Cathedral Cities of England Part 6

FROM THE FIELDS]

It was only after the Conquest that the "Doomsday Book" came into existence. After the Conquest the sheriff became simply a royal officer.

He was the financial representative of the Crown within his district.

Now his financial duties no longer exist, and his judicial are almost _nil_. Our general knowledge of him is that he is supposed to be in at the death of a murderer, and that he is somehow or other a.s.sociated with the bailiff--sheriff's officer, as he is styled.

Mr. Collins presents us with three interesting graphic descriptions.

This city owes its name to the numerous springs, and more particularly to that of St. Andrew's Well, whose water, rising in the vicinity of the episcopal palace, flows through the south-western part of the city.

Ina, King of the West Saxons, named it thus. He, in 704, founded a collegiate church and dedicated it to St. Andrew the Apostle.

This foundation was handsomely endowed by Cynewulf in 766, and flourished till 905. Wells was then erected into a see. This change was consequent on an edict of Edward the Elder for the revival of religion, which had been brought down to a low ebb by the frequent and terrible incursions of the Danes. To combat this state of things, Pligrund, Archbishop of Canterbury, consecrated several new bishops, of whom Aldhelm, formerly Abbot of Glas...o...b..ry, became first bishop of Wells.

Edward the Confessor made his chaplain, Giso, the thirteenth bishop to the See, and at the same time enriched it by the confiscated property of G.o.dwin, Earl of Kent, and Harold, Earl of Wess.e.x, his son, whom he had driven into exile. Harold, in spite of his exile, made an incursion into Somersetshire, levied mail on his former tenantry, and eased the church of its treasures.

In the meantime Giso was being consecrated at Rome. On his return he was fortunate enough to gain some compensation from the queen, who was sister to Harold. But, unfortunately for Giso, Harold was again received into favour. He promptly procured the banishment of Giso, and on his succession later to the throne straightway resumed all his estates, which Edward the Confessor had granted to the Church, and thus impoverished the See.

Bishop Giso's opportunity came with the Conquest, when he was reinstated. William, in his second year of reign, restored to the Bishopric, with some small deduction, all Harold's estates. Giso augmented the number of canons, and built a cloister, hall, and dormitory, and enlarged and beautified the choir of the Cathedral. John de Villula, his successor, swept away these buildings, and on their site built a palace.

Villula's name in ecclesiastical history is closely a.s.sociated with a memorable event which caused considerable commotion and rivalry between the inhabitants of Wells and Bath. He removed the See of the diocese to Bath, and a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of Bishop of Bath. Feeling ran high, and the Archbishop of Canterbury was appealed to. His ingenuity proposed that the prelates should be styled "Bishop of Bath and Wells," that an equal number of delegates from both cities should elect him, and that their installation should take place in both churches. Yet, later, the determination of the diocese's headquarters became again a vexed question, under Bishop Savaricus, who was closely allied to the Emperor of Austria.

Richard I.'s liberty was granted him by the Emperor of Austria on one condition besides the ransom, that the then vacant Abbey of Glas...o...b..ry should be annexed to the See of Bath and Wells. Savaricus afterwards changed the seat of his diocese to Glas...o...b..ry, and styled himself Bishop of Glas...o...b..ry. The seat was finally settled in 1205, after his death, by the monks under his successor, Joscelyne de Wells. Glas...o...b..ry pet.i.tioned Rome, favourably, to be reinstated as an abbey, on condition of relinquishing a handsome portion of its revenue to the See.

Joscelyne a.s.sumed the bishopric t.i.tle of Bath and Wells, which has remained to this day. The death of this prelate was the signal for further dispute in another direction. The monks of Bath endeavoured to exercise, in opposition to the Canon of Wells, the right of electing the successor to the See. All dispute was settled by the Pope, who managed to draw closer the union of the churches. At the Reformation the monastery of Bath was suppressed, and though the name of the See was retained, all ecclesiastical authority and the right of electing the Bishop were vested in the Dean and Chapter of Wells, which then became the sole chapter of the Diocese.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WELLS

THE RUINS OF THE BANQUETING HALL]

The Chapter House is a beautiful octagonal building, each side measuring fifty feet. Its finely groined roof is held up by a central cl.u.s.tered column of Purbeck marble. Beneath it there is a crypt displaying a very good example of plain groining.

The foundation of the present Cathedral was laid by Wiffeline, the second bishop of the diocese, and completed by Bishop Joscelyne in 1239.

This cruciform structure was dedicated to St. Andrew. On the south the cloisters form three sides of a quadrangle. The prevailing style of the architecture of this church is the Early English, with the introduction of the Decorated and subsequent periods.

The west front is divided into compartments by b.u.t.tresses, and is richly embellished with canopied niches, containing statues of kings, popes, cardinals, bishops, and abbots. Even the mullions of the west window and the lower stages of the western towers are similarly treated. These towers, like the central tower, are crowned with parapets elegantly pierced. The nave and transepts display the grand simplicity and elegance of the Early English style. The former is separated from the aisles by a series of cl.u.s.tered columns and finely pointed arches, above which are placed a triforium of lancet-shaped arches, and a range of clerestory windows with elegant tracery in the Later English style inserted.

The choir belongs to the Decorated style.

The Cathedral contains several chapels. In one there is the ancient clock from Glas...o...b..ry. It has an astronomical dial, and figures of knights in armour are set in motion by machinery. An ancient font in the south transept is of the same date as this portion of the Cathedral.

Of monuments there is the elaborate effigy of Bishop Beckington; and in the choir the grave-stone of Bishop Joscelyne is the sole relic of what was once an imposing marble monument bearing a bra.s.s effigy. In the centre of the nave King Ina was buried.

The hall, by Villula, was demolished in the reign of Edward VI. for the sake of its materials. Its remains even now clearly indicate its original splendour. In length it was one hundred and twenty feet.

On the dissolution of the monasteries Henry VIII. remodelled the then existing establishment and refounded it. This monarch's name reminds us that Cardinal Wolsey and Archbishop Laud were prelates of this see. The eminent historian, Polydore Vergil, was archdeacon in the sixteenth century, and in the year 1634 was born in this city pious Dr. George Bull, Bishop of St. David's.

The history of the See is the history of the city.

Worcester

Wirecestra.

("Doomsday Book.")

Apart from its beautiful Cathedral, this ancient city has gained notoriety from its famous manufacture of porcelain. Who is there who has not heard of "Old Worcester" china? From the experiments of china clay, china stone from Cornwall, feldspar from Sweden, fire-clay from Stourbridge and Broseley, marl, flint, and calcined bones, Dr. Wall evolved those exquisite creations of Worcester china which now claim universal admiration and obtain fabulous prices.

It has been said that for political reasons the joint efforts of Dr.

Wall, a physician; William Davies, an apothecary; and Edward Cave, the founder of _The Gentleman's Magazine_, gave birth to the foundation of the Worcester Porcelain Company. This desirable event took place in 1751, six years after the invasion of the Pretender's armed forces, which penetrated as far as Derby. Whether the establishment of this industry helped George II.'s party to gain votes in the county against the numerous supporters of the Pretender, who made their presence felt in Worcester, or not, is now of little consequence. The existence of this branch of art clearly demonstrates the insecure footing of politics, and a.s.serts the triumph of its founders.

Mr. Collins gives us another proof that "art is long" by his skilful rendering of the beautiful portion of Worcester Cathedral here shown.

At the period of the Roman invasion of England, two British tribes, the Cornavii and Dobuni, were in part ownership of Worcestershire. This British settlement was promptly annexed by the Romans as a military station, and was included in the division called Flavia Caesariensis.

They named it Vigorna, but being low and woody it offered little attraction to them, and received little attention at their hands. With the establishment of the Saxon Octarchy this territory became included in the kingdom of Mercia. Like many of the English towns that served as Roman military posts, the Saxons grafted the Roman appellation "cester"

for a camp, to Wigorna.

Wigorna-cester gradually changed to Worcester. The city's advancement was temporarily checked by the ravages of the Danes, who burnt it more than once. In spite of the opposition of the Bishop of Lichfield, the See of the city was founded by Archbishop Theodore, in 673, though not finally established till 780. It then severed its connection with the See of Lichfield.

Save for predatory incursions of the Danes, especially on two occasions, when the Dane chief Canute was, in 1016, defeated by Edmund Ironsides near Blockley; and at another time, when the Danes deemed it necessary, in 1041, to punish the Saxons for refusing to pay them tribute called "danegelt,"--save for these little misfortunes, little else interfered with the gradual growth of the city's prosperity.

Naturally, with increased prosperity, the city freed itself from bondage to Danes. At the date of the Conquest it had even attained sufficient importance to have a mint. The existence of various English mints at that period, as shown here, and in Oxford and other towns, according to their importance and the exigencies of the neighbourhood, must have been solely due to the geographical part.i.tion of England.

Prior to the Conquest we notice the frequent distribution and redistribution of England into kingdoms, in ratio to the superior power or stratagem of one king over another.

By this is made evident the lack of unity and support against the common foe, the foreign invader. Each kingdom of necessity issued its own currency, besides framing its own laws to suit the character of the subjects and the nature of the surroundings.

Though each king attempted to restore this chaos to order by the simple process of grabbing his neighbours' land during the intermission of hostilities against foreign invaders, it was only Alfred the Great who really attempted some scheme of unity--and then failed to accomplish what seemed an impossibility. But this impossibility was entirely overcome by William the Conqueror, who straightway grasped the situation. He erected castles everywhere, with the twofold purpose of curbing the Saxons and keeping out their former foes. Under his rule internal dissensions were quelled, effete customs were abolished, new and necessary laws were introduced, architecture was encouraged, trade was fostered, and a recognised currency was adopted. All this can be readily gathered at a glance into that marvellous book he caused to be drawn up, called "Doomsday Book." In it a correct valuation of all property, from the n.o.ble lord's down to the agricultural implements of the peasant, is entered, with the position of every church and castle extant conspicuously marked on the chart in Latin. He wished to thoroughly gauge the resources of his recent conquest. With this information he gained an index to the complete establishment of his sovereignty over England. This may be considered a digression, but we submit that a brief sketch of the wonderful change that took place under this monarch is essential to the right understanding of the history alike of cathedral and city. No other reigning prince of England, before or since William's reign, has left such lasting evidences of his personality except it be Henry VIII., who is inseparable with the dissolution of the monasteries.

The drawing of Mr. Collins gives an excellent idea of the character of Worcester Cathedral. Its site is on the eastern bank of the river Severn, and is the most important building of the city. Yet it cannot be compared to the ma.s.sive grandeur of Ripon. Though its beauty could not entirely be marred by restoration, yet, having been allowed to get out of repair, the task was entrusted in 1857 to Mr. Perkins, the cathedral architect. He has managed to sweep away a great part of the old work, and in some instances has replaced the original by conjectural work of Early English style.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WORCESTER

THE CATHEDRAL]

But to revert to the early stages of the Cathedral, Bishop Oswald appears to have absorbed the secular monks of St. Peter's, the Bishop's church, into a monastery of St. Mary, thereby changing the secular state of the canons to that of the monastic. This bishop, in 983, finished the building of a new monastic cathedral.

By the time that the Normans cast their influence over Worcester, Bishop Wulfstan had gained so much fame for saintliness that it is recorded he was the only English prelate left in charge of his see. But subsequent history somewhat discounts his holy character and demonstrates his readiness to conform with new customs.

He met the Normans half-way by undertaking to build a great church of stone, after the Norman style of architecture.

In 1088 he suffered interruption through Welsh raids, but finally signalised the end of his labours by holding a synod in the crypt in 1094.

Another notable foundation of his is the Commandery, in 1095, believed to be one of the rarest specimens of early house architecture now extant. We cannot be too grateful for his contribution to church architecture, though only the outer walls of the nave, the aisles, a part of the transept walls, some shafts, and the crypt remain as evidences of his Norman adaptability.

Here it is well to accentuate the fact that the crypt (1084) is apsidal, and that only three other examples of this style exist, namely at Winchester, Gloucester, and Canterbury, all dating within the last twenty years of the eleventh century.

The nave (1175) was much injured by the collapse of the central tower.

In the meanwhile, though dead some two hundred years, the saintly character of Wulfstan suffered no diminution, and was turned to profitable use by the monks soon after 1203, the year of his canonisation. The magnificent offerings to his shrine became so numerous and rich that the monks were enabled to finish the Cathedral in 1216--surely the most fitting memorial to the great founder. They continued their labours by adding a Lady chapel, soon after, in the east end, and rebuilding the choir in the Early English style. In the fourteenth century the nave was reconstructed, the Decorated style being introduced in the north side and the Perpendicular in the south.