Norwich Cathedral
Norwich Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Norwich, Norfolk, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Norwich and the mother church of the diocese of Norwich. It is administered by its dean and chapter, and there are daily Church of England services. It is a Grade I listed building.[2]
For the Roman Catholic cathedral in Norwich, see St John the Baptist Cathedral, Norwich.Norwich Cathedral
England
300945
24 September 1101
(reconsecrated 1278)
1096–(1121–1145)
124 m (407 ft)[1]
76.8 m (252 ft)[1]
54.9 m (180 ft)[1]
21.9 m (72 ft)[1]
21.9 m (72 ft)[1]
96 m (315 ft)[1]
5 (formerly 10)
Norwich (since 1094)
David Dunnett
The Cathedral of the Holy and Undivided Trinity
26 February 1954
1051330
Construction of the building was begun in 1096 at the behest of the first bishop of Norwich, Herbert de Losinga. When the crossing tower was the last piece of the Norman cathedral to be completed; measuring 461 ft (141 m) and 177 ft (54 m) wide, the cathedral was the largest building in East Anglia. The cathedral close occupied a tenth of the total area of the medieval city.
The present structure of Norwich Cathedral is primarily Norman, being made of flint and mortar and faced with a cream-coloured Caen limestone. The cathedral was damaged during the riots of 1272; repairs were completed in 1278. The cloisters, begun in 1297, are the second largest cloisters in England. The present spire—the second tallest in England at 315 ft (96 m)—is a stone structure built in 1480, that replaced one made of wood. In about 1830, the south transept was remodelled by the architect Anthony Salvin. A new hospitality and education facility by Hopkins Architects was opened by Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in 2010.
Norwich Cathedral once had the earliest astronomical clock in England. The cathedral's bosses are one of the world's greatest mediaeval sculptural treasures, having survived the iconoclasm of the Tudor and English Civil War periods.
History[edit]
Origins[edit]
In the year 672, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore of Tarsus, divided the Kingdom of East Anglia into two dioceses: one covering Norfolk with its episcopal see at Elmham; the other covering Suffolk with its see at Dunwich. During much of the 9th century, because of the Danish incursions, there was no bishop at Elmham; in addition the see of Dunwich was extinguished and East Anglia became a single diocese once more. Following the Norman Conquest, sees were moved to more secure urban centres, that of Elmham being transferred to Thetford in 1072, and finally to Norwich in 1094.[3] The new cathedral was dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity.[4] As with the Norman cathedrals at Bath, Winchester, Worcester, Canterbury, Rochester, Durham, and Ely, it incorporated a priory of Benedictine monks.[5]
Norman period[edit]
The structure of the cathedral is primarily in the Norman style, having been constructed at the behest of the first bishop of Norwich, Herbert de Losinga, who had bought the bishopric for £1,900 before its transfer from Thetford.[4] It still retains the greater part of its original stone structure. An Anglo-Saxon settlement and two churches were demolished to make room for the buildings and a canal cut to allow access for the boats bringing the stone and building materials which were taken up the River Wensum and unloaded.[6]
Later Medieval period[edit]
The cathedral was damaged after riots in 1272,[4] which resulted in the city paying heavy fines levied by Henry III, king of England[6] The cathedral was re-consecrated in the presence of Edward I of England on Advent Sunday, in 1278.[4]
The Norman spire was blown down in 1362. Its fall damaged the east end of the building.[4][7] In 1463 the spire was struck by lightning, causing a fire to rage through the nave which was so intense it turned some of the cream-coloured Caen limestone a pink colour.[6] In 1480 the bishop, James Goldwell, ordered the building of a new spire which is still in place today.[7]
16th and 17th centuries[edit]
The composer and 'singing man' Osbert Parsley worked at Norwich Cathedral for 50 years, until his death in 1585.[8]
The cathedral was partially in ruins when John Cosin was at Norwich School in the early 17th century and the former bishop was an absentee figure. In 1643 during the Civil War, an angry Puritan mob invaded the cathedral and destroyed all Roman Catholic symbols. The building, abandoned the following year, lay in ruins for two decades. Norwich bishop Joseph Hall provides a graphic description from his book Hard Measure:[9]
Art works and treasures[edit]
Stained glass[edit]
The medieval stained glass windows in the cathedral, which was largely destroyed during the English Reformation,[35] sustained further damage during the English Civil War.[36]
The glass in the west window was designed by George Hedgeland, and was installed in 1854.[35]