The former Beauty of the Church. 



In the south choir aisle stand more monuments, amongst 

 them the mortuary chapel of Eobert Harys, with his rebus 

 sculptured on a shield ; and the chapel of Draper, the last 

 prior, noticeable for its rich canopied niche over the doorway.* 



And now that the reader has seen each part, let him go 

 back to the west end, and sweep out of sight the whole thicket 

 of pews, and break down the rood-screen blocking up the 

 view, and looking through and beyond it, past the long line 

 of Norman bays, with their sculptured tables, and past the 

 chancel, imagine the stone reredos, as it once was, shining 

 with gold and colour, all its niches filled with statues, and the 

 windows above blazing with crimson and purple, through which 

 the sunlight poured, staining the carved stalls and misereres, 

 and then he will have some faint idea of the former glory 

 of the church, f 



Most interesting is it, too, from another point of view. 



* In the south choir aisle the broken sculptures represent the Epiphany, 

 Assumption, and Coronation of the Virgin. Little can be said in praise of 

 any of the modern monuments. The best are Flaxman's " Viscountess 

 Fitzharris and her three Children," and Weekes's " Death of Shelley." Some 

 of the others should never have been permitted to be erected, especially 

 those which disfigure the Salisbury chapel. The new stained window at 

 the west end adds very much to the beauty of the church. 



f For further details the student of architecture should consult 

 Mr. Brayley and Mr. Ferrey's work, before referred to, of which a new 

 edition is much needed, as also Mr. Ferrey's paper in the Gentleman's 

 Magazine for Dec., 1861, p. 607, on the naves of Christchurch and Durham 

 Cathedral, both built by Flambard, and a paper on the rood screen 

 in the Archaeological Journal, vol. v. p. 142 ; and also a paper read at 

 Winchester, September, 1845, before the Archaeological Institute, on Christ- 

 church Priory Church, by Mr. Beresford Hope, and published in the 

 Proceedings of the Society, 1846. An excellent little handbook, by the 

 Secretary of the Christchurch Archseological Association, may be obtained 

 in the town. 



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