Mr. Armfield in his _Legend of Christian Art_ gives us the following detailed account of the various figures in the west front and the meaning of their several emblems:--
_The Tier of Angels._--The celestial hierarchy have been divided into three classes, each class containing three grades. The first class consists of Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones; the second of Dominions, Powers and Authorities; the third of Principalities, Archangels and Angels, Angels being thus the lowest order of celestial creation.
_The Tier of Old Testament Worthies._--David, with the harp; Moses, carrying the Tables of the Law; Abraham, with the knife in his hand; Noah, with the ark in his left hand; Samuel; Solomon, with the sceptre in his right hand and the Church in his left hand.
_The Tier of Apostles._--St. Jude, with the halberd; St. Simon Zelotes, with the saw; St. Andrew, with the cross; St. Thomas, with the builder's square; St. Peter, with the keys in his right hand; St. Paul, with the sword in his right hand; St. Luke and St. John. The figures of St. Peter and St. Paul are restorations of ancient figures which had been mutilated. St. James the Less, with the fuller's club; St. James the Greater, with the pilgrim's staff; St. Bartholomew, with the knife; St. Matthias, with the lance.
_The Tier of the Doctors, Virgins and Martyrs._--St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan; St. Jerome, in a Cardinal's hat; St. Gregory the Great, with the tiara of the Papacy; St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, in Africa; St. Augustine, of Canterbury; St. Mary the Virgin, St. Barbara, St. Catherine, St. Roch, St. Nicholas, St. George, the patron Saint of England; St. Christopher, St. Sebastian, St. Cosmo, St. Damian, St. Margaret, St. Ursula, St. John the Baptist; St. Stephen, the proto-martyr; and the four virgins--St. Lucy, St. Agatha, St. Agnes and St. Cecilia.
_The Tier of Worthies distinctively belonging to the English Church._--Bishop Giles de Bridport, bishop of the diocese at the time of the consecration of the Cathedral; Bishop Richard Poore, founder of the present Cathedral; King Henry III., the monarch who granted the Charter for the building of the Cathedral; Bishop Odo; Bishop Osmund, who built the first Cathedral of Sarum; Bishop Brithwold; St. Alban, holding sword and cross; St. Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury; St. Edmund, king and martyr; St. Thomas of Canterbury. A mutilated figure on the west side of north turret is probably that of St. Berinus. We notice several consecration crosses on the walls of the church.