A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



been to make the feretory platform narrower in 

 order to leave the foot of the piers clear. When, 

 however, the piers had been carried up higher, 

 it seems to have been determined to discard 

 the detached marble shafts, but on its being 

 finally decided to complete the platform in its 

 present form, the detached shafts were intro- 

 duced. The pavement of the platform appears 

 to be that of the apse (which occupied its site) 

 reset and made out from semicircular to rect- 

 angular form with new stone, the old curved- 

 outline stones of the original pavement being 

 retained appro.ximately in their original positions. 

 The transverse arch between quire and chapel 

 is of three elaborately moulded orders towards 

 the east, the intermediate order being enriched 

 with dog-tooth ornament. 



The setting out of the east wall of the chapel 

 was no doubt inspired by the design of the Nine 

 Altars at Fountains, begun a few years before. 

 There, however, the comparative narrowness of 

 the quire aisles made it possible to arrange the 

 western bays to match the eastern bays, but at 

 Durham the irregular distribution of the points 

 of support presented a problem in vaulting 

 which has only been solved by the most in- 

 genious compromise. The square central bay 

 of course offered no particular difficulty, but 

 had the three bays on either side been vaulted 

 in as many narrow quadripartite compartments 

 of differing sizes and irregular shapes, the effect 

 would have been awkward in the extreme. The 

 pairs of bays adjoining the central bay were 

 therefore each grouped into one nearly rect- 

 angular sexpartite compartment, the transverse 

 rib, owing to the vaulting-piers not being oppo- 

 site to one another, passing very much to the 

 side of the centre of the compartment. Of the 

 two remaining bays, the northernmost was 

 covered by a quadripartite vault, while the 

 southernmost bay, having five points of sup- 

 port, was covered by a vault of quinquepartite 

 form. The stability of the vaulting is amply 

 provided for, the four angle turrets and the 

 buttresses which counteract the thrusts on the 

 eastern and southern vaulting-piers being pro- 

 portioned to their varying loads. On the west, 

 the walls of the quire provide sufficient abut- 

 ment for the piers of the central bay, and short 

 buttresses are erected on the walls of the quire 

 aisles to abut the piers which carry the trans- 

 verse ribs of the sexpartite compartments. The 

 two remaining piers are left without further 

 abutment than the great thickness of the 

 walls provides, as being sufficiently close to 

 the western angle turrets. The vault of the 

 central bay is constructed on a modification of 

 the quadripartite principle, having divergent 

 twin diagonals forming a four-pointed star about 

 a central circular opening or eye-hole. The 

 transverse arches are of two orders, the outer 



order has dog-tooth enrichment, and the ribs 

 have foliage set at intervals in the hollows 

 flanking their central rolls. The eye-hole is 

 surrounded by a heavy moulding sculptured 

 with figures of the four Evangelists, and upon 

 this moulding the ribs converge in pairs. The 

 sexpartite vaults also have large eye-holes with 

 richly sculptured mouldings. ** The diagonal 

 ribs are enriched like those of the vault of the 

 central bay, and the skewed transverses, which 

 pass to the side of the eye-holes, are of two 

 orders, the outer enriched with the dog-tooth. 

 The northernmost and southernmost compart- 

 ments of vaulting have diagonal ribs of the same 

 character, but the transverses are of slighter 

 proportions than those separating the se.xpartite 

 compartments from the central compartment. 



The nine altars placed along the east wall are 

 enumerated in Rius. In the middle bay was 

 the altar of St. Cuthbert and St. Bede, flanked 

 by those of St. Martin on the north and St. 

 Oswald and St. Lawrence on the south. In the 

 three northern bays were the altars of St. 

 Michael, St. Aidan and St. Helen, and St. Peter 

 and St. Paul. The three southern bays con- 

 tained the altars of St. Thomas of Canterbury 

 and St. Katherine, St. John Baptist and St. 

 Margaret, and St. Andrew and St. Mary Mag- 

 dalene. ' Between every altar (was) a uerye 

 faire and large partition of wainscott all uar- 

 nished ouer, wth fine branches & flowers and 

 other imagerye most finely and artificially pic- 

 tured and guilted, conteyninge the severall 

 lockers or ambers for the safe keepinge of the 

 uestments and ornaments belonginge to euerye 

 altar,' while above the altars were ' couers of 

 wainscote ... in uerye decent and comely 

 forme.' ^' 



At the north end of the chapel is the white 

 marble monument of Bishop WiUiam Van 

 Mildert (d. 1836), which stands over his tomb. 

 It represents him seated, holding a book, and 

 is the work of John Gibson, R.A. The tomb 

 of Bishop Anthony Bek (d. 131 1) is close by, 

 but is marked only by a blue slab, with a modern 

 inscription. 1^ No trace of the monument of 

 Bishop Richard de Bury (d. 1345) remains, but 

 a marble slab with canopied figure in rehef was 

 placed in 1903 at the south end of the chapel 

 over the place of his burial. There are other 

 more modern grave slabs and wall tablets. 



1* Vine leaves and grapes in the north compart- 

 ment, figure subjects in the south. 



1' Ritcj of Durh. (Surtees Soc), 1-3. 



1* The Inscription, on a brass plate, was taken from 

 Browne Willis {Cathedrals, i, 239) and is a copy of 

 the original. It was placed on the slab in 1834. Bek 

 was the first bishop ' that ever attempted to lye so 

 neere the sacred slirine of St. Cuthbert ' (Rites). He 

 was buried in a ' faire marble tomb underneath a fair 

 marble stone.' 



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