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DIRECTORV.]CHESHIRE. CHESTER. 215afterwards bishop of London; Charles James Blomfidd(1824-28), also translated to London, and died 5 August1857; John Bird Sumner (1828-48). and archbishopof Canterbury, 1848, died at Lambeth, 6 Sept. 1862-WUliam Jacobson (1865-84), sometime Regius Professorof Divinity at Oxford; and WUliam Stubbs (1884-9)Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford andBishop of Oxford 1888-1901. The 'Right Rev 'PrasJohn Jayne D.D. 33rd and present Bishop of Ohesterformerly fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, principal ofSt. David's CoUege, Lampeter, and vicar of Leeds, wasconsecrated in 1889.The Cathedral church of St. Werburgh, originally thechurch of the Benedictine abbey, but on the foundation ofthe bishopric of Chester by Henry VIII. renamed as theCathedral church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Maryin Chester, is a cruciform stmcture of red sandstone invarious styles from Early Norman to Late Perpendicular,and consists of nave of seven bays, with aisles and south'porch; choir of five bays, with aisles and south-east•chapel; an eastern lady-chapel of three bays, small north•transept of one bay, with eastern chapel; south transeptof five bays, with aisles; an incomplete south-west tower,and a central embattled tower, 127 feet high, with•octagonal battlemented turrets at the angles, and crocketedpinnacles between these; the belfry has two canopied windowsin each face, and contains a clock with chimes andeight heUs. On the north side of the nave are the abbey•cloisters, no feet square ; the eastern alley opens into avestibule, leading to the chapter house, and near this onthe north are stairs, once leading to the dormitory, and tothe east a vaulted cellar; the refectory occupies almostthe whole of the north walk, and on the west side is along low vaulted undercroft of Early Norman date. TheCathedral is so much shut in by buildings that a reaUygood general view is unobtainable, but the best prospectis afforded by the city waU, which closely adjoins theCathedral yard on the east. The eastern portion of thefabric is aknost entirely Early EngUsh, the remainder isDecorated, with additions and alterations made duringthe Perpendicular period. The west front, flanked byoctagonal banded turrets, is wholly filled vrith a Perpendicularwindow, richly traceried; the space below is•occupied by an embattled screen, with a central doorway,on either side of which are three canopied niches; thebasement of the south-west tower, along the face ofwhich the banding of the turret is carried, has a Perpendicularwindow, with a canopied niche on eitherside; the interior eerves as a consistory court. Thesouth porch, which abuts on this tower, has a parvise•chamber above it. The cathedral has generally piercedparapets, but the south transept and its aisles areembattled, and the east end of the choir is stronglymarked by two octagonal turrets, with tall crocketedepirelets; the stone roof of the south-eastern apse,restored from exi.sting records, and rising to a height ofabout 40 feet, is also a very striking feature; the eastend of the lady chapel is finished with buttresses surmountedby canopied pinnacles.The nave is 145 feet long, and, with the aisles, 75feet wide, and has a height of 73 feet; its arcades areDecorated, of rather plain character, but the stage aboveis wholly Perpendicular, with a lofty window in eachbay, and serves both as triforium and clerestory; thenave is seated with open benches and chairs, and at the•east end are raised seats, arranged longitudinally, forthe chdr; the pulpit, designed by Mr. R. C Hussey, and*he eagle lectern were removed from the choir; thenave was first used for divine service on Advent Sunday,1867; the aisles were also modified during the Perpendicularperiod, but the lower part of the wall of thenorth aisle is Norman work; the interior wall of thisaisle has been adorned with marble mosaics, the gift ofMrs. Piatt, of Stalybridge, who died in 1888; the work,finished in i8go, represents scenes from the Old Testamenthistory, designed by Mr. Clayton, jun. and executedby Mr. Burke, of Newman street, London; thestained windows above were presented in 1890 by H.Higgins esq. of Hereford. The present baptistery, formedout of an ancient Norman chamber at the north-westangle of the nave, was dedicated by the late bishop ofChester, g Oct. 1885; the fiooring has been laid downwith mosaics, illustrating the "Miraculous Draught ofFishes,'' surrounded by a series of heads, emblematic ofChristian virtues; the ancient and beautiful font ofItalian marble was presented by Lord Egerton ofTatton. The small north transept is now partiaUy occupiediby the organ loft, which is a beautiful work of stoneand marble supported on sixteen marble columns, andwag erected at a cost of ;^2,40o, entirely defrayed bythe Duke of Westminster, The organ, formerly placedabove the choir screen, was removed to this transept.which has an ornamental oak roof supported In- angdsholding emblems of tbe Crucifixion, and the arms ofCardinal Wolsey also appear prominently on the beams;a new organ was provided in 1910, most of the pipes ofthe old organ being utilized, after being revoiced; thereare 51 .speaking stops and 25 couplers, four manualsand fvvo pedals ; the wind is supplied by a kinetic fanworked by eltectricity and placed in a room in thenorth transept triforium; the whole of the choirorgan is placed in the south choir aisle and played byelectric pneumatic action. The south transept wasassigned, in the 14th century, as the parish churchot St. Oswald's parish, and so continued to be useduntil 1881, when the church of St, Thomas was givento this parish in Ueu of this transept: it is 78 feet4 inches long by 77 feet wide, including the aisles, andin its architectural character resembles the nave; thescreen waU erected across the transept, in 1828, byDean Copleston, has been entirely removed; the stainedwindow at the south end of the transept was the giftin 1885 of Lord Egerton of Tatton, in memory of hisfather, WUHam Tatton, ist Baron Egerton of Tatton,who died 24 Feb, 1883; on the east side of the transeptis a stained window given in 1890 by Mrs. A. Potts, ofHoole HaU, in memory of her father and her husband.On tbe south wall hang the old coloura of the 22nd(Cheshire) Regiment, carried at the storming of Quebec,September 13th, 1759. The interior of this transept hasbeen restored at a cost of about _^io,ooo, under the directionof Messrs. Blomfield 4 Son, architects, as a memorialto the late Duke of Westminster KG. who died Dec.22nd, 1899; the stone groining of the western aisle andthe oak groining of the central aisle being new. Therestoration of the exterior was completed in 1910 fromtbe designs of Mr. GUbert Scott, in tbe 14th centurystyle, consisting of three pinnacles with tracery workand an arched doorway.The choir screen, originally a Decorated work of the14th century, was subjected to some modifications duringthe restorations in 1844, and also at a later date, onthe removal of the organ to the north transept; it is alight and elegant structure, the lower portion consistingof open traceried arcading, with a central entrance closedby ornamental gates, presented in 1876 by Mr. HarmoodBanner, of Liverpool; the upper stage is of similar openwork, rising into slender crocketed pinnacles, and on thochoir side is richly canopied, and has four tabernacledstalls on either side the doorway. The choir is, architecturally,much more impressive than the nave; thetwo eastern bays are Early EngUsh, but the westemportion belongs to the period of transition from thatstyle to the Decorated; the main arcade is lofty, supportinga triforium of four trefoiled arches in each bay,and round-headed recesses at the back; the clerestoryconsists of a single lofty window in each bay, filled withdebased tracery; the east end of the choir is piercedby an arch of the same height as those of the arcades,and opening into the lady-chapel, and above it is awindow filled with geometrical tracery. The formerplaster roof has been entirely removed and replaced bya new roof of oak, at a cost of ;£'2,5oo, defrayed by thelate Thomas Piatt esq. J.P. of Dunham Hall; the roofis richly decorated in gold and colour, and painted withvarious subjects, including figures of the sixteen OldTestament prophets. The pavement of the choir hasbeen relaid, in part with the old marble slabs, intermixedwith new tile-work, and the sacrarium withmarble bearing incised representations ot subjects illustratingthe " Passion." The stalls, forty-eight innumber, belong to the 15th century: the canopied workis peculiarly fine, and there are misereres or subselUa ofthe same date; at the east end of the southern rangeof stalls is the bishop's throne, executed by Messrs.Farmer and Brindley, and erected in 1876. Thesacrarium is inclosed by railings, presented by the lateJohn Torr esq. M.P. for Liverpool, who died in 1880.The communion table, given by the late Very Rev. JohnSaul Howson D.D. dean of Chester 1867-86, is made ofportions of oak, olive-wood and cedar, all obtained fromPalestine by Henry Lee esq. J.P. ot Sedgeley Park, andpresented by him for this purpose in 1876; over thetable is a handsome reredos, adorned with a picture inmosaics, executed at Venice, of " the Last Supper." Thefour Decorated sediKa, originaUy in the church of St.John the Baptist, and restored by the Freemasons at acost of ;^45o, are in two stages, -with two seats in each;their canopies, which had been much mutilated, havefigures of monkeys and other grotesques, as weU aspedestals for figures: on the opposite side are two fineaumbries, also Decorated. The pulpit of carved woodillustrates the Preaching of John the Baptist in theWilderness, the buUding of Solomon's temple, and St.