Aims
This course aims to:
- demonstrate that smaller buildings often contain some of the finest building work of the time
- show that the physical development of buildings was influenced both by the fame of the saints’ cults associated with them and the impact of external patronage
- highlight the importance of the fixtures and furnishings in these buildings
Content
Britain has many grand and famous cathedrals, among them Canterbury, York, Lincoln and Ely. But it also has a number of smaller ones, some of them only raised to cathedral status at the Reformation or later. The course will shine the spotlight on five such cathedrals, from different parts of England – Rochester, Southwell, Ripon, Bristol and Oxford. Each has features of outstanding architectural and artistic interest, for example, the extraordinary west door at Rochester, the exquisitely carved leaves in the chapter house at Southwell, the Anglo-Saxon crypt at Ripon, the eccentric choir aisles at Bristol and the gravity-defying pendant vaults at Oxford.
The course will focus, however, not only on the architecture of the five buildings but on their function as the sites of worshipping communities. So consideration will also be given to the role in the development of some of them of the saints’ relics that they housed, to the wealth of liturgical fittings commissioned by their governing bodies to enhance the magnificence of worship, the funerary monuments that adorned their side aisles and, in the case in particular of Bristol, the role of magnate patronage in shaping development of the fabric.
Presentation of the course
The classes will include PowerPoint presentation. There will be time for questions and discussion at the end.
Course sessions
1. Visiting the cathedrals
We go on a whistle-stop tour of the five cathedrals, exploring their architecture – and even their architectural eccentricities – considering their contrasting histories and looking at some of the features that make them distinctive. In the course of our tour, we will pick up a number of the themes that we’ll be exploring in more detail in later sessions. In particular, we’ll stress that only one of them – Rochester – was a cathedral in the Middle Ages. For the others, elevation came later.
2. Every cathedral needs a saint …
Many English cathedrals contained the shrine of a saint, who was typically either the founder of the cathedral or someone of great purity of life closely associated with it; possession of a saint’s shrine could be counted on to bring both fame and wealth to a great church. Who were the saints associated with our five cathedrals? What were the sources of their fame, and what were the shrines like that accommodated their mortal remains? At Oxford we have one of the best surviving of all English shrines.
3. Looking more closely …
Although our chosen five are to be numbered among the smallest of England’s cathedrals, each of them possesses features of considerable beauty and artistic importance. Rochester, for example, has its Romanesque west door, Southwell its chapter house sculpture, Ripon its west front, Bristol its eccentric choir and Oxford its exotic pendant vaults. In this class we’ll look at the architectural development of the five buildings, concentrating on what makes each distinctive.
4. Fixtures and fittings
England’s major medieval churches were buildings made to impress. But their function was to be places of worship and, as the centuries passed, they accumulated ever more elaborate liturgical furnishings. At the same time, they also filled up with monuments to bishops, canons and members of the locally powerful landowning class. At the Reformation many of the trappings of catholic worship were removed and destroyed, but much still remains. We’ll look in particular at what there is to see at Rochester, Southwell and Oxford.
5. Every cathedral needs a patron
A major church, then as today, was in theory entirely self-governing and under the control of its dean and canons or prebendaries. In an often unstable world, however, it paid to have a powerful patron. At Rochester, for example, that patron was the bishop, who was expected to hold his own against the constable of the mighty castle next door. But at Bristol it was the local baronial family, the Berkeleys of Berkeley Castle, the descendants of the founder, Robert FitzHarding. Berkeley patronage left an indelible mark on the fabric, which is still to be seen today. We’ll explore …
Learning outcomes
- to grasp the complexity of cathedral architecture in England
to realise that grand works may come in small packages
- to appreciate the variety of influences on the development of great churches in the Middle Ages
Required reading
There are no compulsory readings for this course. However, you may find the below recommended reading list of interest to supplement your course.
