medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Jon Cannon wrote:
>
> Chichester:
> Western entrance: ceremonial/VIP. Single door sheltered by large porch
> with possible platform above. Tomb recesses in walls. C13.
> NW door: lay. into NW tower from N side, facing former gate to town.
> Smallest entrance at we end. C13.
That's a touch garbled: there is indeed a door in the N face of the NW
tower, but there is no reason to believe that it was used by anybody. The
main N door (and its C13 porch, engulfed by slightly later outer N aisle) is
immediately E of the tower, and leads into the nave N aisle. The situation
at Chichester is complicated by the former parochial (or subdeanery) altar
of St Peter having been in the nave, before it move to the N transept,
probably in the C15. The was a (lost) vestry contructed W of the N transept
in the C15.
> SW door: bishop - and clerics? Very grand trumeau'd door with image of
> St Richard de Wych, bishop saint. Nearest door to canon's houses and
> bishop's palace.
The 'SW' door (and its C13 porch, also engulfed in an outer aisle) isn't
particularly SW - it is towards the E end of the nave. It looks as if it
has a ceremonial (ie processional) function - see below.
> SE door: vicars - and clerics? into south choir aisle. Vicars' college
> at this end of complex from c15. Cloister also very late, date of door
> not clear to me.
The door may only be of the same date as the 'cloister' ie, C15. It leads
into the S aisle of the retrochoir of c.1200, at a position which isn't
particularly convenient for anything, except St Richard's shrine and the
Lady Chapel. So the exact positioning may be for a procession from or to
the shrine to or from the nave, although it would probably be the normal
clergy entrance (certainly for the vicars and the Lady Chapel choir).
> The three westernmost doors at Chichester are a 'textbook'
> arrangement - liturgy/bishop/lay, each smaller than the last and
> facing the appropriate way.
Maybe - but it could be argued that with the cloister in place, the bishop
could use the SE entrance as an everyday entrance, or the bishop and canons
might prefer the 'SW' entrance, despite it leading into the nave, because of
the proximity of the sacristy.
John Briggs
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