A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



beyond the walls of the aisles. The ribs of the 

 vault are therefore of greater span and the vault 

 itself is higher than in the other bays. In 

 order to give the ribs greater height their spring- 

 ing was lowered by placing the capitals of the 

 shafts which receive them below the level of 

 those of the arches opening into the nave and 

 aisles. The staircase turrets of the towers 

 project into these bays in their north-west 

 and south-west angles respectively, each stair- 

 case having a doorway similar to those in the 

 transept turrets. The vault of the north-west 

 tower has a round eye-hole in the cell next 

 the nave. There is a window at the west end 

 of each aisle above the roof of the Galilee.** 

 The window on the south side of the south- 

 west tower is blocked by the west range of the 

 monastic buildings. 



The west wall of the nave has three doorways 

 in the ground stage, the middle one being 

 the original great doorway, which has a semi- 

 circular arch of two orders supported on each 

 side by a single shaft with cushion capitals. 

 The inner order is decorated with cheveron and 

 the outer with enriched circular medallions, the 

 centre one having on it a human face, the others 

 grotesque animals and figures. The exterior 

 recessed face of the doorway, now in the Galilee, 

 has four** orders of cheveron and a hood mould 

 of lozenges each divided into triangular spaces, 

 alternately sunk and in relief. The lower part 

 of the opening has long been blocked by the 

 altar platform of the Galilee chapel erected by 

 Bishop Langley, but the upper part remained 

 open until 1846, when the present great wooden 

 doors were erected. The doorways on either 

 side, at the ends of the aisles, have four-centred 

 heads within a square label and were inserted by 

 Bishop Langley when he fiUed in the west door- 

 way ; his arms are in the spandrels. Over the 

 middle doorway, filling the wall of the nave 

 proper, is the great pointed west window of 

 seven lights, with very beautiful leaf tracery, 

 inserted by Prior John Fossor about 1346. It 

 is known as the Jesse window and originally 

 contained glass representing the stem of Jesse. 

 It is described in Rites as ' a most fyne large 

 wyndowe of glass, being the hoU storie of the 

 Rute of Jesse in most fyne coloured glas, verie 

 fynely and artificially pictured and wrought in 

 coulers, veri goodly and pleasantlie to behoulde, 

 with Mary and Christ in her arms in the top.'*' 

 The present glass dates from 1867. 



The great north doorway of the nave is in the 

 sixth bay of the aisle and has a semicircular 



*^ The glass in these windows dates from 1848. 



•' Originally there were five orders, the inner one, 

 with the shafts belonging to it, having been removed 

 probably when the Galilee was built. Greenwell, 

 Durh. Cath. 52. 



•' Rites of Durh. 42. 



arch of three orders** on the inner face, supported 

 by two shafts on each side. The two inner 

 orders are decorated each with the cheveron, and 

 the outer with a foliage pattern having eighteen 

 lozenge-shaped compartments on it carved 

 with grotesque animals, birds and figure sub- 

 jects.*' The outer shaft on each side is plain, 

 but the whole surface of the inner ones is covered 

 with interlacing foliage work forming circles 

 and lozenges, which contain grotesque beasts 

 and human figures, one a man riding a lion. 

 The capitals of all the shafts are carved with 

 foliage and animals and the abaci with a leaf 

 pattern.'" The exterior face of the doorway 

 has five recessed orders supported on shafts, 

 but only the innermost order, which has the 

 cheveron moulding, is in its original state. The 

 middle and outer orders have also the cheveron, 

 and the intermediate ones a hollow between two 

 rolls, but the whole of the surface suffered con- 

 siderably in Wyatt's restoration and is also 

 much weathered. The ogee label and panelled 

 gable above, together with the flanking pinnacled 

 buttresses, are late 18th-century work of 

 poor type,'i but the side walls behind form 

 part of the original shallow porch which rose 

 the full height of the triforium stage. Over 

 the porch were two chambers, the steps down to 

 which still remain in the triforium passage, for 

 the use of those who admitted men to sanctuary, 

 lighted by two round-headed windows facing 

 north above the doorway .'^ The porch appears 

 to have been heightened and otherwise altered 

 in the 13th century, old engravings showing a 

 high gable between great turret buttresses, 

 below which was a wide pointed arch springing 

 at the level of the triforium roof, and enclosing 

 an arcade of three arches.'^ On the door are 

 indications of former elaborate ironwork, but 

 the 12th-century bronze ring, or 'knocker,' 



*• The outer order, like that of the west doorway, 

 might be termed a label. 



*' Two are centaurs, another has two figures em- 

 bracing, a fourth a boy being vvliipped, a fifth a man 

 strangling another with a rope ; two others have each 

 a man performing some gymnastic feat, and another 

 what appears to be a representation of Samson and 

 the Hon. Greenwell, op. cit. 52. 



'0 Ibid. 51. 



'1 ' The present doorway exhibits externally a 

 wretched mass of incongruity. The greater part of 

 the arch itself is original . . . but above, all is in the 

 most miserable taste.' Raine, Durh. Cath. (1833), 

 20. 



'2 There were also two windows to the aisle, now 

 blocked, but visible over the north doorway. 



'* The porch is shown in Carter's drawing of the 

 north front (18 10), reconstructed from the evidence of 

 older drawings. It is also seen in a water-colour 

 dravvdng of the north side of the cathedra] of the 

 end of the i8th century, reproduced in Trans. Durh. 

 and Northumb. Arch. Soc. 1896-99, p. 29 and pi. i. 



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