Tales of English Minsters: HerefordGrierson, Elizabeth W. (Elizabeth Wilson)
History
Tales of English Minsters: Hereford
Grierson, Elizabeth W. (Elizabeth Wilson)
Hereford Cathedral
Illustration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._
HEREFORD CATHEDRAL: SCREEN.
That was more than eight hundred years ago.
Then followed the building of the nave, the Lady-chapel, the north
transept, and the tower, until, some four hundred years after Bishop
Losinga had begun it, the great church was completed, and stood much
as it stands to-day, except that a wooden spire surmounted the square
tower of stone.
This spire was taken down in 1790.
Now that we have learned all about its history, let us enter the
Cathedral and look what it is like inside.
As you see, it is built of red stone, in the form of a cross, the
choir being separated from the nave by a curious screen, which is
made of four metals--iron, copper, brass, and bronze.
The nave is very grand and stately, with rows of massive Norman
pillars and beautifully carved arches.
Although St. Ethelbert’s shrine no longer exists, if we go into
the choir we can see the place where it stood--here, in this arch,
between the two pillars nearest the altar on our right-hand side as
we face it. A statue of the murdered King has been placed, as you
see, on a pedestal, close to one of the pillars, and here, on the
floor, in front of the altar, is a circular slab of marble, on which
is traced a representation of his murder.
But if we cannot visit St. Ethelbert’s shrine, we can visit another,
which is six hundred years old, and which was erected to hold the
bones of a very celebrated Bishop of Hereford, who was such a good
man, that, after his death, people thought he deserved the name of
Saint;--Thomas de Cantilupe.
It stands in the north transept, and is just a great marble chest,
with what looks like another ‘openwork’ chest, also of marble, above
it.
Round the sides of the lower chest a great many figures are carved,
and if we look at them closely we shall see that they are figures
of Knights Templars, with their cloaks and crosses, for Bishop de
Cantilupe was Grand Master of that Order.
Perhaps he obtained this office because he was very fond of soldiers,
and when he was a little boy he wanted to become one.
This was a very natural wish, for he was the son of a powerful Baron,
who had an estate and ‘manor’ in Buckinghamshire, and to become a
soldier was the common lot of most boys in his position.
He had an uncle, or great-uncle, however, who was Bishop of Worcester,
and this Prelate had other hopes for his nephew’s career.
One day, when little Thomas was staying with him, he asked the child
what he would like to be.
‘A soldier,’ said the boy promptly, looking up in the Bishop’s face.
The old man patted him gently on the head.
‘Then, sweetheart, thou _shalt_ be a soldier, but a soldier of the
King of kings,’ he replied, ‘and thou shalt fight under the banner of
thy namesake, St. Thomas of Canterbury, and thy harness shall be the
cassock of a priest.’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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