Chancel Vault

Regarded as the chief architectural glory of Christ Church, the Chancel Vault is a sublime example of late medieval rib vaulting. It is a Lierne Pendant vault, built by William Orchard in around 1500. It is made up of 12 lantern shaped pendants that hang miraculously suspended in mid-air, and tiny ribs of stone, known as 'liernes', that intersect along the centre of the vault creating large eight-pointed star shapes - the stars of heaven.