Bristol
When Edward II was struggling towards the end of his reign, the Berkeley family, whose surviving branch is Clan Barclay, who can trace their lineage back to pre-Conquest, and who had the happy habit of backing the winning party in civil wars, got it wrong. They backed Mrs Ed and her lover, Roger Mortimer, in the civil war that put Ed 3 on the throne. This was not good when E3 got fed up of being his stepfather's puppet and took over the shooting match himself.
Perhaps as penance for that, when back in the Third's good books, they massively rebuilt an Augustinian chapel that had been their own private shrine. To the extent that the aisles are the same height as the nave. Not possible to show in pics. (The bride incidentally never goes down the aisle, unless she's lost. She goes down the nave.)
It became a cathedral in 1542; before then the diocese of Worcester held sway. And this was not the obvious choice. The most popular church was the harbourside one of St Mary Redcliffe, which still stands. And I think it's fair to say that if you want to see fine exponents of English Gothic ecclesiastical architecture, you'll have to go a long way to find better than the magnificent pair of Bristol's.
Bristol
When Edward II was struggling towards the end of his reign, the Berkeley family, whose surviving branch is Clan Barclay, who can trace their lineage back to pre-Conquest, and who had the happy habit of backing the winning party in civil wars, got it wrong. They backed Mrs Ed and her lover, Roger Mortimer, in the civil war that put Ed 3 on the throne. This was not good when E3 got fed up of being his stepfather's puppet and took over the shooting match himself.
Perhaps as penance for that, when back in the Third's good books, they massively rebuilt an Augustinian chapel that had been their own private shrine. To the extent that the aisles are the same height as the nave. Not possible to show in pics. (The bride incidentally never goes down the aisle, unless she's lost. She goes down the nave.)
It became a cathedral in 1542; before then the diocese of Worcester held sway. And this was not the obvious choice. The most popular church was the harbourside one of St Mary Redcliffe, which still stands. And I think it's fair to say that if you want to see fine exponents of English Gothic ecclesiastical architecture, you'll have to go a long way to find better than the magnificent pair of Bristol's.