How to Visit the English CathedralsSingleton, Esther
History
How to Visit the English Cathedrals
Singleton, Esther
Cathedrals -- England
The central tower was built during the first half of the Fourteenth
Century, and the spire was completed at the end of the Fourteenth
Century. The campanile was built by Bishop John de Langton (1305-1336).
Bishop Sherborne (1507-1536) added the upper portion of the choir-stalls
and the decorations of the south transept. These are the ornamentations
referred to by Fuller, who quaintly says Bishop Seffrid “bestowed the
cloth and making on the church, while Bishop Sherborne gave the trimming
and best lace thereto, in the reign of Henry VII.”
In 1643, the Parliamentarian troops broke the organ, defaced the
monuments and hacked the seats and stalls, which, of course,
necessitated restorations and repairs. Repairs, restorations and
alterations were also made from 1843 to 1856, the most important of
which was the reconstruction of the central tower and spire under Sir
Gilbert Scott. In 1867 the floor of the Lady-Chapel was lowered to its
original level and the Gilbert Chapel restored; and during the last half
of the Nineteenth Century, the cloister was restored and the roof of the
Lady-Chapel, and a new north-western tower designed by Mr. J. L.
Pearson.
“The Cathedral stands on the south of West Street, where a fine
view may be had of the whole of the north side of the building and
of the detached Campanile. The Close occupies entirely the
south-west quadrant of the city, being bounded by South and West
Streets and the City Wall. The central tower and spire, rising to a
height of 277 feet, are conspicuous for many miles around, but the
west front is much shut in. Perhaps the most pleasing view is that
seen from the meadows on the south of the city, from which point
the Campanile fits in admirably with the general mass of the
building.”--(J. C.-B.)
This =Campanile=, in which eight bells hang, stands on the north side of
the Cathedral, and was built in the Fourteenth Century. It covers a
square of 50 feet and consists of two cubes with an octagonal lantern (8
feet).
The =Central Tower= and its delicate =Spire= have had a peculiar history.
Exposed to the south-west gales from the Channel, the authorities in the
Seventeenth Century had fears for its safety; and, consequently the
upper part was taken down and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, who
placed within it a pendulum-stage of wood and iron to steady it. This
ingenious invention lasted until 1861; and it is said that Wren’s
contrivance prevented the spire from toppling over when the collapse
occurred.
About 1859 this spire showed signs of weakness, and underpinning was of
no avail. On the 21st of February it inclined slightly to the
south-west, then seemed to right itself; and then, amid a great cloud of
dust, descended perpendicularly into the walls of the tower, doing no
harm to the roof of the church. The fall only lasted a few seconds. As
this happened in Queen Victoria’s reign, the old Sussex prophecy was
fulfiled:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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