Part 3 (1/2)
In the south wall of the nave are two doors, that at the west used by the canons, and that at the east by the Prior. The latter door is of thirteenth-century date and is distinctly French in character.
In mediaeval days the nave was used as the parish church, and had its own high altar, while the choir was reserved for the use of the canons. The nave is made up of seven n.o.ble bays; the lower arcade consists of semicircular arches enriched with the chevron ornament, while the spandrels are filled with hatchet-work carving. The triforium of each bay on both sides consists of two arches supported by a central pillar and enclosed by a semicircular containing arch, with bold mouldings.
The clerestory was built about 1200 by Peter, the third Prior. The present roof is of stucco, added in 1819; the original Norman roof was probably of wood, although springing shafts exist, which seem to indicate that a stone vault was contemplated by the Norman builders. The north aisle retains its original stone vaulting, put up about 1200. This aisle is slightly later than the southern one, which was completed first in order that the cloister might be built. The windows are of plate tracery, and mark the transition between Early English and Decorated.
The south aisle is very richly decorated with a fine wall arcade enriched with cable and billet mouldings. The vaulting is of the same date as that in the north aisle, and is also the work of Peter, Prior from 1195 to 1225. In the western bay is the original Norman window, the others being filled with modern tracery of Decorated style. In this aisle is a large aumbry and recess, where the bier and lights used at funerals were stored. There is also a holy-water stoup in the third bay. At the west end are the remains of the stairway which led to the dormitory. The stairway is built into the wall, which, at this particular spot, is nearly seven feet thick.
Under the north transept is an early Norman apsidal crypt with aumbries in the walls. There is a corresponding crypt in the south wing.
The ritual choir of the canons included the transept crossing as well as one bay of the parish nave, but at a later date the ritual and the new architectural choirs were made to correspond, and the present stone rood-screen was erected. It dates from the time of Edward III. It has a plain base, surmounted with a row of panelled quatrefoils, over which is a string-course with a double tier of canopied niches. The whole screen is ma.s.sive and of superb workmans.h.i.+p.
The choir is of Perpendicular architecture, lighted by four lofty windows on each side. There is no triforium, its place being occupied with panelling. On each side of the choir are fifteen stalls with quaintly carved misericords.
The presbytery stands on a Norman crypt, and is backed by a stone reredos far exceeding in beauty the somewhat similar screens at Winchester, Southwark, and St. Albans. It is of three stories, with five compartments in each tier, and represents the genealogy of our Lord. The screen is flanked on the north side by the Salisbury Chapel.
In the crypt beneath is the chantry of de Redvers, now walled up to form a family vault for the Earls of Malmesbury, lay rectors of the church.
The Lady Chapel is vaulted like the choir, from which it is an eastern extension, and has a superb reredos dating from the time of Henry VI.
The Chapel contains several tombs and monuments, including that of Thomas, Lord West, who bequeathed six thousand marks to maintain a chantry of six priests.
Beneath the tower is the marble monument by Weekes to the memory of the poet Sh.e.l.ley, who was drowned by the capsizing of a boat in the Gulf of Spezzia in 1822. Below the name ”Percy Bysshe Sh.e.l.ley” are the following lines from his ”Adonais”:--
”He has outsoared the shadow of our night; Envy and calumny and hate and pain, And that unrest which men miscall delight, Can touch him not and torture not again: From the contagion of the world's slow stain He is secure, and now can never mourn A heart grown cold, a head grown grey in vain; Nor, when the spirits' self has ceased to burn, With sparkless ashes load an unlamented urn”.
At the Reformation the domestic buildings were pulled down, and the old Priory church became the parish church of Christchurch. The last Prior was John Draper II, vicar of Puddletown, Dorset, and t.i.tular Bishop of Neapolis. He surrendered the Priory on 28th November, 1539, when he received a pension of __133, 6_s._ 8_d._; and was allowed to retain Somerford Grange during his life. The original doc.u.ment reads:--
”To John Draper, Bishop of Neapolytan, late prior there (Christchurch), __133, 6_s._ 8_d._; also the manor of Somerford, called the Prior's lodging, parcel of the manor of Somerford, being part of the said late monastery, for term of life of the said bishop without anything yielding or paying thereof.”