of Our Lady (Aug. 2ist), the hour of nine, the year of Our Lord 1298, the year also of King Edward I. xxv." Abbot Knowle, seeing that the Berkeleys, in whose castle Edward II. was foully done to death, were friends and patrons of his convent, refused to allow the king's body to be buried in the convent, and this honour was secured by Abbot Thokey for St. Peter's Abbey at Gloucester. It is only reasonable to infer that if the Bristol convent had received the king's body, the large sums of money that went subsequently to rebuild the Gloucester choir would have found their way to Bristol, and would have been devoted to the rebuilding of the nave. Abbot Knowle died in 1332, apparently leaving the western half still standing from the crossing to the west end, and practically as Fitzharding had built it, but showing signs of the decay hinted at in the Ziier Albus Vigorniensis of 131 1. Knowle probably left plans and sketches of work which he had intended to carry out, and his successor, Abbot Snow, would seem to have finished the south choir aisle, assisted by a Master of the Work who missed the master-mind of his late architect. Abbot Knowle. Thirty years later the nave was still said to be ruinosa — in a dangerous condition — and we find that Maurice de Berkeley obtained from Urban V. a bull granting forty days' indulgence to every person who should hear mass in the Church of St. Augustine, or say, kneeUng, three Ave Marias, or should contribute towards the repair of the, said church, the same being ruinous. It has been usual to credit Abbot Snow with extensive building operations, but it is difficult to see what he did, unless he began at the west end and at the arches abutting on the central tower, the arches which were pronounced by experts in 1866 to be Decorated work. Abbot Snow was the first and only Abbot who took his place in Parliament, and for some reason or other he was the only person besides the founder and his wife, and Robert, Lord Berkeley, who was com- memorated as a benefactor; but beyond the completion of Abbot Knowle's work and the building of the Newton Chapel, there is nothing to point to as his work. The reopening of 12 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. the new choir to its proper use may have been the reason of his being commemorated. During the twelve years of the abbacy of Ralph Ashe, who petitioned successfully for exemption from attending Parliament, alleging the poverty of the abbey and personal in- convenience, Bristol passed through a troublous time. In 1349 the Black Death played havoc with the inhabitants, secular and clerical alike. " Its ravages were fiercest in the greater towns, where filthy and undrained streets afforded a constant haunt to leprosy and fever. ... In Bristol the living were hardly able to bury the dead. . . . Even when the first burst of panic was over, the sudden rise of wages consequent on the enormous diminution in the supply of free labour, though accompanied by a corresponding rise in the price of food, rudely disturbed the course of industrial employments : harvests rotted on the ground, and fields were left untilled, not merely from scarcity of hands, but from the strife which now for the first time revealed itself between Capital and Labour."! In Bristol, where the grass had grown high in the streets, the monastery had suffered severely, and the numbers of the canons (there were never more than twenty) were so diminished that there were few left old enough to officiate as priests. This state of things went on for some years, for in 1363 we find that Abbot Coke obtained authority from the Pope (Urban V.) to ordain priests of the age of twenty-two, by reason of the scant numbers caused by the plague in the time of his predecessor. Abbot Coke was, as Britton says, quoting from Barrett, "a religious man, professing the rule of St. Augustine and the order of Canons Regularj instituted in the said monastery, honest, of a lawful age, above thirty, in the order of priesthood, and born in lawful wedlock," but in his short abbacy of ten years, owing to the stagnation caused by the famine and the pestilence, nothing seems to have been done to the fabric. His successor, we are told in the Worcester Register, was so extravagant, wasting the revenues and funds of the Abbey, that Edward III. issued a mandate to the Bishop of Worcester to visit the Abbey at Bristol. The Prior of Worcester, on the death of his Bishop in 1374, finding that divine service at 1 Green, History of the English People. THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 1 3 Bristol was almost at an end, that alms-giving had ceased, and that there was a possibility of the dissolution of the foundation, issued various stringent ordinances. He provided that alms should be given according to the possessions of the house ; that the sick members should have better food than the rest ; that seven of the canons should have charge of the seal of the Abbey ; that the secular clerks of St. Mary's Chapel were to be supported ; that five canons were to be elected to advise the abbot in all temporal matters, and to supervise the collectors and receivers of the Abbey revenues. These ordinances all tend to prove that Abbot Shellingford was, besides being in- competent, a most unlikely man to take any interest in the fabric, and his two successors, Cerney (1388-1393) and Daubeney (1393-1428), probably had to be extremely careful, so as to recoup the Abbey for the lavish extravagance of their reckless predecessor. Meantime all the monasteries had been affected to some extent by the controversies in which Wyclif took so active a part, and by the teaching of that great preacher and his followers. His attacks on the manifest abuses in the church and on its constitution must have had some adherents from among the members of our monasteries, who, not entirely satisfied with blind and unquestioning obedience, had carefully gone into the questions so ably set forth by Wyclif and his " poor priests," and yearned passionately for that " spiritual freedom," checked only by a sense of individual responsibility to God. Wakefield, the Bishop of Worcester, writing in 1387, just before Cerney became Abbot of Bristol, rebuked his " beloved sons, the archdeacons of Gloucester and Worcester," as well as all his abbots, priors, deans, rectors, or vicars of churches, for listening to unauthorised preachers, one of whom, John Purvey, a Lincoln priest, had preached in Bristol with marked success. Bristol was almost as great a stronghold of LoUardism as London, and its Lollards, though in some cases they abjured their opinions, in others bravely suffered death. LoUardism in the west of England was partly political, and in Bristol went hand in hand with active hostility to the House of Lancaster, but it had a great hold on the people, and its effects on them, if not always apparent, nevertheless lasted long after Wyclif's death in 1384. 14 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. As the idea of a personal responsibility gradually grew, so the desire for the collective life of a community diminished, and the trade guilds and the monasteries went through a period of partial disintegration. It is for this reason, probably, that the canons were divided amongst themselves in the time of Abbot Newbury, and that the malcontents ousted him in favour of a spendthrift usurper for five years, and then gladly received again the man in whom they felt they could trust. With this Abbot building operations seem to have been con- templated in earnest, judging from the fact that in 1466 the Bishop of Bath and Wells granted him a lease of Dundry Quarry. This Abbot is credited by Britton with the building of the tower, and Mr. Street assigned the tower to some date between 1450 and 1470. Britton says : " It evidently belongs to his (i.e. Newbury's) time ; and was perhaps finished by his suc- cessor William Hunt, to whom may also be attributed the upper part of the south transept, which was certainly raised upon the walls of the Norman church." Abbot Newland's Roll tells us that Abbot Hunt " did many benefits for his time in building, and especially that he new let make (caused to be made afresh) the whole roof of the Church both the bowke (body) and of the iles of the same, and new let cast (caused to be cast afresh) the lead for the same, from the tower all eastward with our lady chapell." This has been interpreted in different ways, but it probably means that after the completion of the tower Abbot Hunt finished Newbury's work by covering the roof with lead, a very obvious course to pursue. He must have carried out extensive works, as the abbey in 1481 was indebted to him for more than ^^240. It is possible that he helped in finishing the work of the central tower. Abbot Hunt was succeeded by Abbot Newland, who certainly remodelled the transept windows and some of the vaulting, possibly that of the lantern. In further confirmation of the above early date may be urged the fact that William Wyrcestre, whose date must be assigned to the year 1480, makes no mention of any recent works, or of any in progress, nor of any hindrances to his measuring by paces or by yards. It is not until 1491 that we get any hint of inconvenience such as would be caused by any further re- modelling of the transept roof. In that year we are told that THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 1$ the choral service was held in the Elder I^ady Chapel, but no mention is unfortunately made of its being the first year or the last year of the inconvenience. The item of intelligence seems to point to the fact that some interior work in the transept or the vaulting of the tower was in progress, and there was a change in the office of Master of the Works exactly at this time, Prior John Martyn succeeding to the place long occupied by John Ashfield, who probably was disgusted with his treat- ment, as his salary had been left unpaid for nearly twenty years. A document used to be preserved in the archives of the Dean and Chapter giving a roll or series of accounts of the officers of St. Augustine's Abbey during the year 1491-1492. The establishment, which was always a small, one, numbered seventeen persons exclusive of the Abbot, who was Treasurer and Cellarer, viz. : — John Martyn, the Prior, who was also Collector denari- orum gratise, Sacrista, et Magister Novi Operis; Thomas Greene, Sub-Prior and Camerarius ; Henry Griffiths, Canorii- cus et Presbyter; Henry Brugges, Collector Redituum Villas^ Bristolliae, and also Collector reditus Anniversarii, et Elemosyn- arius, Canonicus et Presbyter ; John Dinham, Thomas Clerke, Refectorarius ; William Hobbes, Custos Infirmarii ; William Crekelade, Custodiens Officium Precentoris; and Robert Elyot, Coquinarius et Hostillarius. All these were Canonici et Presbyteri, the other eight were Novitiati. Though there was no building in progress in 1492, for some little time material was being collected by Martyn, as his account showed that waggon loads of stone were being carted from Dundry Quarry. This quarry had been sub-let for two years on condition that the tenants delivered 40 waggon loads of stone at Redcliff Hill. Martyn's account also has the charges for 80 loads of freestone at 2s. 6d. a load, and twenty loads of "Ragges" at i2d. a load ; also 533. 4d. for the carriage of 160 loads from Redcliff Hill to the porch of the old church in the sanctuary of the monastery of St. Augustine. It is not till 1498 that the expenses of the monastery begin to show any abnormal increase, and this probably indicates the commencement of building work. About the same time, or shortly before it, the domestic buildings seem to have been undergoing alterations. The 1 6 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. Abbey gateway, from the fact that upon it were the arms of Abbots Newland and Elyot, seems to have been partially rebuilt in the same limit of time — i.e. 1480-1520, possibly having been begun by Newland and finished by his successor, the lower portion being work of the Transitional Norman period. Abbot Newland is also to be credited with the other Per- pendicular work which was done in the north transept — viz., the arch into the north aisle of the nave that was intended to be built. Whatever parts he planned and did not carry out may be safely assigned to his successor Elyot, 1515-1526. From an addition made later to the copy of Abbot New- land's Roll at Berkeley Castle, it seems clear that Abbot Newland actually began his new nave, for it says that " the walls were carried up as far as the sills of the windows. His work was built up outside the antiqua ecclesia mentioned by William Wyrcestre, and seems to have been brought to a standstill by lack of funds." This work was taken down to the foundations and carried away for other uses, together with the masonry of the Norman nave in 1543. These foundations were assigned to Abbot Knowle by Mr. Street.^ To Abbot Somerset (1526-1536) was due a new doorway into the Abbey, made by cutting through the north wall of the Elder Lady Chapel in the westernmost bay. It was a good specimen of late Perpendicular work, and it bore the Abbot's arms upon it. In the recent restoration by Mr. Pearson, this door- way, being superfluous, disappeared altogether. Disputes again between the Abbey and the town were rife in Abbot Somerset's time. Distresses were levied on two choristers who had refused to pay the King's silver. The Abbot promptly arrested the officers who had thus trespassed in his jurisdiction ; as promptly the Mayor in retaliation imprisoned the Abbey retainers, and kept them in spite of attempted rescue. After this dispute followed litigation and arbitration, and the award was that the choristers should pay the taxes, and that both sides should set free their prisoners. Furthermore it was agreed that the Mayor and Council should resume their usual attendance in the Abbey, but that, in token 1 Further notes on the history of the nave will be fonnd on p. 37 sqq., where they are necessary to explain the origin of the present building. THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 17 of the Abbot's full submission, he and his successors should thenceforth on Easter Day in the afternoon, and on Easter Monday in the morning, meet them at the door of the grammar school at Frome Gate, and accompany them to the Abbey. We are told that Cranmer visited Bristol in 1532, and " tarried there nineteen days ; reforming many things that were amiss, and preached in St. Augustine's Abbey and other places." To his agency, no doubt, the constitution of a bishopric at Bristol is mainly due, the See of Bristol not being found on the list of projected Sees in the Cottonian MSS. in the British Museum. During the few years that now remain to be chronicled (iS3°""iS39) nothing was apparently done to the fabric. Abbot William Morgan, if only half of the ill deeds attributed to him by Fuller and Speed are true, seems to have turned his attention to other matters. He may have foreseen what was in store for the monastery, as in Bristol the White Friars' house had already been dissolved, and that of the Austin Friars,^ at Temple Gate, had been spoiled of everything by the dishonesty of its prior. To Abbot Burton (1536-1537) was due some interior work in the way of ornamentation on the cresting in the Lady Chapel, and the work bears his rebus. The Perpendicular work in the north alley of the cloister seems to have been built upon the site of the south aisle of the original Norman church, or at any rate on a part of it, and this therefore gives an approximate date for the beginning of the removal of the Norman building, which was still standing in 1492. It was thought by Mr. Godwin that Abbot Newland, after thus beginning with the south side of the church, removed the whole of the Norman church, and intended to rebuild the western half of the building. Ganon Norris always held the opinion that the nave remained standing until after the dis- solution of the monastery in 1539; and Professor Freeman thought it was destroyed between 1539 and the foundation of the bishopric in 1542. These latter two views are borne out by Barrett, who says that the nave was stripped of its leaden ^ This was an extensive foundation, with large buildings, according to the measurements of Wyrcestre. C 1 8 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. roof and became ruinous, but that the King's order that the sounder half of the building should be a cathedral interrupted the despoilers. The obvious course to take with a nave which had been ruinous since 13 n was to demolish it, and this was so carefully done that nothing was left of it but the two sets of foundations,— those of Fitzharding's nave, measuring 100 feet by 56 feet, and outside them the foundations of what was formerly thought to be Abbot Knowle's new nave, but which, if we rely upon Abbot Newland's Roll, must in fairness be assigned to that notable builder. The town which, on previous occasions, had quarrelled with the Abbey, and not without reason, probably had no feelings of regret when Abbot Morgan resigned his Abbey to the King's Commissioners, receiving a pension of £So, or a little more than an eighth part of the nett revenue of the monastery, and was certainly rejoiced to find itself raised to the dignity of a cathedral city. Within a couple of years from the date of the dissolution of the house the King's Charter founded a bishopric, Paul Bush being the first bishop. Cranmer's conception of what a religious foundation ought to be, was based on the combination of family life and fello\^- ship in worship. There was to be a strong body (numerically) in residence within the Cathedral precincts. As in the colleges in the universities, there was to be a common dinner in the refectory for those who wished to attend. Every member of ' the community was to have his appointed place and duty in the church, and the praises of God were to be daily sung with perpetual jubilation. The grammar school was to be open to any boys whose parents might wish them to be educated with the choristers, but the school work was to be extended in scope, and the theological training of students for ordination was to be superintended by lecturers in Theology, Greek, and Hebrew. Archbishop Cranmer's ideal scheme was entirely upset by Archbishop Laud, who encouraged the canons to hold benefices elsewhere, and to come into residence only when required by their turn. Those who wish to see in a plan the arrangements of the Cathedral should consult Browne Willis' Survey, 1727. Briefly, they were as follows. The high altar was placed at the extreme THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 1 9 east end of the Lady Chapel, under Abbot Knowle's reredos ; an organ-screen of stone (now in mutilated fragments in the cloisters) was erected across the choir, two bays east of the space under the central tower. An antechapel was thus formed, in which, close to the organ-screen, were the pews for the Mayor and Corporation. Between the civic pew and the north-east pier of the tower was a pew, and at the foot of the north-east pier was the font.^ In Mary's reign, when the official religion was again for a few years Roman Catholicism, the cathedral was enriched by Royal presents, the receipt for which is given by Britten. "Memorandum. Rec"*' the first of Maye 1555, by Cloude the Carier, of the gift of the King and the Queene's most excellent ma*'«» to the Cath. Church of Bristol, the Copes, Vestments, etc., following : — " Imprimis 3 Copes, one of Rredd Satten with streaks of gold. Another of yellow velvet. Another of blewe velvet. Item 3 Aulter ffronts an. of yellow velvet an. red satten with streaks of gold. Another of blewe velvet and yellow satten. Another of violet velvet and grene satten." In Elizabeth's reign the Dean and Chapter had a com- munication from three Commissioners in London with refer- ence to the demolition of roods, images, and other ornaments of popish worship. Britton gives the letter as follows : — " After our hartie comendacons. — Whereas we are credibly informed that there are divers tabernacles for Images as well in the fronture of the Roodeloft of the Cath'' Church of Bristol, as also in the frontures back and ends of the walles wheare the comn table standeth, forasmuch as the same Church shoulde be a light and good example to th'ole Citie and Dioc. we have thought good to direct these oure Ires unto you and to require you to cause the said Tabernacles to be defaced, hewen down and afterwards to be made a playne walle w*'' morter plast' or otherways and some scriptures to be written in the places and namely that upon the walle on the east ende of the quier wheare the comii table usually doth stande the table of the coihand'^ to be painted in large caracters with con- venient speed, and furniutre according to the orders latly set forth by vertue of the Quenes ma*=" coihission for causes ^ Britton's plan, given on p. 36, is practically identical with that of Browne Willis, but more exact. 20 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. ecclesiastical at the coste and chardges of the said churche whereof we require you not to faile. And so we bed you fare- well, ffrom London the xxi of December 1561." By 1583, when the space of what had been the nave was cleared, a " small tenement had been erected over the arched vault or cellar which adjoins the south entrance into the present church. It had been inhabited by William Blomer, the sub-sacrist. The vault ^ was probably the strong room of the sacristy of the old church, and had been preserved and built over after the adjacent western parts of the old church had been destroyed" (Britton). In that year, too, the first lease of the space for building purposes was granted. "In 1629 a new west window was made, an organ was built, and other works were executed in the Cathedral, by means of voluntary contributions." This statement, made by Britton, may mean either that the previous window had become ruinous, or that it was a window which had not existed before. In the first case it would seem that the window it replaced must have been of very poor workmanship, if it dated from 1542, a possible date for its insertion. If it was a new window put in in 1629, it was of equally poor, or worse, workmanship, for a new one was required in 1710. During the Civil Wars the Mayor, Walter Deyos, had the lead stripped from the roof and from the cloisters, but, as was the case at Gloucester, other members of the Corporation pre- vented further destruction to the fabric. In 1655 the lead was ordered to be sold and the proceeds applied to the repair of the building, and by 1663 it was said of the Cathedral that it was " new mended and flourished." In 1670 some ;£i3oo was expended on the church and the prebendal houses, and between the years 1681-1685 the pavement was repaired ^ and the east end of the choir painted. Browne Willis, in his careful survey of the Cathedral, made in 1727, wrote of it: "It is truly no elegant structure, being reputed one of the meanest Cathedrals in the kingdom ; how- ever, by the generosity and zeal of the present set of members, it is so well adorned that it wants for no Cost or Art tp render ' This vault proved that the original church had aisles to its nave, as these cellars would have interfered with the ordinaiy use of the cloister. From its position it cannot have been the sacristy. ^ The repaying was done at the expense of Edward Colston. THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 21 it beautiful, and is daily improving, and may be said to be kept in as good repair as any church whatsoever." Further on he says : " The whole structure is kept so decent that the example of this chapter is worthy to be recommended to the imitation of our richest and most ancient Cathedrals." After the rioting and incendiarism of 1831, the chapter seem to have thought that the houses built on the site of the destroyed nave and aisles were a possible danger to the rest of the building, and in 1835 these houses were demolished. In 1840 the stone reredos beneath the east windows of the Lady Chapel was restored to a semblance of its former glory. Britton, in his Bristol of 1830, had pointed out quite intelligibly what the central ogee arch, as planned by Knowle, must have been before it was mutilated, to make room for a tasteless wooden erection with Corinthian columns, etc. In 1852 the choir was restored as to its chancel windows, with the exception of that at the east end. The stonework was in a lamentable condition, and the glass was in the main a tentative arrangement by workmen quite ignorant of the subjects of the windows. After rearranging the glass, the deficiencies were made good at a cost of nearly ;^iSoo. Then the roof was put in order, and over ^^6500 spent on internal decoration, much of which might well have beenileft undone. The old bishop's throne was removed; and the old stalls were rearranged under Dean Elliott's regime. This involved the insertion- of much new work, which, however, was restored out of the church by Mr. Pearson when the stalls were recon- structed by hini. Mr. Godwin himself, appreciating the unsafe condition of the tower at the time of the restoration of i860, proposed that one bay only of the nave should be built. This proposal ', included the building of a Galilee porch at the west end, and it seems probable that had such a propoisal been enter- tained, the idea of a complete nave would never have been suggested subsequently. Dean Elliott planned a reseating of the , Cathedral with a view to the accommodation of more worshippers, and called in Mr. Gilbert Scott to make suggestions, together with Messrs. Pope and Bindon. The Dean's plans were effectively carried out, and the Cathedral was temporarily reduced ,to the level 22 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. of a parish church of medium size. It is, of course, very easy to criticise what was done at that time, but bearing in mind that the alterations involved the total destruction of the THE WEST END IN 1817. (From Storer's Cathedrals of Great Britain, vol. i. ) organ screen of 1540, partial destruction of the stalls, which were placed further to the east, and the insertion of an entirely new screen, insipid in character, across the ''eastern arch of THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 23 the tower, it seems that the cost was quite disproportionate to the result obtained. No one in i860, except, perhaps, Canon Moseley and a few of his intimate friends, indulged in the dream that a new nave would come into existence, and that the alterations and improvements of i860 would have to be considerably modified. Much trouble and expense would have been saved had the alterations been omitted and the VIEW FROM THE SOUTH-EAST IN 183O. (From Britton's Cathedrals.) question of rebuilding the nave been more prominently and persistently brought forward. In 1865 the tower showed signs of a settlement, and it was decided to strengthen it by under-pinning it. The piers were rebuilt through at least half their thickness, and the masonry in the soffits repaired and where necessary replaced. Ten years later, under Mr. Street's advice the battlements and pinnacles were removed, being condemned as unsafe, and the tower remained for some years in this forlorn condition. 24 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. Outside the Cathedral more changes were made. The Cor- poration purchased the greater part of the then Deanery, as the site was required for the new road to the Hotwells. In lowering the road in front of the Cathedral, traces were found of what was supposed to be the original Norman nave as well as the remains of the foundations of Abbot Newland's new nave. This discovery induced Canon Norris to make his appeal to the public for subscriptions for the rebuilding of the nave. Meetings were held and committees formed, and in a year's time money to the amount of _;^i3,2oo was collected, and the architect (Mr. G. E. Street) reported on the architecture of the existing portion of the Cathedral with a view to the completion of the building as a whole. Early in 1868 the foundation stone was laid underneath the pier of the north-west tower, or, as it has been called since, Bishop Butler's tower. For years the work of building went on, and in October 1877, after a special appeal for funds had been made, the nave was opened for use with great ceremony, the opening services lasting for two days. The Bishops of Gloucester and Bristol, and Bath and Wells, together with the Deans of Canterbury and Westminister, took part m the services. But though the nave was thus formally opened after nearly ;^48,ooo had been expended, the building was not by any means complete. Owing to the dissolution of the Building Committee, the chapter itself went on with the work, and it was not till 1888 that the new portion of the church, the major part of it in actual area, was really finished. In that year, June 21st, a special dedication service was held. In 1888 the chapter decided to restore the Abbey Gateway and the adjoining tower. This work, which occupied a space of five years, was done by Mr. Pearson, who was, after the death of Mr. Street, appointed architect to the chapter. The north transept was " thoroughly restored " in 1890, and the Colston window — the glass by Powell & Sons, of Whitefriars, London — was given by the Dolphin Society. Two years later, at a meeting held in the hall of the Merchant Venturers, it was resolved to restore the central tower and the Elder Lady Chapel. In 1892 the restoration of the Early English Lady Chapel was undertaken by Mr. J. L. Pearson, and completed in 1894. THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH. 35 For years it had been in a ruinous condition, and, as Britton expressed it, useless. In 1893 the restoration of the tower was begun. As had been done four hundred years before, Dundry stone was used where new stone was required, and the tower was rebuilt after the rnodel of its predecessor. The aged appearance of much of the masonry is more apparent than real — for though some of the old stones were religiously reused, some of the new stone has, owing to the acid vapours contained in the Bristol smoke, already begun to crumble away in places. In 1899 the long-talked-of reredos was erected at a cost of ;^2Soo, as a memorial of the long episcopate of Dr. Ellicott, Bishop of Gloucester, who from 1 863-1 898 was also Bishop of Bristol. Dedication. — As its name sufficiently indicated, the original dedication was to God and St. Augustine, but at the dissolution of the monastery the Cathedral, like the Abbey of St. Peter at Gloucester, was dedicated to " the Holy and Individed Trinity." Arms. — The arms of the See are the same as those used by the previously existing monastery — viz., sable, three ducal crowns in pale or. Bells. — The bells in the tower are of great interest, as some of them are of Pre-Reformation date. Two of them have upon them the arms of Abbot Newland or Nailheart (1481-1515). The inscription on the smallest is as follows : — Sancte Clemens, ora pro nobis; on the next in size is the inscription, Sancta Margareta, ora pro nobis. Both of these have also the initials and the arms of Abbot Newland, and they date probably from i486. On the third bell is the legend, Clara vocor, et clarior ero. The fourth and largest bell has upon it, Ecclesia Cathedralis Bristoll domum Domini, with the date 1670, with the initials of the founder, R. Purdue, and his mark, two bells, and lower down the words Congregate catum solennem in domum Domini, with the date 1670 and R. P. repeated. In diameter these four bells are respectively 2 8 J, 31J, 35J, 48;^ inches. Mr. EUacombe, in his Bells of Gloucestershire, quotes an extract from a receiver's account of 3 and 4 Philip and Mary, showing that there were ten bells, but this does not tally with an earlier account also quoted by him: "That this bylle in- 26 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. dented the 27"' daye of Maye witnesseth that the Deane and Chappitor of the Cathedrall Church of Bristole have received of Wm. Chester, Mayor, and other the Kings Majesties Commissioners .... It™ one great belle for the clock and four other bells.'' The fifth bell was sold in Dean Layard's time. INITIALS AND MONOGRAM OF THOMAS WRIGHT (RECEIVER TO THE CHAPTER ON ITS FIRST FOUNDATION). From the spandrels of the doorway to the Choir, now preserved in the Cloister {see p. 54). ^. B. Bolas &= Co., Photo.] THE CENTRAL TOWER AND SOUTH TRANSEPT. CHAPTER II. THE EXTERIOR. The exterior of the Cathedral is, as a whole, its least interest- ing part. Practically half of the length is new — i.e., built since 1866 ; the other half has already been or is about to go through a severe course of restoration. The West Front, which is imposing from its mass, and suggests faint reminiscences of Notre Dame in Paris, seems to want more height in the towers ^ than is given by the little turrets at the corners. Then, again, the actual door with the low straight lintel is very small, and is further dwarfed by the size of the opening of the doorway. Above the gable of the doorway, which is heavily crocketed, is a balustrade of small arches carrying a rather solid coping, enriched with very small battlements. This balustrade partly obscures the rose-window from view. Above the rose-window, the mouldings of which have been kept severely simple, rises the most graceful part of the west front. The delicacy of the carvings has unfortunately begun to suffer from exposure to noxious vapours. At either corner of the front rises a tower, that on the north- west being known as Bishop Butler's tower, its companion on the south-west being termed the Colston tower. Both towers are almost the same in their general plan and in their details, the middle section in each — that lighted by the four narrow lancet-shaped windows — being the plainest, or least ornamented. Above the buttresses at the angles of the front, each of which is surmounted by a florid cross, rises the main portion of the ' An illustrated guide to Bristol of 187S shows the western towers, each with a Mansard roof. Such a treatment would have given a more picturesque effect to the west front and to the 19th century work. 29 30 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. towers. Each face contains two lofty windows with louvres, and at either side of the central windows a blind panel, with mouldings similar to those in the other windows. These blind panels are rather cramped in appearance. Over each light is a small gable with crockets and a finial. The finials are in- geniously worked in with a course of carved work. The battlements are left quite plain, and are relieved only by the small turrets at the corners. In the north-west tower the north-east turret — i.e., that nearest the north porch — is carried up a few feet higher than the others. It is built partly in the angle of the tower and parriy outside it, and thus gives a little relief to the general squareness of the tower. The same remark applies to the south-east corner of the Colston tower. On the Butler or north-west tower are carved figures, that to the north-west representing St. Michael, and that to the south- west St. Gabriel, that to the south-east the Angel of Praise. The Colston tower bears at the north-east corner the Angel of the Gospel, at the north-west St. Raphael, at the south-west Uriel, the Angel of the Sun. These two towers would have looked far better had there been no central tower left on the older portion of the Cathedral. As it is, they seem somehow to challenge comparison with the rest of the building. Passing round to the south side there are a few traces to be seen of what was once the external wall of the west walk of the cloisters. The north walk of the cloisters, which was chiefly Perpendicular work — dating to Abbot Elyot's time, partly built on the site of the earlier cloister and partly on the site of the original Norman south aisle — has been for the most part rebuilt. Formerly there was a door (marked A in the plan) pierced in what was then the west wall of the south transept. The new door is south of the new south aisle of the nave, and some 20 feet south of the position of the earlier door. It was found necessary when the nave was rebuilt to provide a new door for entrance to the cloisters from the church. The Central tower was rebuilt, according to Britton, in the abbacy of Walter Newbury, and from the grant of a lease of a quarry at Dundry from the Bishop of Bath and Wells in, 1466 it may have been done soon after that date. The tower of the original church was probably built after the manner of the grand central tower at Tewkesbury. THE EXTERIOR. 3 1 At Bristol the rebuilding of the tower does not, as at Gloucester, seem to have involved much reconstruction of the upper part of the tower piers. The piers had been reduced in bulk or remodelled by an architect some years before — possibly Knowle himself — and upon these reduced or remodelled piers Newbury set himself to build a new tower. Gloucester Cathedral tower had just lately been built under Abbot Seabrook 1450-1457, and the same workmen may have worked upon it ; but the two towers will not bear comparison. One explanation of the word ruinosa may be hazarded here. It is possible that some defect or slight settlement in the tower piers, which are cased work filled with rubble, may have been the reason why the tower was, in the early fourteenth century, taken down, perhaps to the level of the then existing roof This would have made it easy work for the remodelling of the tower piers, the bulk of the weight above being gone, though the reckless mediaeval builders would not have shrunk from remodelling the piers with the tower still m its place. Mr. Robert Hall Warren pointed out to the writer that in the will of Henry Calf, Burgess of Bristol, dated May 26, 1394, money was left to the Abbot and Convent of St. Augustine of Bristol, "for the work of the Campanile." This, of course, cannot be taken to mean for a tower then building, as the style settles that question once for all, and therefore can only refer to a contemplated work. The reference certainly bears out the early date proposed by Britton and endorsed by Mr. Street. The chief feature in the tower is the arrangement of the wmdows, five on each face. In this way the slight diiference in the measurements of the tower, which is in reality an oblong and not a perfect square, is rendered practically imperceptible. From the space enclosed by the cloister to the north-east, an interesting view can be got of the south transept, with its plain, simple battlement and its dignified corner turrets, with the central tower of the nave beyond. Unfortunately most of the surface of the stonework of the walls has been renewed, and the character of the building pro tanto damaged. A still better view is to be got from the south-east corner of the churchyard attached to the precincts, though here, too, the hand of the restorer has been busy. The east end of the church abuts on a short road leading into Trinity Street. There is no simpler piece of building in 32 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. the whole fabric. It is plain, good, honest work, and carries the date of its building quite legibly. From the street the tracery of the east window can be examined more readily than from within the Lady Chapel. On the north side, at a sufficient distance, the difference between the old and the new, between the Decorated choir and the twelfth century Lady Chapel, and the nineteenth century nave, separated by the grand mass of the central tower, may be studied. The chief feature of the exterior here, as a whole, is the array of buttresses of widely-varying character. Those of the choir are massive, sturdy, and simple, without a particle of adventitious ornament. They are carried up boldly and solidly to the height considered necessary by the architect, and they are simply and neatly finished off with a small gable. Previous to the restoration of the Elder Lady Chapel there was a doorway. Late Perpendicular in character, made in the time of Abbot Somerset, but altered for the worse by later hands. In the spandrels on the left side were the arms of the Berkeley family, and onVhe right those of Somerset impaled with those of the Abbey. The buttresses of the Early Enghsh or Elder Lady Chapel are Decorated, and somewhat slighter, as ' there is less weight to sustain, and they are finished with two pinnacles apiece, bridged together by a light flying buttress of small dimensions. At the north-east corner, which is solidly built as a square, is a pinnacle, which evidently was Early English originally, but has not been improved by restoration. At the corners of the north transept the buttresses used to be the same, but under Mr. Pearson's hands the westernmost corner has been considerably weighted and strengthened — deepened, in fact, from top to bottom. The buttress at the eastern corner has also been strengthened, but not to quite the same extent, the topmost portion showing the amount of the original projection. In these two additions to the north front the dissimilarity is glaringly striking to the eye. Glancing westwards to the nineteenth century nave, the eye again meets buttresses, but of a type far inferior to those that support the walls of the choir. It is perfectly well known that the architect of the nave did not wish to slavishly copy the fourteenth century architect's work, but the effect of the added feature — the attenuated flying buttress — is not happy. Another THE EXTERIOR. 33 point against these flying buttresses is that they are in too cramped a situation to tell very much as an external feature — the space between the north porch and the north transept being rather confined. This will be more easily admitted by anyone who will compare them with those on the more open south side. In the treatment of the parapet on the new nave, as com- pared with those on the choir and on the tower, a point has been scored. They are of pierced work, quatrefoils, between two moulded string-courses. On the choir and the central tower the cresting takes the form of battlements. These, of course, are not original. Mr. J. G. Holmes discovered some fragments of wrought stonework in the south-east pinnacle of the choir. On piecing them he found them to be portions of a late fourteenth century traceried rail or battlement with which portions of the building had been adorned. The North Porch, which occupies the space between two buttresses, though of modern workmanship — 1873 — is already historic. The Mayor of Bristol (W. K. Wait, M.P.), in that year offered to defray the cost of the' north porch, to be built according to the design of Mr. Street that had been exhibited in the Academy in 1868. His offer was accepted, and in due course the work was begun. When the work was approaching completion in 1876 some zealot discovered what might have been known years before by anyone examining the original design — viz., that the figures were those of St. Gregory, St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, and St. Augustine. Fancying that the work of the Reformation was thus to be made of no effect, a faction sprang up with a rabid bitterness of words and potential deeds, whose sole object was the removal of the so-called images. Much ill-feeling was caused, and it had the result of breaking up the Building Committee, thus throwing additional work and responsibility on the Deaii and Chapter. Acting like a deus ex machina, the Dean, fortified with a vote of three to two in a chapter of five, decreed the removal of the figures, and in their stead were eventually placed the four EvangeUsts. Storms on inland seas are proverbially dangerous, and had not the Dean intervened, there is no doubt that some fanatic, fancy- ing himself to be the representative of the Protestantism of the West of England, would have offered more violence to Redfern's inoffensive figures. The offending Fathers found a quieter home at East Hesterton Church in Yorkshire. D S. B. Bolas ep' Co., Phoi/ai sacirist or sexton, one porter or verger, one butler and two cooks ; but, as Britton says, " the three latter have long since been suppressed." Pope Paul IV. empowered Cardinal Pole in 1551 to refound the see of Bristol, and Bishop Holyman was appointed by this Pope to the see. After Charles I. was executed in 1649, Sir William Cann pro- claimed that there was no King in England, etc., and the estates of the bishopric were sold. On 30th April in the same year an Act of Parliament was passed providing for the sale of the lands belonging to the Dean and Chapter. The diocese of Bristol was made to consist of a part of that of Salisbury, by the including the county and archdeaconry of. I02 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. Dorset : part again was derived from the large diocese of Worcester, and by the including of several parishes which, though in the city of Bristol, were in the diocese of Gloucester. Three churches or chapelries also in Bristol, which hitherto had been in the diocese of Bath and Wells, and the county of Bristol. This arrangement lasted till 1836, when Dorset, being taken out of Bristol diocese, and Bedminster, which included Redcliff, being restored to the diocese of Bath and Wells, the sees of Bristol and Gloucester were fused into one. In 1845 Bed- minster was retransferred to the diocese of Bristol and Gloucester, and in 1897 the Bristol and Gloucester sees were separated, the first bishop of the newly-created or the finally separated see being the Right Rev. George Forrest Browne, D.D. BISHOPS. Paul Bush (1542-1554). Formerly master of the 'Bon- hommes' at Edyngdon in Wiltshire. He married Edith Ashley, and rather than repudiate her, was deprived of his see by Queen Mary. He died in 1558. His tomb is in the north choir aisle. John Holyman (1554-1558). Richard Cheyney (1562-1579). John Bullingham (1581-1589). These two prelates held Bristol in commendam with the see of Gloucester. Richard Fletcher (1589-1593). He was translated to Worcester, and left the see of Bristol so much impoverished that it was vacant for ten years. According to Fuller, he died from the effects of the immoderate use of tobacco. John Thornborough (1603-1617). Translated from Limerick to Bristol, and thence to Worcester, where he died in 1641. Nicholas Felton (1617-1619). Translated to Ely, and died 1626. One of the translators of the Authorised Version. Roland Searchfield (1619-1622). Chaplain to James I. Robert Wright (1622-1632). He had been the first warden of Wadham College, Oxford. Translated to Lichfield 1632. Committed to the Tower by the House of Commons for protesting against the proceedings of the House in 1641. BISHOPS. 103 Deprived of all preferments, he retired to Eccleshall Hall, which he held for a time successfully against the Parlia- mentarians. Two days after his death the Hall was surrendered. George Coke (1632-1636). Translated to Hereford, and died in 1646. Robert Skinner (1636-1641). Translated to Oxford, and in 1663 to Worcester. He was imprisoned by Parliament in 1641, and died in 1670. Thomas Westfield (1642-1644). A celebrated preacher of his time. He was buried in the Cathedral in the north aisle of the choir. Thomas Howell (i 645-1 646). Formerly a chaplain to Charles I. Ill-treated by the men of Bristol after the surrender of the city to the Parliament. He was buried in the Cathedral. His tombstone, bearing the one word ' Expergiscar,' has been destroyed. Gilbert Ironside was made Bishop shortly after the Restoration — viz., in January 1661. Died 1671. Guy Carlton (Carleton or Charlton) (167 1-1678). Trans- lated to Chichester. William Gulston (or Goulson) (1678-1684). John Lake (1684-1685). Translated from Sodor and Man. He was one of the Seven Bishops. After the Revolution he was deprived as a non-juror. Sir John Trelawney (1685-1689). Translated to Exeter, and thence to Winchester in 1 707. He also was one of the famous Seven. Knightly Chetwood was nominated by James II. in 1688, but the appointment was not confirmed. Gilbert Ironside (1689-1691). Translated to Hereford. He was the son of the former Bishop of the same name. John Hall (1691-1709). Master of Pembroke, and Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at Oxford. Buried in St. Aldate's Church, Oxford. John Robinson (1710-1714). Ambassador to the Court of Sweden, 1683-1708. Dean of Windsor and Registrar of the Order of the Garter in 1711, also Lord Privy Seal. He was a plenipotentiary for the Treaty of Utrecht, and a com- missioner for the completion of St. Paul's Cathedral. Trans- lated to London 17 14, and died 1723. 104 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. George Smallridge (17 14-17 19). Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. Hugh Boulter (i 719-1724). Translated to Armagh. William Bradshaw (1724-1732). Was also Dean of Christ Church. Buried in Bristol Cathedral. Charles Cecil (1732-1734). Translated to Bangor. Thomas Seeker (1735-1737). Thomas Gooch (1737-1738). Translated to Bangor, and thence in 1 748 to Ely. Joseph Butler (i 738-1 750). The distinguished author of The Analogy of Religion i^iT^G). Dean of St. Paul's 1740. Translated to Durham 1750. He died at Bath 1752, and was buried in Bristol Cathedral. John Conybeare (1750-1756). Was also Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. Buried in the Cathedral. John Hume (1756-1758). Translated to Oxford, and thence to Salisbury, 1 7 74. Philip Yonge (or Young) (i 758-1 761). Translated to Norwich. Thomas Newton (1761-1782). Dean of St Paul's 1768- 1782. Anthor oi Dissertations of Prophecy, and editor of the 4to edition of Milton's Poems. Lewis Bagot (1782-1 783). Translated to Norwich. Christopher Wilson (i 783-1 792). Spencer Madan (i 792-1 794). Translated to Peter- borough. Henry Reginald Courtenay (i 794-1 797). Translated to Exeter. Folliott H. Cornewall (1797-1802). Translated to Hereford, and thence in 1808 to Worcester. Hon. George Pelham (1803-1807). Translated to Exeter. John Luxmore (1807-1808). Translated to Hereford, and thence in 1815 to St. Asaph. William Lort Mansel (1808-1820). John Kaye (1820-1827). Translated to Lincoln. Robert Gray (182 7-1 834). Joseph Allen (1834-1836). The see of Bristol having been united to that of Gloucester it was held successively by — ' James Henry Monk (1836-1856). DEANS. lOS Charles Baring (1856-1861). Translated to Durham. William Thomson (1861-1862). Translated to York. Charles John Ellicott (i 863-1 898). In 1897 the two sees were again separated, and the bishopric of Bristol has been held from January 1898 by George Forrest Browne (1898- ). DEANS. NAME. rasTAL. KAME. INSTAL. William Snow, 1542 George Royse, • 1693 John Whiteheare, . 1551 Robert Boothe, . . 1708 George Carew, 1552 Samuel Creswick, . . 1730 Thomas Raynolds, ■ 1553 Thomas Chamberlayne, • 1739 Henry JoUiffe, 1554 William Warburton, • I7S7 George Carew {.restored) 1559 Samuel Squire, . 1760 John Sprint, IS79 Francis Ayscough, . 1761 Anthony Watson, 1590 Cutts Barton, ■ 1763 Simon Robson, 1598 John Hallara, . 1781 Edward Chetwynd, 1617 Charles Peter Layard . 1800 Matthew Nichols, 1639 Bowyer Ed. Sparke, . 1803 Henry Glemham, . 1660 John Parsons, . 1810 Richard Towgood, 1667 Henry Beeke, ' . 1814 Samuel Grossman, 1683 Thomas Musgrave, ■ 1837 Richard Thomson, 1684 John Lamb, . . 1837 WiUiam Levet, 1685 Gilbert Elliott, . . 1850 Francis Pigou . . 1891 APPENDIX. William Wyrcestre (or Botoner), often wrongly called William of Worcester, was born in Bristol in 14 E5. He took his degree at Oxford, and became physician and steward to Sir John Falstaf. After a busy life he returned to Bristol, and hved in St. Philip's parish, and spent much time in surveying .the churches and streets of Bristol and other towns. His MS. notes were preserved by Archbishop Parker, and are in the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Several copies are in existence, but the Cambridge MS., which was edited by Nasmith in 1778, is the best. His notes on the Cathedral and St. Mary Redcliff are always interesting, but not always quite clear. Wyrcestre seems to have died about 1484. DIMENSIONS. Length, total external, 300 feet. ;, „ internal. 284 „ „ of Nave, 125 „ Width, including Aisles, . 69 „ Length of Transept, . 115 „ Width 29 ,. ■Height of Vault in Nave, . 52 „ „ in Choir, . 5° >. Area, .... • 22,556 sq, ft GROUND PL/^N OF BRISTOL CATHEDRAL £3 MORTH PORCH iSVs-^ - 1 "t II n- B -yl^^s^ ^ II f f i" l,^v/ | H ■ u?^0^"^ni p't ^ c^ NORTH AISLE )> ♦ ♦ ♦