Cathedrals of UK
The intention is to visit and photograph all of the Engand ones - at least to start with! Here are a few I have visited to date.
Canterbury Cathedral
St Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, arrived on the coast of Kent as a missionary to England in 597 AD. He came from Rome, sent by Pope Gregory the Great. It is said that Gregory had been struck by the beauty of Angle slaves he saw for sale in the city market and despatched Augustine and some monks to convert them to Christianity. Augustine was given a church at Canterbury (St Martin’s, after St Martin of Tours, still standing today) by the local King, Ethelbert whose Queen, Bertha, a French Princess, was already a Christian.This building had been a place of worship during the Roman occupation of Britain and is the oldest church in England still in use. Augustine had been consecrated a bishop in France and was later made an archbishop by the Pope. He established his seat within the Roman city walls (the word cathedral is derived from the the Latin word for a chair ‘cathedra’, which is itself taken from the Greek ‘kathedra’ meaning seat.) and built the first cathedral there, becoming the first Archbishop of Canterbury.
Until the 10th century, the Cathedral community lived as the household of the Archbishop. During the 10th century, it became a formal community of Benedictine monks, which continued until the monastery was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1540. Augustine’s original building lies beneath the floor of the Nave – it was extensively rebuilt and enlarged by the Saxons, and the Cathedral was rebuilt completely by the Normans in 1070 following a major fire. There have been many additions to the building over the last nine hundred years, but parts of the Quire and some of the windows and their stained glass date from the 12th century. By 1077, Archbishop Lanfranc had rebuilt it as a Norman church, described as “nearly perfect”. A staircase and parts of the North Wall – in the area of the North West transept also called the Martyrdom – remain from that building.
After the Restoration in 1660, several years were spent in repairing the building. In the early 19th Century, the North West tower was found to be dangerous, and, although it dated from Lanfranc’s time, it was demolished in the early 1830s and replaced by a copy of the South West tower, thus giving a symmetrical appearance to the west end of the Cathedral. During the Second World War, the Precincts were heavily damaged by enemy action and the Cathedral’s Library was destroyed. Thankfully, the Cathedral itself was not seriously harmed, due to the bravery of the team of fire watchers, who patrolled the roofs and dealt with the incendiary bombs dropped by enemy bombers.
This a magnificent building, and fills you with awe as you gaze at the workmanship, and marvel at the vision that these people had who designed and built it. Whatever your faith, or none, this stirs the senses that few buildings do.
Son Of Man - Completed in 1988 and dedicated that year by Archbishop Robert Runcie, it stands over 7 feet high and is cast in bronze. It was created by David McFall who died of cancer shortly before the dedication took place. The figure was originally submitted as a candidate for the competition to fill the vacant niche on the Christ Church gate. This was won by Klaus Ringwald but the McFall statue was admired and thought suitable for its present site. The large hands on the Son of Man figure were designed to be viewed high on the gate - the optical distortion in this position would make them look more balanced.
The east end of the cathedral was rebuilt in 1174-75 in a pioneering and highly influential Gothic style.
The pulpitum screen of the 1450s divides the nave from the quire. It features sculptures of six English kings. The pulpitum is a common feature in medieval cathedral and monastic church architecture in Europe. It is a massive screen that divides the choir (the area containing the choir stalls and high altar in a cathedral, collegiate or monastic church) from the nave and ambulatory (the parts of the church to which lay worshippers may have access).
The Quire, focus of music and worship to this day, was the first part of the east end to be rebuilt.
The Pilgrims Boat, part of a series of installations by international artists Philip Baldwin and Monica Guggisberg reflecting on themes of war and remembrance, migration and refugees - Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War
As visitors move around the Cathedral, they will come across a series of ten installations that begins with 100 glass amphorae suspended in the shape of a ship in the Cathedral’s Nave, each one representing one year since the end of the First World War. In the Martyrdom, four pieces blown at a workshop in Venice represent the four assassins of Thomas Becket, while in the North Aisle a glass boat filled with spent shells, grenades and other debris together with sheets of statistics ignite conversations about the plight of refugees in war, migration and “collateral damage”. The artists worked with the Cathedral Stonemasons to create The Stone Boat in St Anselm’s Chapel. In the Eastern Crypt is a triptych displaying the past, present and future, and the exhibition ends in the Chapter House with a wall of coloured glass, celebrating all of human diversity.
The Martyrdom - Thomas Becket was born in around 1120, the son of a prosperous London merchant. He was well educated and quickly became an agent to Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, who sent him on several missions to Rome. Becket's talents were noticed by Henry II, who made him his chancellor and the two became close friends. When Theobald died in 1161, Henry made Becket archbishop. Becket transformed himself from a pleasure-loving courtier into a serious, simply-dressed cleric.
The king and his archbishop's friendship was put under strain when it became clear that Becket would now stand up for the church in its disagreements with the king. In 1164, realising the extent of Henry's displeasure, Becket fled into exile in France, and remained in exile for several years. He returned in 1170.
On the 29 December 1170, four knights, believing the king wanted Becket out of the way, confronted and murdered Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.
Becket was made a saint in 1173 when miracles were said to take place, and his shrine in Canterbury became one of Europe’s most important pilgrimage centres. A real money making machine! The murder took place in what is now known as The Martyrdom.
The Font was installed in 1639 for public baptisms. It was smashed up a few years later by Puritan soldiers, but the broken pieces were collected and hidden until 1663 when it was re-installed. A drawing found on a market stall in 2002 proved to be the design of the font.
The font stands on a marble plinth, with white marble figures of the four Evangelists around the stem. The cover has small statues of the 12 Apostles, coats of arms and a figure of Christ blessing children at the top.
A pulley allows the blue and white gilded cover to be raised and lowered. The carved dove at the base of the cover represents the Holy Spirit.
The ornate wooden pulpit standing at the east end of the nave was erected in 1898 in memory of Dean Robert Payne-Smith (Dean from 1871 to 1895). It was carved by the architect George Bodley. The main panels include carvings of the crucifixion and annunciation. The balustrades carry two large figures, according to modern writers those of St Augustine of Canterbury and Pope Gregory. Not all agree, however - J Charles Cox writing in 1905, not long after installation of the pulpit, claimed the figures represented St Augustine and St Paulinus. Brass plaques by the pulpit stairs refer to the Dean and to his daughter, Jessie, a scholar of the Syriac language.
John Wastell`s glorious fan vault, completed in 1503. Difficult to photograph in all its splendour.
Ceiling bosses in the Great Cloisters mostly represent the donors who funded its construction.
The Great Cloister used by the monks when the building was the church of the Benedictine priory of Christ Church
The Christ Church entrance - Cathedral records indicate the gate was built between 1504 and 1521 with funds provided by Priors Goldstone and Goldwell. This is despite the inscription of 1507 on the stonework “Hoc Opus constructum est anno Domini millesimo Quingentesimo decimo septimo,” - a matter of ongoing dispute between historians. It was probably built in honour of Prince Arthur, Henry VIII's elder brother who married to Catherine of Aragon in 1501. He died the following year aged just 16, allowing Henry VIII to become King and marry Katherine himself in 1509. Imagine the consternation of the sculptors responsible for the heraldry trying to keep up with changing family dynamics! The original statue of Christ and the wooden gates were destroyed by the Puritan iconoclast Richard Culmer in 1643. The gates were restored by Archbishop Juxon in 1660 and still bear his arms. The statue of Christ was replaced in 1990 after a gap of 347 years.
Wells - Cathedral
Having been to Wells before and being fascinated by the clock, we decided to revisit as we were in the area. I think Wells Cathedral has the most magnificent frontage. The mind `boggles` at the `man - hours` spent on constructing these monumental buildings.
I don't remember anything much about the town of Wells, apart from the Cathedral area. Mind you, it has such an impact when you first see it, like most of our Medieval Cathedrals.
The present Cathedral was begun about 1175 on a new site to the north of an old minster church.
Bishop Reginald de Bohun brought the idea of a revolutionary architectural style from France, and Wells was the first English cathedral to be built entirely in this new Gothic style.
The first building phase took about eighty years, building from east to west, culminating in the magnificent West Front. About 300 of its original medieval statues remain: a glorious theatrical stone backdrop for feast day processions.
The Clock!
The famous Wells clock is considered to be the second oldest clock mechanism in Britain, and probably in the world, to survive in original condition and still in use.
The original works were made about 1390 and the clock face is the oldest surviving original of its kind anywhere.When the clock strikes every quarter, jousting knights rush round above the clock and the Quarter Jack bangs the quarter hours with his heels.
The outside clock opposite Vicars’ Hall, placed there just over seventy years after is connected with the inside mechanism.
Scissor Arches
The scissor arches, which often visitors believe to be later, modern additions were constructed from 1338-48 as an engineering solution to a very real problem.
By 1313 a high tower topped by a lead covered wooden spire had been constructed but as the foundations were not stable large cracks began to appear in the tower structure.
In fear of a total collapse, several attempts at internal strengthening and buttressing were made, until the famous ‘scissor arches’ were put in place by master mason William Joy as a final solution.
A closer look.
Fan Vaulted Ceiling, Chapter House, Wells Cathedral
Ripon Cathedral - St Peter and St Wilfrid
I took very few images, which in hindsight was a mistake - I have learnt in the last few years what a wealth of history I have missed. A revisit is needed!
The doorways in the West end - and I missed the splendid Gothic façade
The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, is a cathedral in the North Yorkshire city of Ripon. Founded as a monastery by Scottish monks in the 660s, it was re-founded as a Benedictine monastery by St Wilfrid in 672
St Wilfrid, who built the stone church, with its still-surviving crypt, died in 710. Only four years later, an account of his life was written by a monk, known to us as Stephen of Ripon. He tells us that this was the first church to be built by Wilfrid, and that the church and its monastic community remained the favourite of all of his foundations. It was to Ripon that his body was brought after his death at Oundle, one of his later monasteries. In order to build it, Wilfrid followed a practice that he had observed in the great basilicas of Rome: he re-used Roman stone and Roman columns, in this case bringing them from the major Roman site of Aldborough (Isurium Brigantum), only a few miles away. The church was dedicated to St Peter, reflecting Wilfrid’s strong commitment to the Roman tradition of Christianity at a time when the Celtic tradition was still strong in Northumbria.
The cathedral is notable architecturally for its gothic west front in the Early English style, considered one of the best of its type, as well as the Geometric east window. The seventh-century crypt of Wilfrid's church is a significant example of early Christian architecture in England.
A new sculpture depicting the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus has been bequeathed to the Cathedral by Yorkshire artist and former mining engineer, Malcolm Brocklesby, who died in 2010. The piece, called ‘Madonna of the Cross’, shows the Virgin Mary dedicating her child to God. Her figure is integrated with the cross, but she is looking beyond Calvary to the Resurrection. It is hoped that the sculpture will become a focus for prayer requests. A second version of the sculpture was commissioned by English Heritage for Mount Grace Priory.
Ripon is famed for its misericords, dating from between c.1489 and 1494. Remarkably, despite the severe damage of the Civil War, when the medieval glass was destroyed, the misericords survived intact.
(A misericord (sometimes named mercy seat, like the Biblical object) is a small wooden structure formed on the underside of a folding seat in a church which, when the seat is folded up, is intended to act as a shelf to support a person in a partially standing position during long periods of prayer)
Three hands can be detected in these masterpieces of the carvers’ art, and very unusually, for a period when carvers are commonly anonymous, it has been possible to determine that they were created by the workshop of the Bromflet family, known in the Ripon historical record along with other named local carvers from around this date. With characters in the dress of the time, they present moralistic scenes, mythological creatures, and some biblical and doctrinal episodes, with extraordinary vigour and power.
Wilfrid’s crypt reflects the ecclesiastical structures that he had seen on his travels to Rome and in Rome itself, no doubt also including the few catacombs that were accessible in the seventh century. We know that on his first visit, in c.655-56, he spent many months in devotion at the shrines of saints. By the time the crypt was built he had also spent a considerable amount of time in Gaul, which likewise had underground chambers for saints’ relics in some of the major churches. The crypt was built within an excavated pit, and then the upper church was built above, covering a larger area. Although the church and the crypt were connected by the entrance and exit passages, they were not structurally related: the crypt was not load-bearing and was a complete structure within itself. It is this structural integrity and independence that has allowed the crypt to survive intact, despite the various sequences of destruction and rebuilding that have taken place above ground.
Chester Cathedral - Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary
The C7th Mercian King, Wulfhere, is reputed to have founded a timber church on this site dedicated to St Peter and St Paul, but it was his daughter, Werburgh, who really put Chester on the map. She renounced her royal status to become a nun at Ely Abbey. Many miracles were attributed to her during her lifetime, including restoring back to life a goose that had been stolen and eaten.
She was buried in Staffordshire and her tomb rapidly became a place of pilgrimage. Following the threat of Danish raids in the C9th her relics were brought to Chester as a place of safety and were placed in the Church of St Peter and St Paul. Queen Ethelfleda, the grand daughter of Alfred the Great, founded a monastery in Chester and rededicated the church to St Werburgh. The new monastery continued to enjoy royal patronage and flourished. A splendid shrine was built in her honour.
The Water of Life
I loved this statue in the Cathedral cloisters. The piece was designed for the Cloister Garden of Chester Cathedral in association with the 900th Anniversary celebrations of the foundation of the Benedictine Abbey of St Werburgh, on this site in 1092.
The water feature depicts (if you know the story) "the encounter between Jesus and the Woman of Samaria, showing their shared bowl overflowing with water. The theme of water also suggests a link to how the Benedictine monks water supply was at the centre of the cloister garden."
Looking toward the great west window in Chester cathedral. It is Perpendicular Gothic with 20th-century stained glass by W. T. Carter Shapland (1961) as the Victorian stained glass was blown out by a bomb in 1941.The picture shows the massive space inside this building.
And facing the other way toward the altar
The Gothic Chapter House
Chester was the last English city to fall to the Normans in 1069. To bring the area firmly under Norman control, William I appointed his nephew, Hugh d’Avranches, as Earl of Chester. He built Chester Castle and transformed the Saxon Church into a large and well endowed Benedictine Monastery, with a Norman church around the shrine of St Werburgh. Building began at the east end where the monks held services and gradually extended west. Work began on the domestic buildings including the cloisters.
Elephant and castle bench ends - note the feet of a horse, demonstrating that the carver had learnt of elephants by word of mouth.
During the Commonwealth, the Puritans smashed all the stained glass and replaced with plain glass. The hands of the Greene monument (above) in the nave were removed because they were joined in prayer, which was regarded as a popish gesture.
The space beneath the south west tower was set up as the Consistory court in 1636. The court dealt with all the legal work of the diocese, including handling wills and probate, issues of matrimony as well as heresy, blasphemy and slander. This is the only surviving court in England. The judge, called the Chancellor, sat at the canopied seat at the head of the table, with a clerk on either side. The other officers of the court sat round the table. The Apparitor was responsible for the smooth running of the court and sat in the high seat in the corner, where he could see everything going on.
Part of the Cloisters
Lincoln Cathedral, also called Lincoln Minster
Lincoln Cathedral, also called Lincoln Minster and formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln, is a Church of England cathedral. It is the seat of the bishop of Lincoln and is the mother church of the diocese of Lincoln. The cathedral is governed by its dean and chapter, and is a grade I listed building.
The earliest parts of the current building date to 1072. The building was completed in 1092, but severely damaged in an earthquake in 1185. It was rebuilt over the following centuries in the Gothic style.
The cathedral became the tallest building in the world upon the completion of its 160-metre-high (525 ft) central spire in 1311. It surpassed the Great Pyramid of Giza, and held the title until the spire collapsed in 1548 and was not rebuilt.
The cathedral holds one of the four remaining copies of the original Magna Carta, which is now displayed in Lincoln Castle. (I wish I had known that when we visited!) It is the fourth largest cathedral in the UK by floor area, at approximately 5,000 m2 (50,000 sq ft).
I found it difficult to get an image of the cathedral which showed anything but a small part of this massive building. This image above is of one of the gateways to the area in general.
East end of the Cathedral
Probable a South door
The cloisters which led to the Chapter house. These days the cloisters are used for various functions such as craft fair and sales.
The Bishop`s Eye rose window
The Dean`s Eye rose window
The two large stained glass rose windows, the matching Dean's Eye and the Bishop's Eye were added to the cathedral during the late Middle Ages. The former, the Dean's Eye in the north transept dates from the 1192 rebuild begun by St Hugh, completed in 1235. The latter, the Bishop's Eye, in the south transept was reconstructed a hundred years later in 1330.
Lincoln Cathedral is fortunate to have an organ that is admired by players across the world. Completed in 1898, it proved to be the last completed cathedral instrument finished by ‘Father’ Henry Willis himself, and one of his finest.
It also has the distinction of being one of the two Father Willis organs in English cathedrals to retain its original tonal scheme. It is a magnificent instrument both for solo recital playing and for accompanying the daily routine of worship in the cathedral, supporting both large-scale congregational singing in the nave and the more subtle requirements of colouring Psalms, anthems and canticles alongside the cathedral choir`. Altogether, a wonderful building with hundreds of years of various styles of architecture in it.
The central nave was built in what is called the "Early English Gothic" architectural style. Spectacular to say the least.
Lincoln`s Tournai fonts
Tournai fonts are a type of baptismal font made from blue black limestone during the 12th and early 13th centuries in and around the Belgian town of Tournai by local masons.
Ely - Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity
Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely, is an Anglican cathedral. The cathedral can trace its origin to the abbey founded in Ely in 672 by St Æthelthryth (also called Etheldreda). The earliest parts of the present building date to 1083, and it was granted cathedral status in 1109. Until the Reformation, the cathedral was dedicated to St Etheldreda and St Peter, at which point it was re-founded as the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely.
