Interior
The interior walk starts at the rear of the nave, facing east, towards the altar. From this position we will identify the main parts of the structure, before walking round the interior of the cathedral in a clock-wise direction.
But first, consider who built this magnificent building, and more importantly, why they built it.
The bishops who commissioned Winchester cathedral were among the most powerful people in the land. The builders were leading technologists of the day, with international reputations. Both bishop and master builder were important men of the world. In creating this building they were solving practical problems, and to fully appreciate their achievement it is worth reflecting on what those problems were.
Take stock - we are facing east, towards Jerusalem, and towards the high altar. North is to our left, and south to the right.
Behind us is the great west window, built by Bishop Edington in the 14th century, with glass completed by Bishop Wykeham later in the 14th century. Originally the stained glass represented prophets and saints, but it was destroyed by parliamentary troops during the civil war in 1642. It was re-assembled randomly in 1660 when the monarchy was restored, so the present windows are constructed from 14th century glass, but with no particular pattern.
Ahead of us is the nave.
It is constructed so that the clerestory windows light the high parts of the vault, and the larger windows in the chancel make the high altar brighter than the rest of the cathedral.
The naves of English cathedrals are long because the building accommodated both monks and laity. This divided the church into two, with the monks using the chancel, and the people the nave.
The provision of seats is a recent innovation. Through most of its history people stood and walked around the nave during services.
The screen was inserted in 1875 by George Gilbert Scott to replace a stone screen of 1820’s, which in turn replaced a 1630 screen by Inigo Jones. Previous screens featured the royal bronzes which now stand at west end (back) of the nave.
Beyond the screen lie the choir (which contains some notable wood carving), the high altar and the altar screen. We will view these in more detail as we move round the cathedral.
Above us is the vault.
The vault in the main part of the cathedral is of stone, but in the choir it is a 16th century imitation, of wood. The vault is constructed of ribs and infill. Above the vault there is a separate wooden and lead roof. The vault itself does not provide the covering to the building. It doesn’t support the roof itself, nor is it hung from the roof. It is a free-standing internal structure, added after the nave was built, below an existing roof. Although it does provide some protection from fire, it is there essentially for decoration rather than structural reasons.
The ribs are carefully constructed from carved stone, while the infill is made from rougher stone, plastered over. There are many different styles of ribbing in different cathedrals. The early types were very simple, running from each pillar to joint at a common point. The ribbing here is known as “lierne” and it is distinguished by the fact that some ribs do not begin at a pillar, but spring from other ribs. The ribs have three purposes. Firstly they provide a solid skeleton, which in the completed vault offers support to overall structure. Secondly, they simplify construction. The relatively light ribs could be constructed on simple scaffolding. Once in place they will have supported their own weight, while the remainder of the vault was filled. This avoided the need to build massive temporary scaffolding sufficiently strong to support the whole vault while it was built. Thirdly they have an aesthetic purpose, creating a rythmic pattern along the line of he roof, and masking any flaws in the remainder of the vault due to settlement of the building.
The ribbing in the crossing under the tower, and in the choir is in wood, not stone.
The masons who built Winchester cathedral did not push the limits as much as some others, but they did sometimes over-reach themselves, and encountered two major problems. Firstly, the original tower collapsed in 1107 and had to be rebuilt. We will see that no risks were taken with the replacement, which uses massive, and carefully constructed internal pillars to support a relatively low structure. Secondly, the original foundations of the cathedral were not sufficiently strong. The result was that foundations moved throughout the life of the cathedral, and by the end of the 19th century a great deal of work was needed to secure the foundations, and preserve the building.
From this point some visitors will walk forwards towards the altar, and return later to walk round the aisles. My own preference, having identified the key features from the back of the nave, is to continue down the north aisle, and we will now take this route, following the north, which lies to our left.
As a result of its basilica structure, the large space of the nave is supported on each side by aisles, which provide a processional route, and easy access to the transepts and the east end of the cathedral.
Having viewed the considerable length of the nave we will now circulate clock-wise starting in the north aisle, continuing around the retrochoir at the east end of the cathedral, and leaving via the south aisle on the other side of the nave.
On the way we will visit the north and south transepts, and a number of the cathedral's treasures. The first of these are in the north aisle itself.
The font dates from 1150, and is made of Tournai marble from Belgium. It is one of only ten in England, of which four are in Hampshire (East Meon, St Mary Bourne, Southampton and this one in Winchester).
The carving on two sides show scenes from the life of St Nicholas. In this case we see St Nicholas handing over dowries to the daughters of poor noblemen. The other sides are decorated with patterns, birds and salamanders.
The grave of Jane Austen lies in the North Aisle. She died in Winchester, after moving here in the hope that a Winchester doctor could cure her illness. She lived briefly just outside the cathedral close. The stone makes no mention of her writing (although a nearby wall plaque does) The text on the grave reads:
“In memory of JANE AUSTEN
Youngest daughter of the late reverend GEORGE AUSTEN
formerly rector of Steventon in this county.
She departed this life on the 18th July 1817, aged 44, after a long illness supported with the patience and the hopes of a Christian.
The benevolence of her heart, the sweetness of her composure, the extraordinary endowments of her mind, obtained the regard of all who knew her, and the warmest love of her intimate connections.
Their grief is in proportion to their affection. They know their loss to be irreparable, but in their deepest affliction they are comforted by a firm though humble hope that her charity, devotion faith and purity have rendered her soul acceptable in the sight of her REDEEMER”
The Holy sepulchre probably dates from the rebuilding of the tower in 1107. It is in the form of a chapel created for miracle plays about the finding of Christ's empty tomb. An altar cross was moved to tomb on good Friday, then monks re-enacted the finding of the empty tomb and returned the cross to high altar on easter Sunday.
The fresco dates from 1170’s. It seems to have been damaged when the new vault was inserted and covered with a new fresco in the 1200’s.
The style of the original Norman cathedral is retained in the north transept, with round pillars, round arches, no decoration. Compared to later work, it is energetic, simple in design and relatively crude in execution. At the time that this was built (shortly after the Norman conquest) there was extensive rebuilding of great churches and building of castles across England. Skilled labour must have been in short supply at a time when the Normans urgently needed to establish their presence. As a result this construction is simpler and cruder than contemporary church building in Normandy, but it is rated as the most powerful remaining example of early Norman English architecture.
The entrance to the crypt is in the North Transept. Guided tours are available (at no extra charge). Details of times are posted at the west entrance of the cathedral - or ask at the information desk, or one of the guides. The crypt is Norman, and flooded in Winter because of the high water table.
This excellent picture of the crypt, partly flooded with water, was kindly sent to me by Tom Martin, who tells me it was taken with an Olympus digital camera.
The ceiling of the transept dates only from 1820. Originally it would have been open to the rafters.
There is little evidence left, but as far as anyone knows, the nave was similar to the north transept until it was remodelled by Bishop Erdington and William of Wykeham from 1394 onwards.
To bring the style of the nave up to date, they re-cut a taller arch from the lower two tiers of Norman arches, expanded and restyled the windows in the contemporary perpendicular style, and cut mouldings into the piers so that they appeared less massive. Beginning at the west end, the first pillars to be remodelled had fluting cut into the existing stone. Later, only the core of the pillar was left in place, and a new stone cover built to surround it.
The approach that they used has been dissected by The Reverend Robert Willis, who was professor of applied mechanics at Cambridge University. His paper on the History of the Architecture of Winchester Cathedral was originally presented to the Archaeological institute in 1845, but it has been reprinted by the Friends of Winchester Cathedral. Inevitably, it is written in a 19th century style, so is not an easy read. However, it is well illustrated and worth some effort.
Beyond north transept we continue to work our way round the cathedral by climbing the steps to interior of the chancel.
Eastwards from this point all of the original Norman cathedral has been replaced by progressive rebuilding. The rebuilding work began in 1202 by Bishop Godfrey de Lucy
To the right is a screen around the choir. The screen was inserted in 1525, but this part of the building is early 14th century.
Pass through the screen for a close view of the choir stalls, and the altar screen as described earlier.
On top of the screen are Mortuary chests from 1525, containing the bones of Saxon kings, (including King Canute and this one, King Egbert) and Saxon Bishops. Originally these were located in the old minster, but were moved to the new minster at a later date. Originally they probably surrounded the grave of St Swithun, behind the high altar, but were moved to the mortuary chests later. Each is marked with the name of a king, but the bones themselves became jumbled in 1642 during the civil war.
The full list is:
Egbert claimed the kingdom of Wessex, defeated the Cornish and the Mercians in battle, and was accepted as king by the Northumbrians. He therefore has a claim to be the first English king. St Swithun was his chaplain.
Canute was a Dane who won the crown in battle, but later became regarded as a just ruler. He kept separate wives and families in both of his kingdoms (Denmark and England), and is remembered for the legend that he ordered the waves to hold back in order to impress sycophantic courtiers that even a king had limited powers.
Chaplain to Edward the confessor. He became, irregularly but simultaneously, Bishop of Winchester, Archbishop of Canterbury, and master of several abbeys. Although he probably crowned King Harold, and supported Edgar Atheling in his rebellion against King William he must have wielded considerable power to have remained in place for four years after the conquest, until William replaced him with Bishop Walkelin.
King William II (1087-1100), known as William Rufus, is also buried at Winchester. He was the third son of William the conqueror he inherited the crown in 1087, fought off counter-claims from his brother by promising the people (but never delivering) reduced taxation, he seized church properties, was unsuccessful in battle, and eventually died in 1100 - suspiciously shot by an arrow while hunting in the new forest. The subsequent burial at Winchester of this unpopular king, was felt by some to be the cause of the collapse of the tower in 1107.
The choir stalls date from 1308, and are some of the finest existing from that date. They are made of Norwegian oak because English oak at that time was being heavily used for shipbuilding. The seats have misericords.
The lectern is a wooden eagle dating from the 17th c.
Take time to inspect the intricate carving above the choir stalls: they represent a forest with a variety of different plants and animals. Look particularly for the falconer, and the Green Man, and if they are accessible, look for the misericords below the seats.
The choir lies directly under the central tower, which was originally open to the roof, and hence acted as lantern, bringing additional light into this area. A ceiling was inserted in 1634 to create a loft for the bell-ringers.
Surrounding the choir are the four massive pillars supporting the tower. After the original tower collapsed in 1107, these were rebuilt, with a higher quality of masonry, and greater size.
Beyond the choir is the high altar, and the reredos (altar screen). The reredos dates from the 16th century, but the statues are from Victorian times - hence the presence of Queen Victoria (to the right of the altar) among Saxon kings. Also look for St Swithun, holding his bridge, to the left of Jesus.
Continuing towards the east, we move behind the high altar, where the chancel opens up into the retrochoir. This was constructed around 1200 in the Early English style.
This is a simple, well proportioned structure, much lighter in construction than the norman transepts of 100 years earlier.
The arches are pointed, not rounded, and supported by thin pillars of purbeck marble.
However, some of the simplicity of the structure has been confused by later monuments, and particularly by a number of substantial Chantry Chapels.
Winchester contains a particularly large number of these, mostly in the retrochoir, but also in the nave, which contains the chantry chapels of Bishop Edington and William of Wykeham. Their design illustrates in microcosm how later gothic cathedral architecture evolved, and became increasingly complex, and rich in decoration.
The chantry chapels were built by bishops of Winchester, as a memorial to themselves.
The bishops were rich men, whose diocese extended to the south of London, where they had a palace, and licensed entertainments that were banned in the city to the north of the river Thames. Shakespeare's Globe theatre stood on land held by Winchester cathedral, as part of a complex in Southwark providing all kinds of leisure activities which were not available in the more strict city itself.
The accumulated wealth of these powerful men ensured that they were able to afford rich memorial chapels, and to leave endowments which secured clerics who continued to pray in the chapel for the bishop's soul after his death.
This is the chantry chapel of Cardinal Beaufort. Cardinal Beaufort attended the trial and condemnation of Joan of Arc. When she was canonised in 1920, it was felt that Winchester diocese needed to make some reparation, so a statue to Joan was dedicated in 1923. It can be seen at the back of the retrochoir.
Some chantry chapels contain realistic carvings of cadavers (memento mori, or reminders of death) which look pretty bizarre by today's standards.
This used to be Bishop Fox, whose chapel was built before he died, and was known as Bishop Fox's study because he spent so much time here. In his will he requested that he be buried “in the chapel which I have prepared” “fifty torches are to accompany my body to the burying and fifty more are to be used the following day at mass”
On the floor of the retrochoir is the largest area of medieval tiles in England. Dating from 1240 - 1300, with a few modern (1968) reproductions replacing damaged areas. The basic tile is made from red clay. A pattern was stamped into the soft red clay, which was then filled with white clay. There are 65 different patterns (count them), arranged in patterns, many of which have subsequently been disturbed
The undulations of the floor give some indication of how much movement there has been in the foundations at this end of the building. The subsidence has also produced distortion which is noticeable in some of the pillars in the south aisle of the retrochoir.
St Swithun (died 862) was a 9th century bishop of Winchester. Little is known of his life, although he built several churches, was noted for his humility, is supposed to have rebuilt the bridge over the River Itchen, and restored a basket of broken eggs. He was chaplain to King Egbert, and tutor to his son Ethelwulf. He became bishop of Winchester in 852 when Ethelwulf became king. His remains were transferred from the old Saxon cathedral on St Swithun's day (July 15th) in 971 to be transferred to the new Saxon cathedral which pre-dated the current Norman cathedral.
Reputedly Swithun did not approve, and it rained continuously for 40 days. Hence the folklore that if it rains on St. Swithun's day it will continue to rain for 40 days. Appropriately, he is the patron saint of drought relief.
In 1125 a monk called Reinald went to Norway to found the cathedral of St Switun Stavanger. The holy relic he took with him was one of St Swithun's arms. Swithun's shrine stands over the point where he was buried, and was made in 1962.
Beyond the retrochoir are three chapels. The Guardian Angels chapel on the left (north) has a remarkable painted ceiling dating from 1241, which shows angels peering down at us through the windows in heaven.
The Lady Chapel in the centre contains a series of English wall paintings from the early 16th century.
They show various miracles reputedly performed by the virgin Mary - from the top left those shown here are St John of Damascus whose hand was chopped off, then restored, A rose that grew out of a dead monks mouth with the inscription Ave Maria, The thief Ebbo and the pious Painter being supported on the scaffold. In the chapel are leaflets with more details of the pictures.
Now we work back along the length of the cathedral, using the south aisle.
After descending the steps from the chancel to the south transept it is worth taking a look back at the mixture of different styles of vaults and arches between the transept and the choir, and noting the massive size of the tower piers rebuilt after its collapse.
The Venerable chapel is at the foot of the steps.
The grave of Izaak Walton (1593-1683) is in the Silkstede Chapel - one of the two chapels in the south transept.
Walton was the author of The Compleat Angler, or the Contemplative Man's Recreation (first edition 1653, expanding from 13 to 21 chapters through five editions over 13 years) covering fishes, rivers, ponds, fishing tackle, as well as reflections on life and morals. He lived for a while in the cathedral close.
“Here resteth the body of Mr Isaac Walton who dyed the 15th of December 1683
Alas hee's gone before, Gone to returne noe more
Our panting breaths aspire, After their aged sire
Whose wellspent life did last, Full ninety years and past
But now he hath begun, That which will nere be done
Crownd with eternal bliss, We wish our souls with his.”
Also in the south transept is an elaborate Victorian memorial to
Samuel Wilberforce
(known as Soapy Sam), 1805-73, third son of William Wilberforce of slave trade fame, and bishop of Winchester from 1869.
Disraeli once described the manner of Bishop Wilberforce as “unctuous, oleaginous, saponaceous” And the good prelate was ever afterward known as Soapy Sam. For every man there is something in the vocabulary that would stick to him like a second skin. His enemies have only to find it. (The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce).
When he was asked why he was called Soapy Sam, the bishop replied, “Because I am often in hot water, and always come out with clean hands.”
We now work our way westwards along the south aisle towards the exit in the west wall.
In the south aisle are chantry chapels for two bishops who shaped the present structure of Winchester cathedral - and particularly the appearance of the nave. We first pass the chantry chapel of Bishop Edington (pictured here), and later that of William of Wykeham.
The remodelling of the nave and West end were the work of these two Bishops. The work was begun by Bishop Edington, and completed by William of Wykeham.
To understand their achievement, compare the present appearance of the nave with the Norman transepts which we encountered earlier. The arches of the Norman structure were recut, in situ into Perpendicular style. In some cases the surface of the original pillar was simply recut to a new shape, in others the stone cladding was removed, and rebuilt. The process is analysed in detail by Willis.
Although the remodelling of the West end was begun by Erdington, the bulk of the work was carried out by William Wykeham - a remarkable figure in the history of Winchester.
William of Wykeham (1324-1404) was born near Fareham, appointed surveyor of royal castles by Edward III, became Bishop of Winchester in 1367, was Chancellor of England between 1367-71 and 1389-91.
He founded Winchester school (and hence created the model for English public schools) and New College Oxford, both as a means of educating people for the church.
William of Wykeham was largely responsible for the remodelling of the nave between 1366 and his death in 1404 since he largely funded and actively supervised the work
His chantry chapel is the most magnificent in the cathedral. He chose to position it where he had attended mass as a boy. Look closely, and at his feet three praying monks seem to be applauding his works.
Navigation
Click on the picture to continue the walk in the environs of the cathedral.
We will now move further afield, exploring historic buildings around the town of Winchester in two more extended walks.
