Peterborough Cathedral is 1 of England’s greatest structures, an practically full Romanesque church on an extraordinary scale sitting down at the rear of a single of the most distinctive and eccentric Gothic facades discovered anywhere in medieval Europe. The church we see currently is minor altered given that its completion in the 13th century aside from unavoidable 19th century restorations and the serious depradations of Civil War hurt in the mid 17th century.
The bulk of the church is 12th century Norman, retaining even its apse (a rarity in England) and even the first flat wooden ceilings of nave and transept. The nave ceiling retains its early medieval painted decoration with an assortment of figures set inside lozenge shaped panels (typically overpainted in the 18th and 19th centuries but the total effect is preserved). The 13th century west facade is the most dramatic and memorable aspect of the building, with three large Gothic arches forming a giant porch in entrance of the constructing, a unique style, flanked by smaller spires and supposed to be surmounted by two pinnacled towers rising just behind the facade, even though only that on the north side was finished (and initially surmounted by a wooden spire which was eliminated c1800). The central tower is a incredibly squat framework of 14th century date (with a striking vaulted ceiling in) and along with its counterpart at the west finish helps make astonishingly tiny existence on the city’s skyline for such an monumental building. The final addition to the church prior to the Reformation is the ambulatory all-around the apse, a outstanding example of late medieval perpendicular with a spectacular admirer-vaulted ceiling.
Given the broad scale of the developing it is maybe stunning to find out that it has only had cathedral position since 1541, prior to that it experienced been simply just Peterborough Abbey, but it was a person of the most properly endowed monastic homes in the place, as witnessed by the architecture. It was as soon as the burial area of two queens, Katherine of Aragon lies on the north side of the choir and Mary Queen of Scots was at first interred right here prior to her son James I had her physique moved to the additional prestigious surroundings of Westminster.
Unfortunately the cathedral suffered miserably all through the Civil War when Parliamentarian troops ransacked the church and former monastic properties in an orgy of destruction, a lot of which was overseen by Cromwell himself in individual (which allows reveal its thoroughness). Tombs and monuments ended up brutally defaced, and almost all the unique furnishings and woodwork had been wrecked, alongside with each individual bit of stained glass in all the huge windows (only the merest fragments continue to be today in the high home windows of the apse). Worse nevertheless, the delightful cloisters on the south aspect, once famed for the attractiveness of their painted windows, have been demolished leaving only their outer walls and some tantalising reminders of their former richness. The superb 13th century Woman Chapel connected to the north transept (an uncommon arrangement, comparable to that at Ely) was a further important casualty, demolished instantly right after the war so that its elements could be offered in purchase to elevate funds for the restoration of the cathedral following the Cromwellian rampage.
In the next generations a great deal was accomplished to mend the developing and provide it back again into purchase. There have been important restorations for the duration of the 19th century, which incorporated the dismantling and rebuilding of the central tower (next the same structure and reusing first product) owing to impending structural failure in the crossing piers.
What we see right now is therefore a marvel of architecture, a church of terrific splendor, but a to some degree hollow one owing to the misfortunes of heritage. 1 consequently won’t discover at Peterborough the identical litter of the centuries that other cathedrals usually possess (in phrases of tombs and furnishings) and there are few home windows of serious note, but for the grandeur of its architecture it is just one of the pretty best churches we have.
For much more heritage see the connection under:-
www.peterborough-cathedral.org.british isles/record.aspx
Posted by Aidan McRae Thomson on 2017-06-18 08:04:10
Tagged: , Peterborough , Cathedral , Cambridgeshire
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