61. NAVE

At this point in our tour, the group meeting in the nave takes a break, so we take the opportunity to photograph the nave. For the first time, I notice the colourful little decorations around the roof supports.    PLAN

62. ROOF SUPPORT DECORATIONS

There are four of these decorations: two heads, a floral design, and a strong man bearing the weight. In fact all the decorations seem to have suffered under the strain … .

63. STATIONS OF CROSS

There are fourteen Stations of the Cross placed around the Cathedral. These are scenes from the last Journey Jesus took to the cross. They are used particularly over the Easter period, as aids for meditation. Stations IV, VI, X and XII are shown here..    

64. PULPIT, LECTERN

The preacher delivers the sermon, Sunday by Sunday, from the pulpit. The lectern is used to hold the Bible which is read during services. It is made from brass; the eagle standing on a globe depicts the word of God spread over the whole world.

65. PULPIT FIGURES

The five faces on the pulpit depict Jesus and the four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Cathedral guide asks: Which face do you think is Jesus? It is likely that the order is (from left): Matthew, Mark, Jesus, Luke and John, with Jesus at the centre and (young) John at right.

66. CROSSES AND CRUCIFIX

Behind the nave altar there is a large memorial cross on either side. The cross on the left remembers Henry Powell Ffoulkes (1815–1886) who was a Welsh Anglican cleric and writer for the Sunday School. There is a small crucifix above. The cross on the right remembers Charles Butler Clough, Vicar of Mold and Archdeacon of Saint Asaph.

67. CANONS’ STALLS

As we move up past the crossing we come to the finely carved Canons’ stalls by the Master Carver William Frankelyn, which date from 1482.

68. CHOIR STALLS

The finely carved choir stalls date from 1482. This view looks back towards the organ.

69. CHOIR STALL CARVINGS I

The ends of the choir stalls have many wonderful carvings – mostly birds and mythical beasts.

70. CHOIR STALL CARVINGS II

Here are some more …    

71. CATHEDRA

Just beyond the choir stalls on the South side is a special chair. The bishop is the priest who has oversight over a collection of churches called a diocese. The bishop is attached to one of these churches, and this attachment is signified by a special chair or throne – ‘cathedra’ in Latin. So it is from this special chair that this church gets its title: Cathedral.

72. CHANCEL NORTH WINDOWS

The left window shows an angel appearing to Moses telling him to ‘loose his shoes’. At right, Paul preaches to the crowds in Athens. The next window has a theme of praising God. It is in memory of the poet Felicia Hemans (who wrote ‘The boy stood on the burning deck’). The window at right shows Jesus visiting the home of Mary and Martha.

73. CHANCEL SOUTH WINDOWS

On the South side, the window (left) nearest the altar shows Jesus challenging Thomas not to be faithless but believing. In the second window, Mary Magdalene washes Jesus’ feet, and Jesus preaches about him being the Resurrection and the Life. The third curious triplet of windows shows Jesus calling Nathaniel, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, and Jesus meeting the disciples on the shore of Lake Galilee after the Resurrection.

74. GREAT EAST WINDOW

The East window above the reredos dates from 1864 and shows many recognizable pictures of the life and teaching of Christ.

75. SANCTUARY

This long view shows the placing in the sanctuary of the high altar, reredos and candlesticks below the Great East Window.   

76. HIGH ALTAR

The high altar has a white and gold cloth with three symbols. At left is the familiar Chi-Rho symbol – the first two Greek letters of the name ‘Christ’. At right is the equally familiar ‘ihs’ symbol – the first three letters of the name ‘Jesus’ in Latinised Greek. I assume that the central symbol shows the two patron saints of this cathedral – St Kentigern and St Asaph.

77. REREDOS

The reredos is a 19th Century carving, made of Derbyshire alabaster, behind the High Altar. It depicts Jesus carrying his cross on the road to Calvary, soldiers marching in front, and disciples following, weeping.

This completes our tour of St Asaph Cathedral.