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The garden at the centre of the Cathedral Cloister.
Gloucester Cathedral was used as a location for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Gloucester Cathedral is one of England's finest churches, a masterpiece of medieval architecture consisting of a uniquely beautiful fusion of Norman Romanesque and Perpendicular Gothic from the mid 14th century onwards. Until the Reformation this was merely Gloucester's Abbey of St Peter, under Henry VIII it became one of six former monastic churches to be promoted to cathedral status, thus saving the great church from the ravages of the Dissolution.
The most obviously Norman part is the nave, immediately apparent on entering the building with it's round arches and thick columns (the exterior is the result of Gothic remodelling). Much of the remainder of the building is substantially the Norman structure also, but almost entirely modified in the later Middle Ages inside and out, the result of the great revenue brought to the abbey by pilgrims to the tomb of the murdered King Edward II in the choir. It was this transformation of the Norman church that is credited with launching the late gothic Perpendicular style in England.
The gothic choir is a unique and spectacular work, the walls so heavily panelled as to suggest a huge stone cage (disguising the Norman arches behind) crowned by a glorious net-like vault adorned with numerous bosses (those over the Altar with superb figures of Christ and angels) whilst the east wall is entirely glazing in delicate stone tracery, and still preserving most of it's original 14th century stained glass. The soaring central tower, also richly panelled with delicate pinnacles, is another testament to the abbey's increasing wealth at this time.
The latest medieval additions to the church are equally glorious, the Lady Chapel is entered through the enormous east window and is itself a largely glazed structure, though the original glass has been reduced to a few fragments in the east window, the remainder now contains beautiful Arts & Crafts stained glass by Christopher and Veronica Whall.
The early 16th century cloisters to the north of the nave are some of the most beautiful anywhere, being completely covered by exquisite fan vaulting, with a seperate lavatorium (washing room) attached to the north walk as a miniature version of the main passages.
There is much more of interest, from 14th century choir stalls with misericords to the comprehensive collection of tombs and monuments of various dates, including the elaborate tomb of Edward II and that of Robert Duke of Normandy, eldest son of William the Conqueror. The stained glass also represents all ages, from the 14th century to the striking contemporary windows by Tom Denny.
Further areas of the cathedral can be accessed at certain times, such as the Norman crypt under the choir and the triforium gallery above.
Ruston and Hornsby 0-6-0 diesel-electric departmental shunter PWM650 (Works No.312990 built in 1953), 08826 and 37206 on Gloucester shed on 8th August 1979.
© Gordon Edgar - All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission
An interesting line up of a variety of motive power at Gloucester Horton Road depot on 28th July 1979, with 20106, 45005, and ex-works PWM650, overhauled and repainted at the depot. The depot always offered interesting variety and occasional traction surprises, particularly with locos in transit to and from Swindon Works. Sadly, those days have long passed.
© Gordon Edgar - All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission
Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated in 678 or 679 with the foundation of an abbey dedicated to Saint Peter.
At the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, the monastery was not thriving and in 1072 King William I appointed Serlo, a monk from Mont St Michel in Normandy to be its Abbot. An energetic, charismatic and devout man, Serlo built up the wealth of the monastery to the point where in 1089 he was able to start building the magnificent abbey church which so impresses the visitor today.
A wealthy and powerful institution with extensive landholdings in Gloucestershire and South Wales, the Abbey of St Peter (as it was known) had significant royal associations.
In 1216, Henry III, who had succeeded to the throne at the age of only nine, was crowned here. Major building works in the 13th century included a first Lady Chapel and new Tower and refectory.
Most importantly for the subsequent history of this place, in 1327, King Edward II who had died in Berkeley Castle (in suspicious and, traditionally, gruesome circumstances) was buried here. A shrine-like monument was erected over the tomb of the dead king. Royal patronage and popular devotion led to funds flowing into the abbey, and these enabled the magnificent remodelling of the east end to be carried out in the very latest “Perpendicular” style.
In the 15th century further building work included the remodelling of the west end, the building of the south porch and of the present tower and finally, towards the end of the century, the present Lady Chapel.
Henry VIII ordered the monasteries to be dissolved and Gloucester Abbey surrendered in January 1540. The abbey buildings became Gloucester Cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of Gloucester in 1541. No longer a community of monks, it was to be led by a Dean and a chapter of canons.
The ideological and doctrinal struggles of the 16th and 17th centuries made their mark in Gloucester: Bishop Hooper was burned at the stake here in 1555 on the orders of the Catholic Queen Mary; in the 1620’s Bishop Miles Smith and his Dean, William Laud held profoundly different views on what the nature and style of Church of England should be.
Then under Oliver Cromwell there was a move to demolish the cathedral building altogether (it was saved by the intervention of the mayor and burgesses of the City of Gloucester).
With the restoration of the monarchy (after the civil wars and Commonwealth period) in 1660, the Dean and Chapter resumed the running of the Cathedral and that is how it is managed today.
Throughout the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries they have carried out repairs and conservation work rather than rebuilding or remodelling the building.
More importantly, Gloucester Cathedral has endured through the centuries as a place of Christian witness where God is worshipped and the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed every day.
www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk/history-heritage/cathedral...
The Gloucester Green office development in Oxford. Completed in 1990, it was designed by Donald Kendrick Associates in a faux Edwardian style. I'm not generally a great lover of faux period architecture, but I have always rather liked this particular example. 28th January 2019.
The nave in Gloucester Cathedral, England.
Gloucester is one of the six former abbey churches which became
cathedrals at the Reformation under Henry VIII’s “New Foundation”. Before that it was the Benedictine Abbey of St Peter.
This has been a Christian site for over 1300 years, since a minster was founded here c 679 by Osric, Prince of Mercia. But the present building was (and still is, substantially) the work of the first Norman abbot, Serlo, chaplain to William the conqueror. The foundation stone was laid in 1089, the eastern end was dedicated in 1100, and the entire church finished by c 1130.
Gloucester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the river. It originated in 678AD with the foundation of an abbey dedicated to Saint Peter (dissolved by King Henry VIII).
The cathedral, built as the abbey church, consists of a Norman nucleus, with additions in every style of Gothic architecture. It is 420 feet (130 m) long, and 144 feet (44 m) wide, with a fine central tower of the 15th century rising to the height of 225 ft (69 m) and topped by four delicate pinnacles, a famous landmark. The nave is massive Norman with an Early English roof; the crypt, under the choir, aisles and chapels, is Norman, as is the chapter house. The crypt is one of the four apsidal cathedral crypts in England
Now a historic area of Gloucester, the city’s docks comprised Britain’s largest inland port and were created at the confluence of the River Severn with the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal. The Docks include 15 restored Victorian warehouses and a waterways museum.
My eye was drawn to this natty little tugboat but know nothing of its story.
August 1991
Rollei 35 camera
Kodak Ektachrome 100 film.
Gloucester Cathedral is a very fine edifice, built over 400 years between 1089 and the 1480s. It retains its sturdy Norman nave (12th century) but the rest of the cathedral is in the later, more elegant, Gothic style, including exceptionally ornate cloisters and the largest medieval stained glass window in Britain.