Bells Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Winchester | Page 9

exterior of Winchester Cathedral is disappointing, and few are likely to echo the opinion of an over-zealous admirer of the building who said that the longer one looks at it the more one feels the low central tower to be the only kind that would suit the huge proportions of the building. On the contrary, it may be said that it is impossible to look at Winchester without a feeling of regret that the superb mass of the great fabric, the largest medi?val church in England since the destruction of old S. Paul's, is not crowned by a loftier central tower. There is a legend to the effect that there were seven towers in the original design--the central one, two at the west end, and one at each angle of the transepts; and this seems to be supported by the solid character of some of the piers in the transepts. Yet, despite the rather ungraceful outline of the whole building, when its mere size is realised, it gradually asserts its importance and incontrovertibly proves its right to be considered one of the very finest structures in England.
It will not be out of place to quote a short criticism which sums up the external qualities of the cathedral in a concise way:--"With the exception of portions of the late work in the presbytery, the exterior of Winchester is severe in treatment, and plain wall-space plays an important part in the design. Plain parapets and simply treated pinnacles characterise the work of the nave. The Norman transepts are externally but little altered, except by the insertion of Decorated windows to give more light to the altars in their eastern aisles; and De Lucy's work eastwards is, compared with some work of its date, simple in the extreme. Rather more elaboration was bestowed on the design of the new eastern bay of the Lady Chapel by Prior Silkstede and Bishop Courtenay; but, taken as a whole, Winchester has one of the simplest exteriors for its size and importance in the country" ("Winchester Cathedral" in The Builder for October 1892).
The ground-plan of Winchester Cathedral is in the form of a plain Latin cross, hardly broken in its outline save by the Perpendicular prolongation of the Lady Chapel at the east end. But, simple as is the plan, "the great length of the church" (to use the words of Fergusson) "is pleasingly broken ... by the bold projection of its transepts, which here extend, as usual in England, three bays beyond the aisles, their section being the same width as that of the nave." The width of the nave with the aisles is 88 feet, while the transepts measure, from east to west, 81 feet. The total length has already been given as 556, and the width from north to south across the transepts is 230 feet. The altitude of the walls is 75 feet, which is a foot less than at Peterborough, though three more than at Ely.
#The West Front#, the work of Bishop Edingdon, has been roughly handled by its critics, though Britton calls it a fine specimen of Perpendicular architecture. The original Norman work demolished by Edingdon was, as excavations have proved, forty feet in advance of the present fa?ade. To judge by accounts of the destroyed portions, the west front in its earlier state must have been far more imposing than it is at present, for not only is it now commonplace in mass, but even the detail has no particular charm to atone for the change. The whole of this work appears so thoroughly Perpendicular in character that it has been questioned whether at such an early date as that to which it is assigned the style can have been so far developed. Woodward, indeed, though attributing to Edingdon the walls and the principal part of the west end, declares the tracery, the fronts of the porches, and much of the panelling to be later; but a comparison of Winchester with another church undoubtedly built by this bishop, at his native town of Edingdon, in Wiltshire, supports the tradition which credits him with its erection. Besides this evidence, we have additional proof in the fact that he left by his will certain property to be devoted to the completion of the nave. Late though his work may appear at first sight, yet when it is closely examined and compared with Wykeham's work the difference is very apparent.
[Illustration: THE WEST FRONT, WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL. S.B. Bolas & Co., Photo.]
The whole western fa?ade with its three bays is wanting in greatness, and its effect may be said to be that of a large parish church rather than a cathedral. Not only do we miss the western towers which are so often the most striking feature of an English west front, but the screen