Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ely Part 2

1. Paving the nave, octagon, and transepts.

2. Completion of pinnacles and parapet of octagon.

3. Internal decoration of lantern.

4. Repair of galilee.

There would also be much to be done in the matter of properly warming and lighting the cathedral; but those expenses were more strictly within the ordinary obligations of the dean and chapter.

The only one of the above works that calls for special notice is the restoration of the octagon and lantern. In a statement circulated by the dean and chapter in 1853 it was declared that "of all works which remain to be undertaken, the most considerable and the most important is the restoration of the lantern, including the decoration of the vault, the subst.i.tution of windows of an appropriate character for those which now disfigure it so seriously, and the addition of the outer corona of turrets and pinnacles as originally designed by Alan de Walsingham." But nothing was done towards this during Dean Peac.o.c.k's lifetime. In the summer before his death he had described more particularly the disfigurements and the mutilations which the lantern had undergone; and he further pointed out the unsafe condition of the exterior. The upper windows of the octagon were of the "meanest description of carpenter's Gothic"; they had been reduced from four to three lights each; they had been shortened more than three feet (probably by Ess.e.x in the eighteenth century); the upper timbers were in a ruinous state, and incapable of being used again. The original design provided for eight lofty turrets at the angles of the greater octagon and four pinnacles in the middle of its longer sides. At the first meeting of the chapter after Dean Peac.o.c.k's death it was resolved that no memorial of him would be so appropriate as the restoration of the lantern, and Mr. Scott was instructed to prepare designs at once. A tentative sketch of his design was published in October, 1859; and the opinion of experts was invited.

Mr. Scott's report, dated June 10, 1859, gave the result of his careful examination. He concluded that the wooden lantern was originally "to a certain extent an imitation of the general form of the _stone octagon_ below it. Each had large windows of four lights below, with circular panels in the spandrils; each had a distinct story over these windows, lighted by smaller windows consisting of several detached lights, and each had considerable turrets, probably surmounted by pinnacles at the angles, and, in all probability, open parapets between them."[30] He embodied the results of the evidence he had got together in the design he submitted. Further examination, in the following year, satisfied the architect that no spire had ever been erected on the lantern, and that even if Walsingham had ever intended to have one, he had yet finished his work without any preparation for such an addition. A design for such a spire was, however, prepared and submitted to the dean and chapter, but it was never adopted.

As was to be expected, many opinions were expressed upon the design.

Some wanted the whole to be surmounted by a pyramidal capping. It was objected that the design was a stone construction for what must of necessity be erected of wood. It was pointed out that Walsingham used his upper story as a bell-chamber, and argued that a true restoration should aim at reproducing this feature. In the end Scott's design was carried out exactly as proposed, except that the eight small square turrets of the wooden lantern have no pinnacles.

The enumeration of works completed in 1866, as given by Dean Goodwin above, did not include several important and costly gifts. The chief of these were: the carved panels above the stalls, supplied by individual donors; a pinnacle at the south-east corner of the choir (Mr. Beresford Hope); the reredos (Mr. J. Dunn Gardner); the font (Canon Selwyn); the gates of aisles of presbytery (Mr. Lowndes and Dean Peac.o.c.k); the bra.s.s eagle lectern (Canon E. B. Sparke); and the monumental effigies of Bishop Allen and Dr. Mill. Canon E. B. Sparke had also contributed to the restoration of the south transept; Mr. H. R. Evans, sen., and Mr. H. R.

Evans, jun., had helped with the works in the west tower; the Rev. G.

Millers, minor canon, had bequeathed 100, and his residuary legatees gave another 300, which was applied to the ceiling of the nave; Miss Allen, daughter of the bishop, also bequeathed 500, appropriated to a new pulpit; and Bishop Turton left the same amount for re-paving the nave.

The only other work of importance done before Dean Goodwin left for Carlisle was the reconstruction of the organ. Canon d.i.c.kson, in his admirable historical account of the organ, is confident that the instrument in use in 1831 was the original pre-Reformation organ, gradually enlarged from time to time with "all the improvements suggested by the progress of musical and mechanical art." Its preservation during the Commonwealth period is possibly due to the personal influence of Oliver Cromwell. About that date (1831) the organ was rebuilt by Elliott and Hill. It was fitted into the old cases, of Renaissance design. From the similarity of these cases to some which are known to have inclosed organs built by Renatus Harris, the old organ has sometimes been attributed to him; but there is "no record whatever of the employment of Harris by the Dean and Chapter."

The progress made in the time of Dean Merivale (1869-1894) was steady and substantial, but calls for no detailed account. The foundations of many parts of the building were made more secure; much of the pavement was renewed; the tower at the west was strengthened with iron bands; several stained gla.s.s windows were inserted. Perhaps the most noteworthy undertaking of this period was the decoration of the interior, and the completion of the series of pinnacles of the exterior, of the octagon and lantern. In a summary of the amount spent between 1843 and 1898 the total, exclusive of special gifts, is given at 69,543 1_s._ 0_d._[31]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The origin of the name Ely has been discussed in "Fenland Notes and Queries," ii., pp. 316, 371.

[2] "Words and Places," 2nd ed., 1865, p. 355.

[3] Quoted in Bentham, p. 52.

[4] This place has not been positively identified; but the general opinion is that Stow, about ten miles north-west of Lincoln, is the place. The existing church there is, however, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It has been said that, besides Ely Cathedral, six ancient churches in England are dedicated to S.

Etheldreda. In this number the ancient episcopal chapel in Ely Place and the destroyed church at Histon, Cambridgeshire, are probably not included. Other churches with this dedication occur at Guilsborough, Northamptonshire, West Halton, Lincolnshire, Bishop's Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Norwich, and S. Audrie's, in Somerset. The writer has not been able to discover the sixth. At Swaffham Prior, ten miles south of Ely, are the ruins of a small chapel with this dedication.

[5] A mile south is a field still known as Cratendon Field.

[6] Bentham, p. 68.

[7] "Architectural History of Ely Cathedral," 1868, p. 53.

[8] The presbytery, as the term is used at Ely, signifies the six eastern bays of the central portion of the church east of the transepts. The choir, or portion devoted to the daily choral service, varied in position from time to time.

[9] See Murray's "Handbook," p. 198.

[10] See Hewett's "Brief History," p. 10.

[11] "The English Cathedral of the Nineteenth Century," 1861, p. 195.

[12] See also Dean Stubbs' "Historical Memorials of Ely Cathedral,"

pp. 151, 152.

[13] The largest of these bells, weighing 6,280 pounds, was called by Walsingham's name.

[14] Bentham, pp. 221, 222.

[15] "Handbook," ed. Stubbs, 20th ed., p. 29.

[16] Ibid., p. 83. The full epitaph is given on p. 84.

[17] Bentham, pp. 177, 178.

[18] Hope's "The English Cathedral of the Nineteenth Century," p. 178.

[19] Quoted in Murray's "Handbook," p. 258.

[20] Browne Willis's "Survey," vol. iii., p. 334.

[21] Hewett ("Brief History," p. 24) says the north-eastern angle, and gives the date 1669; but the account in the text is correct.

[22] "Through England On a Side-Saddle in the time of William and Mary, being the Diary of Celia Fiennes." Published 1888. Quoted in "Fenland Notes and Queries," vol. i., pp. 291-293.

[23] Page 214.

[24] Page 17.

[25] Page 334.

[26] Date so given in "Handbook," 20th ed.

[27] Gibbons' "Ely Episcopal Records," p. 112.

[28] "Notes on the Cambridgeshire Churches," p. 4.

[29] "Ecclesiologist," xxvii., p. 71.

[30] "Ecclesiologist," xxi., p. 26.

[31] "Handbook," 20th ed., App. II.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE WEST.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ENTRANCE TO THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE GALILEE.]