Lincoln Cathedral

Lincoln Cathedral the Nave in England   Photo Credit: Michael Beckwith

Known formally as The Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and informally as St. Mary's Cathedral, Lincoln Cathedral, built between 1088 and 1092 AD, is located 141 miles (277 kilometers) due north of London in Lincolnshire. See the catheral grounds on Wikimapia here.

With a spire height of 160 metres (520 feet), people once considered Lincoln Cathedral the tallest building in the world -- a distinction it held for more 238 years (1311 to 1549).  It certainly dominates the surrounding plain, and can be seen from many miles away.

To RAF bomber crews returning from raids over Germany and occupied Europe during World War II, it was an easily recognizable landmark and a very welcome sight.  Lincoln Cathedral rising through the clouds is still emblazoned on the station badge for nearby RAF Waddington airfield.

The cathedral was originally constructed on Norman designs. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror built nearby Lincoln Castle, and ordered the seat of the local bishopric to move to Lincoln.   Remigius de Fecamp, the first Bishop of Lincoln, laid the foundations for the cathedral in 1088. 

Lincoln Cathedral is called St. Mary's church because "it is well known," writes B. Winkles, "that Remigius appropriated the parish church of St Mary Magdalene in Lincoln, although it is not known what use he made of it."

Bishop Remigius lived to see the cathedral finished in 1092, but he died on May 9, two days before the cathedral's consecration.

Knights Templar returning from the First Crusade (1099) established several preceptories in Lincolnshire (notably Temple Bruer) and they apparently held Mary Magdalene and Lincoln Cathedral in special veneration.

Above: The remains of Temple Bruer Preceptory, nearby Lincoln Cathedral.

In fact, according to Dan Green, author of The Lincoln Da Vinci Code  (2005), Templar knights may have secretly transported the holy relics and tomb of St. Mary Magdalene from France to the grounds of Lincoln Cathedral in the early 14th Century, before the local order was dissolved in 1308.  Green's book finds many details linking the Priory of Sion and the mystery of Rennes le Chateau to local landmarks near Lincoln Cathedral.

For more, see The Murder of Mary Magdalene: Genocide of the Holy Bloodline, a documentary made by Philip Gardiner in 2010.  This documentary is absolutely misnamed:  The vast majority of the film centers on the strange history of Lincoln Cathedral and surrounding landmarks.  It's really just a guided tour of Lincoln Cathedral given by Dan Green, who explains all of its hidden secrets and codes.  A podcast interview with Dan Green may also be found on Rob McConnell's "X Zone Radio/TV Show" here.

Green's book was published August 15, 2005, the same day that shooting for the movie The Da Vinci Code began at Lincoln Cathedral.  One need only watch the movie (starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatou, released in 2006)  to see Lincoln Cathedral's chapter house and cloisters.  Some of the elaborate sets made for the film were left behind and may be seen here:  The Chapter House Fresco Mystery (Paradox Place Website).

Much of Dan Brown's novel was set in Westminster Abbey, but the abbey denied the movie crew's request to film on location.  Director Ron Howard therefore turned to the staff at Lincoln, and he was cautiously granted permission to film inside the cathedral on a closed set -- the cathedral very much needed the income to help with careful restoration of its Medieval rose windows (a project that cost more than $2 million)

As a direct consequence of this publicity, tourism at Lincoln Cathedral bumped up.  Between 2006 and 2009, cathedral staff estimated that 200,000 to 208,000 people were visiting the cathedral annually.

Architects agree that Lincoln is certainly one the most beautiful and important Gothic cathedrals in all of Europe, and one of the three largest cathedrals in England.  In the words of Victorian art critic John Ruskin:   "I have always held... that the cathedral of Lincoln is out and out the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles and roughly speaking worth any two other cathedrals we have."

The style is a bit mixed. In 1141, fire destroyed the timber roofing, and in 1185 an earthquake (measuring 5.0 in magnitude) nearly brought down the entire building, which was described as having "split from top to bottom."  No Norman architecture survives today with the exceptions of the west end and its two attached towers.

The magnificant Gothic structure that exists today was built between 1192 and 1210, largely under the supervision of Hugh de Burgundy, who later became known as St. Hugh of Lincoln, one of the best known English saints after Thomas Beckett.

                  Above: St. Hugh of Lincoln, born in Avalon.

St. Hugh was born at the Chateau of Avalon, in France -- the son of Guillaume (William) Seigneur of Avalon.  Connections to legends of the Holy Grail seem fairly obvious, and Dan Green, for one, claims that Hugh may have embedded strange Grail symbols throughout the Gothic architecture of Lincoln Cathedral.

Oddly, this cathedral features two major rose windows, facing north (the "Dean's Eye" rose window) and south (the "Bishop's Eye" rose window) -- highly uncommon features among medieval architecture in England.  Most rose windows face east or west.

Above:  The "Bishop's Eye" window at Lincoln.

While working on restoration of the tracery for the Dean's Eye window ("Conserving The Dean's Eye," Geoff Clifton, Ingenia Articles online, Issue 33, December 2007),  specialists noted "The design of the window must have been conceived by a glazier or a cleric because, whilst the glass is magnificent, the structural tracery is daring in the extreme and clearly a mason could not have been involved in the design."

Did St. Hugh himself design the window?  Construction of the Dean's Eye certainly does date from 1192, when St. Hugh began to rebuild the cathedral, and the design for the Dean's Eye window is strangely complex, containing four inner circles (in the shape of a cross) surrounded by 16 outer circles.

An early reference to the meaning of the names for these odd windows -- and an anwer to the question why they are facing north and south -- may be found in a biography of St. Hugh titled The Metrical Life of St. Hugh (written somewhere between 1220 and 1235):

"For north represents the devil, and south the Holy Spirit and it is in these directions that the two eyes look. The bishop faces the south in order to invite in and the dean the north in order to shun; the one takes care to be saved, the other takes care not to perish. With these Eyes the cathedral's face is on watch for the candelabra of Heaven and the darkness of Lethe (oblivion)."

Dan Green claims the sacred geometry within the design for this north window suggests it is a star map, centered on Arcturus (the North Star) -- with possible reference to the myths of King Arthur, who is associated with the star Arcturus.

Magi: The Three Kings

Orthodox Altar, The Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem

The Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2: 1 - 12) is the only one of the four canonical gospels in the Bible to mention The Magi, the three wise men or three kings who visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  

Nevertheless, the Magi (kings Melchior, Gaspar and Balthasar) are very popular figures in traditional accounts of the nativity celebrations of Christmas and they are an important part of Christian tradition.  The Encyclopedia Britannica states: "according to Western church tradition, Balthasar is often represented as a king of Arabia, Melchior as a king of Persia, and Gaspar as a king of India."

 Above: "The Magi Journeying" ("Les Rois Mages en Voyage") by James Tissot (1836 - 1902).  Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper (Brooklyn Museum, European Art Collection)  Source: Wikimedia Commons.


Traditionally, the term Magus comes from the Latin word for "Master" or "Wise Man."  Magi is the plural form.  The three Magi were thus three masters or three majestic wise men from the East, often thought to be Zoroastrian priests or experts in astronomy, who predicted from the stars that a great king and savior was about to be born.

On finding the baby Jesus, the three wise men gave him three symbolic gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. "The three gifts had a spiritual meaning : gold as a symbol of kingship on earth, frankincense (an incense) as a symbol of deity, and myrrh (an embalming oil) as a symbol of death."

According to Wikipedia, the wise men were not present on the night that Christ was born. Rather, they arrived on the twelfth day of Christmas, twelve days after the Christ's birth.  On the night that the wise men presented their gifts (celebrated in the Christian church as the feast of Epiphany or Twelfth Night) they were "warned in a dream that Judean king Herod intended to kill the child."  They decided to return home by a different route. "This prompted Herod to resort to killing all the young children in Bethlehem, an act called the Massacre of the Innocents, in an attempt to eliminate a rival heir to his throne. Jesus and his family had, however, escaped to Egypt beforehand."

Descendants of the Magi

The legendary Christian ruler of Central Asia, Prester John was reportedly a descendant of one of the Magi.  There is also a tradition that the Central Asian Naimans and their Christian Kerait relatives were descended from the Biblical Magi.  This heritage passed to the Mongol dynasty of Genghis Khan.

Tombs and Relics

Wikipedia:  "There are several traditions on where the remains of the Magi are located, although none of the traditions is considered as an established fact or even as particularly likely by secular history."

Marco Polo claimed that he was shown the three tombs of the Magi at Saveh south of Tehran in the 1270s:

In Persia is the city of Saba, from which the Three Magi set out and in this city they are buried, in three very large and beautiful monuments, side by side. And above them there is a square building, beautifully kept. The bodies are still entire, with hair and beard remaining.

—Marco Polo, The Book of the Million, Book I.

More remarkably, the British have claimed that the remains of the Wise Men were discovered by St. Helena, whom they believe to be a British Princess.  According to the Wikipedia article on St. Helena (empress),  Flavia Iulia Helena Augusta was a daughter of the British King Coel. Born ca. 220 A.D., Helen became the consort of the Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus and the mother of the emperor Constantine the Great, an important figure in the history of Christianity.

"She is traditionally credited with a pilgrimage to Syria Palaestina, during which she discovered the True Cross of Jesus's crucifixion."  St. Helena has been credited as well with the discovery of the bones of the Biblical Magi or Three Wise Men.

"Reputedly they were first discovered by Saint Helena on her famous pilgrimage to Palestine and the Holy Lands. She took the remains to the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople; they were later moved to Milan (some sources say by the city's bishop, Eustorgius I).

 Above: The Shrine of the Three Kings, Cologne Cathedral, Germany.  Source: Wikimedia Commons. Donated by Arminia (own photo) 26 October 2004.

The relics of the Three Wise Men were taken from Milan to their current resting place, a Shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne Cathedral, by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I in AD 1164.

Altarpiece of the Three Magi, Cologne Cathedral

From the Wikipedia article on Cologne Cathedral:

"The most celebrated work of art in the cathedral is the Shrine of the Three Kings, commissioned by Philip von Heinsberg, archbishop of Cologne from 1167 to 1191 and created by Nicholas of Verdun, began in 1190. It is traditionally believed to hold the remains of the Three Wise Men, whose relics were acquired by Frederick Barbarossa at the conquest of Milan in 1164. The shrine takes the form a large reliquary in the shape of a basilican church, made of bronze and silver, gilded and ornamented with architectonic details, figurative sculpture, enamels and gemstones. The shrine was opened in 1864 and was found to contain bones and garments."

The Milanese celebrate their part in the tradition by holding a medieval costume parade every 6 January.

Spanish customs

The Three Wise Men receiving children at a shopping centre in Spain. Letters with gift requests are left in the letterbox on the left-hand side.

According to Wikipedia: "Western Christianity celebrates the Magi on the day of Epiphany, January 6, the day immediately following the twelve days of Christmas, particularly in the Spanish-speaking parts of the world. In these areas, the Three Kings ("los Reyes Magos de Oriente", also "Los Tres Reyes Magos" and "Los Reyes Magos") receive letters from children and so bring them gifts on the night before Epiphany. In Spain, each one of the Magi is supposed to represent one different continent, Europe (Melchior), Asia (Caspar) and Africa (Balthasar).

According to the tradition, the Magi come from the Orient on their camels to visit the houses of all the children; much like Santa Claus with his reindeer, they visit everyone in one night. In some areas, children prepare a drink for each of the Magi. It is also traditional to prepare food and drink for the camels, because this is the only night of the year when they eat."

Manchester Cathedral

A view of Manchester Cathedral's Nave. Photo: Michael Beckwith

Okay, we've reached the letter "M" on our list of ancient cathedrals in England, and I suppose I should be introducing you to Manchester Cathedral (built in 1422) properly, but, seriously?  If one wants to know where the good citizens of Manchester actually worship, these days, one must admit that more of them attended the "Take That" Live Concert in London (2011) than attended the Christmas high mass at Manchester Cathedral that year.  Take That, an aging British pop band from the 1990s, sold out the stadium for eight days in a row.

Wembley Stadium, it would seem, does an excellent job of keeping Manchester, erm, united, as does the Old Trafford stadium, the "Theatre of Dreams" which set an attendance record of 76,098 on 31 March 2007.

Manchester Cathedral, meanwhile, has fallen on hard times.

Above: The Theatre of Dreams where thousands of Manchester United F.C. fans rage for national uplift.  Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Angels with Dirty Faces

Located on Victoria Street in downtown Manchester, an industrial city in northwestern England whose surrounding metropolitan region (the Greater Manchester Built-Up Area) counts more than 2,553,379 souls, Manchester Cathedral ought to be a huge, popular and well-funded church, richly adorned with amazing art and cherished by the locals as a national treasure.  That's the dream.

Here's a picture of the reality:

Looking Gothic, a little drab, genuinely sad and very grubby, isn't she? Her face is positively covered with soot!

That's because, on the nights of 22, 23 and 24 December 1940, the German Luftwaffe dropped 474 tons of high explosive and more than 1,032 incendiary bombs on the historic downtown center of Manchester, killing an estimated 684 people, injuring 2,364, destroying 165 warehouses, 200 businesses, 150 offices, and damaging about 30,000 surrounding buildings.

It was called the "Christmas Blitz."  Standard procedure, during the night-time air raids of World War II, was to use a large and easily recognized building, like a cathedral, to site one's bombs. Apparently the Germans used Manchester Cathedral itself for target practice.

On Christmas Eve, 1944, the Germans launched another wave of V-1 Flying Bombs at Manchester.

Manchester Cathedral was heavily damaged by these attacks.  It took 20 years to repair her, and Christmas attendance has never been the same since.

 Above: Fire fighters try to extinguish a blaze set by the 241 German bombers that hit downtown Manchester on Christmas Eve, 1940.  Like these buildings, Manchester Cathedral was heavily damaged.  Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons, photograph HU49833 from the British Imperial War Museum collection.

Recent Turmoil

In 1996, Manchester Cathedral became the target of an IRA bombing.

A feeling of gloom and doom has also surrounded this once beloved cathedral thanks to recent news reports.  As the official Manchester Cathedral home page, here, frankly admits, the Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu, has launched an independent inquiry to determine whether there is any truth to recent allegations that the former Dean of Manchester Cathedral, the late Robert Waddington, engaged in sexual abuse.

A group of solicitors and officials from the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds will try to determine whether the reports of abuse were true, and, if so, whether the officials at Manchester Cathedral handled the reports properly.  As always in such cases, a desire to defend church leaders conflicts with an equally strong desire to show compassion, concern and support for victims.

Manchester Cathedral thus provides a sad portrait of problems that have shaken the Church of England as a whole, and it may serve as a stark example of the difficult morale problems faced by many religious communities during a period of rapid social change.

Cathedrals simply don't have the popular support they once enjoyed -- they are in direct competition with venues like Wembley Stadium and Old Trafford Stadium for the hearts and minds of the younger generation -- and the burden of keeping up appearances and protecting the good name of a national heritage site is a very grave burden indeed.

  
Above:  A low-resolution copy of the cover art for controversial video game Resistance: The Fall of Man, which sets dystopian gun battles inside Manchester Cathedral.  Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons, provided under Fair Use rules.

Digital Desecration?

To complicate matters further, Manchester Cathedral has achieved some popularity among young people, but popularity of the wrong sort. It became the object of nationwide controversy in the year 2007 when it made a surprise appearance in the Sony PlayStation 3 video game Resistance: Fall of Man, which uses the cathedral as a doomsday setting for ultraviolent gun battles.

The game "is set in an alternate history 1951, and follows Sgt. Nathan Hale as he and the human resistance forces attempt to drive a mysterious alien-like invasion out of Britain," according to Wikipedia.  The military battle against aliens involves first-person shooter scenarios set in the cathedral itself.

In its article "Controversy over the use of Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man," Wikipedia indicates the leaders of the Church of England "claimed its depiction to be desecration and copyright infringement, and that it was inappropriate of Sony to allow players to fire guns in a city with a gun problem. They have made several legal threats against Sony. They intended to make several demands of Sony, including an apology, a substantial donation, complete withdrawal of the game or modifying the segment featuring the interior of the cathedral, and financial support of Manchester groups trying to reduce gun crime in the city."

Official Virtual Tour

If one wants the official, interactive, 360-degree Virtual Tour of Manchester Cathedral, rather than the Sony PlayStation version, it may be found on the cathedral's homepage here.  Produced by Claude Lorkowski, the virtual tour "explores the confines of the Nave, the Quire and the High Altar."  Notably, it includes a very nicely done interactive-map, in the upper left-hand corner of the main screen, which allows one to choose amongst several locations on the cathedral's floor plan.

Despite clear signs of smoke damage, the interior architecture is still breathtaking, which brings us, finally, to the history of the church, which is still considered a sterling example of English Perpendicular Gothic style.

Above: Manchester Cathedral, as it appeared in 1903.  Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons, courtesy of Sean Cuill, a member of the Flickr Group "Vintage England Ephemera."  For more, see Flickr's Manchester Cathedral page, here.

History of Manchester Cathedral

 

According to Wikipedia, the city of Manchester began as a small Roman hill fort around 79 A.D.

One of the first records of a church near this location, a church dedicated to St. Mary, is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086).  The Domesday Book entry for Manchester reads "the Church of St Mary and the Church of St Michael hold one carucate of land in Manchester exempt from all customary dues except tax."

"Construction of the predecessor church started in 1215 within the confines of the Baron's Court beside the manor house on the site of Manchester Castle."  A Wikipedia article on the history of Manchester Castle, a popular tourist site, may be found here.  It identifies the castle as a "medieval fortified manor house, probably located on a bluff where the rivers Irk and Irwell meet, near to Manchester Cathedral, underneath where Chetham's School of Music now is."

The castle and cathedral were originally located on the edge of the medieval township of Manchester (grid reference SJ839989).

The church that resulted was officially named "The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St. Mary, St. Denys and St. George" and it eventually became the seat of the Bishop of Manchester.

For a modern satellite overview of the cathedral grounds and its surrounding neighborhood, see Wikimapia's Manchester Cathedral page here.

A detailed groundplan of the cathedral itself may be found here.

Wikipedia: "The occupying lords of the manor were the Grelley family, and their coat of arms is still associated with the cathedral to this day. The Grelley family acted as stewards of the church, building and endowing the first chancery, the St. Nicholas Chancery."

"In 1349 the St. Nicholas Chancery was endowed by the de Trafford family. The involvement of the de la Warre family was furthered in 1382 when Thomas de la Warre, later to be appointed Baron of Manchester, became rector of the parish church.

A photographer known only as The Parrot of Doom donated the photograph of Manchester Cathedral's ceiling, above, in 2009.  Viewed from the West Door, we see the Nave of the cathedral supported by "angel minstrels," that is, a group of plaques representing the names of generous donors and cathedral attendants.

Collegiate Foundation

"In 1421, Thomas de la Warre obtained a licence from King Henry V and from Pope Martin V to establish a collegiate foundation in Manchester, appropriating the parish church for the purpose. The college was established in 1422 by royal charter, with a warden, eight fellows, four singing clerks and eight choristers, an exceptionally large foundation charged with the duty of praying for the souls of those killed in the king's campaigns in France.

"John Huntingdon served as the first warden from 1422 to 1458, during which he rebuilt the eastern arm of the parish church to provide a collegiate choir.

"Traditionally the third warden, Ralph Langley (1465–1481), is credited with rebuilding the nave. However, both nave and choir were substantially reconstructed again by James Stanley a few years later, when he raised the present clerestory and provided the richly decorated timber roofs and choir stalls.

 Above: A portrait of King Henry VII of England (1457 - 1509). Source: Wikimedia Commons

James Stanley's stepmother "was Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII and through their alliance with the new Tudor dynasty the Stanley's acquired fabulous wealth, as well as access to architects and craftsmen working on royal commissions."

Woodcarvings and Misericords

"On stylistic grounds, the arcades and clerestory of Manchester Cathedral are attributed to John Wastell, who was also the architect for the completion of Kings College Chapel. The choir stalls were carved by the workshop of William Brownflet of Ripon; and are the finest of a series by those woodcarvers, which also includes the surviving stalls at Ripon Cathedral, Beverley Minster and Bridlington Priory.

"The carving of the cathedral's misericord seats is exceptionally fine . . . .

"The cathedral has thirty 16th century misericords, considered to be among the finest in Europe. They are in a similar style to those at Ripon Cathedral and Beverley Minster, and although Manchester's are of a later date, they were probably carved by the same school at Ripon. One of the most notable is N-08, the earliest known mention of backgammon in the UK."

Chetham's Hospital School and Library

"The priests of the college were housed in collegiate buildings to the north of the church, built on the site of the former manor house. The buildings survive as Chetham's Hospital school and library, founded in 1653 in accordance with the will of Humphrey Chetham, and converted by his executors. They retain the 15th century hall and cloister . . . .

Above:  Dr. John Dee, the court astrologer and advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, once served as a warden at Manchester Cathedral. Source: Wikimedia Commons

John Dee and Karl Marx

"The most famous of the post-medieval wardens of Manchester was John Dee, magus and astrologer for Elizabeth I; who was warden from 1595 to 1608, and who occupied the wardens' lodgings now incorporated into Chetham's Library.

"The spectacular 17th century library is the oldest surviving public library in Britain and among its readers was Karl Marx.

"The cathedral houses extensive parish and historical archives, dating back to 1421. In 2003, a project began to provide an exhaustive catalogue of the archive's contents to the public. It was the setting for a marriage at the start of the 2006 episode of Cracker."

Detail of modern stained glass in Manchester Cathedral. The photo above was donated to Wikimedia Commons by Nathan Stazicker in 2009.

Stained Glass Replaced by Several Artists

"All the Victorian stained glass in the cathedral was destroyed during the Manchester Blitz of 1940. Until the late 1960s, only two windows had been replaced, notably the Fire Window by Margaret Traherne (1966). The Dean and Chapter commissioned Antony Holloway to prepare a scheme for reglazing the cathedral, with particular priority to the five western windows: St George (1973), St Denys (1976), St Mary (1980), The Creation (1991) and The Apocalypse (1995). To commemorate the restoration of the cathedral following an IRA bomb in 1996, the Healing Window by Linda Walton was installed in 2004."

2013 Refurbishment

"The cathedral will be refurbished in 2013. A temporary wooden cathedral has been built on top of Victoria Street to allow worship to take place."

Norwich Cathedral

Norwich Cathedral, Norfolk, England, as seen from the cloisters. 

Photo by DLiff (Wikimedia Commons)

For some great 3D panoramas, see Norwich360.com here.

Situated in eastern England in the shire of Norfolk, Norwich is about 100 miles north of London and 44 miles east of King’s Lynn, the childhood home of Princess Diana. The late princess counted amongst her ancient relatives Henry le Despenser, who served as the bishop of Norwich Cathedral from 1370 to 1402.

Norwich pretends to be a typical British city, but in fact Norwich is a magical kingdom all its own, with a very deep and rich history.   Perhaps that is why the makers of the 2013 film Jack the Giant Slayer chose Norwich cathedral for one of their settings.

Roman, Viking, Anglo-Saxon and Norman invaders, after landing on the eastern shores of England, made the Norwich area their home base and center of operations.  Norwich stood at the intersection of several important trade routes, and the hill-fort based there soon became an important administrative center.  The surrounding region of Norfolk, known for its fertile farmland and rolling green hills, proved an ideal place for raising cattle and sheep. This region of England thus became an important center for the manufacture and shipping of woolen goods, textiles and clothing.

By the 11th Century,  Norwich rivaled London and Bristol for sheer size and density of population.  The landed gentry grew exceedingly wealthy, and they crowned their success by building a glorious and massive cathedral, the Norwich Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity.

Above: Norwich Cathedral Spire and South Transept, May 2010.    Source: Wikimedia Commons.

One of the Largest Cathedrals in England

Begun in 1096 and completed a generation later, in 1145, Norwich Cathedral measures 461 feet by 177 ft (140.5 x 54 meters), and its spire, at a height of 315 feet (96 meters), remains the second-tallest cathedral spire in Britain. The Norwich cathedral close (the nearby group of offices, schools and houses) is the largest cathedral close in England, and only Salisbury Cathedral may boast a larger cloister.  

For many years, Norwich Cathedral was the largest building in East Anglia.  Today it’s certainly one of the top heritage sites in Norfolk, and a popular tourist attraction.

 Above: Interior of the Norwich Cathedral cloisters.  Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Virtual Tours

For those who would like a closer look at the cathedral before making a visit, the internet certainly offers many resources, photographs and virtual tours.

First stop, of course, is the Norwich Cathedral home page, here.  

It lists all the local events and provides many photographs. The Visitor's Information tab gives a Practical Site Map on the Maps & Site Plans tab. Those who plan to visit in person may download a PDF leaflet with visitor's information, and the cathedral offers free daily guided tours, group tour brochures, private tours, and tours for school groups.  

Online browsers may enjoy the "History & Heritage" tab, where one may read several illustrated articles on Norwich Cathedral's architecture and archaeology. The cathedral's online shop also provides books about St. Julian of Norwich, and CDs produced by the renowned Norwich Cathedral Choir.

But, unfortunately, there’s no official online virtual tour.

For now, those who yearn for an immersive, 360-degree virtual tour of Norwich Cathedral will need to turn to another website, namely  Spheriscope’s Norwich Cathedral 360 Tours page, here.  Designed by Paul Kent, the Spheriscope site provides three immersive images: Norwich Cathedral - Altar, Norwich Cathedral - Cope and Norwich Cathedral - Transept.  

See also the BBC's 2006 panoramic image of Norwich Cathedral, here,  a 360-degree view of the "crossing" at the center of the cathedral.  Under the heading "Norfolk Fun Stuff" the BBC also provides an immersive 360-degree view from the top of Norfolk Cathedral's tower, here.

Please note that both Spheriscope and BBC require one to install a Flash plug-in.

Those who do not wish to install a plug-in may be happier exploring the two-dimensional photographs and interactive maps at World-Faith.com's Norwich Virtual Church Tour website here.   Norwich Cathedral is the main tour on display -- just click the photo.

For a broader overview of the surrounding area, Panoramic Earth provides an Interactive Map of Norwich and a virtual tour of Norwich.

To view the cathedral grounds and surrounding area from above, try the Wikimapia map of the Norwich Cathedral grounds.  This is a useful tool, with zoom-in and zoom-out capabilities, and a nice supplement to the Panoramic Earth virtual tour of Norwich (above).

 

Cathedral Grounds

According to the Wikipedia article on Norwich Cathedral,  the old girl is built on the site of two ancient churches which were abandoned during periods of invasion.  Building commenced in 1096.

“An Anglo-Saxon settlement and two churches were demolished to make room for the buildings and a canal cut to allow access for the boats bringing the stone . . . “

For many years, Norwich Cathedral housed a Benedictine monastery.  

“The precinct of the cathedral, the limit of the former monastery, is between Tombland (the former Anglo-Saxon marketplace) and the River Wensum . . .”

The Norwich Cathedral close “contains a number of buildings from the 15^th through the 19^th Century, including the remains of an infirmary.”

The grounds also “house the Norwich School, the statues of the Duke of Wellington and Admiral Nelson, and the grave of Edith Cavell.”

Cavell, a British nurse, faced a firing squad in 1915 for daring to help more than 200 allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium.  The cathedral's History and Heritage page provides a profile of Edith Cavell and several other historical characters connected to the cathedral.

Above: Statue of Julian of Norwich by David Holgate, west front, Norwich Cathedral, 2012. Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons, Donated by Poliphilo (Tony Grist).

St. Julian of Norwich

St. Julian of Norwich (1342 - 1413), one of the greatest mystics of all time, served as an anchoress or solitary at a church nearby Norwich Cathedral. Her book, Revelations of Divine Love (available as a free Librivox audio book here) is believed to be the first book ever written by a woman in the English language. Dame Julian is commemorated at Norwich Cathedral in both the statuary and two stained glass windows, one in the Bauchon chapel.

The exact date of her death (ca 1413 or 1416) is not certain, but many believe that 2013 marks the 600th anniversary of her passing. A spiritual pilgrimage to St. Julian's Shrine and Church and a visit to Norwich Cathedral sometime between now and 2016 would therefore seem a very appropriate way to honor her memory.

 

 Above: Norwich Cathedral's Nave, 15 March 2008.  Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Architecture: Romanesque, Norman and Gothic Styles

The ground plan of Norwich Cathedral remains “almost entirely as it was in Norman times.” The original Norman tower, constructed with wood and topped with lead, may still be seen today.   . . . The Norman spire was blown down in 1362. . . . The present spire was built in the 15^th Century.” The building of the new spire incorporated elements of late Gothic architecture.

Norwich Cathedral therefore offers to students of architecture a magnificent display of the Romanesque, Norman and later Gothic styles and a testament in stone to the wizardry of master masons from the period of the First Crusade. 

Constructed at the behest of Bishop Herbert de Losinga, the main body of the cathedral “was built from flint and mortar and faced with cream-colored Caen limestone.”  

“The cathedral has an unusually long nave of 14 bays, the transepts are without aisles, and the east end terminates in an apse with an ambulatory.  From the ambulatory, there is access to two  chapels of unusual shape, the plan of each being based on two intersecting circles . . . “

“The crossing tower is the last piece of the Norman cathedral to be completed, in around 1140.  It is decorated with circles, lozenges and interlaced arcading. . . .”

“The cathedral was damaged by riots in 1272 . . .  Rebuilding was completed in 1278, and the cathedral was re-consecrated in the presence of King Edward I ("Longshanks") on Advent Sunday of that year.”

Above: A human figure struggles with a dragon. Norwich Cathedral cloister ceiling detail, July 2011.  Photo Source:  Wikimedia Commons.

Ceiling Bosses without Parallel in the Christian World

“A large two-storey cloister, the only such in England, with over 1,000 ceiling bosses, was begun in 1297 and finally finished in 1430, after the Black Death had plagued the city. . . .”

A fire that started in the nave in 1463 caused such intense heat that some of the Caen limestone turned to a unique rose and pink color.  The fire also did serious damage to the ceiling and the original ceiling bosses.

“In the 15^th and early 16^th centuries, the cathedral’s flat timber ceilings were replaced with stone vaults.  The vaulting was carried out in a spectacular manner, with hundreds of ornately carved, painted and gilded bosses.  . . . Each is decorated with a theological image, and as a group they have been described as without parallel in the Christian world.

“The nave vault shows the history of the world from the creation; the cloister vault includes series showing the life of Christ and the Apocalypse.”

Tea Shops and Quaint Scenery

Assuming that the Apocalypse does not arrive before tea time, one may also enjoy a tour of the local shops and landmarks.   Wikipedia’s article on Norwich provides a helpful list of local museums, theatres, parks and open places of interest.

Not to be missed are Elm Hill (a cobblestoned medieval street), Cow Tower, Colman’s Mustard Shop & Museum, Dragon Hall, and the Norwich Castle Museum.  One may find the official homepage of Norwich Castle Museum here, and an HDR 360-degree panoramic view of Norwich Castle here.

Speaking of castles, Sandringham House, Norfolk, a favorite holiday home of Queen Elizabeth II, is within easy driving distance.  It was the birthplace of Princess Diana, whose baptismal gown is one of the many historical displays now shown at Norwich Castle Museum.

Oxford Cathedral - Christ Church Cathedral

Oxford Cathedral, more popularly known as Christ Church Cathedral or the Cathedral Church of Christ, "is the cathedral of the diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire," according to the cathedral's Wikipedia page here. "It is also, uniquely, the chapel of Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford. "

The name Christ Church Cathedral also refers to a magnificent cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, and the cathedral at Oxford University is therefore called Oxford Cathedral in order to avoid ambiguity and confusion. Indeed, while searching for images of Oxford Cathedral online, one may suddenly find oneself wandering down the nave of the cathedral in Dublin if one does not watch one's step.

One excellent source for images, of course, is the the official homepage for Christ Church, here, but the Picture Gallery tab actually refers one to artworks shown in the cathedral's gallery.  Their Panoramic Virtual Tour, here, is cleverly hidden under the "Visiting" tab. To start the tour, one simply clicks the image of Wolsey's Great Hall, better known to Harry Potter fans as the "dining hall" at Hogwart's School.  Wolsey's Great Hall was used as the setting for many Harry Potter film scenes.

Above: A public domain image of the Nave at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, from Wikimedia commons. If it seems strangely familiar, that is because it was designed and built by the same crew of crafty people who built Wolsey's Great Hall, a setting used in several Harry Potter films.  Popular requests that the cathedral, built at Oxford between 1160 and 1200 A.D. in the Romanesque and Gothic styles, be renamed "Hogwarts Cathedral" have been steadfastly and unaccountably ignored.

For another detailed Virtual Tour of Christ Church, offering several 360-panoramic views, one may visit the University of Oxford's Virtual Tour of Christ Church here, designed by Karl Harrison in 2003.  The tour requires a QuickTime plug-in.

Smallest Cathedral in England?

 

 "Christ Church Cathedral is often claimed to be the smallest cathedral in England," says Wikipedia, "and although it did once hold this distinction there are now smaller cathedrals, as several parish churches were elevated to cathedral status in the 20th century.^[1]

"The nave, choir, main tower and transepts are of the late Norman period. There are architectural features ranging from Norman to the Perpendicular style and a large rose window of the ten-part (i.e., botanical) type."

History of the Cathedral

According to Wikipedia, "The cathedral was originally the church of St Frideswide's Priory. The site is claimed to be the location of the abbey and relics of St Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford, although this is debatable.

"In 1522, the priory was surrendered to Cardinal Wolsey, who had selected it as the site for his proposed college. However, in 1529 the foundation was taken over by King Henry VIII. Work stopped, but in June 1532 the college was refounded by the King. In 1546, Henry VIII transferred to it the see of Oxford from Osney. The cathedral has the name of Ecclesia Christi Cathedralis Oxoniensis, given to it by King Henry VIII's foundation charter.

"There has been a choir at the cathedral since 1526, when John Taverner was the organist and also master of the choristers. The statutes of Cardinal Wolsey's original college, initially called Cardinal College, mentioned sixteen choristers and thirty singing priests."

Choirs

"The main choir, Christ Church Cathedral Choir consists of 12 men (6 professional 'lay-clerks' and 6 student 'academical clerks') and 16 choristers (boys aged 7 - 13), and is directed by Dr Stephen Darlington. They sing in University term time, at Christmas and Easter, and have an extensive touring and recording programme.

"The Cathedral Singers consists of volunteers and is directed by John Padley. They are usually in residence outside of term time when the main choir choristers and academical clerks are on holiday.
The College choir sings every 1–2 weeks in term time, and is made up of current undergraduates and postgraduates from the College."

The Christ Church Cathedral Choir home page, found here, offers links to the choir's upcoming programs, discography, videos, and photo gallery.  As one might expect, the choir at Oxford has often performed for BBC4 "Sunday Worship" program and BBC's "Choral Evensong" broadcast as well.  The choir has a 500-year tradition of excellence, and it is therefore world-famous amongst classical musicians.  A listing of the Christ Church Cathedral Choir's CDs may be found at the webpage for the choir's online store, here. 

Peterborough Cathedral

Peterborough Cathedral, Cambridgeshire, UK

Photo donated to Wikimedia Commons by DLiff.

 A Romanesque/Gothic cathedral built by the Anglo-Saxons between 1118 and 1237 A.D., Peterborough is located north of London in the province of Canterbury, Cambridgeshire, England.  It is directly east of Birmingham and northwest of Cambridge University.  A Wikimapia view of the cathedral grounds may be found here.

For reasons that become very clear as one explores the interior, Peterborough Cathedral is one of the UK's Top 10 landmarks.  Additional video views and 360-degree Full-screen Virutal Tours may be found at Peterborough Cathedral's home page here. 

According to Wikipedia's Peterborough Cathedral article, the church is "properly the Cathedral Church of St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Andrew -- also known as St. Peter's Cathedral," and it is the seat of the Bishop of Peterborough.  "With Durham and Ely cathedrals, it is one of the most important 12th-Century buildings in England to have remained largely in tact, despite extensions and restoration."

Above: The Hedda Stone, an excellent example of Anglo-Saxon art, has been kept in Peterborough Cathedral since the 8th Century, when the cathedral was a monastery known as Medeshamstede.  Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Below: The grave of  Katharine of Aragon, Queen of England (1485 - 1536), is at Peterborough.  Those who have read Shakespeare's Henry VIII, who have watched The Other Boleyn Girl (2003) or who have seen the TV-series The Tudors (2007 - 2010) will recognize Katharine as the long-suffering first wife of King Henry VIII. 

In 1587, Mary Queen of Scots was also once buried at Peterborough, after her execution at nearby Fotheringay Castle, but Mary was later removed to Westminster Abbey by her son, King James I.

Rochester Cathedral

Rochester Cathedral in England

Above:  A 360-degree panorama of the second oldest cathedral in England, Rochester Cathedral, established by St. Justus and St. Augustine of Canterbury at Rochester, Medway, Kent in 604 A.D.  Panorama by Gary Davies courtesy of 360Cities.net.

The official Rochester Cathedral page offers an interesting history timeline page here, and buried at the bottom of that page one may find a hyperlink to a truly excellent 360-degree panoramic tour here.  An interactive map seamlessly combines several 360-degree panoramas, allowing one to choose one's point of view within the cathedral plan.  This 360-pano tour was created in 2004 to celebrate the cathedral's 1400th anniversary.

According to the cathedral's Wikipedia article, Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, was  "founded by Saint Justus, one of the missionaries who accompanied Saint Augustine of Canterbury to convert the pagan Southern English to Christianity in the early 7th century."

Originally an Anglo-Saxon church built on land donated by King Ethelbert of Kent, the church was already 400 years old and dilapidated when William the Conqueror and the Normans invaded in 1066.  Consequently, it was rebuilt 

In 1082, Rochester became the Benedictine Priory of St Andrew, established by Gundulf of Rochester, himself a Benedictine from Bec, France, and the first Norman Bishop of England.  Gundulf designed several castles and other buildings for King William, including Rochester, Colchester and the White Tower of the Tower of London.

Work on the Norman cathedral's new nave was begun in 1083.

The new cathedral was consecrated on Ascension Day in 1130 and King Henry I attended the ceremony.  Rochester Cathedral remained a Benedictine priory until the dissolution of the monastery in 1540.

Above: Rochester Cathedral seen from the west.  Source: Wikimedia commons.


Only seven years after its consecration, in 1137, fires destroyed the wooden roof of the Nave and damaged the Quire.  In 1180, work began on re-building the cathedralk in the Gothic style, starting with the Quire.

In 1201 the bloody murder of a simple Scottish baker took place in Rochester, and the moving story of William of Perth (later known as Saint William of Rochester) transformed Rochester Cathedral into a famous shrine and pilgrimage site. Largely thanks to St. William, Rochester remains a popular pilgrimage site to this day.

Wikipedia tells the story of William of Perth as follows:

"He went to Mass daily, and one morning, before it was light, found on the threshold of the church an abandoned child, whom he adopted and to whom he taught his trade. Later he took a vow to visit the Holy Places, and, having received the consecrated wallet and staff as a palmer, set out with his adopted son, whose name is given as "Cockermay Doucri", which is said to be Scots for "David the Foundling". They stayed three days at Rochester, and purposed to proceed next day to Canterbury (and perhaps thence to Jerusalem), but instead David willfully misled his benefactor on a short-cut and, with robbery in view, felled him with a blow on the head and cut his throat.

"The body was discovered by a mad woman, who plaited a garland of honeysuckle and placed it first on the head of the corpse and then her own, whereupon the madness left her. On learning her tale the monks of Rochester carried the body to the cathedral and there buried it. He was honored as a martyr because he was on a pilgrimage to holy places. As a result of the miracle involving the madwoman as well as other miracles wrought at his intercession after death, he was acclaimed a saint by the people."

Pilgrims visiting St. William's shrine brought in money to help the monks re-build the cathedral, and in 1201 the Presbytery was begun and roofed in by 1214.

The cathedral was plundered when King John held it against the rebel barons.  It was later desecrated by Simon de Montfort’s troops when they captured the city.

The new Quire was consecrated in 1227 and the North Transept completed in 1240.  Hamo de Hythe, bishop of Rochester, vaulted the Transepts, raised the central tower and spire, and re-decorated the Quire.  The Chapter Library door depicts his soul rising to heaven.

In 1440 the present Nave clerestory replaced a smaller Romanesque one, and the Great West window was put into place.

Above:  The Great West Door, which has remained substantially unchanged from Ernulf's time. Photo Credit:  Wikimedia Commons, donated by Chris O.

 In 1490, "the present Lady Chapel, the latest part of the cathedral, was enlarged as a Quire for the new-style polyphonic choirs who sang at the Lady Chapel altar in the South Transept."

The cathedral was damaged by Oliver Cromwell's soldiers in 1642.

Major restoration work was carried out by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1872.   Scott was an English leader of the Gothic revival movement in the 19th century.

After the 2004 celebration of the Cathedral's 1400th anniversary, the cathedral began a Musical Endowment fund in an effort to "ensure the continuity of Rochester's choral tradition."  Albums and works produced by the Rochester Cathederal Choir may be found here.  Free music and mixes may also be found on the Rochester Cathedral Choir's My Space page here.