Lady Chapel

The cathedral's Lady Chapel and the crypt below it were constructed in the 1220s and are acknowledged to be among the finest expressions of Early English architecture. The breadth and airiness of the chapel and delicacy of the tracery around the east windows are immediately striking, and all around are warm colour and fine monuments.

At various stages of its existence the Lady Chapel has house the shrine of St Thomas of Hereford, and after the changes and reforms of the sixteenth century, it became the home for the cathedral's chained library. The marks where the bookcases were put can still be seen. By the middle of the nineteenth century the significance of the chapel was recognised once again and the books were taken out and housed elsewhere until being moved to their present permanent home.