Durham Cathedral is a cathedral located in the city of Durham, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Durham and is the fourth-ranked bishop in the Church of England hierarchy. The cathedral was constructed during the Norman era, replacing the city’s previous ‘White Church’. In 1986, the cathedral and Durham Castle were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Durham Cathedral’s relics include St Cuthbert’s, Saint Oswald’s head, and the Venerable Bede’s remains. The Durham Dean and Chapter Library contains sets of early printed books, some of the most complete in England, the pre-Dissolution monastic accounts, and three copies of Magna Carta.
The See of Durham takes its origins from the Diocese of Lindisfarne, founded by Saint Aidan at the behest of Oswald of Northumbria in about 635, which was translated to York in 664. Among the many saints who originated at Lindisfarne Priory, the greatest was Saint Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne from 685 until his death in 687, who is central to the development of Durham Cathedral. After repeated Viking raids, the monks fled from Lindisfarne in 875, carrying Saint Cuthbert’s relics with them. The diocese of Lindisfarne remained itinerant until 882, when the monks resettled at Chester-le-Street, 60 miles south of Lindisfarne and 6 miles north of Durham. The see remained at Chester-le-Street until 995 when further Viking incursions once again caused the monks to move with their relics. According to the local legend of the Dun Cow and the saint’s hagiography, the monks followed two milk maids who were searching for a dun-coloured cow and found themselves on a peninsula formed by a loop in the River Wear. Thereupon, 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.
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 soon 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.
Construction of the present cathedral began in 1093, at the eastern end. The choir was completed by 1096. The primary reason for the cathedral was to house the bodies of St. Cuthbert and the Venerable Bede. Since that time many major additions and reconstructions of parts of the building have been made, but the greater part of the structure remains the original Norman structure. Work proceeded on the nave, the walls of which were finished by 1128, and the high vault by 1135. The chapter house was built between 1133 and 1140 (partially demolished in the 18th century). Three bishops, William of St. Carilef, Ranulf Flambard and Hugh de Puiset, are all buried in the now rebuilt chapter house. The Galilee Chapel was added in the 1170s and holds the remains of the Venerable Bede. The main entrance to the cathedral is on the northern side, facing the castle. In 1228 Richard le Poore, Bishop of Salisbury, was translated to Durham, having just rebuilt Salisbury Cathedral in the Gothic style. At that moment the eastern end of Durham Cathedral was in urgent need of repair and the proposed eastern extension had failed. Le Poore employed the architect Richard Farnham to design an eastern terminal for the building in which many monks could say the Daily Office simultaneously. The resulting building was the Chapel of the Nine Altars.
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. However, an unknown monk wrote in 1593: [The shrine] was estimated to be one of the most sumptuous in all England, so great were the offerings and jewells bestowed upon it, and endless the miracles that were…..
Posted by millicand@rocketmail.com on 2022-08-05 01:54:06