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

11 February, 2026

The Twenty-Six Mediæval Cathedrals Of England (Part Sixteen).



Worcester Cathdral.
Photo: 3 June 2011.
Source: Own work.
Author: Sonofden62
(Wikimedia Commons)


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

During the 15th-Century, many of England’s finest  Cathedral Towers were either built or extended in the Perpendicular style, including those of the Cathedrals of Gloucester, Worcester, Wells, York, Durham, and Canterbury, and the Spires of Chichester, and Norwich.

The design of Church Interiors went through a final stage that lasted into the 16th-Century. This was the development of Fan Vaulting, first used in about 1370 in the Cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral, then in the Retro-Choir at Peterborough in the Early-15th-Century. 

In a still more elaborate form, with Stone Pendants, it was used to roof the Norman Choir at Oxford and in the great Funerary Chapel of King Henry VII at Westminster Abbey, at a time when Italy had embraced the Renaissance.[2][4][5]


The Great West Window, 
“The Heart of Yorkshire” Stained-Glass Window, 
York Minster.
Photo: 17 May 2012.
Source: Own work.
Author: Nessy-Pic
(Wikimedia Commons)



A History Of Norwich Cathedral.
A Guided Tour.
Available on YouTube


The Plan of Salisbury Cathedral is that most often reproduced in architectural histories for the purpose of comparing English Gothic architecture with that of FranceItaly and other Countries.[6] 

It has many features that, on paper at least, are typical. The plan of Worcester Cathedral, for example, closely resembles that of Salisbury. Both have two Transepts, a large Central Tower, a large Porch to the North Side of the Nave, a Cloister to the South, off which opens a Polygonal Chapter House.[2] 

Internally, there are also strong visual similarities in the simple Lancet Windows of the East End and the contrasting profusion of Purbeck Marble Shafts. But the histories of the two buildings are very different. Salisbury Cathedral took 160 years to complete, from its foundations in 1220 to the top of its massive Spire in 1380. Worcester took 420 years, from its Norman Crypt of 1084 to its Chapel in memory of Prince Arthur in 1504.[2] 


English: The Cloisters, Gloucester Cathedral.
Deutsch: Der Kreuzgang der Kathedrale von Gloucester.
Esperanto: Klostro de Katedralo Gloucester.
Français : Les cloîtres de la Cathédrale de Gloucester.
Українська: Крита галерея Глостерського собору, Глостер, Англія.
Photo: 17 January 2018.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The history of Worcester Cathedral is much more representative of the history of most of England’s Mediæval Cathedrals than is that of Salisbury Cathedral.


Cantus Firmus Monks.
Gregorian Chant used in the 
Norwich Cathedral video (see, above).
Available on YouTube


An earlier Cathedral was located, between 1075 and 1228, on the hill top near the ancient fort at Old Sarum. In the Early 13th-Century, it was decided to move the location of the Cathedral to its present position. 

The new building was designed in the Lancet Gothic style (otherwise known as Early-English Gothic) by Elias of Dereham and Nicholas of Ely and begun in 1220, starting at the Eastern End, and rising Westward until, by 1258, it was complete, except for the façade and Central Tower. 

The façade, huge Cloister and Polygonal Chapter House were then constructed by Richard Mason and were completed by 1280, the later work employing Geometric Decorated Tracery in the openings of Windows and Arcades. 


English: Perpendicular Gothic Choir of York Minster.
Norsk bokmål: Katedralen i York. Hvelvet har en midtribbe i bygningens lengderetning som er typisk for engelsk gotikk.
Photo: 10 August 2005.
Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.
(Wikimedia Commons)


It was about fifty years before the major undertaking of the Tower and Spire was commenced, the architect being Richard Farleigh and the details being rather more intricate and elaborate than the earlier work. 

The entire Cathedral was complete by 1380, and the only subsequent inclusion of note was the reinforcement of the Arches of the Tower when one of the Piers developed a bend.

This three-part building programme, spanning 160 years with a fifty-year gap in the middle, is the shortest and least diverse and makes Salisbury, by far, the most homogeneous of all the Cathedrals.[2][4][10]

PART SEVENTEEN FOLLOWS.

Wednesday Of Sexagesima Week.




The Seed is The Word of God.
Artist: René de Cramer.
"Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium".
Used with Permission.


Text is from “The Liturgical Year”.
By: Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.
   Volume 4.
   Septuagesima.


O God of infinite justice ! We have sinned; we have abused the life Thou hast given us. And when we read in Thy Scriptures, how Thine anger chastised the sinners of former days, we are forced to acknowledge that we have deserved to be treated in like manner.

We have the happiness to be Christians and children of Thy Church; the light of Faith, and the power of Thy grace, have brought us once more into Thy friendship; but how can we forget that we were once Thy enemies ?

And are we so deeply rooted in virtue, that we can promise ourselves perseverance in it to the end ? Pierce, O Lord ! Pierce my flesh with Thy fear [Psalm CXVIII, 120].


Man’s heart is hard, and unless it fear Thy Sovereign Majesty, it may again offend Thee.

We are penetrated with fear, when we remember that Thou didst bury the World and destroy mankind by the waters of the deluge; for we learn by this , how Thy patience and long-suffering may be changed into inexorable anger.

Thou art Just, O Lord ! And who shall presume to take scandal, or to murmur, when Thy wrath is enkindled against sinners ?


We have defied Thy justice, we have braved Thy anger; for, though Thou hast told us that Thou wilt never more destroy sinners by a deluge of water, yet we know that Thou hast created, in thy hatred for sin, a fire, which shall eternally prey on them that depart this life without being first reconciled with Thy offended Majesty.

O wonderful dignity of our human nature ! We cannot be indifferent towards that infinite Being that created us; we must be His friends or His enemies !

It could not have been otherwise. He gave us understanding and free-will; we know what is good and what is evil, and we must choose the one or the other; we cannot remain neutral.


If we choose good, God turns towards us and loves us; if evil, we separate from Him, Who is our Sovereign Good.

But, whereas He bears most tender mercy towards this frail creature whom He created out of pure love, and because He wills that all men should be saved, He waits with patience for the sinner to return to Him, and, in countless ways, draws his heart to repentance.

But woe to him that obeys not the divine call, when that call is the last ! Then justice takes the place of mercy, and revelation tells us how fearful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God.


Let us, then, flee from the wrath to come, by making our peace with the God we have offended. If we be already restored to grace, let us walk in His fear, until love shall have grown strong enough in our hearts to make us run the way of the commandments [Psalm CXVIII, 32].

“Sainte Anne, Ô Bonne Mère”. Cantique À Sainte Anne. “Saint Anne, O Good Mother”. Hymn Sung In Brittany To Saint Anne. Feast Day 26 July.




“Sainte Anne, Ô bonne Mère”.
Cantique À Sainte Anne.
“Saint Anne, O Good Mother”.
Hymn Sung In Brittany To Saint Anne.
Available on YouTube

Found on the Web-Site of
Sanctuaire De Sainte-Anne d’Auray
(Soeurs du Christ Rédempteur).

The Feast of Saint Anne.
26 July.


Mother of Mary and grand-mother of Jesus, it was she who educated Mary’s heart by teaching her to read the Bible.

Let’s unite our Hymns with those of the Pilgrims of Sainte Anne d’Auray to ask Him to watch over us and over all the families of the World.


“O Rouanez Karet An Arvor”.
Cantique À Sainte Anne.
Available on YouTube


“O Rouanez Karet an Arvor” est un cantique traditionnel breton chanté essentiellement à Sainte Anne d’Auray. 

O Rouanéz karet en Arvor 
O Mamm lan a druhé, 
Àr an douar, àr er mor 
Gouarnet ho pugalé. 

Intron Santéz Anna 
ni ho ped a galon: 
Ged joé ni um laka 
édan ho kouarnasion. 

Ho kalon zo digor 
eid oll er Vretoned; 
An dud ag an Arvor 
ho kar eùé berped. 

Patronéz Breih-Izél, 
dohoh en-des rekour 
Hos Arvoriz fidél; 
reit dehé ho sekour.

“I Am The Immaculate Conception (Que Soy Era Immaculada Concepciou)”. Apparitions Of The Blessed Virgin Mary At Lourdes, France, To Saint Bernadette, 11 February 1858 - 16 July 1858.



Stained-Glass Window, Bonneval Church, France,
The Vision of Saint Bernadette of Lourdes.
Photo: 17 July 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: Xandar
(Wikimedia Commons)


Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Apparitions of The Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes.
Feast Day 11 February.

Greater-Double.

White Vestments.




English:
Basilica of The Immaculate Conception, 
Lourdes, France.
Deutsch: Frankreich: Lourdes,
Basilika der unbefleckten Empfängnis,
Rosenkranzbasilika und Krypta in Lourdes.
Photo: 2005.
Source: Own work.
Author: Milorad Pavlek.
(Wikimedia Commons)



From 11 February 1858 to 16 July 1858, The Blessed Virgin Mary came down from Heaven eighteen times (Introit), and showed herself to Saint Bernadette Soubirous (Collect), in the cave of the rock at Massabielle (Gradual).

On 25 March 1858, she said to the little shepherdess of fourteen years of age: “I am The Immaculate Conception”. Today’s Feast, therefore, recalls Mary’s triumph over the serpent (Tract), which the Septuagesimal Liturgy has in mind.



Like the woman seen by Saint John, “clothed in the Sun, with the Moon under her feet and a Crown of twelve Stars over her head” (Epistle), The Virgin of Lourdes “is clothed in a Robe and Veil, as White as Snow, she wears a Blue Girdle and on her bare feet rests a Golden Rose,” all symbolic of her Virginal Love.

She exhorts to Penance the unfortunate Children of Eve, who have not been, like herself, preserved from sin. On the day of the Annunciation, she declared her name to us, to manifest that it is on account of the Incarnation (Collect) that God has vouchsafed to her “not to be tainted with the Original Stain” (Tract).

Remembering that Mary is “the Ark of the New Covenant” (Epistle), let us go with confidence to her, who, “Full of Grace” (Offertory), “visits our Earth to multiply in us the gifts of her riches” (Communion).

Mass: Vidi civitátem.
Commemoration and Last Gospel of the Feria. In Lent.
Preface: Of The Blessed Virgin Mary: “Et te in Conceptione Immaculáta”.




“Be Thou My Vision”. By: Catholic Music Initiative: Dave Moore, Lauren Moore.

 


“Be Thou My Vision”.
By: Catholic Music Initiative:
Dave Moore, Lauren Moore.
Available on YouTube

“The Way It Is”. Bruce Hornsby And The Range.


“The Way It Is”.
Bruce Hornsby and The Range.
Available on YouTube

10 February, 2026

Wells Cathedral (Part Ten).



The Great West Front,
Wells Cathedral.
Photo: 30 April 2014.
Source: Own work.
Attribution:
Photo by DAVID ILIFF.
Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
Author: Diliff
(Wikimedia Commons)


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

The Early-English Great West Front was commenced around 1230 by Thomas Norreys, with building and sculpture continuing for thirty years.[33]

Its South-West Tower was begun 100 years later and constructed between 1365 and 1395, and the North-West Tower between 1425 and 1435,[90] both in the Perpendicular Gothic Style to the design of William Wynford,[33] who also filled many of the Cathedral’s Early-English Lancet Windows with delicate Tracery.[42]

The Undercroft and Chapter House were built by unknown architects between 1275 and 1310, the Undercroft in the Early-English Style and the Chapter House in the Geometric Style of Decorated Gothic architecture.

In about 1310, work commenced on The Lady Chapel, to the design of Thomas Witney, who also built the Central Tower from 1315 to 1322 in the Decorated Gothic Style.[33]



The unique Vault in the Choir of Wells Cathedral.
Photo: 9 October 2021.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Tower was later braced internally with Arches by William Joy.[33] Concurrent with this work, in 1329 – 1345, Joy made alterations and extensions to the Choir, joining it to The Lady Chapel with the Retrochoir, the latter in the Flowing Decorated Style.[33]

Wells Cathedral has a total length of 415 feet (126 m). Like Canterbury, Lincoln and Salisbury Cathedrals, it has the distinctly English arrangement of two Transepts, with the body of the Church divided into distinct parts: Nave; Choir; and Retro-choir, beyond which extends The Lady Chapel.[91]

The façade is wide, with its Towers extending beyond the Transepts on either side.[5] There is a large projecting Porch on the North side of the Nave forming an entry into the Cathedral.[92]



The Central Tower, Nave, and South Transept of Wells Cathedral seen from the Cloister Garth. The Nave rises above the Pitched Roof of the Aisle. The Buttresses are of low profile.
Photo: 9 October 2021.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)

PART ELEVEN FOLLOWS.

Basilica Of Saint Clotilde, Paris.



Basilica of Saint Clotilde, Paris.
Photo: 30 December 2014.
Source: Own work.
Attribution:
Photo by DAVID ILIFF.
Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.
Author: Diliff
(Wikimedia Commons)



Basilica of Saint Clotilde, Paris.
Available on YouTube

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

The Basilica of Saint Clotilde (Basilique Ste-Clotilde) 
is a Basilica Church located on the Rue Las Cases, in the 

It was constructed between 1846 and 1856, and is the first example of a Church in Paris in the Neo-Gothic Style.[1]

The Church takes its name from Saint Clotilde, the wife of 
King Clovis I, the first King of the Franks. She is said to have persuaded him to convert to Christianity as a condition of their marriage in 496 A.D.[2]


The Composer, César Franck, was Organist of this Church for thirty years.

The Church was constructed between 1846 and 1856 on the site of an earlier Carmelite Monastery. The original design was by Architect Franz Christian Gau, a German-born French Architect and archeologist, who made his career in France. 

It was the first example of a Church in the Neo-Gothic Style in Paris.[3] 


Work began in 1846, but Gau died in 1853; the work was continued by Théodore Ballu, who completed the Church in 1857. 

Ballu extended the front of the Church by several metres to give it greater depth, and built the two Towers, to give it the majesty of a small Cathedral. 

It was opened on 30 November 1857 by Cardinal Morlot


In 1860, Ballu was named Architect of Religious Buildings for the City of Paris, and completed a series of other Churches in the Neo-Gothic Style.[4]

In 1896, the Church was declared a Minor Basilica by Pope Leo XIII, to commemorate the anniversary of the conversion of Clovis in 496 A.D.[5]

The design of the Basilica was copied by the Architect Léon Vautrin for the construction of the facade of the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Guangzhou, China, between 1863 and 1888.


The Great West Front of the Church is in the Flamboyant Gothic Style; the Spires of the two Towers reach a height of seventy metres (230 feet). 

The facade has three Portals in Bays with high Pointed Arches, and sculpturally-decorated Statues on Thrones on the Great West Front depict Saint Clotilde and Saint Valere, the Bishop of Treves in the 3rd-Century A.D., who each played an important part in the Early-French Christian Church.[6]

The semi-circular Chevet of the Church, at the opposite end from the facade, is ringed by Buttresses and Pinnacles supporting the Walls, modelled after those of a Gothic Cathedral. 

Their presence is decorative, since the structure is built with an Iron Frame designed by Gustave Eiffel.[7]

Altar Frontals. Antependia.




Altar Frontal (Antependium)
designed by Charles Eamer Kempe.
Illustration: MEDIEVAL CHURCH ART


Text is taken from “Altar Frontals”, by Joan M. Petersen
M.A., F.L.A., former Librarian to The Council for the Care of Churches, and is dated 1962.

Published by: Church Information Office, Church House, Westminster, London S.W.1.



Altar Frontal (Antependium)
designed by Charles Eamer Kempe.
Illustration: MEDIEVAL CHURCH ART


Both in this Country and on the Continent, there is now a tendency towards greater austerity and simplicity in Church Architecture and Furnishing [Editor: The Reader must realise that this Text is dated 1962].

As a result of this tendency, a bare, unvested Altar, either in Stone or Wood, has become a feature of many Churches. The advocates of this treatment sometimes affirm that it represents a return to the simple and primitive Sanctity of The Early Church.

Whether or not this is the case, the unvested Altar marks both a change from what is certainly a very ancient custom of the Church, and also a deviation from the legal requirements of The Church of England.





It therefore seems useful to assemble and consider the available evidence about the methods and purpose of the Traditional treatment of the Altar.

The Altar in the primitive Church.

We have little or no knowledge as to the treatment of the Altar in the first four Centuries A.D., but, from the 5th-Century A.D, onwards, we have definite evidence, both literary and archæological, for the use of Altar Frontals.

Palladius [Editor: Wikipedia states that Palladius (408 A.D. – 457 A.D.) was the first Bishop of the Christians of Ireland, preceding Saint Patrick], tells us that Roman ladies gave their silk dresses to form coverings for the Altar.

To the following Century, may be assigned the famous mosaics in the Churches of Sant’Apollinare in Classe and San Vitale in Ravenna, both in Italy, which show an Altar veiled with what appears to be a Frontal, and then almost covered with an ample linen cloth.


The Altar Frontal in The Middle Ages.

The use of the Altar Frontal continued to be general in Western Christendom, as numerous Miniatures in Manuscripts testify. One of the earliest examples is in the Register of Hyde Abbey, Winchester (BM Stowe MS 960), which was drawn circa 1020, and which shows King Canute placing upon The High Altar at Winchester the Great Golden Cross, or Reliquary, which he had given to the Monastery.

Examples of textile Altar Frontals can be cited for every Century up to The Reformation. Some of the loveliest embroidery in Europe, known as “Opus Anglicanum [Editor: “English Work”], was to be found on Altar Frontals.


The Altar in Saint Mary’s Anglican Church, Redcliffe, 
Bristol. It is decorated with an elaborate Altar Frontal 
in Green, a colour typically associated with the 
Time After Epiphany and the Time After Pentecost.
Photo: 2 April 2005.
Source: Own work.
Author: Arpingstone
(Wikimedia Commons)

One of the most notable examples of this was on the Great Frontal given to Westminster Abbey by King Henry III, which appears to have been made under the direction of The King’s Goldsmith, and was described by the Late W. R. Lethaby as having been “a flexible piece of Goldsmith’s Work”. It consisted of magnificent Gold embroidery (which occupied three women workers nearly four years), studded with Pearls, Garnets, and Enamels.

There was an equally famous Altar Frontal at Canterbury, known as “The Glory”, which King Henry VIII seized and had melted down for its Gold.


Indeed, in the greater and richer Churches, the Altar Frontal was not necessarily made of a textile material. In Italy and Denmark, a number of Frontals in precious metals survive to this day. The most famous of these are the Frontals in the Treasury of Saint Mark’s, Venice, one of which is made of Silver, with statues of Saints in niches, and which dates from the 14th-Century.

There are others at Sant’Ambrogio, Milan, and Monza Cathedral, and Santissima Annunziata, Florence, and at Pisa, Pistoia. All of which are real Frontals, quite detachable, and movable.


Danish Romanesque gold Altar Frontal (Antependium), 
once set with Precious Gems, circa 1200 – 1225. From 
Ølst Church, near Randers, Denmark. Displayed at the National Museum in Copenhagen , Denmark.
Photo: 14 May 2011.
Source: Own work.
Attribution:
Nationalmuseet - commons.
wikimedia.org - CC-BY-SA-3.
(Wikimedia Commons)

At the Church of Santo Spirito, Florence, painted Frontals of canvas or thin wood are to be found. Elsewhere, both in England and abroad, leather Altar Frontals were sometimes provided, some of which survive, e.g., at Saint Michael Spurriergate, York.

Whatever the material, the underlying idea was, and still should be, that of paying homage to God through the provision of a veil for his Altar of the finest manufacture that could be afforded.


The provision of a decent Altar Frontal is but a manifestation of a sound instinct of reverence, which runs right through the Bible and the history of the Church.

The veiled faces of the Cherubim, which Isaiah was privileged to behold, have their Earthly counterpart. In the old Israel, this was the Tabernacle concealing the Ark of the Covenant. In the new Israel, if is the veiling of the Altar.


Altar Frontal in tempera paint on wood panel 
and stucco, SpainCatalonia, circa 1250, depicting 
Christ in Majesty and Saint Martin.
Date: 1250.
Collection: Walters Art Museum
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1915.
This File: 21 March 2012.
User: Kaldari
Author: Anonymous (Spain).
(Wikimedia Commons)

The idea that Altar Frontals exist to teach the Seasons of The Church is something quite Modern and trivial compared with this. It was long felt that the Altar was so Sacred that the only time when it should cease to be veiled was at the close of Holy Week, when its stripping and bareness should symbolise the stripping and scourging of Our Lord.

If the Altar is kept bare all the year round, this valuable visual lesson is lost [Editor: Modernists take note, please].



The Parish Church of Our Lady Saint Mary, at South Creake, Norfolk, is close to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. The Church is mostly 14th- and 15th-Century. Its High Altar is shown with a Lenten Altar Frontal made (probably in the 1920s or 1930s) by The Warham Guild, the business that 
Percy Dearmer established to make this sort of thing.
The Frontal is unbleached linen with a fringe of Black 
and Red and the motifs on it are stencilled. The stencilling 
is a striking design - a Black lattice is formed from thorn, 
in allusion to The Lord’s Crown of Thorns; this lattice encloses a series of motifs. Shields charged with Instruments of The Passion in a band with, above and below, alternating stencils of triple nails and triple drops of blood. The Church has a full set of Lent Array and, in the Sarum Use from the beginning of Lent, each Altar and all the images are covered in veils and hangings of stout linen. In the Roman Rite, this happens 
from Passion Sunday, onwards.
Illustration: MEDIEVAL CHURCH ART
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