The Madonna was commissioned in 1992 from Mr Michael Marshall of Blissland, Cornwall. It is made from Cornish yew over 150 years old. The Rochester banners are of the Mothers’ Union, the Girls’ Friendly Society, and King’s School. PLAN
62. CHAPEL WEST WINDOWS
These windows depict the Crucifixion and the Risen Christ, and rather curiously, King Arthur!
63. CHAPEL PLAQUES
There are a number of memorial plaques in the Lady Chapel relating to the Jelf family. Those remembered include Sir Arthur Selborne Jelf, Christopher Blomfield Jelf, Charles Gordon Jelf, Philip Wordsworth Montgomery Jelf, as well as Maxwell Chenevix Trench..
65. LADY CHAPEL ARCH
The Lady Chapel arch, seen from the East, has the text ‘Remember John Storrs, Dean of Rochester 1913 – 1928. At top is the Bishop John Scory crest, as seen on the Cathedral gate.
66. HOLE TOMB
Against the transept South wall is the Dean Samuel Reynolds Hole tomb and effigy. Samuel Reynolds Hole, 1819 – 1904, was an Anglican priest, author and horticulturalist.
67. SOUTH WALL MONUMENTS
The monuments across the transept South wall remember Major General Charles George Gordon, Sir Edmund Head, Richard Watts, and Officers of the Corps of Royal Engineers. There is one further memorial at bottom right.
68. SOUTH TRANSEPT WINDOWS
The South wall of the South transept has an impressive array of stained glass windows. The South transept and present Lady Chapel may originally have together formed a larger chapel dedicated to St Mary the Virgin.
69. TRANSEPT WINDOWS DETAIL
This row of windows depicts from the left: St Florian (patron saint of Linz, Austria), St Gereon (of Cologne), St Martin (of Tours who cut his cloak in half), St Alban (first English martyr), St Denis (one time Bishop of Paris), and St Longinus (legendary Roman soldier present at the Crucifixion).
70. TRANSEPT UPPER SOUTH WINDOWS
The colourful upper windows are unfortunately a little indistinct, but the subjects, from the left, are St. Maurice, St. Nicholas, St. George, St. James and St. Adrian.
71. SOUTH TRANSEPT UPPER WINDOWS
We see that this transept also has stained glass windows high on the East wall.
72. WINDOW DETAILS
These windows are interesting in that the left window is shorter than the others. The illustrated figures are from left: Aholiab and Bezaleel (Exodus 31:1–6), King Solomon and King Ethelbert, Gundulph and Walter de Merton (Bishops of Rochester).
73. TRANSEPT EAST WALL
The lower East wall of this transept has a number of monuments, and a small organ in the corner. The two major monuments are in memory of William Franklin (died 1833) and J Law (died 1827), and Sir Richard Head who died in 1689.
74. SOUTH QUIRE AISLE
Unfortunately at the time of my visit, access to the South Quire aisle and the crypt was not possible due to building renovations.
75. BOOK OF MEMORY
Just by the entry to the South Quire aisle is the Cathedral Book of Memory, listing the names and dates of people who were associated with the Cathedral.
76. NORTH TRANSEPT
Leaving the South transept we move directly around the crossing to investigate the North transept on the other side. The open North Door used to be the entry point to the Cathedral from the High Street for many thousands of pilgrims on their way to the shrine of St Thomas Beckett in Canterbury.
77. NORTH TRANSEPT NORTH WINDOWS
There are three windows in the bottom tier of the North transept windows. These depict from left: St Philip, the Risen Lord, and St Stephen. Philip was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, while Stephen was an early deacon. Stephen was the first Christian martyr. The windows are by Clayton and Bell.
78. UPPER WINDOWS
The upper windows of the transept show from left: St Raphael, St Michael, and St Gabriel. Scripture attributes the title ‘archangel’ only to St Michael, but the liturgy of the Church attributes the same title to Saint Gabriel and Saint Raphael..
79. NORTH TRANSEPT FRESCO
On the East wall is a new fresco by celebrated Russian iconographer Sergei Fyodorov. The top section shows the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. Underneath is St Augustine’s baptism of King Ethelbert of Kent in Canterbury around 600. Nearby is the wonderful metal artwork shown at right, showing the same scenes.
80. ALTAR
The altar in front of the fresco has a cloth showing Pentecost flames ... or is it a sheaf of wheat? In either case, new life.