At the east end are five narrow lancets, set back within arches resting on clustered shafts, and much enriched with the dog-tooth ornament. The wall above these windows is pierced with five foiled openings; of which the three central are oval, the exterior on either side circular. The windows have been filled with stained glass designed by Cottingham and executed by GIBBS, as a memorial to the late Dean MEREWETHER,--to whom the cathedral is so greatly indebted,--who is interred at the north-east angle of the chapel. The subjects commence with the early life of the Virgin, and proceed through that of our Lord, terminating with the supper in the house of Mary and Martha. The glass is good, but suffers from the want of white and neutral tints.
A black marble slab, with a brass plate by Hardman, has been placed over the grave of Dean Merewether. The inscription bears record that “to the restoration of this cathedral he devoted the unwearied energies of his life till its close on the 4th of April, 1850.”
The very rich clustered shafts and arches of the side windows should be especially noticed. The capitals of the shafts are of Early English leafage; and there are small heads at the intersections and crowns of the arches. A circle enclosing a quatrefoil pierces the wall above these windows. The vaulting is plain quadripartite, and springs from shafts which descend upon a base raised slightly above the pavement.
The modern pavement of the Lady-chapel is laid with red and green tiles, in large square panels. The whole design is broad and good in outline; and is somewhat richer at the altar end, which is raised on one step. The aumbry and double piscina on the south side of the altar are reproductions of the originals, which were in a state of extreme decay. Of the two stained windows on the south side, the most eastern (of late fourteenth-century character) was removed from St. Peter’s Church in Hereford, and was given to the cathedral by the late R. B. Phillipps, Esq. The window below is filled with Munich glass.
In the central bay on the north side of the chapel is a very fine Perpendicular monumental recess, within which is laid the effigy (much earlier than the recess) of a knight of the Bohun family. The recess itself has an upper stage or canopy, with open tabernacle-work, in the arches of which figures have been placed, none of which originally belonged to it, with the exception of the two central ones, now headless, representing the Saviour and the Blessed Virgin. The figures on either side were found imbedded in a mass of mortar behind the oaken choir-screen, on its removal by Mr. Cottingham. They represent St. John the Baptist, St. Thomas Cantilupe, and St. Thomas of Canterbury,--the latter distinguished by the pall and the patriarchal cross,--the fourth figure is uncertain.