Part 11 (1/2)
The triforium, carried round in a curve under the great east window, forms a narrow pa.s.sageway from one side of the choir to the other. This formation, curiously enough, has const.i.tuted quite a feature at Gloucester. It is called the ”whispering gallery.” There is no evidence that the architect intended it. St. Paul's, in London, affords another similar example.
[Ill.u.s.tration: GLOUCESTER
FROM THE PADDOCK]
The sculptor's art is represented by many tombs of certain merit. There is the tomb erected by Abbot Parker to the memory of Osric, King of Northumberland, who was one of the founders of the monastery, and who died about the eighth century. In the north aisle leading to the Lady Chapel--which by the way, with its square ending appears like an after-thought, extended eastwards, as it were, from the apsidal termination of the choir--is a monument covering the remains of Robert Duke of Normandy, the eldest son of the Conqueror. He was a benefactor to the old abbey. His effigy in coloured bog oak is disposed in a rec.u.mbent att.i.tude on an altar-tomb. There are many others, amongst which that of Dr. Jenner, famous for the introduction of vaccination into general practice, commands great attention. Robert Raikes is also represented. He and the Rev. Thomas Stock, a rector of St. John the Baptist in this city, share the honour of having established the first Sunday school in England, which was held in Gloucester. Some authorities, however, contend that the reverend gentleman was the originator of the Sunday school, though they do not deny that Raikes, through his unwearied exertions, promoted the increase of these inst.i.tutions throughout the kingdom.
But of all the monuments, that erected by the monks of Gloucester to the memory of Edward of Carnarvon deserves the most attention, not only for its beauty, but because it served as the type for the Gothic sculptors to copy during two centuries. The rec.u.mbent effigy is hedged in by a series of elaborately decorated shafts, forming a kind of open-work grille, with pinnacles and niches. Overhead it is covered in with richly ornamented Gothic work.
This shrine, constructed to receive the body of the murdered Edward II., conveyed thither from Berkeley Castle by Abbot Thokey, throughout the greater part of Edward III.'s reign continued to attract vast numbers of pilgrims. Their offerings soon brought in a great revenue, which was spent not on rebuilding the church, but in restoring the surface, in putting new windows in the old walls, and, generally, in adapting the twelfth-century building to the Perpendicular style of the fourteenth century. In this way the original Norman work forms the skeleton to the Perpendicular casing.
In 1541 the Cathedral was separated from the diocese of Worcester by Henry VIII. and made a distinct bishopric.
Besides this magnificent pile, Gloucester possesses four other churches, which deserve some slight notice. There is the Church of St. Mary de Lode, said to contain the remains of Lucius, the first British king. It has an interesting old chancel, and a monument to Bishop Hooper.
St. Mary de Crypt is a cruciform building of the twelfth century, with a beautiful lofty tower. The curfew bell is still rung from the tower of St. Michael, which is said to have been connected with the ancient abbey of St. Peter. St. Nicholas, originally Norman, is now an ancient structure of the Early style of English architecture.
Of schools, one was refounded by Henry VIII. for the education of the cathedral choir. Another was established in the same reign by Dame Joan Cooke, and was called the Crypt School, from the fact of its schoolroom adjoining the church of the same name. Sir Thomas Rich, a native of Gloucester, in 1666 founded the Blue-Coat Hospital, much on the same lines as that of Christ's Hospital, recently removed from London to the country.
During the many years that were taken in beautifying the Cathedral, we must not forget that the city was struggling with varying fortune. It might almost be called a royal city, so often was it visited by princes, were it not that Winchester claims that distinction. In the war between Stephen and the Empress Matilda, Gloucester always accorded a welcome to the Empress. Thither she is said to have escaped after the siege of Winchester, carried in a coffin. If not true, the story is well founded.
The city was captured from Henry III. by the barons in 1263. In one of the many Parliaments held at Gloucester, were pa.s.sed, in 1279, the laws connected with the Statute of Quo Warranto, better known as the Statutes of Gloucester.
In 1327 Edward II. was a.s.sa.s.sinated in Berkeley Castle by his keeper, Sir Thomas Gournay, and John de Maltravers, Lord Berkeley. From this time Gloucester seems to have enjoyed comparative peace, though its county was the theatre of several important historical events enacted in its cities of Chichester and Tewkesbury. The latter is especially memorable for the great and decisive battle, in which the Lancastrians were totally defeated, in 1471. On that occasion Margaret of Anjou, her son Prince Edward, and her general, the Duke of Somerset, were taken prisoners by Edward IV. After the battle Prince Edward was murdered and the Duke of Somerset beheaded. In the great contest between Charles I.
and the Parliament, the city of Gloucester, it is true, became an object of importance to the success of the royal cause. The city was, however, successfully defended for the Parliament by Colonel Ma.s.sie, till relieved in 1643 by the Earl of Ess.e.x. In the meantime Chichester was taken by Prince Rupert.
The subject-matter of this city has unconsciously led us to introduce Tewkesbury and Chichester. Having gone so far we cannot close without first drawing attention to the existence of three other cities that prominently stand out in this same county of Gloucesters.h.i.+re. They are Cheltenham, the home of the famous public school; Tewkesbury, where the decisive battle of the Roses was fought; and Bristol, the great port situated near the mouth of the Severn, the river on the banks of which lies this ancient cathedral city of Gloucester.
Hereford
Hereford.
(”Doomsday Book.”)
On the borders of Wales is Herefords.h.i.+re, and almost in the centre of the county is its ancient capital, Hereford. A Roman station is supposed to have been in the neighbourhood, under the name of Ariconium, which is considered to be identical with the present Kenchester. The present name of Hereford is derived from the pure Saxon. Like Oxford, it had no bridges at first. As the river had to be crossed, the shallowest part was chosen.
This consideration probably determined the site of Hereford to be upon the left bank of the river Wye, and the pa.s.s over it was called by the Saxons, Here-ford, or ”Military ford.” We glean little information of this place till the seventh century. An episcopal see is stated to have existed in this place before the invasion of Britain by the Saxons. From this uncertainty we arrive at something more definite, which took place in 655. Oswy, then King of Mercia, in that year made Hereford part of the diocese of Lichfield, which already wielded jurisdiction over the whole of the kingdom of Mercia.
A few years later it was decided by a synod held here under the presidency of Theodore, then Archbishop of Canterbury, in 673, to make a division of the diocese of Lichfield. Very naturally Wilford, then bishop of that see, refused to recognise the decree, and for this piece of contumacy was subsequently deprived of part of his diocese. His successor, s.e.xulph, however, was more amenable, and with his consent Hereford was detached from Lichfield and restored to its original independence as a separate diocese. Putta was straightway translated from Rochester See to become the first bishop of Hereford in 680. This instance is one of many such in the history of the Church. The shuffling of dioceses, the enlargement of one at the expense of another, whether from motives of malice or a sense of right distribution, occurs usually in the early years of Christianity in England, and also at the general winding up of the monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII.
Hereford was by no means the only see that suffered these changes. It was simply a unit in the great policy of welding together the churches of the several kingdoms into one whole, which had never been carried into effect till Theodore of Tarsus came to England. He was a Greek monk little known till the Pope elected to fill the vacant archbishopric of Canterbury. Only three bishops were left in the whole of England; of these two were rivals for the See of York, and the third had bought the See of London. The first thing that Theodore did after his arrival was to travel throughout the country. By consecrating new bishops and creating a thorough organisation, he acquired a complete understanding with the Church. He also inst.i.tuted a system of synods, which he intended should meet annually to discuss the general welfare of the Church. This, however, seems to have fallen into disuse.
In all, Theodore managed to divide England into a matter of fifteen dioceses, through the subdivision of the old dioceses. Truly a great achievement when we remember that the conversion of the English kingdoms mostly depended upon the good-will of their respective kings. Thus it came about that one king in each kingdom had one bishop, generally his chaplain at first, who took his t.i.tle, not from a see, but from the people. He was either bishop of Mercia, or Northumbria, or some other large kingdom. As we have seen in the collision with Wilford, Theodore's policy did not suit every prelate's views. His influence, however, effected the installation of three bishops in Northumbria, four in Mercia, two in East Anglia, and two in Wess.e.x. Kent already had two since 604.
Thus the result was the complete conversion of England, effected by Theodore from about 673 to 688 A.D.
Prior to the eighth century Hereford is known to have been the capital of the kingdom of Mercia, as it is now of Herefords.h.i.+re, which is much reduced in size. From the years 765 to 791 Mercia was governed by King Offa. Apart from his connection with the Cathedral of Hereford, his reign must possess some interest to the collectors of coins. For though the die-sinker's art was practised in England as far back as the Roman occupation, and an indigenous coinage came into existence in the seventh century, it is not till this monarch's reign that genuine English coinage was properly in currency. It appears that Offa had to pay an annual tribute of 365 mancuses in coin to the Pope. As a mancus was equal to 30 pennies, the sum was a considerable one.