Bells Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Carlisle | Page 8

level of the chapter-house floor. From this it would seem that the

cathedral was entered at the south transept from the chapter-house by
a flight of steps."
The foundation of the south wall having been shaken by the removal of
the remains of the conventual buildings, massive buttresses were added,
and a very richly sculptured doorway inserted between them (1856). It
was designed by Mr. Christian and is the principal entrance to the
Cathedral. Its character is that of the late work of the choir, and is
somewhat out of keeping with this distinctively Norman portion of the
building.
The window over the entrance is of the same date.
The west side of the transept is lighted by two plain round-headed
windows, not quite central.
The outer moulding of the window arch of the south transept clerestory
has billet ornament. Above this is a corbel table of heads and
mouldings which interferes with the upper window mouldings. The
transept compartments differ from those of the nave by the addition of a
flat buttress between each, which consequently breaks the continuity of
the corbel table.
As the side of the nave was covered by the conventual buildings it was
of plainer character than the north, and had no buttresses between the
windows.
The clerestory is exactly the same as on the north.
The foundations of the old west wall are behind one of the prebendary's
houses to the west of the nave.
The west end, as it stands at present, was restored by Mr. Christian.
A local sandstone was used in the construction of the building: grey, or
white in the Norman portion, and red in the other parts. This red
sandstone is not so good for exterior as for interior work, because it is
liable to perish by the action of the weather.

[Illustration: THE NAVE, SOUTH SIDE. G.W. Wilson & Co., Photo.]
CHAPTER III
THE INTERIOR
The cathedral now consists of part of the original nave (the two eastern
bays only) with aisles; and north and south transepts without aisles, but
with a chapel on the east side of the south transept; the central tower;
and the choir with north and south aisles and ambulatory or retro-choir.
The #Nave.#--Entering by the modern doorway on the north, we are at
once in the fragmentary nave, of Early Norman work. Its present length
is about 38 feet and width about 60 feet. In 1645 the Scots destroyed
about 100 feet of the nave, and it has never been rebuilt. This
mutilation has had a serious effect upon the proportions of the building,
and induces a feeling of want of balance. The open timber roof, raised
to the original height, was substituted at the restoration for a flat ceiling
which had been put up at a previous "embellishment" of the cathedral.
Bishop Walkelin made use of similar roofs in Winchester Cathedral
(1070-1097).
The triforium (1140-50) has in each compartment a semi-circular arch
entirely without ornament.
The clerestory consists of three arches supported by columns with
carved capitals; the centre arch, which is larger than the other, is lighted
at the back by a round-headed window.
We may say that the nave is
"propped With pillars of prodigious girth."
They are massive circular columns nearly six feet in diameter, and
support semi-circular arches. The capitals of those on the south side are
carved with leaf ornament; the rest are plain. Against the wall between
each arch is a semi-circular engaged shaft reaching to the base of the
triforium. The arches near the tower have been partly crushed owing to

the shifting of the tower piers caused by faulty foundations. About
1870 the west end of the nave was restored by Mr. Christian. The
window is filled with glass, in memory of the Rev. C. Vernon Harcourt,
canon and prebendary of Carlisle (d. 1870).
One of the south aisle windows--the "Soldiers'" window--is in memory
of men and officers of the 34th (or Cumberland) Regiment, who fell in
the Crimea, and in India during the mutiny. Three Old Testament
warriors appear in stained glass--Joshua, Jerubbaal ("who is Gideon"),
and Judas Maccabeus. The battle-torn fragmentary regimental colours
hang from the arch opposite. Just beneath this window a doorway (now
blocked up) formerly led from the cloisters into the nave.
Up to the year 1870 the nave was used as a parish church. The
cathedral from its beginning as the priory church, in accordance with a
very common practice of the Augustinian body, contained two
churches belonging to two separate bodies quite independent of each
other.
The choir and transepts formed the priory church, in the possession of
the prior and canons until the dissolution of the monastery, when it
passed to the dean and chapter. The nave formed the parish church of
St. Mary, and belonged to the parishioners.