ROCHESTER. 157 
parts of the cathedral are comparatively plain in their 
exterior. Entering the nave by the western door, the 
massive Norman style is conspicuous in the first five co¬ 
lumns, and half of the sixth, on each side, all of them sup¬ 
porting circular arches, decorated with zigzag mouldings, 
above which is a series of smaller arches, having over them 
arches, corresponding, both in size and ornament, with 
the larger ones beneath. Still higher are two ranges of 
obtuse-pointed windows, each divided into three lights. 
The roof is of timber, with knees supported on corbels, the 
fronts of which are carved into figures of angels sustaining 
shields, on which are painted the arms of the city, the see, 
and the priory of Rochester, as well as those of the arch¬ 
bishopric and cathedral of Canterbury. The west wall ap¬ 
pears to have been divided into ranges of niches, some of 
them crowned with arches, having plain and billeted mould¬ 
ings, supported on small three-quarter columns, with fluted 
capitals: others, having neither pillar nor capital, are deco¬ 
rated with zigzag mouldings, continued down the sides of 
the recess. The alterations made in Gundulph’s design by 
the introduction of the present west window, are clearly to 
be seen in the abrupt termination of the different ranges of 
these niches, some of them having been cut through the 
centre. The two easternmost arches of the nave, on each 
side, exhibit a very different style of architecture to the 
preceding; these being in the pointed style, with deep 
grooved mouldings, rising from clusters of slender columns. 
The great tower is supported by four obtusely-pointed 
arches, resting on pieces of solid masonry, which are en¬ 
vironed by slender columns of Petworth marble. The west 
transept is in the pointed style; but, from having been erected 
at different periods, the architecture is somewhat dissimilar. 
In the upper part of the north end is a triforium, behind 
which are lancet windows, each having a screen in front, di¬ 
vided into three arches of unequal height; the vaulting is 
of stone, groined, with a plain grooved moulding: several 
of the lesser pillars and imposts of arches are supported by 
corbel heads, chiefly of monks, which display a degree of 
strength of feature and expression, evincing an advanced 
state of the art of design. The south end of this transept 
principally varies from the other in its superior lightness : 
like that, it has a triforium in the upper story with lancet 
windows behind screens. The roof is of timber frame¬ 
work, in imitation of vaulting. Under a large arch, on the 
west side, is an opening into the chapel of St. Mary, a 
structure probably erected in the reign of Henry VII. It 
measures forty-five feet in length, and thirty-five in breadth, 
and exhibits on its south and west sides five spacious win¬ 
dows, under obtuse arches, and divided by mullions. In this 
chapel the consistory court of the diocese is held ; and many 
of the bishops are buried within it. The choir is entered 
from the nave by an ascent of ten steps, leading through an 
arch, in an unornamented stone screen, which sustains the 
organ and organ gallery. The style of building in this part 
of the church is uniform in its character; neat, lofty, and 
solid, though not heavy. The whole consits of two tiers 
of pointed arches, decorated with grooved mouldings, and 
resting upon slender columns of Petworth marble, with plain 
Capitals. All the windows are lancet-shaped, and are formed 
of single lights, except those nearest to the altar, which are 
divided by mullions, and appear to have been formerly filled 
with painted glass. The east transept of the church has two 
aisles, over which are apartments (ascended to by circular 
winding staircases in the wall), in which were deposited the 
vestments, and sacred utensils appertaining to the altars and 
shrines of St. William, St. Paulinus, and others, in the 
choir. The northern division of this transept is still deno¬ 
minated St. William’s chapel, from the popular saint so 
named, whose remains were there enshrined; and to the 
number and value of the oblations made at whose altar the 
present choir owes its origin. The crypt, which extended 
beneath the two last mentioned portions of the church, has 
been thought by some to be of Norman structure; but more 
intelligent antiquaries assign it to the architect of the choir 
VaL.XXfl. No.1491. 
and upper transept, which were built by William de Hoo, in 
the reign of Henry III. The pointed arches in the windows 
and entrances are evidences of the truth. Running parallel 
with the south-side of the choir is the chapter-house, which 
contains the library, and is entered by a richly sculptured 
door-way. In a large hollow between the inner mouldings 
is a range of human heads and flowers, in alternate succes¬ 
sion. Beyond these, and rising above each other in detached 
recesses to the centre of the arch, are six whole length figures, 
two of which are conjectured to represent Henry I. and his 
queen Matilda, and the others the bishops Gundulph, Er- 
nulph, Laurence de St. Martin, and Hamo de Hethe, to 
the last of whom the erection of this door-way is attributed. 
Over these figures are smaller ones of angels, two on each 
side, apparently singing praises and glorifying the Saviour, 
who is represented standing naked under a canopy in the 
centre of the arch. The library, besides an excellent collec¬ 
tion of printed books, contains several curious and valuable 
MSS. among which are the original copies of the Textus 
Roffensis, and the Custumale Roffense. 
Rochester cathedral extends in length from east to west 
306 feet, of which 150 are included in the nave and 156 in 
the choir. The breadth of the nave, with the side aisles, is 
75 feet, and that of the choir is nearly the same. The 
western transept measures 122 feet, and the eastern one 90 
feet long. The width of the west front is 94 feet, and the 
height of the great tower 156 feet. Several ql the monu¬ 
ments in this church are curious, both from their antiquity 
and their workmanship. In the south of the choir is a plain 
stone chest, supposed to contain the remains of bishop Gun¬ 
dulph, and near it is another, on the top of which is sculp¬ 
tured, in high relief, the figure of a bishop in pontificalibus, 
designed to represent Thomas de Ingelthorpe, the 44th 
bishop of the see. A third stone chest, of a similar de¬ 
scription, is thought to be the tomb of bishop Laurence 
de St. Martin, who obtained the canonization of St. Wil¬ 
liam. All these chests are constructed of Petworth marble ; 
several others of them are dispersed throughout the cathe¬ 
dral. On an altar-tomb, beneath a double pointed arched 
canopy, variously ornamented, is a full length portraiture 
of bishop Walter de Merton, whose remains are deposited 
beneath. Another altar-tomb, in St. William’s chapel, com¬ 
memorates bishop Lowe ; and near it are the monuments of 
bishop John Warner and two others of his family. On the 
north side of St. Edmund’s chapel, entering into the crypt, 
is a headless episcopal figure, supposed to have represented 
bishop John de Bradfield, who died in the year 1283 ; and 
in the narrow aisle leading to St. William’s chapel, is a 
monument, attributed to bishop Hamo de Hethe. The 
other persons who have monuments here are, Richard 
Watts, esq. recorder of the city, who had the honour 
of entertaining queen Elizabeth at his seat called Satis; 
John, Lord Henniker, and his lady, the former of whom 
died in 1803, and the latter in 1792; sir Richard Head, 
and the Rev. Samuel Denne, the learned compiler of the 
“ Memorials” of this cathedral, inserted in the Costumale 
Roffense. 
Adjoining to the cathedral, on the south, are the remains 
of the chapter-house and cloister belonging to the priory, 
which exhibit a very beautiful series of Norman arches and 
ornaments, but in a state of great dilapidation. The door¬ 
way of the chapter-house lies under a richly ornamented arch, 
having on it another of equal elegance, supported on short' 
thick columns with flowered and figured capitals, and dis¬ 
playing an unusual variety of mouldings, zigzag, quatrefoil, 
and billeted. The mouldings of the southernmost arch unite 
with those of a smaller arch, belonging to the cloister, and 
these again with the mouldings of a second highly enriched 
door-way, the space between the transom of which and the 
inner moulding exhibits the mutilated remains of an historical 
sculpture. An arch, rising from two three-quarter columns, 
and intersected by two others springing from a central co¬ 
lumn, connects this door-way with a third, likewise rich in 
ornaments,. though less so than the others. Gundulph’s 
2 S tow'er 
