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.

Author: Rebecca Kennison.

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.