Bells Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Carlisle | Page 6

of very expressive, life-like heads, no two of which are alike.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE NORTH. A. Pumphrey, Photo.]
#North Transept.#--The north window is Debased Gothic, the tracery of the previous window having been similar to that of the great east window, while the west window is early English.
[Illustration: NORTH DOOR OF NAVE. A. Pumphrey, Photo.]
The #Tower#, the latest part of the cathedral, was the work of Bishop Strickland early in the fifteenth century. He erected it upon the piers of the ancient Norman tower. Its height is not much over 100 feet, and is very disappointing, because in England "cathedral towers are apt to be good, and really make their mark" (Pater). In fact, it does not at all give the impression of being part of such an important building as a cathedral. This is caused by its having been rebuilt on the scale of the Norman nave, and not on that of the enlarged choir. It takes up only about two-thirds of the width of the choir, and to mask this defect a turret rising to the top of the third stage of the tower is introduced on the north side, and another turret is added at the north-east angle.
The tower rises in four stages above the transepts. The second storey is pierced with loopholes. The third has two pointed windows lighting a room immediately below the belfry. Between these, in a niche with a canopy, is the figure of an angel holding a drawn sword. On his head is fixed a tablet to support another figure. There is only one window in the fourth storey, which gives light to the belfry, and is very large. Its labels are ornamented with very vigorously carved heads, and the cornice above is decorated very much like that of the clerestory. The tower terminates in an embattled parapet.
All the windows have been thrown out of centre by the addition of the lower turret.
Originally the tower was crowned by a leaden spire about fifteen feet in height, but this was removed at the end of the seventeenth century on account of its decayed condition.
On the east side of the tower there is a single window in the third storey. In place of a second window there is an opening into the roof of the choir. This leads into a passage running from the tower to the east end.
The bold attempts to veil the inadequate size of the tower by the addition of two turrets can be best studied from this side.
The North Aisle of the #Choir# consists of eight bays, all Early English, except the easternmost one (the retro-choir), which is Late Decorated; while the western bay has a Perpendicular window.
Sometime in the fifteenth century the third bay from the east, in each aisle, was altered and a large Perpendicular window inserted in order to admit more light to the sanctuary. During the restoration of the cathedral these later windows were removed, and replaced by careful copies of the other Early English windows.
The basement is composed of bold mouldings with a plain wall equivalent in height to the internal wall arcade. Over this, a string-course runs uninterruptedly round the choir just below the windows.
[Illustration: THE SOUTH DOOR. (See p. 21.) A. Pumphrey, Photo.]
Each compartment has an arcade of four lancet-shaped divisions, the external ones blank; while the internal divisions (which are wider than the others) form the window. The slender, banded, shafts are detached, which is rather unusual, and have moulded bases and capitals. The bands divide the shafts into unequal lengths, the lower portion being the shorter. The arch mouldings are good. Owing to the fact that the blank arches are more acutely pointed, their outer mouldings terminate higher than the mouldings of the internal arches.
Towards the east end small heads, and bosses of foliage, ornament the junction of these mouldings. Above these the cornice and parapet rest upon blocks bearing the nail-head ornament.
[Illustration: ELEVATION OF EAST END.]
The second bay from the east is divided into three equal spaces, with a very narrow acute angle on the right.
A series of fine gabled buttresses gives relief to the exterior of the choir on each side.
The windows of the #Clerestory# have very rich mouldings, and also afford fine examples of flowing tracery. Each bay has an arch with three divisions, the central one higher and wider than the others. On this side only--the north--the base is ornamented with trefoils.
There is a cornice above the windows extending from the tower to the east end. It is richly decorated with heads and the ball-flower ornament which is characteristic of fourteenth-century work. It is broken here and there by gargoyles projecting almost three feet from the wall. The parapet makes but a poor show in comparison with the rich windows and cornice.
As the choir never had a