Mouth of Hell

Mask on the Audit Room ceiling

The timber ceiling in the audit room is the only one of its type in the building. It is divided into nine panels by moulded ribs decorated with carved wooden bosses at the intersections, one of which features a hell mouth with a small figure disappearing into its jaws.

The exact date of the ceiling is unknown, although it is thought that it may have been put in or altered in the late fifteenth century, some fifty years or so after the construction of the building. The timber roof of the choir in Manchester Cathedral, although of a more elaborate construction, is of a similar design and may date from the same period.