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CHICHESTER AND VICINITY 31
two bays and reconstructed; its Decorated windows, with geometrical tracery and beautiful ribbed vault, produce a glorious effect. In spite of its patchwork, it has a uniform appearance, and is one of the loveliest chapels of its kind. Early in the fourteenth century the south transept was furnished with a huge seven-light Decorated window, instead of the smaller openings that were there before ; under it is the tomb of its builder, Bishop Langton (1305-1337). The beauty of the tracery is somewhat set off by the rather indifferent Metz glass, which was in that town during the German siege of 1870, but suffered no harm. Like much of the glass in the Cathedral, it may be described as excellent in intention but vile both in colour and drawing. Late in the century the north transept was provided with a great seven-light Perpendicular window, and about the same time cloisters were provided, for, though the Cathedral was always secular, it was very usual for such a foundation to follow the fashion set by the abbeys. There was no clear space to do this in the regular way (i.e., by providing a cloister court south of the nave leading to the various necessary buildings), so a west walk was built southward from the south porch of the nave, a much longer east walk extended from the south door of the quire (or rather presbytery) to St. Faith's Chantry Chapel, and there were joined by a south walk, not at all parallel to the axis of the church. The south walk touches a fourteenth-century house (once assigned to the Wykehamical
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin ; one cannot be too careful to have the expression correct. Only a few months ago I was told in a city overseas that the "ladies' room" at one of the churches cost * 100,000 ! |
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