Chester Cathedral. (Part Five).

Chester Cathedral’s (The Cathedral Church of Christ and The Blessed Virgin Mary) Great West Window is Perpendicular Gothic with 20th-Century Stained-Glass by W. T. Carter Shapland (1961). It depicts The Holy Family with Saints Werburgh, Oswald, Aidan, Chad, Wilfrid, and Ethelfleda.

Photo: 7 September 2013.

Source: Own work.

Author: Stedent

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.

The Choir, of five Bays, was built between 1283 and 1315 to the design of Richard Lenginour,[1] and is an early example of Decorated Gothic architecture.

The Piers have strongly-modelled attached Shafts, supporting deeply-moulded Arches. There is a Triforium Gallery with four Cusped Arches to each Bay.

The Sexpartite Vault, which is a 19th-Century restoration, is supported by clusters of three Shafts which spring from energetic figurative Corbels.

Chester Cathedral.

Photo: 16 May 2014.

Source: Geograph Britain and Ireland

Author: Jeff Buck

(Wikimedia Commons)

The overall effect is robust, and contrasts with the delicacy of the Pinnacled Choir Stalls, the Tracery of the Windows and the rich decoration of the Vault, which was carried out by the ecclesiastical designers, Clayton and Bell.[34]

The Choir Stalls, dating from 1380, are one of the glories of the Cathedral.[28]

The Aisles of the Choir previously both extended on either side of The Lady Chapel. The South Aisle was shortened in 1870 by George Gilbert Scott, and given an Apsidal East end, becoming the Chapel of Saint Erasmus. The Eastern end of the North Aisle contains the Chapel of Saint Werburgh.[4]

Chester Cathedral.

Gothic Revival Vault, under the Organ Loft. Coat-of-Arms of The Duke of Westminster, of Eaton Hall in Cheshire.

Photo: May 2012.

Source: Family Photo.

Author: Stephen Hamilton

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Nave of six Bays, and the large, Aisled, South Transept, were begun in 1323, probably to the design of Nicholas de Derneford.[1]

There are a number of Windows containing fine Flowing Decorated Tracery of this period. The work ceased in 1375, in which year there was a severe outbreak of Plague in England. The building of the Nave was recommenced in 1485, more than 150 years after it was begun.

The architect was probably William Rediche.[1] Remarkably, for an English Mediæval architect, he maintained the original form, changing only the details. The Nave was roofed with a Stellar Vault, rather like that of The Lady Chapel at Ely and the Choir at York Minster, both of which date from the 1370s. Like that at York, the Vault is of wood, imitating stone.[28]

Chester Cathedral.

Statue of Saint Christopher carrying The Christ Child.
Photo: May 2012.
Source: Family Photo.
Author: Stephen Hamilton
(Wikimedia Commons)

From about 1493 until 1525, the architect appears to have been Seth Derwall, succeeded by George Derwall, until 1537.[1]

Seth Derwall completed the South Transept to a Perpendicular Gothic design, as seen in the Transomed Windows of the Clerestory. He also built the Central Tower, South-West Porch, and Cloisters.

Work commenced on the South-West Tower in 1508, but it had not risen above the roof line at the time of The Dissolution of the Monasteries, and has never been completed.

The Central Tower, rising to 127 feet (39 m),[1] is a “Lantern Tower” with large Windows letting light into The Crossing. Its external appearance has been altered by the addition of four Battlemented Turrets, by George Gilbert Scott, in the 19th-Century.[4]

Chester Cathedral.

The Undercroft.

Photo: 22 February 2012.

Source: Geograph Britain and Ireland

Author: Stephen Craven

(Wikimedia Commons)

PART SIX FOLLOWS.