Virtual Tour of Rochester Cathedral
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The Lady Chapel - more info
In the Lady Chapel (as it is now), the feeling of space given by the late Perpendicular style does not give a sense of being in a separate chapel.
Surrounded by Jesus’ story told in glass through his mother’s eyes, and with its modern tapestries and furnishings, the chapel is now used for small weekday services. The wooden screen makes it difficult now to imagine the larger, medieval Lady Chapel. The transept itself is often used for seating for big occasions in the nave. School carol services, diocesan services, university graduations, concerts and big cathedral serices often mean we require every inch of space. If we use the whole cathedral, we can seat up to 1,300. At recent Christmas midnight services, we have had to spill over into the crypt as well.
The picture above shows a view looking east from inside the Chapel: separate, yet linked by arches. Note the vault rib’s corbel well to the right of the arch’s apex. This demonstrates that the arch existed before the roof and therefore the presence of an earlier, narrower, structure.
