Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ely: A History and Description of the Building with a Short Account of the Monastery and of the See — John Shaqi
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ely: A History and Description of the Building with a Short Account of the Monastery and of the SeeSweeting, W. D. (Walter Debenham)
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ely: A History and Description of the Building with a Short Account of the Monastery and of the See
Sweeting, W. D. (Walter Debenham)
Ely Cathedral
As was to be expected, many opinions were expressed upon the design.
Some wanted the whole to be surmounted by a pyramidal capping. It was
objected that the design was a stone construction for what must of
necessity be erected of wood. It was pointed out that Walsingham used
his upper story as a bell-chamber, and argued that a true restoration
should aim at reproducing this feature. In the end Scott's design was
carried out exactly as proposed, except that the eight small square
turrets of the wooden lantern have no pinnacles.
The enumeration of works completed in 1866, as given by Dean Goodwin
above, did not include several important and costly gifts. The chief of
these were: the carved panels above the stalls, supplied by individual
donors; a pinnacle at the south-east corner of the choir (Mr. Beresford
Hope); the reredos (Mr. J. Dunn Gardner); the font (Canon Selwyn); the
gates of aisles of presbytery (Mr. Lowndes and Dean Peacock); the brass
eagle lectern (Canon E. B. Sparke); and the monumental effigies of Bishop
Allen and Dr. Mill. Canon E. B. Sparke had also contributed to the
restoration of the south transept; Mr. H. R. Evans, sen., and Mr. H. R.
Evans, jun., had helped with the works in the west tower; the Rev. G.
Millers, minor canon, had bequeathed L100, and his residuary legatees
gave another L300, which was applied to the ceiling of the nave; Miss
Allen, daughter of the bishop, also bequeathed L500, appropriated to a
new pulpit; and Bishop Turton left the same amount for re-paving the
nave.
The only other work of importance done before Dean Goodwin left for
Carlisle was the reconstruction of the organ. Canon Dickson, in his
admirable historical account of the organ, is confident that the
instrument in use in 1831 was the original pre-Reformation organ,
gradually enlarged from time to time with "all the improvements
suggested by the progress of musical and mechanical art." Its
preservation during the Commonwealth period is possibly due to the
personal influence of Oliver Cromwell. About that date (1831) the organ
was rebuilt by Elliott and Hill. It was fitted into the old cases, of
Renaissance design. From the similarity of these cases to some which are
known to have inclosed organs built by Renatus Harris, the old organ has
sometimes been attributed to him; but there is "no record whatever of
the employment of Harris by the Dean and Chapter."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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