Bristol Cathedral
This is the Bristol Cathedral. I tired to visit this church the first afternoon I was here, they were hosting someone important like the Pope, so they wouldn't let me in. Boo. I went back the next day, after seeing the Banksy vs Bristol Museum.
According to the pamplet that they gave me, a church has probably stood on this site for over a thousand years, although the current building can trace its roots back to 1140 when a dude named Robert Firhardinge founded the Abbey of St. Augustine. Of the original abbey buildings, only the chapter house and the Abbey gateway remain.
Yes, it was a bit stormy that day. Apparently Bristol Cathedral is unique because the nave, quire and aisles are all of the same height, making a large hall.
Sure, large hall. Sure.
The organ contains pipes from 1685. The rest is mostly medieval, although they don't specify what part is and isn't medieval.
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The seats and stalls are also medieval. There are a total of 28 misericords underneath the seats, which I took the time to look at. They were quite interesting.
These are the night stairs. These are the stairs down which "generations of monks entered the abbey for prayers. The monks prayed every three hours, day and night. Their dorimatory was at the top to the left." The stairs are so worn down that you could probably slide down them all like a slide.
This stone is older than any part of the Cathedral. It was redisocvered in 1831 under the floor of the chapter house. It is Anglo-Saxon work. It is designed to instruct in an age when most people learned by a picture. It would've been one of a series of stone-carved pictures illustrating sacred subjects, probably outside the church. Tres cool.
These three pictures were taken in the Berkeley Chapel. In the entrance there was formerly an over where the bread was baked for the service. The ceiling is a very unusual open-ribbed vault (whatever that means). Above the window here is also an unusual double-star arch, in which was buried in 1309 Joan, wife of Thomas, Lord Bereley.
This, apparently, is one of the finest Norman Chaper Houses in Europe. It dates from the founding of the abbey in the 12th century. Here the monks met to conduct their business. When the monastery was closed, it was used as the Cathedral library. In 1831 the Bristol mob broke in through the east wall and burned the books and manuscripts.
Sure, large hall. Sure.
The organ contains pipes from 1685. The rest is mostly medieval, although they don't specify what part is and isn't medieval.
In
The seats and stalls are also medieval. There are a total of 28 misericords underneath the seats, which I took the time to look at. They were quite interesting.
These are the night stairs. These are the stairs down which "generations of monks entered the abbey for prayers. The monks prayed every three hours, day and night. Their dorimatory was at the top to the left." The stairs are so worn down that you could probably slide down them all like a slide.
This stone is older than any part of the Cathedral. It was redisocvered in 1831 under the floor of the chapter house. It is Anglo-Saxon work. It is designed to instruct in an age when most people learned by a picture. It would've been one of a series of stone-carved pictures illustrating sacred subjects, probably outside the church. Tres cool.
These three pictures were taken in the Berkeley Chapel. In the entrance there was formerly an over where the bread was baked for the service. The ceiling is a very unusual open-ribbed vault (whatever that means). Above the window here is also an unusual double-star arch, in which was buried in 1309 Joan, wife of Thomas, Lord Bereley.
This, apparently, is one of the finest Norman Chaper Houses in Europe. It dates from the founding of the abbey in the 12th century. Here the monks met to conduct their business. When the monastery was closed, it was used as the Cathedral library. In 1831 the Bristol mob broke in through the east wall and burned the books and manuscripts. All in all Bristol Cathedral was also well worth a visit.
Bristol itself was an interesting visit. If it hadn't been for the museum exhibition, I probably never would've come here. Again, it wasn't a 'pretty' city, the way some of the other English cities are, but it has a fascinating history and was a neat place to see.
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