Norwich Cathedral
The Cathedral of the Holy and Undivided Trinity ( The Cathedral Church of The Holy Trinity ) of Norwich in Norfolk offers the best image of a Norman cathedral - with the exception of Perpendicular -Gewölbes. The main construction period is between 1096 and before 1145. Nevertheless, the church is well preserved.
history
The Anglo-Saxon history of the later building is largely unclear. There had been various relocations of the bishopric.
After the Norman conquest of the island , the development took place in quick steps. The construction of the church for a newly founded Benedictine monastery was started by Herbert de Losinga , Bishop of East Anglia . This had moved the bishopric from East Anglia to Norwich in 1094; two years later the construction of the church began. The first consecration took place on September 24, 1101 . In 1119 the choir with its chapels and the transept on both sides, which also had chapels to the east, were probably finished. For the middle of the 12th century, the completion of the ship and the four tower under Herbert's successor Everard (Bishop 1121–1145) is assumed.
From 1272 a two-storey cloister was added to the south side of the church ; In 1430 it was completed. The so-called Prior's Door , the gate from the east yoke of the south aisle to the cloister, is remarkable . Seven sculptural figures of saints are lined up in ornamental niches in their pointed arch field.
architecture
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The cathedral is a Romanesque gallery basilica with a very large total length of 140 meters and 14 bays , an ambulatory choir , a sweeping transept . From 1446 to 1472 the previous wooden flat ceiling of the central nave and transept were replaced by fan-star vaults with 15 ribs per pillar. Its 329 figured and painted keystones show scenes from the Old and New Testament.
The walls of the central nave show a clear equivalence between the lower aisles and the gallery floors . Both the pillars of the aisle arcades and the gallery arcades are surrounded by numerous slender services , but without any actual structural function, only as an effective enlivenment of the wall surfaces.
The continuous galleries above the groin vaults of the side aisles are common in the Norman style of England, but are not uncommon in France either, they can be found, for example, above the inner side aisles of Notre-Dame de Paris and the Basilica of St-Sernin in Toulouse . The expansive transept has chapels to the east. The mighty crossing tower is open on the inside, the upper floors are late Romanesque, the high stone helmet Gothic. The aisles are led around the head of the choir. Such parlor choirs later became exemplary for the Gothic cathedrals. They were trained in the pilgrim churches in the south of France in the 10th century. In contrast, they were less common in Normandy and England. The circular chapels attached to the ambulatory here in Norwich are unique. The late Gothic crown chapel, the Lady Chapel (14th century), collapsed in the 17th century; the current one dates from the 20th century and is a memorial to the dead of the Royal Norfolk Regiment .
In the late Gothic period, around 1362, the windows of the choir were renewed and greatly increased. At the same time, the choir was supported with buttresses .
Between 1446 and 1472, under Bishop Lyhart, the flat wooden ceilings in the central nave and transept were replaced by today's fan vaults . The west facade was given a large front window in the Perpendicular style with late Gothic "drop tracery".
Furnishing
- The church has eight altars, where services are held alternately today.
- In the St. Luke Chapel there is a medieval baptismal font depicting the seven sacraments . It comes from St. Mary in the Marsh Church, which was destroyed in the 16th century.
- Also in the St. Luke Chapel is the Despenser reredos , a five-part altarpiece from the late 14th century, named after the then Bishop of Norwich, Henry Despenser (1369–1406), who was probably commissioned for this series of paintings Jesus gave passion and resurrection .
- In the Jesus Chapel, as in other parts of the cathedral, remains of medieval fresco paintings have been preserved. The altarpiece “Adoration of the Magi ”, which the German artist Martin Schwartz painted in the 15th century , is also shown here . A painting on wood in St. Andrew's Chapel dates from the same period.
- In the Bauchon Chapel there is a modern statue of the Virgin Mary by John Skelton . A painting by John Opie shows the New Testament scene "Jesus in the Temple". A modern glass window shows Benedictine saints.
- The choir stalls show carved misericords from the 15th and 16th centuries depicting scenes from everyday medieval life; three were added in the 20th century.
- The Bible lectern in the shape of a pelican that feeds its young with its own blood (a symbol for Jesus Christ) dates from the Middle Ages; it was buried in the bishop's garden after the Reformation and was later rediscovered.
- In front of the high altar lies the founder of the cathedral, Bishop Herbert de Losinga, in a tomb covered with a stone slab.
- Behind the high altar, stone parts of an at least 1200 year old bishop's chair have been preserved.
- In the southern ambulatory you can see a Romanesque stone sculpture, probably of St. Felix who evangelized East Anglia.
- Sacred objects made of silver and gold from the Diocese of Norwich are presented in the "Reliquiengewölbe", an upper floor of the north ambulatory; Until the Reformation, the relics of saints could be venerated here.
organ
The first organ in the cathedral can be traced back to the 14th century. In 1899 the organ builders Norman and Beard built a large, five-manual instrument that was more or less destroyed in a fire in 1938. The current main organ was built from 1940 to 1942 by the organ builders Hill, Norman & Beard. The organ case in its present form was designed by Stephen Dykes Bower and completed in 1950. The instrument has 105 registers distributed over four manuals and pedal , making it one of the largest cathedral organs in England. A special feature is the Solo Tuba high pressure register.
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Others
- Outside the church is the grave of the British nurse Edith Cavell , who was executed by Germans in 1915 for helping prisoners of war to escape in Belgium , to the south of the St. Savior Chapel, which is attached to the choir to the east .
literature
- Harry Batsford, Charles Fry: The Cathedrals of England , 7th Edition, BT Batsford Ltd., London 1948
- Marcel Durliat : Romanesque Art . Herder Verlag, Freiburg / B. 1983, ISBN 3-451-19402-3 , p. 497.
- Hermann Fillitz : The Middle Ages I (Propylaea art history; Vol. 5). Propylaen Verlag, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-549-05105-0 , p. 201 (reprint of the Berlin 1969 edition).
- Martin Hürlimann : English Cathedrals ("English Cathedrals"). 3rd edition. Atlantis-Verlag, Zurich 1956.
- Werner Schäfke : English cathedrals. A journey through the highlights of English architecture from 1066 to the present day (DuMont art travel guide). Dumont Verlag, Cologne 1983, ISBN 3-7701-1313-6 , p. 236, fig. 75, 78.
- Rolf Toman (ed.): The art of the Romanesque. Architecture, sculpture, painting . Könemann Verlag, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-8331-1039-2 , p. 238 (reprint of the Cologne 1996 edition).
- Walk through Norwich Cathedral. (Leaflet no year, German)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Harry Batsford, Charles Fry: The Cathedrals of England , p. 64
- ↑ Figure
- ↑ illustrations
- ↑ Figure
- ↑ Figure
- ↑ Information about the organ ( Memento of the original from October 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Information on disposition (English)
- ↑ Site plan
gallery
The central nave of the cathedral
View of the fan vault of the nave
View from the crossing to the choir
Bauchon Chapel, Benedictine window
One of the mighty round pillars in the crossing area
View of the late Romanesque upper floor of the crossing tower
Coordinates: 52 ° 37 '54.7 " N , 1 ° 18' 3.6" E