Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ripon Part 9

344).

[121] For a full account of this interesting library, see the monograph by the Rev. Canon Fowler, F.S.A., of Durham, by whom the books were arranged in 1872. A copy is kept in the room.

CHAPTER IV.

OTHER OLD BUILDINGS IN RIPON.

=The Deanery=, a stone house with two gabled wings, stands opposite to the north transept. It was built in or about 1625. The front bears the royal arms, and the hall contains some paintings of the kings and queens of England, which are more curious than valuable, and are probably of no very great age. Before the house is an ancient stone wall with strongly-marked base, gable coping, and a doorway whose trefoil head was apparently not made for its present position. This may perhaps be part of Abbot Huby's wall, or of the boundary-wall of either the Palace or the Bedern.

Near the south-west tower is a fine red-brick house which doubtless remembers the Georges, or even Queen Anne. It has all the air of a prebendal residence, but if it was ever connected with the church, that connection has long ceased.

Another red-brick house of some age, adjoining the picturesque ascent from High St. Agnesgate to the south transept, was the Canons' Residence up to 1859, when was bought the present Residence near the north-east corner of the graveyard.

High St. Agnesgate contains several interesting buildings, foremost among which is =St. Anne's Hospital=,[122] formerly called 'The Maidens'

Due' (Maison de Dieu), with its interesting ruined chapel. This is the only one of the three hospitals which was never affiliated to the Collegiate Church. The date of its origin has been placed shortly before 1438, in which year a chantry was founded in its chapel. The hospital foundation was for four poor men and four poor women, and there were also two beds for 'casuals'; and the little community was under the charge of a priest. There was apparently no endowment. The domestic portion of the building was pulled down in 1869. Though it had been divided into cottages some time before that date, the original arrangements have been recovered from an old doc.u.ment and from certain indications that had survived in the fabric itself. Joined to the west end of the chapel was a sort of nave, divided down the middle by a part.i.tion, on one side of which were the beds for the men, on the other those for the women, while at the west end were two rooms for the priest. This 'nave' was probably open to the chapel, as the large size of the western arch of the latter seems to indicate, and possibly the infirmer inmates could attend the service without leaving their beds.[123]

To pa.s.s to the chapel itself--a window in the north wall has been blocked with masonry, upon which is a shield of arms, thought to be those of Sir Solomon Swale of South Stainley, and surmounted by a Maltese cross with the letters S.S. and the date 1654 upon it. The west gable has once been crowned by a bell-cote, and attached to the south-west corner of the chapel are the remains of an arched doorway.

The western arch of the building, curiously enough, is not in the middle of the wall. It is recessed and chamfered, and rests upon two semi-cylindrical responds, whose rather curious capitals do not follow the form of the shaft, but are triple and rectangular. The chapel internally is 20 feet 10 inches long and 11 feet 6 inches wide, and is not at right angles to its western wall, but inclines considerably toward the south. In the middle of the entrance is an octagonal basin, supported on a pedestal and having a shield on each of its sides. This is thought to have been a stoup for holy water. It is not, perhaps, in its original position, and the pedestal does not seem to belong to it.

Opposite to the blocked window already mentioned, which has an aumbry east of it, there is a late square-headed window of two lights, whose arches do not reach quite up to the lintel, but are connected with it by short perpendiculars. East of this is a piscina with projecting semi-octagonal basin, trefoil head, and ogee hood, and with a small square window above and to the left of it. The stone slab on two stone supports against the east wall is probably the original altar, and tradition says that the ransom of a Scottish prince was paid down upon it. On either side of the altar is a stone bracket, that on the north side bearing a shield of arms.[124] The east window, which is blocked, is divided into two lights, and the head is almost filled by a large quatrefoil, of which the uppermost and lowermost foils are ogees. This window, and the piers and capitals of the western arch, give the impression that the chapel is of a date earlier than that usually a.s.signed for the foundation of the hospital. The modern cottages are inhabited by eight women.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CHAPEL OF ST. ANNE'S HOSPITAL.

(From a pen-drawing by the author.)]

Between St. Anne's Hospital and Bondgate Green Bridge stands the =Thorp Prebendal House=, now divided into several dwellings. Whether its existing fabric is as old as the Reformation or not, this was the site upon which dwelt the Canons of the mediaeval prebend of Thorp. In 1391 the hall of the then existing house was used for casting several bells for the Minster, and here, in later days, as Canon of Thorp, lived Marmaduke Bradley. The house is said to have been sold by Edward VI. to the Earl of c.u.mberland, and to have subsequently sheltered Mary Queen of Scots, James I, and Charles I. It is best seen from the adjoining bridge, whence its plastered walls, irregular gables, and stone roof form a picturesque foreground to the Cathedral. Of the dwellings into which it is now divided, the third from the bridge contains the grand staircase, which has twisted skeleton bal.u.s.ters.

East of St. Anne's Hospital, there are two more old houses, one of which, known as =St. Agnes' Lodge=,[125] is of considerable interest. The body of it, long and low, with a high-pitched roof and with a ma.s.sive chimney-stack b.u.t.tressing one end, is said to be of the time of Henry VII., but derives much of its 'character' from the comparatively modern windows, which resemble the portholes of a ship. A wing added in the seventeenth century, with quaint curvilinear gable, projects into the garden behind. Within the house is a square hall, having above the fireplace some carving and a painted panel of the burning of London in 1666. There is also a good oak staircase, and in the upper storey are several quaint features, including a cupboard that may have served for a hiding-place, and two 'powdering-closets' in which ladies' hair, or men's wigs, could be powdered in the eighteenth century. But the part of the house most interesting architecturally is the attics, where the framing of the king-post roof is extremely ma.s.sive, while the floor is of _concrete_.[126] One of the roof-beams in the wing bears the date 1693. This house disputes with the Thorp Prebendal House the honour of having sheltered Mary Queen of Scots on her way from Bolton Castle to Tutbury, and it is said that it was during her sojourn at Ripon that she addressed an appeal to Queen Elizabeth and received an offer of marriage from the Duke of Norfolk. St. Agnes' Lodge claims also to have been a temporary home of Turner, at the time when he was ill.u.s.trating Whitaker's _History of Craven_ and _History of Richmondshire_. Whether this house or its immediately western neighbour were ever prebendal residences it is now difficult to say.

Two old gabled houses remain in the Market-place, and one of them, now a basket-shop, is said to have been the residence of Hugh Ripley, last Wakeman and first Mayor of Ripon.

At the north end of Stonebridgegate, and not far from the Ure, stands the =Hospital of St. Mary Magdalene=, sometimes called 'The Maudlins.' It was founded by Archbishop Thurstan (1114-1141) for secular brethren and sisters, and one chaplain. The brethren and sisters were not merely to benefit by the charity themselves, but were to minister to lepers and blind priests born within the Liberty of Ripon, a certain number of whom were received into the Hospital. Lepers from outside the Liberty were ent.i.tled to a night's lodging: so also apparently were any other strangers or mendicant clergy who might be pa.s.sing through the town. On St. Mary Magdalene's day there was a dole of food to the poor. A second chaplain was subsequently added by the benefaction of one William de Homelyn. At some period, apparently after 1241, the character of the foundation was changed by another Archbishop, whose name is not known.

The brethren and sisters disappeared, and the staff consisted henceforth of a Master and one chaplain, or sometimes two. The Master was appointed by the Archbishop, and was generally a clerk, though sometimes only in acolyte's Orders. In 1334 one John Warrener, of Studley Roger, founded here a chantry of two if not three priests. Thus there may have been no less than six clergy attached to this small chapel; but the number was not kept up, and at the Reformation there were, besides the Master, only the two priests of Warrener's foundation. The Hospital continued to minister to blind priests, and also to lepers until leprosy died out.

The lepers' portion of the building was demolished about 1350. In 1546-7 the inmates were 'five poor people.' All traces of the Master's house, the hall, the brewery, and the original dwellings have vanished.

The dwellings were rebuilt in 1674, and again in 1875, since which date more cottages have been added, and a new chapel; and the hospital now accommodates twelve poor women. The Mastership, still in the gift of the Archbishop, is at present held with one of the canonries, and the cure of souls is discharged by a non-resident chaplain.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SEAL OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE'S HOSPITAL]

Fortunately the old chapel remains. The main fabric is apparently Thurstan's. It is of gritstone, but has been much altered and repaired at later periods, when limestone has been used. To the later work belong the set-off of the base, the coigns, the parapet, the east part of the south wall, the framing of most of the windows and doors, and the b.u.t.tress and bell-cote at the west end.

The west front is now divided by a large b.u.t.tress of many stages terminating in a slope, but the plinth of this b.u.t.tress is apparently original. To the right of the b.u.t.tress is a long two-cusped lancet light; to the left may be traced, perhaps, the outline of an original round-arched window; while on both sides there are sloping lines in the masonry, as if there had been an acutely-pointed gable here.

The north side of the chapel has been propped at a late period by three sloping b.u.t.tresses. At its western end is a doorway, the jambs of which seem original, while the pointed head is later. About half-way along this side is one of those 'low side windows' through which, it is supposed, the Sacrament was administered to lepers--indeed, the leper-house stood on this side of the chapel.[127] Though of limestone, this small lancet window, with its arch and dripstone trefoiled, is apparently of the thirteenth century, and an early example of its cla.s.s. East of it are, first a Perpendicular window of two lights--late in character, and second a partially-blocked and possibly original doorway, perhaps for the priest, (though priests' doors are usually on the south side). Its outer arch is rounded, while the inner is pointed and has perhaps been altered.

The east window is broad, finely arched, and surmounted by a bold dripstone terminating in heads. Its four lights, partially blocked, are round-headed, with rather large cusps, and in the upper part of the window there is much tracery, in which perpendicular lines lead up to arches that intersect. Indeed it is difficult to say whether this fine window is an example of late Perpendicular, or of the transition to that style from the Decorated.

It is on the south side that the irregularity in the size, s.p.a.cing, and level of the windows in this chapel is most marked. Here toward the eastern end is a square-headed Perpendicular window of two lights, much resembling the south window at St. Anne's Hospital, and surmounted by a square label. Next comes a small lancet, probably Early English, with no limestone about it. The next window is tall, rectangular, and without tracery, but the stump of a mullion remains on the sill, which is of gritstone. West of this is the princ.i.p.al entrance, a Norman arch, beneath which a pointed arch has been inserted, the original imposts, however, remaining. The upper arch is enriched with the chevron, and its dripstone with two rows of the round billet arranged chequerwise and with a moulding composed of a series of little crosses, rather suggestive of the dog-tooth.

The interior has up to this time escaped 'restoration.' There have been repairs, but enough only to arrest decay, and the plaster has not been removed from the walls.[128] The length internally is about 49 feet and the breadth just over 16 feet. The floor is of brick, and the roof, which is almost flat, has been much renovated, but retains its original ma.s.sive cross beams and wooden corbels. Internally the two western doorways are rounded, and just east of them the chapel is crossed by a late Perpendicular screen, which retains its folding doors, and has an uncommon effect due to the great length of the mullions in the upper part. The lower portion was once closed. It is perhaps more probable that this is the original position of the screen than that it ever stretched across the Sanctuary. Against the north wall is a fine old chest raised on feet and bound with many iron clamps ending in scrolls.

It has a double lock and a ring at either end, and inside it is kept a curious bell of wood painted to resemble metal, and said to have been hung in the bell-cote by an unscrupulous official who had caused the real bell to be sold.

The 'low side window' internally has a depressed pointed arch, and is widely splayed, as are also the tall and the short window opposite. It is remarkable that although the windows differ so much externally, yet internally all except the 'low side window' and the east window are of the form known as the 'shouldered arch,' a form which, by-the-way, is more usually employed in doorways.

In front of the Sanctuary are preserved two old Perpendicular pews or stalls, with carved finials. The Sanctuary itself is raised on two steps, and extends eight feet from the east wall. The blocked door noticed on the exterior would open into the chapel immediately west of the line of the lower step.

This is among the very few churches in the country which retain the pre-Reformation stone altar, and if the instance at St. Anne's Hospital is genuine, Ripon thus possesses two examples of this rare feature. The altar here is 7 feet 7 inches long, 3 feet 5 inches wide, 2 feet 11 inches high, and has no step. Two of the usual five incised crosses (the larger cross near the middle is probably spurious) may still be traced upon the slab, the lower edge of which is chamfered off. In the front of the substructure are two deep recesses. The altar is flanked by two stone brackets. On the north wall is a third, and in the south wall a piscina with two-cusped arch and projecting basin.

In front of the altar is a tessellated pavement 11 feet long and nearly 4 feet wide. It is chiefly composed of red and blackish _tesserae_; but in the centre is a circular medallion containing a large four-petalled white flower with a red centre and small red flowers between the petals, all upon a ground of black. It has been supposed that this pavement was taken from the neighbouring remains of some Roman building. As regards the central medallion this is probably the case, but the rest of the pavement seems to be later work, perhaps of the thirteenth century.[129]

At the south end of the pavement is the slab of another and smaller altar, retaining three of its incised crosses.

It appears from a doc.u.ment of 1306 that the chapel at that date contained certain 'relics' of St. Mary Magdalene.

Of the mediaeval bridges of Ripon =The North Bridge= alone survives.[130]

It crosses the Ure on nine arches with bold b.u.t.tresses, triangular in plan, between them, and is prolonged, with three smaller arches, over the low meadow which forms the southern sh.o.r.e. It is from this sh.o.r.e that the best view of it is to be obtained, a few yards down stream. The arches, some of them recessed, vary in height and span, but all are round save two, over one of which there is a corbel-table below the parapet. The other side of the bridge was remodelled some twenty years ago.

FOOTNOTES:

[122] In the mediaeval records the street is almost invariably called Annesgate, and indeed was probably named after the hospital. The form 'Agnesgate' is, however, not modern, for it occurs in 1462. It may have arisen from a trisyllabic p.r.o.nunciation of 'Annesgate.'

[123] Thus far I am largely indebted to a paper on this hospital by the Rev. W. C. Lukis, F.S.A. in the twelfth edition of Walbran's _Ripon_.

[124] Possibly those of Boynton or Plumpton (_Parker_).

[125] The house is not shown.

[126] This latter peculiarity is found also in a house at Bishopton, a mile off.

[127] Some archaeologists, however, hold that the purpose of low side windows was to display a light to scare away demons.

[128] It is probable that in the interior of many of our old churches the surface of the stone was never meant to be seen, and was covered with plaster at the time of building. The plaster was doubtless often adorned with designs in colour.

[129] This view is held by Mr. Micklethwaite. The white _tesserae_ in the medallion resemble some which were dug up in 1837 on the site a.s.signed by Leland to the 'Old Abbay of Ripon' and which have been adduced to support the view that Wilfrid's Abbey Church stood on that site and not on the site of the present Cathedral (see p. 77 and n. 4 there).

[130] The others were Bondgate Bridge (over the Skell), Bishopton Bridge (over the Laver), Hewick Bridge (over the Ure below the town), the Archer-bridge, and the 'Esgel-bridge.' The position of the two last is uncertain, and the rest have long been rebuilt. Bishopton Bridge had a chapel upon it with which was connected a hermit. In the middle ages the bridges were under the charge of the Archbishop. They were often the recipients of bequests, but were themselves made to contribute to the Common Fund of the Collegiate Church, by means of money-boxes which were placed upon them.

APPENDIX.

ABBOTS OF THE SAXON MONASTERY.

ST. EATA _c._ 657-661.

ST. WILFRID 661-709.

TATBERHT 709.