Peterborough Cathedral (Part Four)

Text and illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia
unless otherwise annotated.

Cloisters, Peterborough Cathedral. 

A view across what remains of the cloisters, largely destroyed during the Civil War, with the South side of the Cathedral behind.

Author: Derek Harper
Photo: December 2007.
Taken from Wikimedia Commons.


The Cathedral was vandalised during the English Civil War, in 1643, by Parliamentarian troops. As was common at the time, almost all the stained glass and the Medieval Choir Stalls were destroyed, and the High Altar and reredos were demolished, as were the cloisters and Lady Chapel. All the monuments and memorials of the Cathedral were also damaged or destroyed.

King Henry VIII's wife, Katharine of Aragon, was buried here in 1536, as was Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587.
Mary was later removed to Westminster Abbey.
Author: Dave Hitchborne
Photo: April 2004.
From Wikimedia Commons.

The Choir of The Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew, Peterborough.
Author: Dave Hitchborne
Photo: April 2004.
From Wikimedia Commons.

Some of the damage was repaired during the 17th- and 18th-Centuries. In 1883, extensive restoration work began, with the interior pillars, the Choir and the West Front being completely rebuilt under the supervision of John Loughborough Pearson, and new hand-carved Choir Stalls, Cathedra (Bishop's Throne), Choir Pulpit and the marble pavement and High Altar being added. A stepped level of battlements was removed from the Central Tower, reducing its height, slightly.

In the early evening of 22 November 2001, the Cathedral was hit by a fire, thought to have been started deliberately amongst plastic chairs stored in the North Choir Aisle. Fortunately, the fire was spotted by one of the vergers, allowing a swift response by emergency services.

Peterborough Cathedral: Looking from the Nave to the High Altar.
Author: Dave Hitchborne
Photo: April 2004.
From Wikimedia Commons.

The High Altar.
Author: Dave Hitchborne
Photo: April 2004.
From Wikimedia Commons.

The timing was particularly unfortunate, as a complete restoration of the painted wooden ceiling was nearing completion. The oily smoke given off by the plastic chairs was particularly damaging, coating much of the building with a sticky black layer. 

Fan vaulting in the ambulatory at Peterborough Cathedral.
Author: NotFromUtrecht
Photo: March 2010.
From Wikimedia Commons.

The seat of the fire was close to the organ and the combination of direct damage from the fire, and the water used to extinguish it, necessitated a full-scale rebuild of the instrument, putting it out of action for several years.

An extensive programme of repairs to the West Front began in July 2006 and has cost in excess of half a million pounds. This work is concentrated around the statues located in niches, which have been so badly affected by years of pollution and weathering that, in some cases, they have only stayed intact thanks to iron bars inserted through them from the head to the body. This enabled people to "sponsor" a stone.

THIS CONCLUDES THE ARTICLE ON PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL