Cathedral Cities of England Part 10

Till the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Henry VIII. the royal franchise of Ely, in several statutes, was recognised as the county palatine of Ely. Henry, by Act of Parliament, remodelled the privileges, and ordered the justices of oyer and terminer, and gaol delivery, and justices of the peace for the Isle of Ely, to be appointed by letters patent under the Great Seal. The dissolution of the monasteries also was the means of converting the conventual church into a cathedral--much more appropriate to the dignity of the Bishop, whose t.i.tle had been granted, as we have seen, by Henry I. in 1107. This ecclesiastical building, first a conventual and then a cathedral church, was commenced in 1081, and entirely completed in 1534. The dedication to St. Peter and St. Ethelreda was changed to "The Holy Trinity."

It is a magnificent cruciform structure, displaying the many changes that took place in ecclesiastical architecture from the early years of the Norman Conquest down to the latest period of English style.

The main feature is the extraordinary variety of arches built according to successive styles. Though this peculiar treatment suggests an unfinished appearance, it cannot rob the church of its wonderful beauty.

There is a departure from the general plan of other cathedrals. The nave is continued through an extended range of twelve arches. It belongs to the Late Norman period, and its completion probably dates from about the middle of the twelfth century. From 1174 to 1189 the western tower and the transepts were built by Bishop Ridall. Bishop Eustace, between 1198 and 1215, erected the Galilee or western porch, a n.o.ble Early English structure. Much at the same time a curious coincident is noticeable.

Bishop Pudsey was busy at Durham building the Galilee or Western Chapel, which is such a n.o.ble adjunct to that city's cathedral.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ELY

FROM THE FENS]

Ely's choir was originally Early Norman, and terminated in an apse.

Unfortunately this Norman apse was destroyed. In restoration the church was extended eastward by six more arches under the guidance of Bishop Northwold, about the middle of the thirteenth century. His addition is Early English. The carving is very rich and elaborate.

While Bishop Hotham was engaged upon the building of the Lady Chapel, the Norman tower erected by Abbot Simeon tumbled down in 1321. Hotham immediately replaced it by an enlarged octagonal subst.i.tution. On it he placed a lofty lantern of wood, a rich ornament and in good keeping with the rest of the holy edifice. Though this prelate deserves every recognition, yet we are much more indebted to Alan of Walsingham, who designed the Lady Chapel and the octagonal tower and lantern so ably carried out by Hotham. Alan had also made his influence felt in the choir-bays of this same cathedral, where he has so cleverly preserved and combined the old Early English elegance of proportion with richness of detail. Under the superintendence of Sir G. B. Scott the fabric has been extensively restored.

Attached to the Cathedral is the church of Holy Trinity; it was formerly the Lady Chapel of the Cathedral. It was commenced in the reign of Edward II., and is one of the most perfect buildings of that age.

Another handsome church is that dedicated to St. Mary, and is partly Norman and partly Early English in character.

At the Grammar School, founded by Henry VIII., Jeremiah Bentham, the celebrated political writer, received the rudiments of his education.

The Sessions House, the new Corn Exchange, and Mechanics' Inst.i.tute are other notable features of Ely.

An historic relic, now preserved at Trinity College, Cambridge, is the "Ely Book." It cannot be pa.s.sed over without a word. On a page are portrayed Ethelwold and King Edgar, but its chief importance is the record of instructions received by the commissioners to supply details and valuation of property for the "Doomsday Book." The inquiries and answers indicate that England had already been divided up into manors, and furnish besides a variety of most interesting information.

Another incident in the history of Ely, if not of great importance to the city, is nevertheless an interesting insight of the respective position of the Church and State soon after the dissolution.

In the good days of Queen Bess, the Bishop of Ely received a royal rebuke.

In the great struggle between the Protestants, or anti-papal world, and the Catholic reaction, there was little leisure for the clergy to air their grievances. They were compelled to submit to the will of the Queen and her counsellor Cecil, from whom Archbishop Parker of Canterbury received his cue for the government of the Church. Though he enjoyed the personal confidence of Elizabeth beyond any other ecclesiastic of the time, his complaints were unavailing. The supremacy of the lay power over the ecclesiastical was too thoroughly accomplished to allow of the Church to exist apart in the early years of Elizabeth's reign. The Bishop of Ely, for expressing unwillingness to hand over the gardens of Ely house to Sir Christopher Hatton, received a characteristic warning, couched in elegant language, for his temerity.

"By G.o.d, I will unfrock you!" was the Queen's gracious answer to the daring prelate, if he did not mend his ways.

Through the cultivation of its fertile soil by market-gardeners, Ely offers its produce to the London market.

A considerable factory for earthenware and tobacco-pipes, and numerous mills for the preparation of oil from flax, hemp, and cole-seed, help to furnish the trade resources of this historical town, which is situated on the river Ouse, in Cambridgeshire, and just sixteen miles from the celebrated University of Cambridge.

Gloucester

Glowecestre.

"Doomsday Book."

To the long list of "cesters," the Anglicised form of the Latin "Castra"

(camp), must be added Gloucester, famous in more respects than one; the city where Henry I. died from a surfeit of lampreys, where Henry II.

held a great council in 1175, where the coronation of Henry III. in its abbey took place; the city which the same monarch "loved better than London," the city extolled by Bede as one of the n.o.blest in the land.

Prior to the Roman invasion it is held to have been of considerable importance, and to have originated from the settlement of a tribe of Britons, called the Dobuni. This tribe, with that of the Cornavii, also controlled about the same time the destinies of Worcester, now renowned for its beautiful china. By the Dobuni the city was called Cr Glou, either out of compliment to its founder Glowi, a native, with the meaning, "the city of Glowi," or because the same British words, according to another interpretation and its reputation, can be rendered "the fair city." In the year 47 this stronghold pa.s.sed into the Roman possession, under Aulus Plautius, and according to Richard of Cirencester, a colony was established. This he styles Glebon, whilst the "Itinerary" of Antonine and other ancient records enter it as Glevum Colonia.

An interesting account upon the Roman cla.s.sification of towns in England discloses a very important particular. It adds considerable weight to the description of the city by the authors just quoted. Their statements that Gloucester was cla.s.sified as a colony called Glevum seemed to be borne out by a tombstone found at Rome. It purports to be in memory of a citizen of Glevum. This has given rise to the supposition that "Glevum"

was the honourable t.i.tle bestowed upon an English town of importance made a "colony" by Nerva. This period would be between 96 and 98 A.D.

This date in no way combats the original one of 47 A.D. It is only intended to show that Gloucester at the later period had become a colony with a certain amount of self-government, forming a unit of the Great Roman Empire.

The district to the north-east of the present city, called King's Holme, is supposed to have been the actual site of the Roman camp. Close to it was also the palace belonging to the Anglo-Saxon kings of Mercia, which was called Regia Domus. Round about this spot quite a valuable collection of Roman remains has been made, which, besides establishing the fact of their occupation, have helped archaeologists to form a correct estimation of the habits and customs of the Latin invaders. When the pressing needs of Rome required the return of all her legions, Gloucester came to be governed by Eldol, who was a British chief. He survived the terrible ma.s.sacre of the Britons by the Saxons at Stonehenge, and in 489 revenged their memory by killing Hengist, the Saxon chief, at the battle of Maeshill in Yorkshire.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GLOUCESTER

INTERIOR OF THE NAVE]

From the Britons the city in 577 was captured by the Saxons. They called it Gleauanceaster, which exists to this day under the contracted form of Gloucester. At that time it was included in the kingdom of Wess.e.x, and was afterwards annexed to that of Mercia. In the meanwhile tradition says that a bishop's see was founded at Gloucester in the second century. Lucius, the first Christian king of Britain, is held to be the founder, and is also supposed to have been buried in the Church of St.

Mary de Lode of this city. With all respect to tradition, this can only be accepted with reservation. If true, the present church of St.

Mary de Lode deserves far greater recognition than it receives. Though evidently an old foundation much restored, it can hardly lay claim to such antiquity. In all probability a temple to some Roman deity existed, which, by conflicting accounts of historians, gave rise to the supposition of an early established see. Though there is proof that Christianity existed during the Roman occupation of England, it seems more likely that, after their general exodus from the island in 418, a diocese, if any, was soon after established at Gloucester, over which Eldad presided in 490.

This first bishopric, on the subversion of the country by the Anglo-Saxons, must have become extinct; for the next we hear of it is when, as part of the kingdom of Mercia, the entire county of Gloucester is included in the diocese of Lichfield at the time of the introduction of Christianity. However, the first authentic evidence of monasticism appears in the year 679, when the holy brethren founded their establishment. Under the auspices of Wulfhere, then King of Mercia, this priory was dedicated to St. Oswald, and in the same year was annexed to the newly established see of Worcester. It afterwards became the abbey.

The city's importance in the same year was considerably increased by the royal patron. The King's brother and successor, Ethelred, nevertheless, completed the ecclesiastical building, which some contend was a nunnery.

This the Danes destroyed. It was then refounded for the reception of secular priests in 821, by Bernulf, King of Mercia.

As early as 964, in a charter to the monks of Worcester dated at Gloucester, Edgar styles this a "royal city." Several times it suffered from the incursions of the Danes in the eighth century, and more especially so in the tenth, when it was taken and nearly destroyed by fire in the reign of Ethelred II. This monarch's reign seems to have been a disastrous one for the kingdom. In the first place, through the ambitious schemes of his mother Elfrida, who caused his stepbrother Edward to be murdered, he wrongfully occupied the throne in 979. On account of his tragic death Edward came to be styled "the Martyr." A reign thus inauspiciously commenced proved to be a constant struggle against the Danes. The King acquired the name of Ethelred the Unready; for when the Danes attacked the kingdom, instead of being prepared to repel them, he endeavoured to counteract the evil with large sums of money. As this only served as a further incentive to fresh invasions, Ethelred eventually compounded with them in 994. On condition that these plundering expeditions should cease, he offered them tribute. This is the first mention we get of the "danegelt," as it was called. With the exception of the reign of Edward the Confessor, it continued to be levied almost without interruption till the time of Henry II. The only benefit that Ethelred's reign conferred upon his subjects was the act of atonement made by Elfrida.

To ease her conscience and remorse for the murder of Edward, she caused the foundation of several monasteries, and performed penances. Edmund Ironsides, who succeeded in 1016, was the exact opposite in character to his father Ethelred.

He continued a serious obstacle to Canute and his Danes. After the last of five pitched battles Canute and he agreed to divide the kingdom between them: Canute to have Mercia and Northumberland, and Edmund the remainder. However, through the murder of Edmund a few days after, at Oxford, Canute usurped the throne of England in 1017. During his reign of eighteen years, except for a dispute with Scotland over c.u.mberland, the country enjoyed peace at home.

This peaceful term, in conjunction with the pa.s.sing over of the dreaded millennium, when the end of the world had been expected, caused the great building activity which, under the Norman Conquest, attained such wonderful results.

In the meanwhile the trade resources of Gloucester, even before the Conquest, had greatly advanced, and had probably outdistanced in ratio those of more important commercial centres of England. No doubt the natives had learned many hitherto unknown industrial arts from the Romans.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GLOUCESTER

THE CATHEDRAL AND OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE]

A native art and civilisation existed in the Island, we know, before the Roman Conquest. Great skill in enamelling, claimed by the ancients to be of Celtic origin, and the primitive abundance of gold and tin, worked, as history relates, by the Phnicians, encouraged a certain degree of native excellence in metal work. Besides this, the gold coinage and other signs of their ingenuity, by remains discovered in Yorkshire and elsewhere, ill.u.s.trate that various branches of art existed a matter of a century and a half before the Roman Conquest. Yet it is only reasonable to suspect that the inhabitants of Gloucester and of the other camps profited greatly from the far better knowledge and technique brought by the invader from Rome, the acknowledged centre of civilisation at that time. Certain it is that the Roman influence must have left some result. The subsequent history of Gloucester has it that a mint existed at the time of Alfred. It evidently fell into disuse, for a mint was again established in the reign of King John. He also granted the burgesses exemption from toll, and showered other marks of royal favour.

As far back as the twelfth century, Long Smith Street derived its name from the numerous artisans who dwelled there.

They were employed in forges for the smelting of ore. Iron-founding and cloth-making were also in full swing. Felt-making, sugar-refining, and gla.s.s-manufacture all flourished at one time or another. Pin-making was introduced by a Mr. John Tilsby in 1625, and until quite recently formed the staple trade of the place. Bell-founding, once a feature, no longer is practised. In its career of nearly two centuries close upon 5,000 bells of different sizes had been cast. With the exception of foundries, many modern industries have supplanted the old, and include match works, marble and slate works, saw mills and flour mills, chemical works, rope works, railway wagon and engine factories, agricultural implements, and ship-building yards; for it must be remembered that Gloucester is reckoned as a port. It exports such valuable commodities as iron, coals, malt, salt, bricks, and pottery. The town is also celebrated for its Severn salmon and lampreys.

In discussing the resources of Gloucester, no regard has been paid to the proper distribution of dates. A leap from the eleventh to the nineteenth century has been unavoidably made, and to chronicle the chief events it is necessary to go back to the year 1022, when a change was made in Bernulf's foundation.

This year saw the ejection of the secular priests and the introduction of the Benedictine monks by Canute. In spite of opposition, the new order managed to keep possession of the monastery till the dissolution.

The abbey founded by Aldred, Bishop of Worcester, a few years before the Norman Conquest served as the basis of the present cathedral. This transition took place from 1072 till 1104, under Abbot Serle. In 1381 Walter Frocester, its historian, became its first mitred abbot. Here again we have an instance of a Norman building forming the backbone to subsequent periods of Gothic and English architecture. Though each style is distinct, the _tout ensemble_ is in such perfect harmony that it calls for the greatest admiration for the wonderful skill of the several architects. The plan of the Cathedral is the usual symbol of the cross.

In the centre there is the beautiful fifteenth-century tower. Its ma.s.s of detail and pierced work give it an air of elegance and lightness. The oldest portions are the nave, the chantry chapels, which are apsidal and are on either side of the choir, and the crypt. These are supposed to have belonged to Aldred's abbey, which may thus be taken to have become incorporated in the present building. They are of Norman origin, or rather date a few years before the Conquest. No doubt these parts came, more or less, to be touched up and restored by the Normans. In 1248, the roof of the nave, an Early English addition to the ma.s.sive Norman nave, was finished by Abbot Henry Foliot. The Chapter House also is Norman.

Compared with those at Wells and Lincoln, its simplicity is striking. It differs also in another respect. Belonging, as it did, to a Benedictine church, it follows the shape usually found in churches of that order; namely, the square.

The south aisle was commenced by Abbot Thokey in 1310, and the south transept in 1330. About the same time building operations were commenced for the north transept and the choir. The latter was finished in 1457.

To the north of the nave lie the cloisters. These form a most wonderful Early example of fan-tracery, constructed some time between 1351 and 1390. Here in the south end of the cloisters were set apart a series of stalls, better known as the carrels, in which the monks studied and wrote. They may have undergone great hardships and austerities, but they evidently had a great sense of beauty. They have left us the finest works of architecture possible, which have not been surpa.s.sed by any modern erection.

The west front, and the south porch with fan-traceried roof, were added in 1421.