The Western Front
Previous page: Dimensions and Exterior
The splendid western front, the glory of the cathedral-airy yet imparting the idea of imperishable stability-full of subtle intricacies and ingenuities and elaborations of design, natural and homogeneous like the veining of a leaf, has often been compared with the celebrated façade of Rheims Cathedral for richness, sublimity, and beauty of architectural design.
This front, erected in the reign of Edward II., is divided into three principal parts by massive graduated buttresses, enriched with tabernacle-work on every face. "The elevated gable," says Moule, "concealing the roof of the church, is covered with ornamental tracery of the most florid character, having the ridge beautifully terminated with a perforated battlement, the successive gradations of which are crested with a central pinnacle in exquisite taste.
The three entrances upon this front are deemed not disproportioned to the grandeur of the elevation. The central porch opening to the nave, like many other western entrances of churches, is subdivided into two openings by a clustered pillar; but in the space beneath the deep recess of the arch is a circular window of six lights, which is an unusual, if not unique, enrichment of the porch."
On each side of the entrance the whole of the space is entirely filled with canopied niches for statues, in two tiers, leaving no part of the surface of the building unornamented.
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