Many historians have been convinced the cathedral’s Lady Chapel instigated by Bishop Walter Langton was deliberately modelled on Louis IX’s Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.[1] Perhaps no building in Europe refers to the Sainte-Chapelle in such a direct and literal fashion as the Lady Chapel. The following is a comparison of the two shrine chapels, both dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
·
Work on the Lady Chapel is thought to have
started by 1315,[2]
and completed by 1336,[3] but
the dates are uncertain. Work was possibly halted in 1321 on Bishop Langton’s
death. Quarrying was mentioned in 1323 for use in the Lady Chapel and work was
still being undertaken in 1335. Sainte-Chapelle was built nearly 80 years
earlier; construction began sometime after 1238 and the chapel was consecrated
in 1248. The ‘Holy Royal Chapel’ in Paris was therefore an architectural gem to
emulate.[4]
The Lady
Chapel standing behind the spot where once stood a shrine to St Chad.
Sainte-Chapelle
1890–1900.
·
The name of William Franceys has been suggested
as the master-mason employed by Bishop Langton and he might possibly have been a
Frenchman.[5] It
has been conjectured Parisian stonemasons were employed and they knew how Sainte-Chapelle
was built, but there is no evidence for this. There are many similarities in
the construction which give this inference.
An examination
of stonework in 2009[6]
found red sandstone was used on the lower half of the Lady Chapel and an orange
sandstone on the upper half from the springing line of the windows. The red
sandstone is thought to be original and from the cathedral site; the source of
the orange sandstone has not been found. It shows significant alteration of the
chapel.
·
Both chapels present as tall, narrow extensions
to the church. The Lady Chapel is approximately 17 m long, 13 m wide and 18 m
high,[7]
whereas Sainte-Chapelle upper chapel (there is a smaller lower chamber) is much
longer and a little taller, internally, at 33 m long, 10 m wide and 20.5 m high.
Comparison
of plans of the two chapels. The Lady Chapel shape is semi-octagonal with nine external bay elevations
and eight buttresses. It is unusual for England, but has French parallels. Sainte-Chapelle
has four bays on each side and a seven-sided apse.
Lady Chapel exterior. Note the massive buttresses to hold the mass of window. Also, the three windows are all different indicating alteration. At the base are three recesses and below them at ground level can be seen small windows to a subterranean undercroft. The three small windows were added once the ground level in front had been lowered, c. 1 m, on several occasions.
Large buttresses with pinnacles on top |
·
The windows have simple trefoil tracery. Sections
of the three windows in the Lady Chapel apse are original, those on the sides were
rebuilt by Scott.[10]
At Sainte-Chapelle around two-thirds of the 15 windows are original, one-third
were destroyed in the French Revolution, 1789. The greater loss of original window
in the Lady Chapel has to be ascribed to the Civil War.
·
Internal niches held statues. In the Lady Chapel
it was supposed the original figures were the ten wise and foolish virgins
(Matthew 25, 2).[11]
In 1895, the niches were filled with figures of ten virgin saints and martyrs.[12] Sainte-Chapelle
has 12 apostles, of which six are replicas, the originals were destroyed in the
French Revolution, 1789.
·
Ogee arches. The Lady Chapel has ‘nodding’ ogees
(they curve forwards).
· On the south side of the Lady Chapel are three small chambers.[13] They act to buttress the lower part on ground which is much lower on the south side. They were possibly intended as sacristies for chantry chaplains serving at the chapel altar.[14] Alternatively, they were used for anchorite priests to receive visitors for spiritual guidance, see the post ‘Anchoritism’. From the western chamber a low doorway in the west wall gives access to a flight of stone steps that leads down to an undercroft below the three chambers. Either this undercroft or the one under the consistory have been used for imprisonment.[15] Externally there were recesses, presumably for tombs. In the early 18th-century there was a doorway, now stopped up, that accessed the Close.
Drawing of
south side showing the door. From Dugdale Monasticum Anglicanum, late 17th-century. Note also the style of windows before Victorian reordering.
At Sainte-Chapelle
there is a lower storey to the chapel once reserved for courtiers, servants and
soldiers of Louis IX’s court. This chapel has a low ceiling and small windows
and is consequently dimly lit. It contrasts with the upper chapel with its many
windows, rays of coloured light passing through and painted walls and ceiling.
Roof of the Lady Chapel with its complex rib vaulting.
Beautiful rib vaulting, bosses and appropriate paintwork.
·
Vaulting in the Lady Chapel roof is continuous
with the nave and choir having a mid-line rib vault. There are seven ribs
diverging from the slender shafts like the choir (only six in the nave). There are four transverse
ribs, twelve roof bosses and tierceron ribs. Sainte-Chapelle is much simpler with no mid-line
vault, only three arch ribs from each wall shaft and five bosses. It appears as
a four-part ribbed quoin vault. Clearly the roof for the Lady Chapel is more
complex and has a later date; it might not have been the first roof
constructed. Civil war damage, especially on the parapet has been found.
Boss which appears to have 'Green Man' features.
Maddison has linked many features of the Lady Chapel which fit into the architectural fashion of 14th-century England. The decorative motifs have parallels with buildings in Kent, East Anglia and elsewhere.[16] He conjectured an association with Canterbury masons and sees associations with St Stephen’s Chapel at Westminster begun in 1292 and continued into the early 14th century. He particularly noted the wall passage at window-sill level that is absent at Sainte-Chapelle, but can be seen at the east end of Westminster Abbey, 1245‑69, and also at Bristol. The passage has no structural or functional purpose and must simply be an expected feature for the time of construction. The same goes for the small vaulted chambers on the south side which have a counterpart at Bristol. Maddison pointed out the decorative crenellations follow from those on the tower and the surrounding wall of the Close. It is clear the Lady Chapel is a mixture of features from several prior buildings and is thus unique.
[1]
J. Maddison, ‘Building at Lichfield Cathedral during the episcopate of Walter
Langton (1296–1321)’. The British Archaeological Association conference
transactions for 1987. XIII Medieval Archaeology and Architecture at Lichfield.
(1993), 72.
[2]
Ibid, 80. Also M. W. Greenslade, 'Lichfield: The cathedral', in A
History of the County of Stafford: Volume 14, Lichfield. (London, 1990),
47-57.
[3]
In 1336, William de Heywood and Robert Aylbrick were admitted as custodians of
the fabric of the chapel of the Blessed Mary. This is taken to indicate the
Chapel was now being used.
[4]
Maddison (1993), 72, conjectured Bishop Roger Meuland, 1275–95, might have
strongly considered adding a Sainte-Chapelle type ending to the squared east
end of the 13th-century cathedral. He also conjectured, page 70, if Langton
formulated the idea of rebuilding the eastern arm of the cathedral before
ordering a new shrine for St Chad in the Lady Choir (retrochoir).
[5] Is Franceys a corruption of France? J. Harvey, English Medieval Architects. (Stroud: 1984) 105 conjectured if
the builder was William of Eyton instead.
[6]
K. Blockley, Lady Chapel, Lichfield, Staffordshire. Standing fabric
recording report 665. (2011).
[7]
Length and height of the Lady Chapel are taken from T. Harwood, The history and antiquities of the church and city of
Lichfield. (London: 1806), 72. The
height of the Lady Chapel is the same as the Nave.
[8]
Sainte-Chapelle upper chapel is said to be two-thirds glass; that is the
impression from the inside.
[9]
J. G. Londsdale, Recollections of work done
in and upon Lichfield Cathedral from 1856--1894. (Lichfield: 1895), 29–30.
[10]
Londsdale and others noted the extremely poor state of the exterior of the Lady
Chapel before restoration. Tracery was found consisting of Roman cement moulded
onto wood with rope, metal and bitumen incorporated. The windows had to be
re-leaded. The two western most windows are entirely Scott’s design.
[11]
W. Stukeley, Itinerarium Curiosum: or an
account of the antiquities and remarkable curiosities in nature and art
observed in travels through Great Britain. (London: 1776).
[12]
The statues are, 1. St Werburga with pastoral staff and book and a model of
Chester Cathedral at her feet. 2. St Cecilia with organ. 3. St Prisca with palm
branch, and lion at her feet. 4. St Faith with sword and rack. 5. St Catherine
with sword and wheel and open book treading on a monster. 6. St Margaret with
book and cross treading on a dragon. 7. St Lucy with palm branch and lamp. 8.
St Agnes with palm branch and book and lamb at her feet. 9. St Agatha with palm
branch and tongs. 10. St Etheldreda with crown, pilgrim staff, pastoral staff
and a model of Ely cathedral.
[13]
J. C. Fox, ‘The Mortuary Chapels of Lichfield Cathedral’, Derbyshire
Archaeological Journal. (1879), 1. A. B. Clifton, The Cathedral church of Lichfield. (London: 1900), 105, also called them Mortuary
Chapels.
[14]
All three side chambers were altered in 1879 with the middle one converted for
Bishop Selwyn’s tomb.
[15] Mentioned by T. Harwood (1806), 96, without reference. J. C. Fox (1879), 122, mentions hearsay of Parliamentarian spies being imprisoned during the siege of the Royalists.
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