. In the old paths: memories of literary pilgrimages . ago, I, too, heardthe clock at Lichfield striking twelve, for the opencasement windows had a fascination that banishedsleep. The moon, obscured by clouds, was nearing thefull, and into the grey, luminous sky rose The Ladiesof the Vale, the two florid western spires, dating fromthe fourteenth century, and their younger sister, thecentral spire, said to be the work of Sir ChristopherWren, who had been commissioned to replace theoriginal spire, destroyed by a fanatical Puritan. Noother cathedral in England can now show such a pic-ture as is h
. In the old paths: memories of literary pilgrimages . ago, I, too, heardthe clock at Lichfield striking twelve, for the opencasement windows had a fascination that banishedsleep. The moon, obscured by clouds, was nearing thefull, and into the grey, luminous sky rose The Ladiesof the Vale, the two florid western spires, dating fromthe fourteenth century, and their younger sister, thecentral spire, said to be the work of Sir ChristopherWren, who had been commissioned to replace theoriginal spire, destroyed by a fanatical Puritan. Noother cathedral in England can now show such a pic-ture as is here presented—three spires rising up intothe midnight air from their pinnacled bases of richGothic profusion. Now the chimes have struck thequarter-past midnight, and at half-past twelve I lookedout hoping to hear the watchmans voice, but the dis-tance was too great. The clouds have cleared away,and, over the Cathedral, Charless Wain spangles thesky. On the Sunday morning the bells of the Minsterwere ringing their Laudate Dotninum, praising Him in. LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL : WEST FRONT. i66 THE LADIES OF THE VALE the height. We generally associate old cathedrals withgrey-worn towers, silver-lichened ; but here the redsandstone presents a warm, ruddy hue that adds abrightness as of sunshine to the richly decorated fagadeo£ the west front, where the niches are once morefilled in with effigies of saints and kings. Anotherfeature is the spire-lights, particularly of the centralspire. These spire-lights or windows are characteristicof the broach spires of the neighbouring county ofNorthampton, and while Lichfield has a parapet roundthe base of the spire, the design of the windows isexactly as in the broach or parapetless spires of theMidlands. The effect, especially of the lower windowspiercing the great central spire, is, under certain atmo-spheric conditions, like the baseless fabric of a vision ;you marvel at its seeming slender foundations. If the Cathedral is beautiful without, i
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1913
