The Misericords and Bench Ends of Chester Cathedral

This is a 14th century elephant from Chester Cathedral. I love medieval elephants - they’re portrayed regularly in 14th and 15th century architecture and carvings but they are all a bit odd as the artist hadn’t seen one in real life. There was an elephant in the menagerie of the Tower of London in 1255 and the medieval interpretations were likely based on that elephant, plus other contributions, with templates passed on. The feet are those of a horse - that’s actually fairly common. The head of this one is a bit of a weird shape but similar to an Indian elephant. What it has on its back reminds me of Tolkien’s “olyphaunts” and I do wonder if he took some inspiration from this carving.

This week’s post for paid subscribers covers some of the carvings in the Cathedral. I tried to pick the best from those which were accessible - as you can see from the photos, there were a lot of ropes barring the way.

This is the choir of the Cathedral, built for the Benedictines who had a monastery here. It was built in 1380, has moved a couple of times and was taken apart, piece by piece, in the 19th century. Centuries of paint and grime was stripped and some replacement parts made to repair damage.