PETERBOROUGH SOKE 



PETERBOROUGH 



at the south end of the building is blocked by a thin 

 13th-century wall, forming the north side of the 

 passage to the cemetery, and it seems that before this 

 wall existed the building opened southwards to a 

 former passage, or possibly to the vestibule of the 

 chapter-house. It has a small west doorway, opening 

 to the north bay of the east walk of the cloister. In 

 the middle bay of the west wall of the south transept, 

 just north of the 1 4th-century doorway already noted, 

 is an original round-headed doorway, blocked on the 

 west side by the respond of one of the transverse 

 arches. It is clear that the lower part of the transept 

 wall, which belongs to the time of Martin de Bee (ob. 

 1 155), was built before the vaulted room to the west 

 was designed ; but since the cloister w'as finished and 

 roofed in before 1 175, the date of the latter must fall 

 between 11 55 and 1175. 



The central tower was completely rebuilt with the 

 old material in 1884, after having been a source of 

 trouble and danger for many years. The first tower 

 here was finished by William of Waterville between 

 1 1 55 and 1 1 75, and his work, recorded as 'three 

 stories of the great tower,' probably included the 

 arches ' of the crossing and all above them. Like many 

 other central towers, it seems to have been too heavy 

 for its supports, and in the 14th centurj- the whole of 

 the upper part, including the east and west arches of 

 the crossing, was taken down, and a lantern of a single 

 story substituted for it, surmounted by a wooden 

 embattled octagon, covered with lead.' 



The octagon was removed by Dean Kipling, 

 1798-1822, who built on the four corners of the 

 lantern the tall octagonal turrets [Dean Kipling's 

 chimneys], which perished unregretted at the rebuild- 

 ing of 1884. 



The tower piers measure 1 1 ft. 4 in. east to west, 

 by 7 ft. 6 in. north to south, exclusive of the at- 

 tached shafts, their faces towards the quire being flat, 

 with three half-round shafts which run from the floor 

 to the capitals of the east and west crossing arches. 

 Any evidence which may have existed on the question 

 of the eastern limit of the quire stalls, as shown by the 

 cutting away of these shafts, has disappeared in the 

 rebuilding. 



The north and south crossing arches are of three 

 moulded orders with a label, the outer order having 

 a line of horizontal zigzag, while the label is without 

 the billet moulding characteristic of the earliest work 

 in the church. 



The east and west arches are also of three orders, 

 pointed, with 14th-century detail, and over all four 

 arches are moulded wall ribs of the same character, as 

 if a vault had been designed at this level at the first 

 rebuilding of the tower. The upper stage, which 

 takes the form of an open lantern, has two three-light 

 window's on each side with tracer)- and transoms and a 

 wooden vault springing from stone vaulting-shafts in 

 the centres and angles of each side. The central boss 

 of the vault has a half-figure of Christ holding an orb 

 in the left hand, the right being broken away, while 

 on the four surrounding bosses are the evangelistic 

 symbols, and on eight others the symbols of the 

 Passion. 



Externally this stage has arcades with blank tracery 



between the w-indows, and panelled octagonal staircase 

 turrets, which are finished with flat copings at the 

 level of the embattled parapets of the tower. 



The nave is often bays, from the west arch of the 

 crossing to the east arch of the western transept. Its 

 two eastern bays are taken up by the modem quire, 

 which after various moves has returned to its original 

 position, as set out by William of Waterville before 

 1175. 



In these two bays the main arcades and the tri- 

 forium, and in the eastern bay the clearstory also, 

 carr)- on, with slight differences in detail, the design 

 of the presbyter)' and transepts, the second piers of the 

 nave having the additional shafts already noted as 

 alternating with the quarter-cylinder plan in the 

 triforium piers of the eastern part of the church, and 

 it is probable that it was intended to continue this 

 alternation throughout the nave. The tympana also 

 of the triforium in these two bays have the imbricated 

 masonry pattern. But from this point the detail 

 changes, and the nave is continued westward with 

 plain tympana, and with main arcade piers of the 

 quarter-cylinder plan only. The billet label does not 

 occur at all in the nave, and the later date of the work 

 is clearly shown by the more elaborate detail of the 

 capitals.^ But the most important variation is the 

 preparation for a stone vault. That this was not in- 

 tended when the first bay of the nave clearstory was 

 built is shown by the way in which the pointed wall 

 ribs are inserted, cutting into the strings at the spring- 

 ing of the arched openings, while in all the other bays 

 the strings stop against the ribs. The transverse arches 

 of the vault were designed to spring from the usual 

 half-round shaft between the bays, and the diagonal 

 ribs from corbels on either side of it, just below the 

 string at the level of the clearstory floor, and it is 

 probable that the vault was actually constructed for 

 some courses above the springing, abutment of a sort 

 being provided by blocks of rough masonry built up in 

 the clearstory passages behind each pier, and still re- 

 maining. But the design was not constructionally 

 suitable for vaulting, and the idea was abandoned, all 

 traces of the vault, except the wall ribs and the block- 

 ing in the clearstory passages, being removed, and the 

 vaulting-shafts continued up the wall to the then level 

 of the ceiling, while the corbels were carefully chiselled 

 away, and the wall-face which would have been covered 

 by the vault faced with ashlar. 



In the aisles there are several changes of detail. In 

 the arcading below the windows the intersecting 

 arches used in the earlier work reappear, after having 

 been discontinued in the transepts. The section of 

 the arches in the first bay of the north aisle, and in 

 the first seven bays of the south aisle, is the same as 

 that in the transepts, and the same plain bases and 

 cushion capitals are employed. But from the second 

 bay of the north aisle the arch section changes, and 

 the capitals are fluted or scalloped. The aisles are 

 vaulted, as in the eastern part of the church, and the 

 section of the diagonal ribs is continued unchanged, 

 but the transverse arches have an arris between two 

 rolls instead of the wide fillet which occurs in the 

 presbytery. Externally the zigzag string below the 

 sills of the aisle windows stops at the west side of the 



1 Though the eastern arch may have 

 beea built with the first work, before the 

 rest. 



' The probable date of this alteration is 

 f. 1330, or much about the time that the 



octagon at Ely was being built to replace 

 the central tower which fell in 1322. 



' In the north triforium the third pier 

 from the east and the central shaft of the 

 eighth bay have foliate capitals of 13th- 



♦39 



century type, and noticeably French in 

 treatment. In the clearstory also is a 

 capital with curled leaves of transitional 

 style, and another with a plaia bell. 



