CENTRAL CROSSING
The CENTRAL CROSSING is 33½ ft. from east
to west by the same width as the sanctuary—namely,
26 ft. The four arches about it are entirely the
workmanship of Sir Gilbert Scott's rebuilding of
1861–6, and said to be precise copies of the original
details based upon careful drawings which had been
made by previous surveyors to the cathedral. After
the fall of the spire, the debris was examined and note
taken of the original mouldings and carvings, which,
with the aid of the drawings, were reproduced in their
correct positions. Some of the stones are said to
have been re-used, but it is now difficult to discover
their positions without a very close inspection.
Scott's only alteration to the former elevations is said
to have been in the heightening of the walls of the
tower some 5 ft. or 6 ft. in order that the string-course to the top stage could clear the gabled roofs
of the four arms which had been heightened in the
14th century and had encroached on the stage.
All four arches are semicircular; the east, north
and south arches have responds with a three-quarter
engaged shaft on each edge and a middle half-round
shaft, all with cushion or scalloped capitals. In the
east arch the rolls which are carried by the outer
shafts are treated with cable ornament, while the
inner square order carried by the half-round shaft is
enriched on its east and west faces with diaper carving.
The side arches of similar section are plain. The west
archway differs from the others in its inner order,
which, in the responds, is furnished with two shafts
separated by an enriched V-shaped projection, and
in the head this order has three roll-moulds instead
of being square in section. Above the east, north
and south arches, but not the west, are three lancet
recesses, a repetition of those of a 13th-century
heightening.
The vaulting has moulded diagonal wall-ribs and a
central circle for the passage of bells. The ribs are
carried on carved corbels.
Tower
Externally the Tower is of two stages above the
roofs; the lower is decorated with wall-arcading of
eight bays on the north and south sides, six on the
west side (but none on the east). They have moulded
pointed arches on engaged stone shafts with carved
capitals and moulded bases. The top stage has
coupled windows in each face; these were walled up
in the former tower except for narrow loops, but
Scott left them open, covering the floor of the chamber
with lead as a protection from the weather. Each
window has shafted jambs and two pointed lights
under a two-centred main head. The spandrels are
variously pierced with quatrefoils, a trefoil and a mere
slit. At the angles are turrets, the south-western
being round up to the parapet, the others octagonal
with panelled faces, the two eastern being pierced
with loop-lights for stair-vices. The parapets are
embattled and are carried on corbels and pointed
arches. The turrets rise above the main parapets
and also have embattled parapets.
The octagonal spire, probably of the 15th century
originally, rises to 277 ft. above the ground. At the
base are unpierced dormers on the four sides to the
cardinal points, each with two tiers of trefoiled panels
and tracery under a concave gable enriched with
crockets; they are flanked by diagonal buttresses
with pinnacles. On the other four sides, in the angles
of the tower, are small free octagonal turrets with
panelled faces and enriched parapets, above which
are small spirelets with angle rolls, etc. The main
spire also has angle rolls and is decorated with two
broad bands of quatrefoil panelling, the lower in
squares, the upper of reticulated pattern. The apex
is crowned by a moulded capping, a vane and weather-cock. The last is said by the inscription on it to
date from 1638, the work of Daniel Seymor, goldsmith; it has been regilt and restored several times
and inscribed with names and dates 1638, 1675, 1698
and 1866. (fn. 1)
The space under the crossing and tower is occupied by the Stalls of the clergy and quire. There are
three tiers of seats on either side facing north and
south respectively, in three blocks. The back ranges
are the Prebendal stalls, which are canopied and, with
the open screen dividing them, date from c. 1330.
The two easternmost stalls are those of (north) the
Treasurer and (south) the Chancellor. At the west
end are the stalls of the Precentor (north) and the
Dean (south); these are separated from the others
and are modern; they have tall canopies above them.
Before the Arundel screen was removed from the
west end of the quire, the stalls of the latter faced
east; the present arrangement was brought into use
after the rebuilding of the tower, when the present
screen was erected.
The Prebendal stalls are in the main ancient and
are fitted with hinged seats which have carved misericordes on their undersides. They are divided by
partitions or standards with curved elbow-tops: these
are decorated with carvings of great diversity both at
the bases and at the tops of the elbow-curves—knops
of foliage, human heads, monsters, grotesques, etc.—the edges of the elbows being moulded between
the carvings. The top rails are curved to form the
backs of the stalls, breaking forward over each standard
in a rounded plan. The canopies have panelled backs,
coved soffits and open-traceried screens, the posts of
which are housed into the top-rails of the seats above
the elbowed standards. The posts have moulded
capitals and bases and carry sub-cusped and ogee-headed arches enriched with crockets and finials of
foliage, the last incorporated in the main cornices.
Above the posts are diagonal super-posts also crocketed
and with finials in the main cornices. Between
the bays, above the shafts, are diagonal pinnacles with
gablets and crockets. Above the moulded cornices
are broad friezes painted with the names of the
prebends.
The panelling behind and above the seats is modern,
but some of the attached half-round shafts appear to
be ancient as well as about half the base-moulds of
the canopy-soffits and their moulded ribs.
The two east stalls of the Chancellor and Treasurer
are distinguished from the others by their foiled arched
canopies with tall traceried gables enriched with
crockets, etc. The sides are close-panelled and
similarly treated with gables, etc. In the back of the
Chancellor's stall is original panelling—a trefoiled
ogee-headed arch with quatrefoil tracery showing
probably the design of the whole of the back panelling
of the stalls originally. Most of the east faces of the
two stalls have been restored.
The misericordes form a most interesting series of
carvings; some of them may be symbolical, but
most of them are merely fanciful devices. They are
of the usual pattern, with the main carving as a kind of
corbel below the seat, connected by tendrils or foliage
to a knop or boss on either hand. The carvings
briefly are as follows, starting on the north side from
east to west: 1 (Treasurer's seat), A man wearing
a cowl and a beast dancing face to face; sides, two
cowled men's heads upside down. 2, Foliage (partly
restored). 3, Monster with human head and arms,
left hand holding its tail (centaur ?); sides, apes' heads.
4, Foliage; sides, human heads, the western grinning.
5, Two cowled men's heads, the eastern bearded,
below them a monster's (serpent's ?) head biting the
throat of the western man; sides, two close-shaven
human heads, the western a priest (?). 6, Three
dragons, middle one upside down; sides, foliage.
7, Man playing a viol, with his head bent back kissing
a woman (dancer ?); sides, beast-heads upside down.
8, Lion's mask; sides, open-mouthed monsters' heads.
9, Winged beast; sides, foliage. 10, King's head with
two winged reptiles biting his hair; sides, a human
and a lion's head both with protruding tongues. 11,
A lion-like monster spouting foliage; sides, foliage.
12, A monster with a human head and arm crawling
sideways and wearing a long draperied hood, and
foliage; sides, human heads, eastern cowled.
13, Foliage and fruit (grapes ?); sides, east a quadruped, west a lizard. 14, Two monsters, half-beasts,
half-birds, fore paws holding up the seat, squatting on
feathered hind legs which cross each other, tails
between legs; sides, lions' masks. 15, Two dogs
attacking a hare, between them, above the hare, a
winged bat-like creature; sides, foliage. 16, Foliage
and grapes; sides, reptilian monsters with beast-heads. 17, Foliage; sides, grotesque heads upside
down with protruding tongues. 18, Two apes front
to front with heads turned away and squatting on
hind quarters, upholding seat with their fore paws;
sides, crawling monsters. 19, Naked man plunging a
sword into the mouth of a monster which is on its
hind legs; sides, winged monsters.
On the south side from east to west are: 1
(Chancellor's seat), Fox playing a harp and with its
hind legs on a goose, while opposite is an ape dancing;
sides, foliage. 2, A crouching bearded man grasping
his shins with his hands; sides, grotesque beasts.
3, A single-headed double-bodied lion squatting on
its hind quarters; sides, monsters with lizard-like
bodies. 4, A griffon; sides, a human and a grotesque
mask. 5, A dog or sheep, and a horned ram upholding
seat with forelegs, between them a bird with outspread
wings; sides, cowled heads. 6, Two snake-like
monsters in coils; sides, men's heads with long hair.
7, Foliage. 8, Foliage; sides, lions' masks. 9, Two
bird-like monsters with long necks one crossing the
other, and with beast-heads, mouth to mouth, one
biting the other's tongue; their claws stand on the
flowing hair of a small human head; sides, a beast's
and a man's head both biting the tails of the monsters.
10, Monster with human head, wearing cowl and
tippet, and arms, beating a small drum, tail upraised
has a man's head at the base; sides, foliage. 11, A
bull-like creature but with long flap-ears, swallowing
a snake-like winged monster; sides, human heads.
12, A hairy beast with a human head having a pointed
and curled beard, which he is holding with his right
hand, pointed ears and waved hair, a grotesque human
head on rear of the beast; sides, grotesque round
faces. 13, A woman fighting a lion, thrusting a
sword into its mouth, and foliage; sides, women's
heads. 14, Two men with heads turned out and their
bodies mixed up, a hand grasping the beard of the
east man, the west head cowled; a leg turned up,
apparently that of the bearded man (wrestlers?);
below them a saddled ass with its tongue out; sides,
coiled serpents. 15, A mermaid with a mirror; sides,
beast-heads upside down. 16, Two musicians seated
on chairs, one playing a harp, the other a pipe; sides,
a woman's head in wimple and veil and a man's head.
17, Foliage and acorns; sides, human heads. 18, Two
human heads, one resembling No. 12, the other cowled;
sides, human faces. 19, Winged monster with a
beast's head and bird's body, and a tail with a human
head at the end; sides, beasts' heads upside down.
The rood-screen of oak is of 1890 and consists of
three pointed bays, the middle one a doorway and the
side bays subdivided into three by mullions and
tracery. Above the cornice is a traceried parapet, a
cross and two angels. Below the cross is a niche with
an image of St. Richard.
On the north side of the quire under the transept
arch stands the organ (fn. 2) lifted above the level of the
quire stalls, the loft being approached by an iron
spiral staircase in the transept. It was first built by
Renatus Harris in 1678, but has been altered and
enlarged many times since: there are said to be some
remains of the original instrument (fn. 3) still in use.
It now contains 33 stops to the great, swell, quire and
pedal organs. (fn. 4) The case was added in 1888. (fn. 5)
North Arm of the Transept
The North Arm of the Transept measures 34 ft.
from east to west by 47½ ft. from north to south. It
is of two bays. The north wall is gabled, the face of
the gabled head setting back from the main face below,
behind a parapet with old trefoil arches, on a row of
17th or 18th-century moulded corbels. In it is a
large rose window with tracery based on an interlacing
triangular design, but evidently entirely modern. In
views of c. 1800 no signs of window or gabled head
can be seen, as then existing, and the roof is depicted
as a flat one with the gabled weather-course of the
former roof showing on the north wall of the central
tower. The design was apparently taken from the
window shown in Daniel King's engraving, c. 1660.
The east wall has an intermediate buttress above
the adjoining roofs, of the date of the vaulting. There
are string-courses below the clearstory windows, at
the level of their abaci, and also above them; the last
is the parapet-string and, being straight while the wall
below is deflected in the middle, it dies out at the
north end. The parapet is plain, without corbels or
arches, and is mostly restored. Former corbels and
arches are shown in early-19th-century views of the
transept. In the north bay is the gabled weather-course
of the former roof over the library; it cuts across the
clearstory window and the intermediate buttress.
The north-east angle has a pair of large buttresses
of the 14th or 15th century and of four stages reaching
nearly to the parapet. These absorbed the original
shallow bu tresses which had string-courses (afterwards cut away) like the north-west buttress.
Below the sill of the great north window is a
shallow buttress of wide-jointed masonry, and the
walling east of it is also wide-jointed, but west of
it the walling is of fine-jointed later repair. The
north-west angle contains an original 12th-century
stair-turret which projects to the north and west as
shallow buttresses with angle rolls to the upper half
and a triple-hatched string-course crossing its lower
part which is restored on its west face. Against this
is a much deeper buttress on the north face, of three
stages, and against the west side is a flying buttress,
of two hollow-chamfered orders, from a pier the outer
face of which is 22 ft. away; the lower part of the pier
has been renewed on its north and west sides. On
its south face high up, about level with the crowns
of the west windows of the transept, are three or four
corbels with hollowed and moulded faces and about
2 ft. higher a horizontal weather-course. These corbels supported a former roof, the line of the gable of
which can be seen slightly marked on the west face
of the transept.
The west face retains the original intermediate
shallow buttress, which has angle shafts or rolls to the
upper half with moulded bases, and, just above the
sill-level of the clearstory window, foliated capitals
and tabling that may be later. South of it is the
deeper buttress of the date of the vaulting. This is
pierced in the lower half by a later square-headed opening. On the face of the shallow buttress is a line to
indicate where a former wall met the buttress. The
parapet has renewed trefoiled corbel-tabling.
The arches in the east and west walls of the transept
from the north aisles are modern; they are pointed
and of three moulded orders, the outermost with dog-tooth ornament, and are carried on responds, in each
of which are five shafts, two of stone being engaged
and the other three of Purbeck marble, all with
moulded capitals. The north responds are old and
the south responds are modern; the hood-moulds
have head-stops.
The north bay of the east wall has a round-headed
archway to the library, with jambs and head of two
square orders with beaded and hollow-chamfered
imposts—partly hacked away in the north reveal;
the soffit is plastered. On the south side and in the
south reveal are traces of wall painting with figure
subjects, one possibly of a bishop, and diaper ornament. (fn. 6) South of it towards the transept is a corbel
carved with the head of a bearded man. (fn. 7)
The masonry above the arch is of Sussex stone; in
the south bay it is wide-jointed except where it has
been restored, but in the north bay it is fine-jointed
and of smaller courses. There is a patching in the
south bay where a doorway from the stair-vice
formerly pierced the wall.
The triforium stage of this wall has, in the south
bay, an archway like those in the west bays of the east
arm, but all modern except the north respond and
perhaps the diagonal checker work in the tympanum,
which appears to be of old stones re-used.
In the north bay is a wide round-headed archway
of three orders, the innermost square, the outer
two with mouldings of the late-12th or early-13th-century period. The jambs, of three square orders,
have engaged shafts with moulded bases and foliated
capitals, the moulded abaci being continued along the
wall as string-courses. The south reveal is pierced
for the wall-passage leading to the triforium gallery.
The passage is lighted by a small round-headed opening
towards the transept.
The west wall has two original (early 12th-century)
windows with splayed reveals and round heads. Both
have internal recessed orders with detached stone
nook-shafts, in courses not lining with the masonry,
and with grooved and hollow-chamfered abaci, which
were formerly continued as string-courses but were
afterwards cut away.
Externally the northern window has shafted jambs
with cushion capitals, the abaci again continued as
string-courses, and (restored) billet-moulded labels.
The southern window has most of its north jamb
buried by the later buttress and only the south shaft
is visible; the label has been cut away. At the north
end is a round-headed doorway to the north-west stair-turret. The outer face of the wall here has also been
pierced by a modern doorway and a former modern
doorway southward has been walled up.
The triforium arch is like that opposite, but entirely
modern.
The clearstory has arcading in both the east and
west walls resembling that in the west bays of the east
arm, but here the intermediate Purbeck shafts are
single; they have their abaci tailed back as lintels
across the wall-passage. The soffits of the side
arches are finished neatly, instead of being roughly
scooped out like those of the sanctuary. The soffits
of the north arches on both sides are plastered. The
windows in the middle arches have early-13th-century
slightly pointed heads, the external arches being of
usual moulding on shafted jambs. The southern is
partly of modern stone work.
The great window in the north wall is of seven
cinquefoiled pointed lights and tracery of late-14th or
early-15th-century character in a two-centred head.
The mullions are moulded and the splays have semi-octagonal engaged shafts with moulded bases and
moulded and carved capitals, carrying a double-ogee
moulded rear-arch which is separated by a three-quarter hollow from the hood-mould; the hood-mould has
human-head corbels. The jambs externally are
treated in a similar manner, but the whole of the
tracery and arch, except perhaps a few voussoirs, is
modern. The window is filled with white glass. On
either side of the window-head inside, on a level
with the abaci of the clearstory arches, are short
lengths of string-course to indicate that a similar
clearstory-arcade originally crossed this wall.
The intermediate vaulting shafts are triple-rolled
like the others, but only the middle roll is keeled.
They have moulded bases and capitals as in the east
arm; there are also triple shafts in the north angles,
the middle one keeled. At the north end of the west
wall, which apparently leans outwards, the verticality
of the shafts has been preserved by a pilaster facing,
and there is also a pilaster for the same purpose at
the east end of the north wall; at the west end of
the same wall the later backing to the shafts is indicated only by a straight joint. The vault-ribs are
of a slightly more simple section than those of the
east arm excepting the wall-ribs, which are much the
same, with keeled edge-rolls, but of smaller detail;
these last do not appear to be of Caen stone like the
rest. Another peculiarity is that the same ribs and
the diagonals spring for about 6 ft. from the north
angles up to a break, whence the diagonal ribs begin
their proper arcs. There are no wall-ribs to the north
wall above the breaks. Also the north bay, only, has
a moulded ridge-rib of a section approaching those in
the east bays of the Lady Chapel.
From these differences in the general design of the
vaulting it may be inferred that either the north bay
of the vaulting needed reconstruction in the late
13th century, or that the finishing of the vaulting
after the great fire was considerably delayed in this
part. At the intersections are bosses of foliage.
The Library, probably the Chapel of the Four
Virgins, (fn. 8) stands east of the transept. It is 35½ ft.
long from east to west by 29 ft. and is of two bays in
its length and also of two bays from north to south.
The northern bay took the place of the original round
apse, while the narrower southern bay occupies the
remainder of the width up to the north wall of the
east arm. Two chantries were founded in the chapel
of the Four Virgins for the soul of Bishop John de
Climping, who died in 1262. (fn. 9)
The two parts, north and south, of the chamber are
divided by an arcade of two bays of which the pointed
arches serve also as vault-ribs. They are carried on a
Purbeck marble cylindrical column, in narrow courses,
with a 'hold-water' base and a round capital carved
with foliage. The moulding of the abacus is of a
section differing from any of those hitherto noticed
and is of a distinctly 13th-century type. There are
four compartments of quadripartite vaulting, two
each way, with their ribs meeting on the column;
they spring from wall-shafts of three keeled rolls
with similar bases and capitals, but all of stone. In
the east angles are single shafts and in the west angles
of the north half are foliated corbels. The middle
south wall-shaft is worked on the face of a buttress to
the aisle and is of one build with it, as the abacus of
its capital continues along the east side of the buttress
as a string-course. Similarly the south-west shafts are
worked on the angle of the block of masonry which
contains the stair-vice to the upper story, which must
also be considered as coeval.
The two north bays are each almost square in plan,
but the south-east bay is narrower from north to
south and the south-west bay, owing to the encroachment of the stair-turret, is much smaller east to west.
The longitudinal and transverse ribs form two-centred arches, and both they and the diagonal and
wall-ribs are of much the same sections (of keeled
roll and hollow type) as those of the main vault of the
east arm, but with the notable difference that here the
diagonal ribs of the north-west bay and the wall-ribs
of both north and east bays have their vertical sides—but not their soffits—enriched with a running cheveron
ornament.
There are no wall-ribs to the south wall. At the intersections of the north bays only are bosses of foliage.
Each of the two bays of the east wall has a wide
lancet window with recessed and shafted jambs inside
and out having moulded bases and carved capitals.
The outer order of the head is moulded and has a
hood-mould externally; the rear-arch is also moulded
and carved with dog-tooth ornament. The abaci are
continued as string-courses, and those inside are
extended until they meet the vault-ribs.
The north wall contains two 15th-century windows,
the eastern of three and the western of four lights
with restored tracery. They have cinquefoiled heads
and vertical tracery in two-centred heads, the internal splays being plain, but the mullions and the
jambs and arches externally are moulded. The
hood-mould of the western window has weather-worn
head-stops; in the eastern window they have perished
altogether. Below the sill outside is a 13th-century
string-course. On either side of the eastern window
inside, approximately level with the springing-line of
the tracery, are original string-courses which were the
continuation of the abaci of the former 13th-century
windows that these windows displaced.
The east bay of the south wall has a moulded string-course about 6½ ft. high. In this wall is a restored plain
rectangular recess where may have existed a piscina.
In the west bay, besides the doorway from the
north aisle, below the vault can be seen part of an
early 12th-century window to the aisle, now blocked.
In the library are monuments to the Rev. Richard
Tireman, 1792; to Robert Sandham, 1776; and to
Judith, wife of John Fletcher, 1657 (set up 1713).
The stair-turret is entered through the west wall of
the south-west bay by a doorway with chamfered jambs
and round head. The central newel of the stair has
a spiral handrail of a single roll worked in the solid.
Off the stair is a window looking into the library,
and, higher, a late cutting to a former doorway in the
east wall of the transept which is now walled up.
The winding stairs, however, do not rise very high
and develop into a straight stair, above the vaulting
of the south-west bay, leading to the upper chamber.
This chamber is thought to have been the original
library, before the Lady Chapel was used for the
purpose. It fell into disrepair and lost its gabled
roof. Most of the windows were walled up, but have
been opened out in recent years. The south wall is,
of course, the old exterior of the north quire-aisle.
In the west bay is retained the outer stonework of an
original 12th-century window with a billet-moulded
label: the vaulting and stairs cut across it and part
of it shows below in the library. Over it, and also
in the east bay, are two of the round-headed original
windows that lighted the triforium gallery, and a
string-course below their sill level. The original
corbel-table to the parapet also still exists with half-round arches between the carvings of human heads,
beasts, etc. One beast's head has a small human
being in its mouth. The middle buttress of this
wall is the later one carried up from the library, but
in the south-west corner above, or rising out of the
top of the winding stair-turret, is what appears to
be the remains of original buttressing of four recessed
orders, two against each wall of the angle. It is
roughly finished off about 2 ft. below the corbel-table.
Set in this wall at the east end is a piscina basin.
Farther north on the west side are the decided remains of the original apse, a stump of the walling left
in place as a skew buttress. Through the west arch
of the chamber access to the triforium gallery is
gained by means of the wall passage in the south
reveal. The chamber is lighted by three lancet
windows in the east wall and two in the north wall.
The middle light of the east triplet is set higher in
the wall than the other two, which were formerly
blocked. Externally they have engaged stone shafts
with foliated capitals and moulded bases, and moulded
heads. The sills have moulded edges continued as
string-courses for a short length on either side of each
window, but that below the higher middle window
reappears again north of the next window from it,
which would make it appear that the two side windows
were formerly at the same level as the middle light
and were dropped later, perhaps when the gable head
was altered. The abaci of the middle window continue
as string-courses; the side windows have no abaci.
The gable is now low-pitched with its apex cut off.
The two lancet windows in the north wall, blocked
till recently, are at a lower level. The parapet has
moulded corbels; much of the ashlar facing of this
wall is of modern repair. Below the windows is a
moulded string-course. There are old buttresses
of two stages against the east and north walls to
withstand the thrust of the vaulting, and at the north-east angle is a clasping buttress.
South Arm of the Transept
The South Arm of the Transept, which is of the same
size as the northern arm, is also gabled behind a
newly restored parapet, which has corbels carved in
1932. Reading from east to west the heads represent the Prime Minister (Mr. Ramsay MacDonald),
the organist (Dr. Harvey Grace), the Chancellor of
the Cathedral (Dr. R. J. Campbell), the Archdeacon
of Chichester (the Ven. B. G. Hoskyns), Bishop Langton (the maker of the great south window), the Bishop
of Chichester (the Right Rev. G. K. A. Bell), the
Treasurer (the Right Rev. Hugh Hordern), the King,
the Dean (the Very Rev. A. S. Duncan-Jones), the
Precentor (the Right Rev. H. K. Southwell), Canon
E. Mortlock (Canon Residentiary), the surveyor of the
fabric (Mr. P. M. Johnston), the builder (Mr. Cecil
Norman), the foreman (Mr. Parsons), and Mr. Stanley
Baldwin (Lord President of the Council).
In the gable is a large rose window with tracery of
foiled triangles about a hexagon, all, with the gable,
much restored.
The south-west angle has a stair-turret treated as a
shallow clasping buttress with a low triple-hatched
string-course (marking the sill level of the original
window, which is the same as that of the south aisle
of the east arm) and a higher plain course. There
are loop-lights for the stairs.
The south-east angle has remains of the broad
shallow buttress exposed on the east face above the
contiguous building, and at the angle are two deeper
buttresses of four stages, added probably when the
great south window was inserted by Bishop Langton
(d. 1337). The east wall also retains two original intermediate shallow buttresses, and between them the
higher, deeper and later buttress of the date of the
vaulting. Above both angles are octagonal turrets
flanking the gable, with embattled parapets, much
restored.
The parapets and corbelling in the side walls are
similar to those of the eastern arm. The masonry
of the walling seems to have undergone many repairs
between the 12th and 20th centuries.
The transept has modern arches into the south
aisles and triforia similar to those on the north side,
all modern except the south responds.
In the south part of the east wall is the archway to
the chapel of St. Pantaleon, now the Canons' Vestry;
it is round-headed but differs in some respects from
the corresponding arch in the north arm; it has
moulded abaci of a different and later section and the
responds of two orders have small chamfers which are
brought out to square by moulded stops above the
plinth and below the imposts. The arch is of three
orders, the outer two chamfered and the innermost
moulded with triple-rolls between two hollows; these
are carried on half-round corbels, foliated and semi-conical below. There is no other arch in the cathedral
quite like this one, and it probably marks one short
period in the work of restoration and enlargements
of c. 1200.
Above it at triforium level is a wide archway as in
the other arm, but of two orders; those of the responds
are square and have Purbeck marble shafts resembling
the others of the period, the moulded abaci being
continued as string-courses. The round arch has a
square inner order and moulded outer order with
keeled edge-roll and rather more elaborate section
than that in the north arm. All the masonry in this
bay is of fine-jointed Caen stone, while that of the
north bay (where not of modern rebuild or repair) is
of the wide-jointed original ashlar. About 9 ft. high is
an original chamfered string-course, partly hacked away.
In the south bay of the west wall is a round-headed
doorway into the sacristy (the present 'Singing
School'). The upper part of the wall is unpierced,
and of the old masonry, as is also a scrap of the north
bay under the south end of the clearstory, but the
greater part of this bay has later fine-jointed ashlar as
well as the modern walling.
The clearstory in both the east and west walls is
like that of the north arm, except that the lower half
of the south window of the west wall is filled in with
masonry. The east windows have nook-shafts outside, the northern detached and having cushion capitals, the southern engaged, of stone in courses with
foliated capitals. The north label has billet-ornament; the south label is plain.
In the south wall is the great window said to have
been inserted by Bishop Langton (1305–37); it was
badly damaged in the 17th century and partly patched
up with wood: it has since been restored more than
once, so that little of the tracery is ancient. It is of
seven cinquefoiled lights and a blend of geometrical
and flowing tracery in a two-centred head. The
mullions are moulded and the jambs inside and out are
splayed: they have engaged filleted-roll shafts with
moulded bases and foliated capitals, the abaci of which
are ornamented with paterae or square flowers. Both
main and rear arches are moulded and have hood-moulds with head-stops. The window is filled with
Munich glass to Anna Abel Smith, 1870. Below it,
inside, is a 14th-century moulded string-course, and
below this the angles of the south wall have projecting
pilasters, one against each wall in the west angle;
these have chamfers with moulded stops top and
bottom. On them are grooved and hollow-chamfered
abaci or imposts. They are evidently part of the
early-12th-century walling, but the eastern abacus or
impost is modern.
The vaulting is similar to that of the north arm,
but here the soffits of the diagonal ribs are enriched
with dog-tooth ornament. The triple wall-shafts
have been restored below the triforium level. In the
south-east angle is a single shaft which is nearly buried
in Langton's thicker walling. In the south-west angle
a similar shaft is cut off below the triforium level. At
the north angles the ribs are carried on foliated corbels.
On the east side of the south half of the south arm
stands the chapel of St. Pantaleon, now used as the
Canons' Vestry. It is 15¾ ft. from east to west by
17 ft. and is vaulted in one bay. There was a chantry
at the altar here for Bishop Ralph, called also Ralph
Randall, whom Walcott identifies as Bishop Ralph I
(d. 1123), but perhaps the bishop commemorated is
more likely to be Bishop Ralph Neville (d. 1244), for
whom we know there was a chantry in the cathedral,
and at the time of whose death chantries were more
commonly founded than when Ralph de Luffa died. (fn. 10)
This is probably the chantry known later as Neville's
Chantry. (fn. 11)
The vault of the chapel has ribs moulded somewhat like those in the south aisle of the sanctuary—a V-shaped soffit between the rolls—but rather more
simple in contour. They spring from triple vaultshafts in the east angles and corbels in the west. The
corbels are old, but the east shafts and capitals are
modern (1902), although the Purbeck marble abaci are
old. The east wall-ribs do not rise above the abaci of
the east windows.
In the east wall is a triplet of lancets under a main
external half-round arch which is moulded. The
jambs have (modern) external stone shafts with carved
capitals and moulded bases. On the inner face of the
wall the window has an arcade or screen of three
moulded arches with Purbeck marble free shafts, the
intermediate with moulded round capitals and bases
and the nook-shafts with foliated capitals and square
abaci.
In the south wall is a single-light window with
internal nook-shafts of Purbeck marble and moulded
rear-arch, the abaci being continued as string-courses.
The pointed head externally is moulded as the east
window and has a hood-mould. The shafts have been
restored. There is a restored plain string-course
below the windows externally: it steps up on either
side of the triplet and passes along the side of the
north buttress, and around the south buttress and
south wall.
The east wall is gabled and has a basic string-course:
in it is a fairly large bull's-eye window with an elaborately moulded surround of two orders. A rather thin
chasing on the east face of the transept suggests that
possibly the roof was higher originally. The south
wall has a corbel-table with trefoiled arches, etc., as
in the east arm. Inside the chamber there is also a
moulded string-course below the sill-level on the
east, north and south walls.
In the south wall is a piscina, with an octofoiled
basin in a semi-octagonal projecting sill; the recess is
square-headed.
The room above the Canons' Vestry is a store-room
approached from the stair-vice south of the east arm.
While the west face of its western arch, already
described, is of fine-jointed Caen stone, the eastern
halves of its responds and the masonry of the south
wall are of much older wide-jointed rough ashlar. The
roof is a comparatively modern one with collar-beam
trusses. There are no traces of a former apse.
North of the chapel, and at one time communicating with it as well as with the south aisle, is the
small chamber, supposed to have been a 'watching
chamber,' now known as the Priest-Vicars' Vestry.
It is about 11 ft. east to west by 8½ ft. The east wall
at the ground stage, between the north buttress of
the Canons' Vestry and the shallow buttress of the
aisle, is recessed outside because it is thinner than either
of the buttresses, but it is brought out to the greater
thickness by a pointed arch of square section over the
recess. South of it externally at impost level is a
length of plain string-course. The filling of the recess
contains a tall, narrow, square-headed light with chamfered and splayed jambs. Above the recess and to the
south are two small windows, one over the other, with
trefoiled square heads and segmental-pointed rear-arches; presumably there were once upper floors
or galleries which have now disappeared. A recess,
now a cupboard, in the south wall may have been a
doorway from the chapel.
The original corbel-tabling of the north side of the
Canons' Vestry can be seen inside the chamber, with
plain and moulded corbels, and at the east end of
the south wall is a buttress cut away in the lower
12 ft. or 13 ft. Below the east light is a pair of square
recesses with stop-chamfered jambs.
The wall west of the vestry contains a stair-vice
leading to the triforium, etc. The northern half of
this wall is of early-12th-century masonry, but
the southern half is of fine-jointed ashlar, a later
filling up of the space between the stair-vice and
the Canons' Vestry. A string-course, below the
blocked window, already described with the south
aisle, which was also returned along the older part of
the west wall, has been roughly hacked away.
On the walls are visible the grooves of the former
pent-roof of the vestry, which reached the transeptwall level with the corbel-table of the Canons' Vestry.
The present higher flat roof is modern.
Among the monuments in the south arm of the
transept are several of extreme interest.
The largest is the sacellum and tomb under the
south arch of the crossing, attributed to Robert
Stratford, Chancellor of England, and Bishop of
Chichester from 1337 to 1362. The sacellum was
taken down in 1860 with the Arundel screen, and its
existence seems to have been practically forgotten.
The tomb with the effigy was also removed for safety
before the fall of the spire, and therefore shows no
signs of damage. When the question arose as to the
reconstruction of the Arundel screen early in this
century, and an examination was made of the many
stones that were stored in various places, it was discovered that the collection included those of the
sacellum. Its stones were numbered and marked
as though it was the intention to replace them at some
future date. The rough backs of the quire stalls
left bare by its removal had in the meantime been
concealed by the large paintings of Bernardi. It was
decided to rebuild the sacellum in its original position
above the altar-tomb which had been hitherto ascribed
to St. Richard de Wych (fn. 12) and to remove the paintings to the west wall of the transept where they were
originally. This scheme was carried out in 1904, but
the pinnacles were only added in 1907, and the crested
panelling which originally ran behind the pinnacles has
not been replaced.
The sacellum consists of three vaulted bays, open
to the south, with the altar-tomb under the middle bay.
The three arches have large sub-cusped trefoiled heads
under ogee-arched labels which are enriched with
crockets and foliated finials. The cusp-points of the
main foils are curiously carved with winged monsters,
angels, a priest and a winged lion. They are carried
on half-round shafts with moulded bases and foliated
capitals, which are engaged with the small rectangular
piers that flank and separate the bays. The piers
have panelled and moulded imposts and are continued
upwards and finished with moulded cappings and
pointed pinnacles with crockets and finials. The
masonry above the arches is finished with a moulded
cornice and cresting above which the pinnacles and
finials rise. The end piers have shields with the date
1907, when the stonework above the cornice was added.
The soffit is vaulted in quadripartite plan in three bays
with plain chamfered diagonal and ridge-ribs, and
double-chamfered and hollowed wall-ribs. They are
carried on the solid back or north wall on triple shafts
which have moulded bases and carved and moulded
capitals; the bosses at the intersections are carved in
various designs, two with roses, another with four
lions' masks, another with a man's head spouting
leaves from its mouth and others with foliage. It has
been suggested that this was the chancel screen before
the Arundel screen was erected.
The altar-tomb has panelled sides and ends; the
long sides have narrow panels, alternating with wider
panels in which are 'weepers' or figures of canons
and priests, some holding books; the ends have a wide
panel between two narrow ones. All the south front
and the two ends have been 'restored' with plaster,
but the north side, which is about a foot clear of the
back wall, is ancient with the remains of defaced
'weepers.' On the top is the recumbent effigy,
6 ft. 8 in. long, in white stone, of the bishop in mitre
and full vestments, his left hand holding a pastoral
staff and his right hand raised in blessing, his head
resting on a cushion supported by angels and his feet
resting on a dog. His nose has been restored.
On either side within the sacellum are two wall
monuments, one to Charles Eamer Kempe, 1907, and
the other to Herbert Edward Jones, Bishop of Lewes,
1920. There is a floor brass to Dean J. W. Burgon,
1888.
In the east wall of the transept is a late-15th or early-16th-century tomb and recess of Petworth marble.
The top slab is moulded and the base is panelled in
alternating wide and narrow bays, the latter having
shields with indents for brasses. The jambs of the
recess have engaged shafts against square piers or
buttresses and the reveals are panelled. The arch
is of a depressed-ogee form with fifteen foils and is set
under a slightly higher moulded label also of depressed-ogee form, and decorated with crockets. The tympanum between the two is traceried. The masonry
above has a range of trefoiled panels, all flanked by
crocketed pinnacles above the buttresses and under a
moulded cornice with cresting. The soffit of the
recess is panelled in a series of foiled interlacing circles.
In the back are the indents of the brasses of a kneeling
man and two women, a central figure (a Trinity ?)
and the inscription plate. Flanking the recess are
two rough niches apparently robbed of their dressings,
the northern of stone, the southern partly of 16th or
17th-century brick. Adjoining on the south side is
the site of what was known as Bishop Sherburne's
altar.
Under the great south window is the tomb and
recess ascribed to John Langton, Bishop from 1305 to
1337. The base is panelled in lattice form with the
centres of the panels carved with mitres and lions'
heads. The top slab and plinth are moulded. The
jambs of the recess have triple shafts, the middle
shaft filleted, with moulded capitals enriched in the
bells with slender running foliage and in the abaci with
pellets. The arch is two-centred and has five subcusped foils with foliage cusp-points, under an ogee-arched label with vigorous crockets. The recess is
flanked by panelled piers or buttresses set diagonally,
finished at the top with gabled heads and crocketed
pinnacles. The soffit has moulded wall-ribs, but is
otherwise quite plain, as is also the back of the recess.
The effigy, which is shorter than the recess, shows
a bishop in a low mitre and vestments, all of hard
white limestone. It is much damaged; the hands and
nearly all the crozier are missing. The head rests on a
cushion, supported by much-mutilated angels. The
feet rest on a unicorn. It is worth noticing that this
effigy, which is 7ft. 1 in. long, is of an early-14th-century
appearance and, while it is too short for this tomb, it
fits exactly the tomb-recess in the south wall of the
Lady Chapel. (fn. 13) Above the tomb is a 17th-century
painted board with a record of the bishop's life and
work.
Next westward is a tomb and canopied recess of
the 16th century. (fn. 14) The top slab has a moulded edge
and the front has foiled narrow and square quatrefoil
panels, the latter with shields containing the rivet holes
for former brasses. The recess above is of less width
than the tomb and has octagonal side-shafts with
concave faces and moulded bases and capitals; on
these are half-round engaged shafts carrying an
elliptical flat arch which has a semi-octagonal key-block. The panelled reveals are canted and the soffit
has a row of quatrefoiled circles inclosing diamond-shaped foliage bosses. At the back are the indents of
two kneeling figures with scroll-prayers, and probably a
Virgin and Child. Above the arch is a frieze of foiled
trellis pattern and a cornice enriched with paterae and
foliage, the top being finished with cresting.
On a stone bench, or perhaps part of a plain tomb,
next westward lies a broken slate slab in which is a
depression that may have been a mould for wafers;
the design appears to be a horizontal band with a
lion and a human figure, perhaps foliage above and
below.
Westward of this again is a large canopied tomb
and effigy of John Abel Smith of Dale Park (d. 1842)
and on the back of the recess a brass to his widow,
Emma, daughter of Egerton Leigh of High Leigh,
Cheshire (d. 1851).
On the west wall is a wooden panel in a moulded
frame with an inscription to Henry King, second son
of Henry, Bishop of Chichester, 1668–9. Also a
similar wooden panel inscribed as 'A Memoriall of
the Names of such Honourable worthy and Pious
Persons who have Freely and Bountifully Contributed
to ye Repairing and Beautifying of ye Cathedrall Church
of ye Holy Trinity in Chichester with ye severall
summes of mony by them given, 1664.' There follows
a list of 43 names, headed by Bryan, Lord Bishop of
Winchester, and Henry, Lord Bishop of Chichester,
with the moneys or silver vessels given by them to a total
value of £1,780. 'All the money above Mentioned
was expended in Repairing and Beautifying the
Fabrick of ye Church and ye Accounts thereof were
Examin'd and Approved in ye Visitations of Bishop
Brideoke A.D. 1677 and of Bishop Lake A.D. 1686.'
There are also mural monuments to Frederick
J. Read, organist, 1925; to Percy Joseph Hiscock, 1900;
to George Hiscock, 1919; and to Henry Holding
Moore, 1911.
East of the sacellum stands a 15th-century oak cupboard with a four-centred door-head under a concavesided gable which is enriched with crockets, etc. In
the tympanum is a niche with a cinquefoiled head and
a moulded bracket. The gable is flanked by other
cinquefoiled recesses under a moulded cornice with
carved cresting and pinnacles. The cupboard has
side buttresses with moulded bases and offsets and
crocketed pinnacles. The door is hung with three plain
strap-hinges. The sill is raised on a plain base or box
and is pierced by a slot. This 'machine,' as Professor
Willis called it, is supposed to have been made to
contain relics and the slot in the sill was for the
'gifts of the faithful.'
The arch to the Canons' Vestry has an oak traceried
screen of seventeen bays with double doors. It is
largely modern, but has some parts of 15th-century
date. It is said to have been formerly in the archway
to the library in the north arm.
In the archway above the Canons' Vestry is a low
closed screen of eleven bays, which also in part appears
to be of the 15th century; it may have been the front
of a desk or pew originally.
On the west wall are mounted the two large paintings on wood executed by the Bernardi family for
Bishop Sherburne. The southern represents St.
Wilfred founding the see of Selsey in the year 680.
The saint, whose name appears in a panel below, is
represented in a red cope (?) with ermine lining and
collar, holding a scroll on which are the words of the
petition: 'Da Servis dei locū habitationis propter
deum.' There is a group of canons behind him,
one holding his mitre, another his crozier. King
Ceadwalla, in golden robes and crown and holding his
sceptre, is pointing with his left hand to an open book,
held by a courtier, on which is inscribed 'Fiat sicut
petitur.' Behind the king are men and women of
his retinue. The background shows presumably the
king's palace, and in the distance a church with a
tower on the banks of a river or inlet.
The northern painting shows Bishop Sherburne
petitioning Henry VIII for a confirmation of the
charter. The bishop is dressed similarly to St.
Wilfred. Behind him are several canons, one holding
his mitre, another his pastoral staff and a book. The
bishop holds the end of a scroll inscribed: 'Sanctissime Rex propter deum confirma Ecclesiam tuam
Cicestren' Cathedralem sicut Cedwalla rex Sussexie
Ecclesiam Selesien' olim Cathedralem confirmavit.'
The king, dressed in a red doublet and fur-lined cloak
and wearing his cap of estate and a crown, indicates
with his right hand an open book, held by a courtier,
inscribed 'Pro amore Ihu Xpi quod petis concedo.'
Beside the king is another crowned personage and
behind them several courtiers. Below are the initials
R S and the motto 'Operibvs credite,' and before the
bishop his quartered shield of arms. The background
is presumably the royal palace. On a frieze above
the whole is an inscription: 'Confiteantur tibi omnes
Reges terre quia tu es Rex magnus super omnes
Reges. Necta (fn. 15) est via que ducit ad vitam.'
Ranging with the large paintings is an extension to
the north in which are four oval medallions: the top
dexter contains a portrait of James I, the other three
inscribed with the names of Charles I, Mary I, and
Elizabeth are blanks.
Another long panel below is painted at the south
end with a long Latin inscription in twelve lines
giving an account of St. Wilfred's life, and north
of this a series of circular medallions; the first, a
large one, contained a portrait of William the
Conqueror, but most of it has been obliterated. The
others, in two rows each of ten medallions, contain
the portraits of the English Kings from William II
to Edward VI, but several, although they are named in
the surrounding inscriptions, are missing. The medallions left blank are those for Henry III, Edward II,
Edward V, Richard III and Henry VIII. All have
crowns and sceptres.
On the north wall, west of the Stratford sacellum, are
later medallions, portraits of Charles II, William III,
Mary II, Anne, and George I. James II is left
blank. The original paintings have been much
restored, and obviously some of the portraits are
later additions. (fn. 16) The other set of paintings by
Bernardi, the 'portraits' of the Bishops of Selsey
and Chichester, are mounted on the north wall of the
north arm. The series begins with St. Wilfred and
finishes with Bishop Sherburne himself—fifty-seven
in all. Presumably the last is a real likeness, and
the features of the others bear a general resemblance
to it. The series is interrupted by a panel with a
long inscription relating to the life of St. Richard de
Wych, (fn. 17) and another panel at the east end with an
account of Bishop Sherburne closes the whole. (fn. 18)
By the west wall of the north arm is a medieval oak
chest 8 ft. 8 in. long and 1 ft. 4 in. in height and depth.
It has a heavy lid with plain strap hinges and stiffeners
and is fitted with five locks.
There are mural monuments in the north transept
to Rachel, wife of George Harris, 1734, and Alderman
George Harris, 1741; to Eliza Emily, wife of Rt. Hon.
William Huskisson, 1856 (by John Gibson, R.A.); to
Francis and Charlotte, children of William Mitford,
1853 (brass); to Guy Carleton, Bishop of Chichester,
1685, and his daughter, 1683; to Henry King, Bishop
of Chichester, 1669, and John King, his eldest son; to
Robert Grove, Bishop of Chichester, 1696; to Thomas
Weelkes, 1623 (modern tablet); and a floor slab to
Frederick Joseph William Crow, 1921. Against the
north wall are three stone coffin-lids without marks.
The Sacristy, or Singing School, occupies the angle
of the transept with the south aisle of the nave, and
reaches to the south porch and cloister. Its angles
are not square, but its average length from east to
west is 35 ft. by 26½ ft. north to south, and it has two
bays of vaulting.
Projecting into the chamber on its north side is one
of the late-12th-century buttresses to the south aisle,
and on the east side another against the transept
wall. The space between the north side of the last
buttress and the south aisle wall is filled in flush by the
side of the 15th-century stair-turret, which leads up
to the chapter house; a straight joint marks the
junction. South of it is the original shallow buttress
to the transept, cut away above a line about 8 ft. high.
The vaulting is a modification of the usual quadripartite plan. Advantage is taken of the north
buttress to reduce the span of the intermediate
cross-rib, but owing to the great length of the west
wall the vaulting against it is divided into two bays,
making the whole west bay of five compartments
instead of four. The same treatment is followed
against the east wall as far as possible in spite of the
encroachment of the stair-turret and transept buttress.
The ribs are merely of plain chamfered section and
spring from wall-corbels which are carved with
foliage of a more free character than that of the late-12th or early-13th-century vaulting in the church.
At the central intersections are small bosses of irregular
outline, the eastern carved with a woman-headed
monster and the western with three human faces, the
middle, of a woman with a wimple, the outer two of
men; below them are small beasts.
In the south wall are two ranges of windows: the
lower range is of four narrow lancets, two in each
bay, with rebated jambs for shutters, the hooks still
in place; the internal splays are of an unusually
obtuse angle; the rear-arches are semicircular. The
sills are sloping, but in the easternmost is set a
square sink or lavatory basin. The upper windows
are two larger lancets with fairly wide internal
splays; externally they are of two orders, the inner
chamfered and the outer square with engaged stone
shafts. The capitals are carved and the abaci
continue as string-courses; the arches are moulded
with one bowtell or roll, instead of the more
complicated section seen in the earlier windows of
this type in the cathedral.
In the south bay of the west wall is a similar window
looking into the cloister. Below is a blocked lancet
like the others, but mostly restored, forming a recess
towards the cloister but walled in flush towards the
sacristy; the outline of its semicircular head can
be traced in the walling. The north wall is of whitened
masonry with wide jointing.
The east entrance, through the 6 ft. thick west wall
of the transept, is fitted with two oak doors, one
towards the transept and the other on the inner face
towards the sacristy. The former is hung with plain
strap-hinges, but is also fitted with wrought-iron
stiffeners with foliations, probably of the 13th century:
the door is of plain battens with rough horizontal
ledges at the back.
The inner door is nail-studded and of wide feathered
battens, with half-round rails at the back. It is
mounted on three plain strap-hinges and also has
incised strap stiffeners, probably of the 16th century.
The middle battens, which were cut to fit an arch, and
the outer battens have been lengthened to make the
door square-headed, but it originally hung in the thickness of the wall under the rear-arch, which was cut
away on the north side to allow it to open. The three
hooks for the hinges still remain in position. It was
re-hung in its present position when the south reveal
of the doorway was repaired and altered in modern
times.
In the south reveal of the entrance is another doorway leading to the south-west stair-vice of the transept.
It has a modern door, but in the east reveal are the
hooks for hinges of a former door and the socket for a
draw-bar.
The upper story of this building, now the Chapter
House, (fn. 19) is approached by a large spiral staircase, at
the angle of the transept with the south aisle. This
stair has been much restored. The doorway from
the aisle has double-ogee moulded jambs of two
orders divided by a three-quarter hollow, and a fourcentred arch. It is modern except in the west
jamb.
It is evident that there was an earlier upper story to
the sacristy, from the outline of the steeply-pitched
gable of the former roof to be seen on the west wall
of the transept inside the chapter house. Bishop
Langton may possibly have been responsible for this
earlier upper story, but it is more probable that it
belonged to the period of the sacristy itself. There are
no other traces of it, and it must have been entirely
removed to make room for the higher chamber erected
in the 15th century. In the south wall are two tall
windows each of three cinquefoiled lights and vertical
tracery under a segmental arched head. The jambs
and the arch are moulded and have wide casement-hollows. In the west wall is a window, similar except
that it has a four-centred arch to the head. The
east wall (the west wall of the transept) shows the
original shallow buttress finishing about 3 ft. below
the roof: above it is an original string-course, partly
missing. Next to the north of it is the deeper
buttress of the second period, which goes right up
through the roof. The entrance from the stair-vice
is by a four-centred doorway set in a kind of porch
of greater projection than the buttress south of it,
and having a parapet with a moulded coping. Over
the doorway of the face of the porch is a straight
joint in the form of a low-pitched gablet.
The roof is a modern flat-pitched structure of four
bays with chamfered principal beams and longitudinal
rafters: some of the latter appear to be old timbers
re-used.
The walls are of fine-jointed ashlar, except the east
wall; there are two buttresses at the south-west angle
and one intermediate south buttress of three stages
with moulded plinths of a 15th-century form and
plain offsets. The courses of the buttresses range
with the courses of the upper story, but not with those
of the lower.
The floor of the chamber is partly paved with some
ancient green-glazed tiles, 6¼ in. square, set diagonally,
and at the north-east corner is a patch of yellow and
black tiles, 5 in. square.
The walls are lined with a high dado of oak panelling
which is dated 1910 but incorporates some ancient
panels and includes a sliding panel near the north-west corner that conceals a four-centred doorway
opening into the chamber over the south porch. Here
is supposed to have been the secret treasury chamber
of the cathedral.
In the middle of the west end is the dean's canopied
high-backed stall, which is in part of 15th-century
date; it has shaped standards with foliated heads
and the covered canopy has a moulded cornice. In
the chamber is a 13th-century carved oak chest of
hutch type on legs, which measures 4 ft. 3 in. long,
2 ft. 1 in. wide and 2 ft. 6 in. high. The end styles of
the front are carved with rosettes and the feet with
half quatrefoils; there is also a rosette on the middle
board of the front. Half of the lid is modern. Another chest of hutch type is of the 16th century.
The front is carved with swags of drapery through
suspended rings and, below, scrolls of conventional
foliage; there is also similar foliage at the ends. A
third chest has no lid. The front is a plain board:
the ends are closely framed with stop-chamfered
muntins and plain rails into nine panels. It is bound
by four cross-straps which have round ends stamped
with sexfoil sinkings. This chest may be of early-15th-century date.
On the walls are portraits of Charles II, James II,
Queen Anne, William and Mary, George I, and
George II.