Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Carlisle: A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Episcopal See — John Shaqi
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Carlisle: A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Episcopal SeeEley, C. King
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Carlisle: A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Episcopal See
Eley, C. King
Carlisle Cathedral (Carlisle, England)
The #Nave.#--Entering by the modern doorway on the north, we are at once
in the fragmentary nave, of Early Norman work. Its present length is
about 38 feet and width about 60 feet. In 1645 the Scots destroyed about
100 feet of the nave, and it has never been rebuilt. This mutilation has
had a serious effect upon the proportions of the building, and induces a
feeling of want of balance. The open timber roof, raised to the original
height, was substituted at the restoration for a flat ceiling which had
been put up at a previous "embellishment" of the cathedral. Bishop
Walkelin made use of similar roofs in Winchester Cathedral (1070-1097).
The triforium (1140-50) has in each compartment a semi-circular arch
entirely without ornament.
The clerestory consists of three arches supported by columns with carved
capitals; the centre arch, which is larger than the other, is lighted at
the back by a round-headed window.
We may say that the nave is
"propped
With pillars of prodigious girth."
They are massive circular columns nearly six feet in diameter, and
support semi-circular arches. The capitals of those on the south side
are carved with leaf ornament; the rest are plain. Against the wall
between each arch is a semi-circular engaged shaft reaching to the base
of the triforium. The arches near the tower have been partly crushed
owing to the shifting of the tower piers caused by faulty foundations.
About 1870 the west end of the nave was restored by Mr. Christian. The
window is filled with glass, in memory of the Rev. C. Vernon Harcourt,
canon and prebendary of Carlisle (d. 1870).
One of the south aisle windows--the "Soldiers'" window--is in memory of
men and officers of the 34th (or Cumberland) Regiment, who fell in the
Crimea, and in India during the mutiny. Three Old Testament warriors
appear in stained glass--Joshua, Jerubbaal ("who is Gideon"), and Judas
Maccabeus. The battle-torn fragmentary regimental colours hang from the
arch opposite. Just beneath this window a doorway (now blocked up)
formerly led from the cloisters into the nave.
Up to the year 1870 the nave was used as a parish church. The cathedral
from its beginning as the priory church, in accordance with a very
common practice of the Augustinian body, contained two churches
belonging to two separate bodies quite independent of each other.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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