Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.
Showing posts with label Saint Bede. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saint Bede. Show all posts

Wednesday 17 October 2012

Durham Cathedral (Part Three)


Text and Illustrations taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.




Durham Cathedral.
Photo: July 2007.
Source: Own Work.
Author: --Immanuel Giel 13:01, 21 August 2007 (UTC)
(Wikimedia Commons)


Saint Cuthbert's tomb was destroyed on the orders of Henry VIII in 1538, and the monastery's wealth handed over to the king. The body of the Saint was exhumed, and, according to the Rites of Durham, was discovered to be uncorrupted. It was reburied under a plain stone slab, but the ancient paving around it remains intact, worn by the knees of pilgrims. Two years later, on 31 December 1540, the Benedictine Monastery at Durham was dissolved, and the last Prior of Durham (Hugh Whitehead) became the first Dean of the Cathedral's secular Chapter.

After the Battle of Dunbar, on 3 September 1650, Durham Cathedral was used by Oliver Cromwell as a makeshift prison to hold Scottish prisoners-of-war. It is estimated that as many as 3,000 were imprisoned, of whom 1,700 died in the cathedral itself, where they were kept in inhumane conditions, largely without food, water or heat. The prisoners destroyed much of the cathedral woodwork for firewood but Prior Castell's clock, which featured the Scottish thistle, was spared. It is reputed that the prisoners' bodies were buried in unmarked graves. The survivors were shipped as slave labour to North America.

In 1946, during work to install a new central heating system for the University, a mass grave of the Scottish soldiers was allegedly uncovered. Towards the end of 2007, a campaign was launched to commemorate the Dunbar Martyrs. Further to this, and with the agreement of Durham University, Historic Scotland funded a geophysical survey of Palace Green. It was hoped that this might provide clarity on the final resting place of the dead, but results were inconclusive. During 2010, the Cathedral Chapter agreed to the installation of a memorial plaque within Saint Margaret of Scotland's Chapel at the Cathedral. The "Dunbar Martyr" campaigners are raising funds to assist with the cost of creation and installation of the plaque, which will bear a Scottish Thistle.

Bishop John Cosin, who had previously been a Canon of the Cathedral, set about restoring the damage and refurnishing the building with new Stalls, the Litany Desk and the towering Canopy over the Font. An Oak Screen, to carry the organ, was added at this time to replace a Stone Screen which was pulled down in the 16th-Century. On the remains of the old Refectory, the Dean, John Sudbury, founded a Library of early-printed books.




The Rose Window,
Durham Cathedral.
Photo: April 2010.
Author: Zephyrinus.


During the 18th-Century, the Deans of Durham often held another position in the South of England, and, after spending the statutory time in residence, would depart to manage their affairs. Consequently, after Cosin's refurbishment, there was little by way of restoration or rebuilding. When work commenced again on the building, it was of a most unsympathetic nature. 

In 1773, the architect, George Nicholson, having completed the Prebend's Bridge across the River Wear, persuaded the Dean and Chapter to let him smooth off much of the outer stonework of the Cathedral, thereby considerably altering its character.




Durham Cathedral at sunrise.
Source: Own Work. 
Photo: November 1998. 
Permission: Dual-licensed under GFDL and Creative Commons Attribution 2.5. 
(Wikimedia Commons) 


The architect, James Wyatt, greatly added to the destruction by demolishing half the Chapter House, altering the stonework of the East End, and inserting a large rose window that was supposed to be faithful to one that had been there in the 13th-Century. Wyatt also planned to demolish the Galilee Chapel, but the Dean, John Cornwallis, returned and prevented it, just as the lead was being stripped from the roof.

The restoration of the Cathedral's Tower, between 1854 and 1859, was by the architect, Sir George Gilbert Scott, working with Edward Robert Robson, who went on to serve as architect-in-charge of the Cathedral for six years. In 1858, Anthony Salvin restored the Cloisters.


PART FOUR FOLLOWS.

Friday 12 October 2012

Durham Cathedral (Part One)


Text and Illustrations taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia,
unless otherwise stated.




Durham Cathedral.
Author: Domstu
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and Saint Cuthbert of Durham (usually known as Durham Cathedral) is a Cathedral in the city of Durham, England, the Seat of the Anglican Bishop of Durham. The Bishopric dates from 995 A.D., with the present Cathedral being founded in 1093. The Cathedral is regarded as one of the finest examples of Norman architecture and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with nearby Durham Castle, which faces it across Palace Green.

The present Cathedral replaced the 10th-Century "White Church", built as part of a monastic foundation to house the shrine of Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne. The treasures of Durham Cathedral include relics of Saint Cuthbert, the head of Saint Oswald of Northumbria and the remains of the Venerable Bede. In addition, its Durham Dean and Chapter Library contains one of the most complete sets of early-printed books in England, the pre-Dissolution monastic accounts, and three copies of the Magna Carta.

Durham Cathedral occupies a strategic position on a promontory high above the River Wear. From 1080 until the 19th-Century, the Bishopric enjoyed the powers of a Bishop Palatine, having military as well as religious leadership and power. Durham Castle was built as the residence for the Bishop of Durham. The seat of the Bishop of Durham is the fourth-most-significant in the Church of England hierarchy, and he stands at the right hand of the monarch at coronations. Signposts for the modern-day County Durham are subtitled "Land of the Prince Bishops."

There are daily Church of England services at the Cathedral, with the Durham Cathedral Choir singing daily except Mondays and when the Choir is on holiday. The Cathedral is a major tourist attraction within the region, the central tower of 217 feet (66 metres) giving views of Durham and the surrounding area.





Durham Cathedral interior.
Photo: August 2010.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The See of Durham takes its origins from the Diocese of Lindisfarne, founded by Saint Aidan at the behest of Oswald of Northumbria, around 635 A.D. The See lasted until 664 A.D., at which point it was translated to York. The See was then re-instated at Lindisfarne in 678 A.D., by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Among the many Saints produced in the community at Lindisfarne Priory, Saint Cuthbert, who was Bishop of Lindisfarne from 685 A.D., until his death on Farne Island in 687 A.D., is central to the development of Durham Cathedral.

After repeated Viking raids, the monks fled Lindisfarne in 875 A.D., carrying Saint Cuthbert's relics with them. The Diocese of Lindisfarne remained itinerant until 882 A.D., when a community was re-established in Chester-le-Street. The See had its Seat here until 995 A.D., when further incursions once again caused the monks to move with the relics.

According to local legend, the monks followed two milk maids who were searching for a dun (i.e. brown) cow and were led into a peninsula formed by a loop in the River Wear. At this point, Saint Cuthbert's coffin became immovable. This trope of hagiography was offered for a sign that the new shrine should be built here. A more prosaic set of reasons for the selection of the peninsula is its highly defensible position, and that a community established here would enjoy the protection of the Earl of Northumberland, as the bishop at this time, Aldhun, had strong family links with the earls. Nevertheless, the street leading from The Bailey, past the Cathedral's eastern towers up to Palace Green, is named Dun Cow Lane.


PART TWO FOLLOWS


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