Leaving the chapter house we walk back through the South transept to the South aisle of the nave. Again we feel wonder at the multi-fluted columns and the fine ribbing of the ceiling. PLAN
122. SOUTH NAVE WINDOW 1
The first window on our left is partially obscured by the South transept. Four unnamed bishops are depicted with dates 1381 – 139(6?), 1413 – 1416, 1478 – 1493, and 1794 – 1803. These dates suggest that the bishop at left might be William Courtenay, and the bishop on the right William Knox.
123. SOUTH NAVE WINDOW 2
The main frames of the windows in the nave South Aisle depict various figures. In the Window #2 we have (from left) St Jerome, St Gregory, Jesus Christ (I am with you alway), St Ambrose and St Augustine.
124. SOUTH NAVE WINDOW 3
In Window #3 are depicted (from the left) Samuel, David, Moses, Nehemiah and Amos. Underneath is written: Turn thou to thy God and keep mercy and judgement and wait on the Lord continually.
125. SOUTH NAVE WINDOW 4
Window #4 shows (from the left) King Alfred, Abraham, Jesus, Joshua and King Edward. Click on Window #4 shows (from the left) King Alfred, Abraham, Jesus, Joshua and King Edward.
126. SOUTH NAVE WINDOW 5
Window #5 appears to be more modern, showing scenes of music, dancing and rejoicing with the Risen Lord at the centre.
127. SOUTH NAVE WINDOW 6
The main panels of the Window #7 show three figures and four scenes. At left we see Jesus calling Peter and Andrew, and below, the stilling of the storm. Next is St Thomas. Then the centurion at the crucifixion of Jesus. The fourth pane shows St Bridget. And the pane at right shows Jesus preaching to the multitudes from a boat, and below, Jesus rescuing Peter from the sea when he was sinking.
128. NAVE PAINTING
Nearby on the wall is this copy of the painting Madonna of the Chair by Raphael. The painting has an interesting story found at ‘http://painting-drawing.knoji.com/the-interesting-story-behind-raphaels-madonna-of-the-chair/ ’. Raphael, visiting an inn, saw a mother nursing her child, and asked her to pose. He painted the picture on the lid of a barrel, and then gave it to the inn keeper to pay for his evening meal. It remained hidden in the inn until 1589 when it was put on public exhibition, and is now one of Raphael’s most priceless paintings.
129. SOUTH NAVE WINDOW 7
There are two windows in the South West corner of the nave. On the South wall is a modern window with the main panels showing people of all nationalities and walks of life paying homage to a young Christ child.
130. WEST WALL WINDOW SOUTH
The window on the West wall appears to be in memory of Bishop John Grandisson. The text reads: ‘Window given in remembrance of John Grandisson of Exeter and destroyed by enemy action. Grandisson was Bishop of Exeter from 1327 to 1369.
131. FONT
Also tucked away in the South West corner of the Cathedral is the baptismal font. This font is made from Sicilian marble with a wooden cover and dates from 1685. It is used for baptisms when children and adults are made members of the Christian church. [Photo credit: http://cornishchurches.com – Devon Churches, Exeter Cathedral]
132. WEST WINDOW
In 1764 William Peckitt was contracted by the Dean of Exeter, Jeremiah Milles, to supply glass to complete the restoration of the Cathedral’s glazing and to make a new West window, which has often been considered to be his masterpiece. Peckitt’s Great West Window is no longer extant (although portions of it have been salvaged), having been replaced in 1904 with a window, designed by Messrs Burlison and Grylls, which was itself destroyed by enemy action in 1942. After the War the glass was replaced. Click on photo to ZOOM IN. This completes our tour of Exeter Cathedral. Click on the small X at top left to continue.
CONCLUSION
As with all these old English cathedrals, preparing a comprehensive website on Exeter Cathedral is an almost impossible task – perhaps a life’s work! So I have had to make choices along the way, and perhaps not always the wisest choices. If you think there is some special feature that should have been included here, please contact me – send a photo, or some text, or a link.
Similarly if there are any errors, I would like to know: the best websites are those without errors. As usual with my websites, I take little credit for the text, and have drawn heavily on the Cathedral’s excellent ‘Exeter Cathedral’ book and website, as well as other websites.
A few photos are not mine too, and these are acknowledged in the text. In fact, when we visited, work was in progress on the West Wall, the Crossing and the Quire, so I have used more ‘outside’ photos than I like, including the Title Page photo which comes from Wikipedia: my thanks to this valuable site.
A collection of my photos used on this site can be found at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulscottinfo/sets/
I am grateful to my wife Margaret who has proof-read this site, and who let me bully her (in a kind understanding way) into making the long trip to England and visiting Exeter. She now agrees that it was all worthwhile (I think!). I regret that we only had one day in Exeter: the town and Cathedral deserved more time!
The Exeter Cathedral website has link
Paul Scott Site created 06 / 2014, reformatted 03 / 2020
