Art

This mysterious life-size statue of a man contemplating the water held in his cupped hands is the work of the celebrated British sculptor Antony Gormley. You can find Sound II, fashioned from lead out of a plaster cast of the artist’s own body, in the Cathedral Crypt.

A remarkable survival, these are the finest 12th-century wall paintings in the country, with clearly visible images of Christ being taken down from the Cross and placed in his tomb. You will find them on free public view in the Holy Sepulchre Chapel, where they were uncovered in the 1960s.

In this small chapel in the North Transept, you’ll find four richly coloured stained glass windows designed by pre-Raphaelite artist, Edward Burne-Jones, and created in the workshops of William Morris (1910). Also, look out for the tiny, perfect stone roundel of the Lamb of God (Agnus Dei) carved by a gifted English sculptor (1920).

Thought to represent Ecclesia (the Church), this exquisite female statue, with its elegant flowing garments, is a superb example of English 13th-century sculpture. It was dug up from the Cathedral grounds headless, armless and weather-beaten, and now graces the Retrochoir at the far end of the Cathedral.

High overhead, the Cathedral has over a thousand roof bosses – carvings in wood or stone that cover the joins between the stone ribs of its vaulted ceilings. These roof bosses range from simple 13th-century leaf designs, to elaborate Renaissance images of angels, animals and beasts, heraldic badges and the emblems of Christ’s Passion.

Most of the wooden seats in our choir stalls lift up to reveal small, exquisitely carved ledges that once allowed the monks of St Swithun’s Priory to perch, half sitting and half standing, during their long hours of worship. Featuring comical portraits, animals and plants, this collection of 14th-century misericords is one of the largest in England.

This delightful small chapel in the South Transept is a place of pilgrimage for anglers from all over the world. In its stained-glass window, donated by fishermen in England and America in 1914, you will spot an endearing small portrait of the ‘Father of Angling’ Izaak Walton sitting peacefully reading, his fishing rod beside him.

These exquisite early 14th-century oak choir stalls, where the priory monks once sang their daily offices, are an outstanding survival. Richly decorated with human figures, tiny heads and carved animals surrounded by luxuriant curling leaves, they are thought to be the work of a Norfolk master carpenter,William of Lyngwode.

The ornate, soaring 15th-century stone screen behind the high altar is one of the most important monuments of the period. The original painted statues that once adorned its carved niches are gone, destroyed in the Reformation, but you can see a few glorious survivals in the Triforium Gallery, including a magnificent head of God the Father.

These gorgeous 13th-century floor tiles, their rich colours still glowing, form part of the largest surviving spread of medieval decorated floor tiles inside any building in England. You can see the tiles where they were first laid, and even walk on them, in the Retrochoir at the far end of the Cathedral.

In this area we advise that you do not wear heeled or stiletto shoes, this is due to the uneven surface of the tiles. Thank you for helping us to preserve this special tile carpet.