13. The Lady Chapel

3D Model

The Lady Chapel of Rochester Cathedral was once located in the South Nave Transept. St John Hope (1898, 247) suggested the south transept was completed c.1280, and McAleer (1996, 260-261) considered the timber vaulting may not have been completed until c.1340, based on the style of the bosses. However, Alexander (2006, 162 suggests much of the architectural evidence supports a date of completion for both the north and south transept c.1240, by different masons but without a significant pause in work. An extension was built in the 1490s, with soaring Perpendicular window arches. The stained glass of the area called the Lady Chapel today is from the early 1900s and tells the story of Christ through his mother’s eyes. Underneath, tapestries made by Bobbie Cox in 1991 evoke various points of meeting between the earth and heaven.

Bibliography