The Cathedrals of Great Britain: Their History and ArchitectureDitchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)
History
The Cathedrals of Great Britain: Their History and Architecture
Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)
Cathedrals -- Great Britain; Church architecture -- Great Britain
The _Locutorium_, or monks' parlour, lies between the chapter-house
and the north transept of the church. This passage is often
erroneously called the "Abbot's Cloister." Here the monks met to
converse when talking was prohibited in the cloister. Above is the
vestry and library. The latter is a long room, of Perpendicular
character. The library at Gloucester has had many migrations and
vicissitudes; the books of the old monastic library were dispersed. A
new collection was begun in 1624 by Bishop Goodman. The books have
been stored in the chapter-house, and elsewhere, and have now found a
permanent resting-place. Its principal treasure is Abbot Froucester's
_Lives of the Abbots of Gloucester to 1381_. This copy was lost at the
beginning of the nineteenth century, and discovered again at Berlin,
and restored to the library. The dormitory has been destroyed. It
probably stood on the north of the chapter-house. The remains of the
infirmary and little cloisters are on the north of the cloister.
The Cathedral close was surrounded by a wall. Some of the gateways
remain. St. Mary's Gate, on the west, is a fine thirteenth-century
structure; the Inner Gate, of fourteenth-century work, leading to
Miller's Green, the site of the old Abbey Mill and outhouses; the
south, or King Edward's Gate, built by Edward I., of which only
fragments remain; and the Westgate Street Gate. The Deanery, as we
have said, has many interesting features, and remains of the work of
eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Bishop's
Palace is modern, built on the site of the abbot's house, erected in
the early part of the fourteenth century. Previous to that period the
abbot lived at the present Deanery.
DIMENSIONS
Nave, length 174 ft.
Nave, width 34 ft.
Nave, height 68 ft.
Transepts, length 46 ft.
Transepts, width 34 ft.
Choir, length 140 ft.
Choir, width 33 ft.
Lady Chapel, length 90 ft.
Lady Chapel, width 25 ft.
Tower, height 225 ft.
Total length 407 ft.
Area 30,600 sq. ft.
PRINCIPAL BUILDING DATES
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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