C. King Eley

“ Nearly all the small spandrels formed by the various ornaments are perforated, and this imparts a remarkable air of lightness to the window.
The beautiful stained glass in the tracery is all that remains of the ancient glass. ”

“ Catherine's Chapel—a chantry of Early Decorated style erected on the walls of a former Norman building.
Jefferson says: "In most large churches, altars, distinct from that in the chancel, were founded by wealthy and influential individuals, at which masses might be sung for the repose of the dead; the portion thus set apart, which was generally the east end of one of the aisles, was then denominated a chantry: in it the tomb of the founder was generally placed, and it was separated from the rest of the church by a screen. ”

“ There is no reason for doubting that the various buildings were handed over in good order at the dissolution of the priory. The destruction which has left standing only the fratry, the prior's lodging, and the gate tower (1528) , was the act of the Parliamentary troops and their Scottish allies in 1645, when, in addition to pulling down part of the nave, they destroyed most of the monastic buildings, in order to use the materials for the erection of guard-houses, and to strengthen the fortifications. ”

“ A staircase crossing over the east window in the thickness of the wall receives light from the triangular window enclosing three trefoils which appears in the gable. Immediately beneath this Trinity window—as it is called—is a richly-canopied niche adorned with a statue of the Virgin Mary bearing in her arms the Holy Child.
20 The summit of the gable is crowned by a large richly-floriated cross; and on each side are four smaller ones, with crockets of foliage between them. ”

“ Below this are two quatrefoils, easily distinguished by their silvery appearance. These represent the Procession of the Redeemed to the heavenly Jerusalem, whose towers and pavilions are shown in the quatrefoil to the right. St. Peter stands in the gateway in an attitude of welcome; at his feet flows the River of Life, which some of the Redeemed have reached. The red glare of the Place of punishment makes it easy to be distinguished; the tortures represented are of the most realistic character, and the devils are very material beings, with tails, hoofs, and horns. ”

“ CARLISLE CATHEDRAL CHAPTER I HISTORY OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF THE HOLY AND UNDIVIDED TRINITY
The details of the founding of the cathedral of Carlisle are very precise and clear.
When William Rufus returned southwards after re-establishing the city of Carlisle, he left as governor a rich Norman priest named Walter. He began at once to build a church to be dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was to have in connection with it a college of secular canons. Walter did not, however, live to see the building finished, and Henry I. took it upon himself to complete the good work. ”

“ Upon the string-course which runs along the wall unbroken by the buttresses there is in each bay a window with a circular head, flanked by single columns. A ring-like ornament is used as a decoration for one of the mouldings of the arch.
These windows, except the one above the doorway, are restorations. The doorway itself, which leads into the nave, is modern, imitated from the Norman window.
The Clerestory in each compartment has a window which differs from the aisle windows in having the billet as decoration of its outer moulding. ”

“ Under the great window, a little to the south, is a tombstone, similar to that of Bishop Bell in the choir, but the brass is missing.
On the south side the last arch of the main arcade is supported by a bracket representing a human figure sustaining mouldings, resembling the one at the end of the north aisle.
The small east window is in memory of John Heysham, M.D. (1753-1834) . He graduated at Edinburgh in 1777, and settled in Carlisle where he practised till his death. He is famous for his statistical observations ”

“ The figure of our Saviour is in the uppermost quatrefoil of the central compartment; His countenance will bear the closest inspection; it exhibits evident traces of suffering, but is calm, severe, and dignified. ”

“ The design consists of two complete compositions united under one head by interposing a third. The York window, on the contrary, is altogether one complete design, from which no part can be separated without breaking the integrity of the composition.
The width of the opening is the same in both windows, but while the actual tracery of the York window is more than two feet higher, the Carlisle window is greatly superior in the beautiful arch mouldings above its tracery, and also in the side shafts and mouldings. ”

“ The south wall, with its flat buttresses, is partly Norman, and partly thirteenth-century work; and this description generally applies to the north and west walls.
About 50 yards from the south-west angle and on the city walls is King Richard's Tower, a building of two storeys, where Richard III. is said to have lived when at Carlisle. It is also called the Tile Tower because of the thin bricks with which it was built. A subterranean passage leading to the keep was discovered here early this century. Entrance to the castle is gained by a bridge crossing the moat ”

“ 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. ”

“ As the choir never had a groined ceiling there was no necessity for flying buttresses, and their absence gives the clerestory a very monotonous flat effect. This is further intensified by the window tracery being level with the wall, the architraves having no depth of moulding round them. ”

“ This great window almost entirely fills the east end of the choir, being 51 feet high from the sill to the top of the tracery and about 26 feet wide in the clear.
Immediately after the fire in 1292, the work was started, and the jambs with their slender shafts and foliated capitals were erected. Nothing more was done till about the middle of the fourteenth century, when the arch mullions were added; and 47 the tracery dates from about the end of the same century. The mouldings were left unfinished until the restoration of the cathedral, 1856. ”

“ The aim of each writer has been to produce a work compiled with sufficient knowledge and scholarship to be of value to the student of Archæeology and History, and yet not too technical in language for the use of an ordinary visitor or tourist. ”

“ A large pinnacle, richly decorated, like the others, with crockets and finials, finishes the compartment.
Between each stall is a small buttress beginning at the capital and finishing somewhat beneath the top of the large pinnacle. These buttresses have, alternately, a pedestal with a canopy above; and a pedestal supporting a small flying-buttress terminating in a pinnacle enriched with small crockets.
Prior Haithwaite is said to have added the tabernacle-work after the year 1430. ”

“ 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 19 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Augustine abandoned the Manichean doctrines, and was baptized at Easter the following year, A.D. 387. Monica, who had prayed unceasingly for his conversion, now visited him at Milan, and was greatly rejoiced at the answer to her prayers. His mother started to return to Africa with her son, but died at Ostia. At a villa outside Hippo, St. Augustine passed three years in the company of eleven pious men. "They had all things in common as in the early Church; and fasting and prayer, Scripture-reading and almsgiving, formed their regular occupations. ”

“ The western bays may have lost the space taken for the choir entrance. They have very acute arches, and at the west end rest on responds or half-piers against the tower walls. Those at the east end rest on brackets, and their mouldings lose themselves in the wall on each side of the great window.
The presbytery is reached by two steps from the choir, and the last bay but one (in which the altar stands) is raised three steps above the presbytery.
The main arcade practically dates from after the terrible fire in 1292. ”

“ 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 18 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. ”

“ Satan is said to have tempted him by sending spirits to him, disguised as beautiful women. Finding this ineffectual, it is related that the Evil One made a violent attack on him, and beat him so severely that he left him for dead. ”

“ He believed that the human race progresses in religion equally with its progress in all other knowledge. He is said to have been "a man of great softness of manners, and of the mildest and most tranquil disposition." He died in 1787, and was buried in the cathedral. ”

“ Thomas Appleby (1363-1395) , Canon of Carlisle. More than once during his episcopate he was a warden of the western marches. In 1372 he was required by the king, in conjunction with the Bishop of Durham, and others, to be ready to repel any invasion by the Scots. He was also one of the commissioners, in 1384, to treat with the king of Scotland for a renewal of the truce, and, in 1392, to execute that part of a treaty with France which concerned Scottish affairs. He died in 1395. ”

“ In the year 1422 Bishop Whelpdale at his death left the 33 sum of £200, for the purpose of founding and endowing a chantry for the performance of religious offices for the souls of Sir Thomas Skelton, knight, and Mr. John Glaston, two gentlemen with whom he had been on terms of intimate friendship, and who were buried in the cathedral. Nicholson thinks it probable this was the chantry of St. Roch; its revenues were valued at £2, 14s. per annum. ”

“ Some of the cell walls have been carved at various times with figures of men, birds, and animals. These were, perhaps, executed with a nail. In the north wall is the shaft of a well, 78 feet deep. This is supposed to be the well which was shown to St. Cuthbert when he visited Carlisle. The dungeons are in the ground floor, and of course are distinguished by a plentiful lack of daylight and fresh air.
THE CASTLE.
Queen Mary's Tower, so called from having been the prison of Mary Queen of Scots, was in the south-east angle of the inner ward. ”

“ They were underbuilt with Early Decorated piers, while the capitals were finished at the same time as the triforium and clerestory (Late Decorated) 1350-1400.
The piers are not equal in diameter to those of the nave; they measure but five feet and a quarter. Each consists of eight clustered pillars of red sandstone. The four facing the cardinal points of the compass are larger than the intermediate ones, which are filleted. The base moulding is very deep and hollow. These piers support the Early English arches, with dog-tooth ornament large in the interior, small in the exterior. ”