Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

Sunday 26 March 2023

Chester Cathedral. (Part Seven).



The Cloisters.
Chester Cathedral.
Photo: 10 July 2014.
Source: Own work.
Author: Diliff
"Photo by DAVID ILIFF.
Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0".
(Wikimedia Commons)


Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.

Scott's restorations were not without their critics and caused much debate in architectural circles. Scott claimed to have archæological evidence for his work, but the Liverpool architect, Samuel Huggins, argued in an 1868 address to The Liverpool Architectural Society, that the alterations were less like restoration and more like rebuilding.

One of the larger changes was to shorten the South Aisle and re-style it as an Apse. The changes also proposed the addition of a Spire above the existing Tower, but this proposal was later rejected.[38]

Samuel’s further Paper of 1871, entitled “On So-Called Restorations Of Our Cathedral And Abbey Churches”, compelled The Dean to attempt to answer the criticism. The debate contributed to the establishment of The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.[40]


Cathedral Church of Christ and The Blessed Virgin Mary,
(Chester Cathedral).
Date: 1896.
Author: Bonney, Thomas George, 1833-1923.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Later in the Century, from 1882, Arthur Blomfield and his son Charles made further additions and modifications, including restoring and re-instating the Shrine of Saint Werburgh. More work was carried out in the 20th-Century by Giles Gilbert Scott, between 1891 and 1913, and by F. H. Crossley in 1939.[4]

Towards the end of 1963, the Cathedral Bells, which were housed in the Central Tower, were in need of an overhaul, and ringing was suspended.

In 1965, The Dean asked George Pace, architect to York Minster, to prepare specifications for a new Bell Frame and for electrification of the Clock and Tolling Mechanism. Due to structural difficulties and the cost of replacing the Bells in the Central Tower, it was advised that consideration should be given to building a detached Bell and Clock Tower in the South-East corner of the Churchyard.


Chester Cathedral, formerly the Abbey Church of a Benedictine Monastery and Dedicated to Saint Werburgh, is the Seat of The Bishop of Chester. The Cathedral dates from between 1093 and 1525, although the site may have been used for Christian Worship since Roman times. All the major Styles of English Mediæval architecture are represented in the present building. Most notoriously were the major repairs in Victorian times, giving Chester the distinction of the most renovated Cathedral in the U.K. The Red Sandstone easily weathers and, in the 1800s, the exterior was in a sorry state. At the time, it caused much controversy, but, from a 21st-Century perspective, we are left with a stunning building.
Photo: 13 October 2013.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)


It was decided to proceed with that plan, and, in 1969, an announcement was made that the first detached Cathedral Bell Tower was to be erected since the building of the Campanile at Chichester Cathedral in the 15th-Century.

In February 1969, nine of the ten Bells in the Central Tower were removed, to be re-cast by John Taylor & Co as a ring of twelve Bells with a Flat Sixth.[41]

The new Bells were cast in 1973.[42] Work on the new Bell-Tower began in February 1973. Two old Bells, dating from 1606 and 1626, were left in the Tower. On 26 February 1975, the Bells were rung for the first time to celebrate the wedding of a member of The Grosvenor Family.


Chester Cathedral dates from between 1093 and the Early-16th-Century. All the major styles of English Mediæval architecture, from Norman to Perpendicular, are represented in the present building. The Cathedral, formerly Saint Werburgh's Abbey Church of a Benedictine Monastery, is Dedicated to Christ and The Blessed Virgin Mary.
Photo: 13 April 2010.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The official opening on 25 June 1975 was performed by The Duke of Gloucester. The Belfry is known as The Dean Addleshaw Tower, after the The Dean of the Cathedral responsible for its construction.[41] The Tower is built in concrete, faced with Sandstone at its base. It is the first detached Bell Tower to be built for a Cathedral in this Country since The Reformation.[43]

Between the Bell Tower and the South Transept is a Garden of Remembrance of The Cheshire Regiment (originally The 22nd Regiment of Foot).[19]

The treasures of Chester Cathedral are its rare fittings, specifically its Choir Stalls and the 17th-Century furnishing of the Bishop’s Consistory Court in the South Tower, which is a unique survival.[17]


Chester Cathedral.
Photo: 8 December 2012.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Choir Stalls date from about 1380. They have high, spiky, closely-set, Canopies, with Crocketed Arches and Spirelets. The Stall Ends have Poppyheads and are rich with figurative carving.[44]

The Stalls include forty-eight Misericords, all but five of which are original,[21] depicting a variety of subjects, some humorous and some grotesque. Pevsner states that they are “one of the finest sets in the Country”,[44] while Alec Clifton-Taylor calls them “exquisite” and says of the Misericords that “for delicacy and grace, they surpass even those at Lincoln and Beverley”.[28]

PART EIGHT FOLLOWS.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...