676 
WINCH 
door at the entrance of the choir, 351 feet; length of the 
choir, 136 feet; length of the chapel of Our Lady, 54 feet; 
breadth of the cathedral, 87 feet; breadth of the choir, 40 
feet; length of the transept, 186 feet; height of the tower, 
150 feet. On entering the cathedral by the west door, be¬ 
fore which a considerable quantity of earth and rubbish has 
been suffered to accumulate, the attention is first arrested by 
the vast and lofty columns of the nave, which have been 
judiciously made to assimilate with the pointed style, by 
surrounding them with clustered pillars, and other orna¬ 
ments. Each column is about 12 feet in diameter; the space 
between them, or intercolumniation, is about two diameters 
only. The view into the choir is intercepted by a Grecian 
screen, of the Composite order, designed by Inigo Jones, 
and executed at the expense of Charles I. This object, 
from the incongruity of its style to the other parts of the 
building, and its hue being different from the rest of the 
stone work, has a very unpleasant effect. In the niches on 
each side the opening in the centre, are bronze statues of the 
above monarch and his predecessor, James I. Among the 
ornaments on the orbs of the groining, and on the facia 
below the open gallery that extends on each side of the nave, 
are the arms and busts of cardinal Beaufort, and his father, 
John of Gaunt, together with their devices, the white hart 
chained, and other insignia, as also the lily of Waynflete, 
intermingled with the arms and busts of bishop Wykeham. 
The space between the fifth and sixth columns, on the south 
side, is occupied by the tomb and chantry, or mortuary 
chapel, of the last named prelate. “ The design and execu¬ 
tion of the work before us,” observes Mr. Milner, “ are 
perhaps the most perfect specimens extant of the time when 
they were performed. The ornaments in general are rich, 
without being crowded; the carvings are delicate, without 
being finical.” The chantry is divided in its length, into 
three arches, the canopies of which, according to a later 
improvement, are carved to humour the shape of the arches: 
the middlemost of these, which is the largest, is subdivided 
below into three compartments, those on the sides consisting 
of two. Beneath the tenth arch from the west end, and 
adjoining to the flight of steps leading towards the choir, is 
the ancient monumental chapel of bishop Edyngton, which, 
though in a similar style of architecture to that of bishop 
Wykeham, is by no means so ornamental or complete. On 
entering the southern transept, from the south aile of the 
nave, the original work of Walkelin presents itself; and here 
are seen huge round pillars, and vast circular arches, piled 
upon one another to an amazing height; not, however, 
without symmetry, and certain simple ornaments; whilst 
other smaller columns, without either capitals or bases, are 
continued up the walls, between the arches, to the roof, 
which is open to the view. The architecture of the nor¬ 
thern transept is equally ponderous and lofty with that of 
the southern, and the general style of the ornaments the 
same. The choir has a very venerable and solemn ap¬ 
pearance, and is remarkable for having the great tower im¬ 
mediately over it, instead of over the space before the en¬ 
trance, as in most other cathedrals. The tower was evi¬ 
dently intended to throw light into this part of the fabric ; 
but in the reign of Charles I. it was injudiciously ceiled, and 
adorned in the manner it now appears, as the ornaments 
themselves indicate. In the middle of the choir, and oppo¬ 
site to the south and north doors, is the tomb of William 
Rufus. The stalls, which range on each side of the choir, 
with their misereres, canopies, pinnacles, and other orna¬ 
ments, are very ancient, and present a profusion of foli¬ 
age, crockets, busts, and human and animal figures, boldly 
designed, as well as executed. Opposite to the pulpit, 
on the south side, is the Episcopal throne, which, though 
elegantly constructed in the Corinthian order, is unsuita¬ 
ble to the prevailing style of architecture. Above the com¬ 
munion table, which is made to resemble an altar, rises a 
lofty canopy of wood work, consisting of festoons, and 
other carvings in alto-relievo. This heavy and tasteless ob¬ 
ject, together with the rails, was executed in the reign of 
Charles I. Behind, and partly concealed by the canopy and 
ESTER. 
altar-piece, is a magnificently carved screen, in stone-work, 
supposed to be the richest and most exquisite specimen of 
the pointed style in England. This was executed in the time 
of bishop Fox; and though greatly neglected, and clogged 
with whitewash, still exhibits an unrivalled delicacy of work¬ 
manship. It contains a variety of niches, with richly orna¬ 
mented canopies, beneath each of which was formerly a 
statue; but these having been demolished on the reformation, 
their places are now occupied by Grecian urns. Immediately 
above the base-work of the screen, the eye catches the rich 
painting of the east window, which, though clouded with 
dust and cobwebs, still glows with a richness of colours that 
modern art has been unable to imitate. The stained glass 
of this window, however, as well as of the others round the 
choir, are little more than remnants of former splendour, 
most of the figures having been mutilated and disarranged at 
the time of the civil wars. They chiefly consist of apostles, 
prophets, and bishops, with appropriate legends and symbols. 
Leaving the choir, and passing into the south aile, the gor¬ 
geous chapel or chantry of bishop Fox claims attention ; iri 
which there is a luxuriancy of ornament in the arches, co¬ 
lumns, and niches, which baffles minute description, and 
which would appear excessive, were not the whole executed 
with exact symmetry, proportion, and finished elegance. 
Parallel with the above, and occupying the entire space be¬ 
hind the altar, is another chapel; at the north end of which 
is the chapel of bishop Gardiner, which is an absurd inter¬ 
mixture, and an indifferent specimen, of the pointed and 
Ionic styles. The magnificent chantries of cardinal Beaufort 
and of bishop Waynflete are both admired for elegance of 
design and execution. The eastern extremity of the cathe¬ 
dral is terminated by the spacious chapel of Our Lady, and 
a smaller chapel, inclosed on each side. On the south of the 
above is bishop Langton’s chapel, which displays some fine 
carvings in oak, of vine leaves, grapes, armorial bearings, 
&c. It contains also several elegant tombs. The last inter¬ 
esting object that remains to be described is the celebrated 
and ancient font, the carvings on which have frequently ex¬ 
ercised the sagacity of antiquarians. This stands within the 
middle arch of Wykeham’s part of the church, on the north 
side, and consists of a square block of dark marble, supported 
by pillars of the same material; it is covered on the top, 
and the four sides, with rude carvings, which bespeak its 
antiquity. The great cloisters of the cathedral, which ex¬ 
tended 180 feet east and west, and 174 feet north and south, 
were destroyed during the prelacy of bishop Horne, in the 
reign of queen Elizabeth ; but on the east side of the quad¬ 
rangle which they formed, is yet remaining a dark, unor¬ 
namented ancient passage, or cloister, 90 feet in length, 
that led to the infirmary, and other offices of the monastery. 
Southward of this is a doorway, that conducted to the chap¬ 
ter-house, the site of which now forms the dean’s garden. 
The refectory, or hall, was about 41 feet in length, 23 broad, 
and nearly 40 high: it is now divided into two stories. 
Under the refectory and vestibule are still to be seen two 
kitchins, arched over in the Norman fashion, and supported 
by single pillars in the middle of them. One of the most 
celebrated institutions at Winchester is the college, founded 
by bishop Wykeham, between the years 1387 and 1393, on 
the site of an ancient grammar school, known to have existed 
before 1136, and probably much earlier. The building 
consists of two large courts, containing suits of apartments 
for the warden, 10 fellows, 70 scholars, three chaplains, 
six choristers, masters, &c. The entrance into the first court 
is beneath a spacious gateway, the canopy of which is sup¬ 
ported by the mutilated busts of a king on one side, and a 
bishop on the other; evidently intended to represent the 
founder and his royal patron, Edward III. The middle’ 
tower over the gate leading into the interior court, is orna¬ 
mented with three beautiful niches, having suitable canopies 
and pinnacles to adorn them. Passing under this tower into 
the second court, the elegant and uniform style of the ancient 
buildings has a striking appearance; more especially the mag¬ 
nificent chapel.and hall forming the south wing of the quad¬ 
rangle, and supported by bold and ornamental buttresses, 
and 
