DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41589#0033
kind of Dionysianism that was available, indeed very much in the air, in the twelfth
century. To this I shall return at the end of my discussion.
The Spandrel busts
The busts of angels in the transepts (Figs. 10, 11) are an integral part of the outer
layer of the arcade, coursed in with the surrounding stonework. Those in the choir aisles
are not so clearly original (Fig. 16). They are set in niches of the same form as the
openings in the west transept east walls through which the apices of the outer arches
are, or are not, visible. These niches are moulded around the edges. The spandrel busts
differ in size and in the way in which they are set into the niches. The larger ones look
too large for their setting; the smaller ones have thick layers of mortar around their
edges, suggesting that the stone was cut too small for the niche.
In some the moulding of the niche is completely visible, in others it has been more or
less obscured by the stone from which the bust is carved or by the mortar used to affix
it. These anomalies would seem to suggest that the busts were added to the already built
arcades at some later date, though perhaps not very much later. The heads are very
much later; a few have decidedly eighteenth century looking wiglike hairstyles so they
may very well date from the Essex restoration13. If the bodies are not original we need
to think them away in order to understand the design.
The effect will have been very much like that in the south west transept; open niches
through which the apices of the inner arches are visible. In this case the only figurative
sculpture, apart from a few very small heads in the leaf corbels, will have been in the
eastern transepts; about the sculptural decoration of the lost east end we have no
information. However it is surely not coincidental that the "Trondheim” piers stand at
the western entrance to the eastern transept; they could be understood as marking the
beginning of the sanctuary (see below).
This fits with Kidson’s suggestion of a crescendo of decoration towards the east end,
while contradicting his claim that this was negated by the sumptuousness of the later
nave. If the crescendo consisted in a movement from non-figurative to figurative
sculpture, then the lack of figurative sculpture in the nave (apart from some small head
stops on the hood-moulds) underlines that effect, an effect which was further elaborated
when the Angel Choir with all its figurative sculpture replaced the original apse. What
was lost when the new nave and Angel Choir were built was the teasing, thought-
provoking character of the original design.
There is too little evidence of the original stained glass for any confident assertion to
be made about it. However there remains some early thirteenth century grisaille glass,
no longer in its original position. Nigel Morgan suggests that this may have come from
the (east) transept14. Grisaille glass would have reinforced the architectural tone of the
building, its emphasis on colour and texture rather than picture and story. Since there
are also some single figures in glass of a similar date one can speculate (though it can be
no more than speculation) that these may have been concentrated around the altar, as is
the figurative sculpture.
The ’’Trondheim” Piers
The two piers ssanking the entrance to the eastern transept are of an extraordinarily
elaborate form, which has frequently been remarked upon but never satisfactorily
explained. Slender octagonal Purbeck colonnettes with concave sides, alternating with
round colonnettes, surround a core of limestone (Fig. 18). Between each colonnette the
core sprouts a row of massive comma-shaped crockets. Originally these two piers would
have been free-standing; the present abutting walls are later insertions, added to form
rooms out of the aisle bays of the transepts (Fig. 17).
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century. To this I shall return at the end of my discussion.
The Spandrel busts
The busts of angels in the transepts (Figs. 10, 11) are an integral part of the outer
layer of the arcade, coursed in with the surrounding stonework. Those in the choir aisles
are not so clearly original (Fig. 16). They are set in niches of the same form as the
openings in the west transept east walls through which the apices of the outer arches
are, or are not, visible. These niches are moulded around the edges. The spandrel busts
differ in size and in the way in which they are set into the niches. The larger ones look
too large for their setting; the smaller ones have thick layers of mortar around their
edges, suggesting that the stone was cut too small for the niche.
In some the moulding of the niche is completely visible, in others it has been more or
less obscured by the stone from which the bust is carved or by the mortar used to affix
it. These anomalies would seem to suggest that the busts were added to the already built
arcades at some later date, though perhaps not very much later. The heads are very
much later; a few have decidedly eighteenth century looking wiglike hairstyles so they
may very well date from the Essex restoration13. If the bodies are not original we need
to think them away in order to understand the design.
The effect will have been very much like that in the south west transept; open niches
through which the apices of the inner arches are visible. In this case the only figurative
sculpture, apart from a few very small heads in the leaf corbels, will have been in the
eastern transepts; about the sculptural decoration of the lost east end we have no
information. However it is surely not coincidental that the "Trondheim” piers stand at
the western entrance to the eastern transept; they could be understood as marking the
beginning of the sanctuary (see below).
This fits with Kidson’s suggestion of a crescendo of decoration towards the east end,
while contradicting his claim that this was negated by the sumptuousness of the later
nave. If the crescendo consisted in a movement from non-figurative to figurative
sculpture, then the lack of figurative sculpture in the nave (apart from some small head
stops on the hood-moulds) underlines that effect, an effect which was further elaborated
when the Angel Choir with all its figurative sculpture replaced the original apse. What
was lost when the new nave and Angel Choir were built was the teasing, thought-
provoking character of the original design.
There is too little evidence of the original stained glass for any confident assertion to
be made about it. However there remains some early thirteenth century grisaille glass,
no longer in its original position. Nigel Morgan suggests that this may have come from
the (east) transept14. Grisaille glass would have reinforced the architectural tone of the
building, its emphasis on colour and texture rather than picture and story. Since there
are also some single figures in glass of a similar date one can speculate (though it can be
no more than speculation) that these may have been concentrated around the altar, as is
the figurative sculpture.
The ’’Trondheim” Piers
The two piers ssanking the entrance to the eastern transept are of an extraordinarily
elaborate form, which has frequently been remarked upon but never satisfactorily
explained. Slender octagonal Purbeck colonnettes with concave sides, alternating with
round colonnettes, surround a core of limestone (Fig. 18). Between each colonnette the
core sprouts a row of massive comma-shaped crockets. Originally these two piers would
have been free-standing; the present abutting walls are later insertions, added to form
rooms out of the aisle bays of the transepts (Fig. 17).
31