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Gentleman's Magazine 1863 part 1 p.356

HUGH DE BEAULIEU AT CARLISLE.

MR. URBAN, - In your last Number Mr. Thompson takes exception to a statement made by the Rev. F. W. Baker, at the meeting of the Christchurch Archaeological Societyd, that Bishop Hugh built the choir of Carlisle Cathedral; and infers that "the Norman choir, which was finished in 1101, remained intact until the time of De Everdon." The latter statement is confuted by entires for works about the altar in 1188 (Nicolson and Burn, 252; Jefferson, p.123, note); and Mr. Baker, it is fair to add, has Mr. A. G. Poole on his side: but as the learned disagree, I subjoin a catena of opinions.
Mr. Billing. - "The priory church became the cathedral and remained in the state in which it was erected till the year 1292 ... The columns and arches of that part (the choir) and the whole of the aisles are of the style termed Lancet, which prevailed from 1200 to 1300, and were it not for the fire fixing the date of the reconstruction of the choir-aisles, we should be inclined to give it an earlier date than the year 1292." - (Carlisle, Hist. Acc., pp.2,3.)
Mr. Purday. - "All who have before written upon this subject ... consider that the immediate cause which led to the rebuilding of the choir was the destructive fire which occurred in the year 1292. But the remains of this choir prove it to have been commenced at an earlier date, and in absence of any historical proofs of the fact except those afforded by the building itself, I shall assign its erection, or rather commencement, to Sylvester de Everdon, who came to the see in 1245, and held it till his death in 1255." - (Arch. of Carlisle Cathedral., p.13.)
Dean Tait. - "The examination of the architecture shews that the walls of both the south and north aisles, with their arcades and windows, were erected about 1250, in Henry the Third's reign." - (Hist. Sketch &c., p.21.)
Lysons. - "Thirteenth Century. The aisles of the choir of Carlisle ... and the pointed arches ... are in the style of the latter part of this century." - (Mag. Brit. Cumb., p.cxc.)
Mr. J. H. Parker. - "The choir was entirely rebuilt in the thirteenth century." - (Rickman, p.152.) "A.D. 1292, a great fire occurred at Carlisle, in which the cathedral was burnt: this destroyed the timber vault over the central space of the choir, but the vaulted roof of the aisles preserved the outer walls from injury. ... The piers were obliged to be rebuilt; this was skilfully done without disturbing the arches or the vaults, &c." - (Ibid. 323.)
Re. G. A. Poole. - "The history must
d GENT. MAG., Jan. 1863, p.69.
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