In the south choir aisle stand more monuments, amongst them the mortuary chapel of Robert Harys, with his rebus sculptured on a shield; and the chapel of Draper, the last prior, noticeable for its rich canopied niche over the doorway.[1]
And now that the reader has seen each part, let him go back to the west end, and sweep out of sight the whole thicket of pews, and break down the rood-screen blocking up the view, and looking through and beyond it, past the long line of Norman bays, with their sculptured tables, and past the chancel, imagine the stone reredos, as it once was, shining with gold and colour, all its niches filled with statues, and the windows above blazing with crimson and purple, through which the sunlight poured, staining the carved stalls and misereres,—and then he will have some faint idea of the former glory of the church.[2]
Most interesting is it, too, from another point of view.
- ↑ In the south choir aisle the broken sculptures represent the Epiphany, Assumption, and Coronation of the Virgin. Little can be said in praise of any of the modern monuments. The best are Flaxman's "Viscountess Fitzharris and her three Children," and Weekes's "Death of Shelley." Some of the others should never have been permitted to be erected, especially those which disfigure the Salisbury chapel. The new stained window at the west end adds very much to the beauty of the church.
- ↑ For further details the student of architecture should consult Mr. Brayley and Mr. Ferrey's work, before referred to, of which a new edition is much needed, as also Mr. Ferrey's paper in the Gentleman's Magazine for Dec., 1861, p. 607, on the naves of Christchurch and Durham Cathedral, both built by Flambard, and a paper on the rood screen in the Archæological Journal, vol. v. p. 142; and also a paper read at Winchester, September, 1845, before the Archæological Institute, on Christchurch Priory Church, by Mr. Beresford Hope, and published in the Proceedings of the Society, 1846. An excellent little handbook, by the Secretary of the Christchurch Archæological Association, may be obtained in the town.
