Durham Cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of Durham and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a cathedral located in Durham, England. It was built in the Norman era, starting in 1093, replacing the previous “White Church”. Its relics include those of St. Cuthbert, St. Oswald’s head, and the Venerable Bede’s remains. The cathedral was designed by William de St-Calais and built by his successor, Ranulf Flambard. It was built to house the bodies of St. Cuthbert and the Venerable Bede.
The See of Durham traces its origins to the Diocese of Lindisfarne, which was founded by Saint Aidan in about 635 and was reinstated at Lindisfarne in 678. Saint Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne, played a central role in the development of Durham Cathedral. After repeated Viking raids, the monks fled from Lindisfarne in 875, carrying Saint Cuthbert’s relics with them. The monks resettled at Chester-le-Street, 60 miles south of Lindisfarne and 6 miles north of Durham. According to local legend, the monks followed two milkmaids who were searching for a dun-coloured cow and found themselves on a peninsula formed by a loop in the River Wear. Cuthbert’s coffin became immovable, which was taken as a sign that the new shrine should be built on that spot, which became the City of Durham. Today the street leading up to Palace Green is named Dun Cow Lane due to the miniature dun cows which used to graze in the pastures nearby.
Initially, a very simple temporary structure was built from local timber to house the relics of Saint Cuthbert. The shrine was then transferred to a sturdier, probably still wooden, building known as the White Church. This church was itself replaced three years later in 998 by a stone building also known as the White Church, which in 1018 was complete except for its tower. Durham became a site of pilgrimage, encouraged by the growing cult of Saint Cuthbert. King Canute was one of the early pilgrims and granted many privileges and estates to the Durham monks. The defensible position, flow of money from pilgrims, and power embodied in the church at Durham all encouraged the formation of a town around the cathedral, which established the core of the city.
Construction of the cathedral began in 1093, at the eastern end, and the choir was completed by 1096. The chapter house was built between 1133 and 1140. In the 1170s, Hugh de Puiset added the Galilee Chapel at the west end of the cathedral. The Bishop of Durham was the temporal lord of the palatinate, often referred to as a Prince-bishop, and competed for power with the Prior of Durham Monastery, a great landowner who held his own courts for his free tenants.
The Shrine of Saint Cuthbert was located in the eastern apsidal end of the cathedral. The location of the inner wall of the apse is marked on the pavement and Saint Cuthbert’s tomb is covered by a simple slab. The cathedral and Durham Castle received UNESCO World Heritage status in 1986.
Posted by millicand@rocketmail.com on 2022-08-05 01:54:04