Chester Cathedral The fine stalls in the quire date from 1380. There are twenty-four each side. The Pitkin Guides’ Chester Cathedral Quire Misericords say that they are all on the theme of good versus evil. They identify domestic scenes, mythology, natural history, legend, romance and popular stories of the time and point out that no two designs are repeated. There are few religious subjects.

The stalls were restored in the 19^th century by Sir George Gilbert Scott and several new bench ends replaced carvings which were considered unsuitably bawdy; Fox and Grapes, Fox and Crow, and Fox and Stork from Aesop’s Fables were carved by Robert Bridgeman (1845 to 1918). In 1919 George Faulkner Armitage (1848-1937) carved a further misericord on north side, St George and the Dragon with inscription ‘League of Nations to the Rescue’.

Source: Architects, Sculptors, Designers and Craftsmen 1770-1970 Whose Work Is to Be Seen in Chester Cathedral G. W. O. Addleshaw (Architectural History Vol. 14 (1971))

Chester Cathedral Quire Misericords The Pitkin Guides