Cathedrals of England, Scotland

215 Pages·1990·21.502 MB·English

by  Paul B. Johnson

CatheodEfrn_____ la alnsd ,
Scotalnad.an lde s
PaJuolh nson
�
1817
Harper & Row, Publishers, New York
Grand R:ipids, Phihdelphi:i, St. Loui�, San Fr:inci\CO
London, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo. Toronto
. = '-.1 '..11. ·, ;:
'
yI[ \
�
�
� .
l-
ft
..•
·
�· ·�·.I
.
,.
...,
,�
�---·
f�1111 : -�ifl I
Tinb.o,o i; kd cd1ct,o1 1ed
Coi,m1oC1 .1adh 1c
CATHFDR�AO IFE NGLANSDC,O TLAANNDD W ALES. B
utl emtyd ufee neetv feari l
Copyn©g 1l99n0 6 1· PaJuo lh mon
Texotr igipnu.bh1leIiidIsn1 Y 9 8b0yG eorWgeei de&nN fieclodl LstodAn.l l Tow altkhs et udCiloouysps atleer,s
rigrhet,sc P:rrivneitdnIe. td aN lopy..oi ftn h bioso mka yb eu seodr
reproidnaum cm·e. di nwnheart swoietvheworru ittp teernm iesxsciieonpn t Andl ovtehh ei gehm bowReodo f,
thcea·n� fbe r iqeufo t.enmiboondisicn er di tairctaialcnr ldee vsi ews.
Foirn !or1a1d1d.r1etsiso:n Witahn tPiiclkml aasrssy -proof,
!l .i&r RpoewPr u bliIsnhce.r s,
10 Ea5,_ ti Srtdr eet Ands torWiiendd orwiscd hilgyh t,
Nt"wY orNkY,1 0 022.
Castaid nigrm e lilgiigohuts.
FirU,.rSE .d ition
Library ofC ongrCe:ist:ilsog ing-in-Publication Data
Jo hmoPn.,r1 n9l2,8 -
CarheodfEr nagllsSa cnodr,al naWdna dl esJ/oPhanus-lo 1nsU.t. Se.d .
p. cm.
"Origipnu;ibllliiysn19 h8 0e bdyG eorWgeei deannfNdei lcdo lLstodn. "
-T.pv.e rso
JOHNM ILTOfNPl,e nseroso
ISBN 0-06-0164 36-0
1.C nhed-rGarhe Barti t2. aCihnu.ra crhc hiteGcrteBuarrrie t-!a.i n.
Title.
NA546518.4J 1 990
72.66'' 0941-dcio
909l 92 9\ 9 -!IO 98 7 6 5 -\ 3 l I
F,wtnigpt ,lieSg tDe.a: v iCda'tsh edral
Title p,1Sgrea:ig nlt>aidsnY s o rCka thedral
Contents
ThEea rlCiaetshte odfrB arlist. a7 i n
1
Catheodfrt ahNleos r maAnge . 1 9
2
3 ThCeo rnionftg h Geo th.i4 7c
4 Splendooftu hDrees c orSattye.ld7 e 9
PerpendTihcTeur luNaear t:i Svtey. l1 e0 9
5
6 Howt hCea thewderraBelu si. l1 t3 3
7 Treasouftr heCesa thed.r1 a4l9s
8 RenaisRseafnocrem,aa ntWdir oen.n
161
9 ThGeo thRiecv iavnaMdlo drenis.1m 7 3
Map and Gazetteer .
200
Glossary of Technical Terms .
206
Select Bibliography .
208
Acknowledgements .
210
Index .
211
]
�
���­
,ll'�V·
(\V \47 '
0�f.
1. , .
I
ThEea rClaitehseotBdf rr iatlasi n
T
he cathedrals of North-West Europe are among the known as Monastic Foundations: Bath (grouped with
noblest of human artifacts, and within this larger Wells in a single diocese), Canterbury, Durham, Ely,
collection the British cathedrals form a group of Norwich, Rochester, Winchester and \XI orcester. In ad­
exceptional interest and distinction. For most of the dition there was Carlisle, served by Augustinian regular
Middle Ages, England was served by seventeen cath­ canons, from the twelfth century.
edrals. Of these, nine were 'secular' cathedrals, that is When Henry VIII destroyed the monastic system, he
served by chapters of canons who did not take special decided to compensate for the loss of ecclesiastical ser­
vows of poverty. They were Chichester, Exeter, Here­ vices by turning nventy-one of the old monastic churches
ford, Lichfield, Lincoln, London, Salisbury, \XI ells and into cathedrals. We possess his autograph list of the-;e,
York, collectively known as the Old Foundation. Other which included \Xlaltham, Thamc, Dunstable, Newen­
Saxon cathedrals were served by chapters of Benedictine ham, Shrewsbury, Fountains and Leicester. Some of
monks, a system continued under the Normans, and are those on the list, such as Osenev and \X' estmimter
,
7
CATHEDRALS OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND WALES
m=
t,-kJ�l f\'JZ c V 1'.: \ �\. V Ll{:,A lNS,-\Pl( .\ rl.-\,u\D1:0
�. ]� Lc«cr'c1,,n ctT'JTTm, ,<:qn,,,,, ' ,.,mmr, ,l,:'),iJ ']"'Pl'" l'Jlltllll,r d11, ' .. ., ... <jlldlTl']\ld 111,poffib,
� ..rau611fe...1."Fltrnl-l.,re_·. q-.ionof�m,,..ltorr; J ... ,• • .,-; .d(Y ,.m . Hmm d1crmu1°1!11"hnth1fu}'" �u1111tnp.Jun.,a,1110duW11�
Abbey, became cathedrals for a short time in the sixteenth � fcimny.arq: p1mo·ir. n'fo1. t\"d.L"fi,�t"r. h,.. •1�11c. &f.-i:rr;rr,J0 n.-1fhn�-c...·ca T'Jt, cJ1:uno� r ..n f non rqu.t.op--i.mb:-1,,&ufc
century. The Benedictine houses of Gloucester and t mu::ffiii-iif)Ln-'md� ..;:tbcrndn"-� (; 9u,1_; �1 ;�JJ-onofon I dl mmmmg: la1.1d,t[J;U· dd1i118-..ifc. .irfk0111111 loconi ad dmmt
p mtfo1 mLf.£1 •,,�TT �)l', con:Irf ud.tlrt. . l\ �·1.t1r, 9 .,c.:.:. 111: 1�rifm-.1J �-'.:,.. divrndffi f-11�\1m 1rrr.,w�. .a f PYJd)1�frt-fo11,1rr. t
Peterb�rough, and the Augustinian houses of Oxford, i. j...,.\-4.,1)\tliU.0 !Tt'1��,i,,i1 L1.11;;... � :,_.;,-. 1\,,1 c;w _pmfot,'l c.{-... ! .,h1. •�ff,,j. '"i'; ..., J rrropf.. ;·)1!i-nm',Ji..,.,,.�.--f CJrhofram p,nn
Bristol and Carlisle, were added permanently to the ranks : 10 pc-:1 ,:t,•i .,1 ii ?111,,l•}·• ]lK,c! lt �1;11 -�,'( ... rnomra.cnt.;�t.url):Jf aullo, :--i;illi-fop_ rn 1�1-11u,ur TI1_(9f mn mgi1 f'.�
of cathedrals, this group of five becoming known as the , r, h1 ,c-p11111 f �11111 rdfarnmtl. >nr cauUJOnc: c_i--rogr.1pf11. In f1i llV1totm1po-rc: ,O)JI H1nr prcfu��LI-O_F)UC VM-U
► , ',tr , , ,,.: ,,, ,l,a,dm m,,rr,m1. ;,,mu -£ln. � fpf1a, (,:ad f,J111orc fci poin 4PlilJ011op«1dTTl .omfp olfcffionq'adCllr
tNueriwes ,F otuwnednattyio nn. eIwn thAen ngliinceatne enctahth aenddr atlws ehnativeeth bceeenn­ jll•. mJpr.aJnrmc.l,.p ,o,u mnf1ura f,[u1,"C< f.ainqem u1 [.LL l1l m,c1o1lfdb laua ar,,,4,,bc.ronnual. bb fo kcwng,burnfr T!()':;!TiI�J.,J'd }'"fS'.',Cf ddroomSncoq;o � p p<.\n'rmo.i fuf,LbEufOq:N )"' I 1fu0Jal1Co.f11pbf1t ufufnq: nadl=fd!
qnodammb,rnllm ruotdim'.qntolnn �anr'¾-qnt'..1,f?l P'.��.nm�o,:eqef��,ili folio �p"dL
created. Five are former monastic or collegiate churches: f d1r ,,p,fr·• S,wFc·f frnpcl'.1'01t1c;t,'rla '1t;f(,)ff:,rada.falm:l'ui:tn'1,f��qnfmr,af! ·.mumq: ro;1�!iau,.c<'Ufi
hunort:Tn �-� p•Jp:.i,lor:.0�11 -p;'iaDll l\JTTUlfhmfan accr,ri1-:1!trfmi.r,.rcchJf�. rc pot:ty1 ....1 : -�tcf:!°ho(,1�tmr.",..e�
tSetr A. lEblaenvse,n S oauret hfwoarmrke, r Rpiparoinsh, Scohuutrhcwheelsl: aBndir mMianngchhaems­, 'V._ :E-dAmK ,bD, VfoSl m"" "c tmrc ua1a1ul,,i m.lca1ocfUJ'cft •.m�.F'. fci'��f?, pooo\::U f�$tf a,pcmdcfiu!tiiiii5.LwflllJ";'.""?rcna;V ruMf-of1fdj�.m,,,+r,,.mmu brnoa .cb,'f'��<DJ'•�:D:tt:-mirc�.oi,ra�b!l'
Blackburn, Chelmsford, Leicester, Portsmouth, St f!ilto pi,:fri,,b m'of Ju.:il,if "''\lifJI 1g,Jl,\Jcd: noh,!tb ,, · n,n ,apdaffimtarGl.m,f;&: df!i rnJ,itr()b· laudd·ml:mfq�,m/,, T'f rn
rnm,-:.(buml c.mnoml l";,11"U<"l'Qr\qut( hocu:fl:.:unmu, rmultgn po5lt, TI1011'1 nm .:ranflTil <:\'.lxma=d
Edmundsbury, Bradford, Sheffield, Newcastle, Wake­ ""1" ctm1tp\1�c1 '.i,,a,, nono do:uno.corol;.\ cu a&:mio p11'.lmo.mo;md10 ,lcl.'hcrm mr"'1 quo 1,hfruhqmfc op•Lm
rrurm;�,fropt�
field and Douglas. Four are new: Truro, Guildford, ruptdnul 1-«.c '" [tic'"C fm dcrn.�'ii ddtrrnmi a·., J''TlUTul'C (onmnpnn,dornfumpfmr;.ucLqufdc mmr
l[,_,b:,,,fcii d, ,bo:O c,,fq-mtmRnf(.,, fq,.ijirufa. 'f'o,1pfiufq:fof.d1f,gng:rnonc fl'"'''e m, ,ul,cmanffi,n;_� nno ,�, 1l
Liverpool, Coventry. To these, for the purposes of this =-·-on>:m'T"\nl h�'t, P,Ofoirra c-,J1�nr:�4t:t,a:���¥•ltl�,l���Um�pnfl1r•�h'!t;lt'��o-.,J f "•1J•,._"'rr.��'"'�?j
book, I have added Westminster Abbey and Beverley, L (;Go 6/\DVVEj>\RITVS R6X boc3tuu,;, GllltlOTIC hacaffirmo €Go ���s adunram. €e (woO c,,b
;o tADS1HU5 l\RQH ,ps manu mca fub fmpfi, Eco ml.(',:pl;!�S'! �s adnruam. Lro1
both of which have served as cathedrals; the two sur­ GO A;I,ruros ,,ru:m rps cboracmfi�,irt,ocxmfo�dam. Eco SJHTt\laJS ,l:JlB admuam Eoo ,,ye
GO $TIGARD1JS ,ps d,gnu"l dn 1 • eoo !Ufl>!f,/\if""Sj'b [ m,lAU! €GO srr
viving medieval cathedrals of the North, Glasgow and
GO R·rn.t:ii\.1\.tms f�s rorrubar-..m· -(=:Go c-bM\.\l-1�,• ph l.111d.1;P 4?w HllTI
Kirkw all; the four ancient cathedrals of Wales, Bangor, St (10 €:!J.0-3.!l''"� r!l-= -"l"I,(._:-,, €-r.o co0r,r1Ht1s l}h 11• •. Lm1 l ,�, p,�
Davids, Llandaff and St Asaph; the cathedrals of the E pis­
copalian Church of Scotland; and the twenty-seven abbey church at Chichester was 175 feet long. At Canter­
Roman Catholic cathedrals of England, Wales and Scot­ bury, the original church consecrated by St Augustine
land - making a grand total of nearly ninety cathedrals. was probably a reconstituted Roman building, only
We know very little about the earliest British eighty feet long. It was replaced in the ninth century (we
cathedrals. The ruined church of North Elmham in East assume) by a cathedral of roughly the same size as York,
Anglia is the only Anglo-Saxon cathedral of which a part and it was this building which was burned down in Nor­
is still visible above the surface. The Saxon cathedral of man times and described from memory by Eadmer in the
York, the first in England to be built of stone, has not twelfth century. Eadmer says it was like Old St Peter's in
been located; an investigation carried out by Dr Brian Rome, and it is possible that all the Saxon cathedrals were J p,1gc:
Pre·lious Durham
Hope-Taylor, during the strengthening process carried modelled on St Peter's for, despite the distance, the links Cathedral, greatest of all the
out on the present Minster, r 966-r 97 r, revealed details between England and the See of Rome were firm. Norman fortress-churches,
replaced an earlier building
of its Norman predecessor but concluded that the first The work of Martin Biddle at Winchester in the r96os
which housed the body of St
cathedral must have been built on a different site. Ac­ shows that a small cruciform church 60 feet long was built Cuthbert, the most popular
cording to Alcuin, this cathedral was about 200 feet long. there c. 650; a free-standing tower was added later, and in saint in northern England. It
remained a shrine until the
Offa built a cathedral of similar size at Lichfield, and the the late tenth century the two were joined, the resulting
Reformation.
8
THE EARLI FST CATI-HIJR.\LS or- B1ur.\I:\
cathedral being provided with a westwork and a new east
OppmHc lc/t( '.h.1rtc1 ,,t
end, forming a long, narrow building. Together with St I Jw.1rd the <·"ntc·"""· d.11rd
IC\::, r<.'.cnrch thc· l<lund.1t1u11
Paul's Saxon cathedral in London, this was England's
nf the c.11hrJr.1I 111 I ,ctn.
largest church, until Edward the Confessor, towards the
fhl' Kmg ,.ud th.1t hr .rnd h1,
end of his reign, built his new abbey at Westminster. The qucm. l·ditl1, h.1d f'l"r'<ll1,1lh
Confessor's cultural ties were with Continental Nor­ pl.1u:d thl' b1,lwp ,,11 h1, nc"
throne, ·111 the: prc',l'nc<' <lf m,
mandy, then at the beginning of a great religious and gre.ll men .rnd m, km,fulk".
artistic revolution, and his fine new abbey marked a dis­
Opro.<1/c ngh1 l· mhnlldcred
tinctive break with the Saxon past; had it survived, it must
'>wk. ,hnw111g '>t ( 'uthhen\
have ranked as the first of Britain's true medieval cath­ ultin Ill Dmham ( .1thc·,lr.1I
edrals. Excavations and the picture of it on the Bayeux The .1ctu.1I ,hnnc nl '>t
Cuthbert,, .1, d<',poiled 111 the
Tapestry show that it was grander than anything which
16th centun, ,, lwn .1 ,cric, ol
then existed on this side of the Channel, a Norman-type puritan de.m, ,tnpp<'d the
abbey with conventual buildings on the standard Cluniac ,;real church nl lls mcdicY.1I
tin en·.
plan. It had a nave of six double bays, transepts with a tall
tower over the crossing, a pair of western towers and a f e/r: \\',1r,h1pp,·r,, (,H\C:d in
triple-apsed sanctuary. ,tone on .1 dciorw.n-k.1ding to
.1 dupd in th<' ,uuth tr .rn,rpt
In Britain, certain marked regional characteristics were
uf Linrnln C.1thl'dr.d. Tim
implanted on the standard pattern of the North-\'v'est �reat prodig, -diur,h. .11 the
European Cathedral, almost from the start. Anglo-Saxon l',lstern end ol I· ngl.rnd\ tine
l11neswnc belt, 1, rich in
society evolved from che forest and its buildings were Instead, therefore, of abolishing the monastic cathedral as
superb sculpture.
dominated by timber from first co last. Though the a Saxon aberration, he consolidated ic, and it remained :m
Saxons came to use scone in increasing quantities, es­ important and distinctive feature of our church. le meant
pecially for churches, their masonry tended to be a mere chat many cathedrals were part of a large convencual com­
petrification, as it were, of wood, and carpenters played a plex; in England, indeed, most of the secular cathedrals
much more important and adventurous role in the design were also provided with cloisters. Monastic cathedrals
and construction of buildings, including the largest cath­ tended to emphasize the already profound distinction be­
edrals, here than on the Continent. tween the clerical and the lay areas of the building, for the
Second, Britain was a mission-territory in che early monks were cut off from the world bv their \ ows and the
Dark Ages, and (like parts of Germany) was evangelized laity were not encouraged to penetrate their quarters. The
by Benedictine monks. Hence the monastic cathedral choir "'as monks' territory and the laity did not norm:1lly
foundations. Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury, whom pass beyond the crossing. The church of the people wa:-,
\X'illiam the Conqueror put in charge of reorganizing the nave; hence its great extension in English cathedrab,
the Saxon church, was himself a Benedictine monk. where it was used for all major processions. Hence, too,
9
CATHEDRALS OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND WALES
the tendency to provide it with an elaborate westwork,
N.1,·e l)f Hcre!LlrJ Cathedral,
with Its nuss1\'e Norman for which the laity paid.
piers, strikingly bulkv in
The monastic system also influenced the general
rel.nion to tht' space encloseJ
character of cathedral settings. On the Continent, cath­
b\' the na\'e, remind, us that
the city was ,1 frontier fortress edrals spring dramatically from the clustering roofs of
town until the end of the
their cities. They are quintessentially urban protub­
MiJdle Ages.
erances. In the first decade of Norman rule, the decision
was taken by the authorities to end the anomaly of the
rural cathedral. But the monastic cathedral retained its
semi-rural atmosphere, even when it was part of a thriv­
ing town. It constituted a distinct and exclusive quartier;
and even new secular foundations, like Salisbury, were
built on the outskirts of towns. The cathedral close thus
became an important formative element in the social and
aesthetic character of our cathedrals, an element which
survived the dissolution of the monastic foundations and
is still visible and palpable today.
The strongly collegiate character of British cathedrals,
whether monastic or secular, was also expressed by mag­
nificent display chapter-houses, sometimes square, more
usually polygonal. At one time there were at least twenty­
five polygonal chapter-houses in England and two in
Scotland; more than half of these have been destroyed,
but there are notable survivors at Salisbury, Wells and
West minster.
In doctrinal matters, the British churches tended to be
strict: that is, they combined insularity with a self­
conscious orthodoxy and strong links with Rome - the
English church always made a direct payment to the
papacy in the form of 'Peter's Pence'. They insisted their
altars be orientated, extending the transepts so that altars
could be built along their eastern walls, rather than setting
them up in the north-south aisles of the choir. Sometimes
they built altars on the eastern side of the great nave piers,
10
L\ B
THI IU 11� T CATHF ORA l S 01 RIT .\l�
:md the wall-paintings surmounting them can still be -;een I.ciClt01ll r.1! Tll\\ n "'
at St Albans. On the Continent, additional ,1lurs were Lincllln ( ,1tl1l'dr.1I. ,ll,lf\ Ill
provided by adding a series of projecting chapels to the 271 ll'l'l. Brnuglu do" n h, .rn
L"Jrthqu.1kc 111 1 1 Si. tht·
processional ambulatory which surrounded the apsidal
,hurd1 w.1, rebuilt lw lWll
cast end. These were known as 'chevcts' or 'bed-heads'. 111.1,1ntul b1,lwp,. '>1 l lugh nt
In Britain they ,.vcre disliked, partly because of their -\, .1lon .rnd till' grr,ll Kllbcn
Gn,"c:1c:,1e.
dubious orientation and partly because, under sunless
skies, they produced dark altars. There is a chcHt at
\'vestminster, the most French of our great churches,
though the centre of it was demolished to make way for
Henry vn's magnificent chapel, and there are residual
chcvcts at the monastic cathedrals of Norwich, Peter­
borough and Gloucester. However, most English east
ends are square. They either fall away in steps, as at \':'in­
chcster, Salisbury, Chichester, \'\' ells, Exeter, Hereford,
�.
St Albans and Gloucester, or constitute sheer cliffs, as at
• -
r
York, Lincoln, Carlisle, Ripon, \\' orcester, Oxford and
... -.) "'*r ...,
�� \r.,� ,..-...... Bristol. This square east end is one of the most marked
i .! features of the English-type cathedral, which is some­
i 1l
times provided with a double transept, making yet more
space for properly orientated altars.
Finally, while English cathedrals are notable for the
length of their naves, they are rarely very high, at .rny rate
by the standards of France. Herc again \v' estrninster is the
exception, with a vault 102 feet from the nave floor; but
eHn this was low bv the standards of the Isle de France,
where the vault at A.miens \\'as 140 feet and .lt Beau\ ais
1 54. But with lowish vaults, the English could ri-;k the
erection of high crossing-towers, which the French could
not. English cathedr.1ls are notable for their great stone
towers and steeples - sometimes, as at Salisbury, both.
The central tower .lt Lincoln is 271 fret high and its timber
spire once ma<.ie it, at 5 24 feet, the tallest cathedral in the
world, visible from the \\'ash and parts of L1st Anglia.
1 1