Listed Building: CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST MARY AND CLOISTERS AND CHAPTER HOUSE AND LIBRARIES (1388680)

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Grade I
Authority Department of Culture, Media and Sport
Date assigned 08 October 1953
Date last amended

Description

LINCOLN SK9771NE MINSTER YARD 1941-1/9/224 Cathedral Church of St Mary, 08/10/53 cloisters, chapter house and libraries GV I Cathedral church with attached cloisters, chapter house and libraries. Established c1072-1092 by Bishop Remigius. Restored and extended following a fire, 1123-1148, for Bishop Alexander. Remodelled c1180-1200 by Richard the Mason and Geoffrey de Noiers for St Hugh of Avalon. Transepts extended and completed c1230-1235 by Michael "magister operis". Crossing tower rebuilt c1240 by master mason Alexander, and heightened 1307-1311 by Richard of Stow. Angel Choir added 1256-1280, probably by Simon de Tresk. Cloisters c1290-1300. Chapter house C13. Song school early C13. Galilee porch, west of south transept, mid C13. Cantelupe Chantry 1355, Fleming chantry 1431 by John Porter, Russell chantry 1494, Langland chantry c1547 by William Kitchin. Old Library c1422. Honywood Library, north of cloister, 1674, by Sir Christopher Wren, with contemporary bookcases. Rooms under west towers c1730 by James Gibbs. Dean Wickham Library 1909-1914 by Hodgson Fowler. Major restorations by James Gibbs, 1725, James Essex, 1761, J C Buckler, mid C19, J L Pearson, 1870-1893, Sir Charles Nicholson and Sir Francis Fox, 1921. Spires removed from towers, 1807. Dressed stone and ashlar, with lead roofs. Romanesque, Early English, Perpendicular and Tudor Revival styles. Latin Cross plan. EXTERIOR: nave with aisles, major and minor transepts, morning chapel, Galilee porch, choir and angel choir, 4 chantries, cloister with library above, chapter house, former library, now cafe. West end, 5 bays, has blind arcade. Elaborate central gable and corner turrets topped with octagonal spires. 3 graduated Romanesque doorways flanked by niches. Over them, an outstanding C12 frieze of biblical scenes. Above, two towers, 2 stages, with octagonal corner turrets, Decorated bell stage openings and traceried parapets. Nave, 7 bays, has flying buttresses and an arcaded clerestory. Buttressed aisles have single lancet windows flanked by blind arches. North-west morning chapel and corresponding former Consistory Court, 4 bays, have each 4 single lancets. Major transepts, 3 bays, have to east, ranges of chapels and flying buttresses. North and south gables have outstanding traceried round windows, C13 and early C14. Cruciform Galilee porch, c1240, has a vaulted interior and ornate restored doorways. St Hugh's choir and aisles, 5 bays, has flying buttresses, single and double lancet windows, and an arcaded clerestory. Crossing tower, 3 stages, has octagonal corner turrets topped with spires, and a crocketed traceried balustrade. Arcaded lower stages, and bell stage with 2 openings on each side, below ornamented gables. Eastern minor transepts have spire-topped buttresses throughout. To south-west, song school, early C13, 2 bays. To north-east, a chapel remodelled in 1772 by James Essex. Angel choir, 1256-1280, 5 bays, has north and south aisles and flying buttresses throughout. Aisles have elaborately carved off-centre portals, remodelled late C14. Arcaded clerestory has 4-light windows on each side. East end has blind arcading, buttresses with spires, and a crocketed gable. East window has Geometrical tracery with 2 groups of 4 lights. Above it, a 5-light pointed arched window. North side has attached Fleming chantry, c1431, and south side has Russell chantry, c1494, and Longland chantry, c1547, all Perpendicular style with 3-light windows. Chapter house, mid C13, decagonal, has 8 freestanding flying buttresses, quatrefoil frieze and pyramidal roof. In each segment headed bay, a 2-light pointed arched window. Entrance passage, to west, has 2 flanking stair towers with saddleback gables. Cloister, 1296, 9 x 14 bays, has traceried unglazed arcades on 3 sides and an unusual wooden rib vault. To south-east, a vaulted arcaded vestibule. North side has a Tuscan arcade, 9 bays, and above it the Honywood library with 11 cross casement windows, the central one with cornice on brackets. To east, a single timber framed bay of the Old Library, c1422. To east again, Dean Wickham library, 2 storeys. INTERIOR has vaulted west porches with C14 blind arcading, and wall cladding and doorways c1730 by James Gibbs. Central opening to nave, C13, has a strainer arch with balustrade, 1761, by James Essex. Morning chapel has rib vault and a central pier. Former Consistory Court has a similar unsupported vault. Both have arcaded screen walls. Nave, 7 bays, has arcades of clustered piers of varying design, with stiff-leaf capitals. Gallery has 2 multi-shafted triple arches per bay. Clerestory has multiple shafts. Moulded arches throughout. Tierceron vault, c1233. Aisles have blind arcades with detached shafts and rib vaults. Main crossing piers have Purbeck shafts and stiff-leaf capitals. Lierne vault, late C14. Major transepts have eastern arcades, 3 bays, with stone or wood screens, some of them reproductions. East walls have syncopated blind arcading attributed to Geoffrey de Noiers. Each aisle has to east 3 vaulted chapels. Both transepts have multiple shafted galleries and clerestories, and rib vaults. South gable has a round window with a double tiered filigree surround. St Hugh's choir, 4 bays, has rectangular piers with clustered shafts and crocket capitals, and multiple shafted openings throughout. Unique asymmetrical rib vault. Aisle outer walls have syncopated blind arcading and rib vaults. Western screen has crest and central doorway with a crocketed ogee gable, flanked on either side by 4 gabled vaulted niches. Beyond, single multiple shafted doorways. Eastern minor transepts have syncopated blind arcading and vaulted east chapels with simpler blind arcading. Angel choir, 5 bays, 1255-1280, has north and south aisles. Clustered piers, alternately of limestone and Purbeck marble. Gallery has 2 double traceried arches in each bay, with noteworthy sculptured angels in the spandrels. Clerestory windows have an unglazed inner screen mirroring the window tracery. Rib vault with noteworthy foliate and figure bosses to choir and aisles. Chapter house has blind arcading and a central round pier with ringed shafts, and a lierne vault with moulded ribs and bosses. Entrance passage has blind arcading and rib vault, with moulded west doorway flanked by single recesses. FITTINGS include a rare Tournai marble font, C12, with 4 shafts to a square bowl with a relief of beasts. Easter sepulchre, 6 bays, c1290. St Hugh's choir, has wooden stalls, 3 tiers, 1365, restored late C19. Traceried panelled fronts, misericords and elbow rests to the 2 upper tiers, spired canopies above. Brass eagle lectern 1667, by W Burroughs. Large wooden pulpit 1708, from St Mary's Church, Rotterdam, with curved stair and sounding board. Gothick mahogany pulpit, c1760. Canopied pulpit, 1863, by Sir G Scott. STAINED GLASS: both angel choir aisles have C13 stained glass, possibly resited from the nave aisles. North transept rose window has C13 coloured and grisaille glass. Below, a C14 stained glass window. South transept rose window has stained glass fragments, C12, C13 and C14. C13 medallions in the windows below. North-east transept has a gable window, 1762, by W Peckitt. Nave south aisle and west end have stained glass 1861, by the Revs. Sutton, 1854, by Hedgeland, and 1860 by Clayton & Bell. North aisle has mid C19 glass by Ward & Hughes. South-east transept has stained glass, mid C19, by the Suttons and by Hedgeland. MEMORIALS include an inscribed Tournai marble slab c1140, to Remigius, and part of the shrine of St Hugh, early C14, with canopied niches. Chest tombs c1340 with figure carving and single effigy, to Robert Burghersh and Bishop Burghersh. Canopied chest tomb with effigy, 1355, to Lord Burghersh. Cantelupe chantry has a chest tomb with effigies, under an ogee arched canopy, to Lord Cantelupe, 1355, and Prior Wymbysh, 1461. Katharine Swynford's chantry has tomb chests 1410 and 1440, under a lozenge-panelled four centred arched canopy. Early cadaver tomb with vaulted canopy, 1425, to Bishop Fleming. Perpendicular style chest tomb with crested back wall, 1538, to Sir George Tailboys. Pedimented tablet, 1681, to Dean Honywood, and tablet with bust, 1699, to Dean Fuller. Chest tomb and effigy, 1857, to Bishop Kaye by R Westmacott. Canopied chest tomb with effigy, 1885, to Bishop Wordsworth by Bodley & Garner. Seated bronze figure, 1913, to Bishop King, by W B Richmond. (Buildings of England : Lincolnshire: Pevsner N: Lincolnshire: London: 1989-: 444-482; Bony J: The English Decorated style; Harvey J: English Cathedrals; Duke DH: Lincoln Cathedral Guide: Lincoln: 1982-; Binnall, Rev. PG: C19 stained glass in Lincoln Minster). Listing NGR: SK9779671808 Sources Books and journals Binnall, Reverend P G, C19 Stained Glass in Lincoln Minster Bony, J, The English Decorated Style, (1979) Duke, DH , Lincoln Cathedral Guide, (1982) Harvey, J, English Cathedrals Pevsner, N, Harris, J, Antram, N, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire, (1989), 444-482

External Links (1)

Sources (1)

  •  Index: Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Dec 1999. Revised List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. 9/224.

Map

Location

Grid reference SK 9779 7180 (point)
Map sheet SK97SE
Civil Parish MINSTER, LINCOLN, LINCOLNSHIRE

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Record last edited

Aug 10 2022 8:39AM

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