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Page 15
On entering the church, through the north porch, one is struck by its
loftiness and dignity, the vaulting throughout being of stone, while
almost every ornamental feature of the Norman style can be seen.
Proceeding to the western end of the church, and looking down the nave,
the gradual development of its architecture can be well seen. The east
end is Norman, the bay next the transepts Transition Norman, while the
west end is Early English. The windows vary from Norman and Transition
Norman to Early English, while those of the clerestory are Decorated.
Mention must be made of the fine stone screens and tabernacle-work on
either side of the altar, the altar slab of Purbeck marble, the
triforium of intersecting arches in the choir, and the roof pendants.
The western portion of the church was built during the mastership of
Peter de Sancto Mario, and his fine canopied tomb is a striking object
on the north side of the nave. Interesting, too, are the beautiful
fourteenth-century tiles, some bearing the appropriate motto "Have
Mynde"; and a very human note is struck in the mason's marks, still to
be seen in various parts of the building, especially around the
staircase door in the south transept. What these signs actually mean is
unknown, but some authorities, notably Leader Scott in her work on
_Cathedral Builders_, trace them through the Comacine Guild to the Roman
_Collegia_.
In the south-east corner of the south transept, on the exterior of the
church, is a "triple-arch", which is thought to have been a doorway, and
may have led to the "clerken-house", the original habitation of the
seven choristers and their master, but which was pulled down by de
Cloune, Master of St. Cross in the fourteenth century, who also allowed
other parts of the fabric to fall into a state of great dilapidation.
Here also, on the south side of the quadrangle, stood the original
houses of Beaufort's foundation, which were not pulled down until 1789.
No groups of buildings are in their way more charming or more
impregnated with human associations than the famous episcopal foundation
of St. Cross--an asylum of peace and rest, comfort and repose, to those
who find shelter within its ancient walls, and a standing monument to
the memory of the pious Henry de Blois and the princely churchman,
Cardinal Beaufort. Winchester, like many an English city, would be shorn
of much of its interest were this benevolent institution to be removed.
The general air of peace and quietude, the grass-bordered walks, the
stately church, all contribute to convey an appeal which is almost
sacred in its simple eloquence. In the words of one who loved it well:
"No one can pass its threshold without feeling himself landed, as it
were, in another age. The ancient features of the building, the noble
gateway, the quadrangle, the common refectory, the cloister, and, rising
above all, the lofty and massive pile of the venerable church, the
uniform garb and reverend mien of the aged brethren, the common
provision for their declining years, the dole at the gatehouse, all lead
back our thoughts to days when men gave their best to God's honour, and
looked on what was done to His poor as done to Himself, and were as
lavish of architectural beauty on what modern habits might deem a
receptacle for beggars, as on the noblest of royal palaces. It seems a
place where no worldly thought, no pride, or passion, or irreverence
could enter; a spot where, as a modern writer has beautifully expressed
it, a good man, might he make his choice, would wish to die."
The country around this beautiful city by the Itchen is full of quiet
charm, for life's ever-changing drama has but one and the same
background. The actors come and go, but the stage remains much the same,
and the devotions, the meditations, and the acts of men who lived
centuries ago were set in the amphitheatre of the same green hills, and
took place beside the same winding river as those we gaze upon to-day.
[Illustration: PLAN OF WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL]
Literature, too, has worthy names here in Izaak Walton and Jane Austen,
both of whom lie buried in the cathedral; while the house at Winchester
in which the author of _Persuasion_ lived, for a brief period before
her death, stands beyond the college gate. Above the door is a wooden
tablet recording that here Jane Austen spent her last days, dying July
18, 1817. She had previously resided at Chawton for some eight years,
but her house in the village is now a Workmen's Club. At the same time,
Chawton is a pretty little spot, watered by land springs, known locally
as "lavants"; while some few miles away is Farrington, where Gilbert
White, of "Selborne" fame, was curate.
Other literary associations of the Winchester country are those
furnished by Hursley, where John Keble was vicar; by Otterbourne, the
home for many years of Charlotte Yonge; and by Eversley, where
Winchester's immortal son, Charles Kingsley, lies buried.
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