Robert Hungerford, put, of course, to other uses following the
dissolution of the chantries in 1547. Leaden Hall and the episcopal
palace were built concurrent with the cathedral. The present cathedral
structurally is the same as in Jewel’s day, though several things have
changed. The episcopal palace is no longer the bishop’s residence, which
is now Mompesson House attached to the old Hungerford chantry, and
the palace has gone through renovations largely due to damage sustained
during the commonwealth period as it was then made into an ale house,
and suffered accordingly. The palace is now the cathedral school. The
greatest changes would be to the cathedral itself, which went through
renovations c. 1790 under the architect James Wyatt. Later dubbed
Wyatt the Destroyer, his several improvements included the demolition
of the belfry, which was detached from the cathedral proper. The belfry
had been a persistent problem for the chapter, as people were wont to
wander among the bells, at times cracking them, and often getting them
out of tune, so that they would have to be recast. On top of that, like the
palace, it had been used as an ale house, and suffered much the same
end.^1 The most notorious of Wyatt’s deeds, however, came seemingly at
the behest of the evangelical bishop who wished the cathedral to be
brighter to aid in the people’s reading of Scripture. Wyatt, accordingly,
whitewashed the frescos on the nave ceiling, and broke out most of the
stained glass from the enormous windows in the nave. Someone had the
prescience to make sketches of the frescoes, which are now being redone.
The history of Salisbury’s past bishops’ relations with their chapter
and city was never tranquil, and while Jewel did not face the turmoil
others did, his time as bishop was not idyllic. The bishop of Salisbury
was at the same time Lord of the city; the mayor, though elected by the
people was his vassal. The fifteenth century had been one of
confrontation between the lord bishop and his subjects. During the
unrest surrounding the murder of the duke of Suffolk and the Cade
rebellion in 1450, numerous local insurrections broke out, one of them
in Salisbury. William Ayscough, bishop since 1438 and the confessor to
Henry VI, had to flee Salisbury, but was caught at Edington during Mass
and was dragged out of the priory church and stoned. Richard
Beauchamp succeeded Ayscough, and though at great odds with the city
and the mayor, avoided Ayscough’s fate for the 32 years of his
episcopacy. Both Beauchamp and the city, led by its four-time mayor,
John Halle, appealed to Edward IV to revisit the bishop’s traditional
privileges; Beauchamp of course wanting them confirmed. Edward IV
204 JOHN JEWEL AND THE ENGLISH NATIONAL CHURCH
(^1) Dora Robertson (1938), Sarum Close. A Picture of Domestic Life in a Cathedral Close
for 700 years and the History of the Choristers for 900 years(London: Jonathan Cape),
pp. 232–33.
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