Winchester Cathedral
The Winchester Cathedral , officially: The Cathedral Church of The Holy Trinity and Indivisible , is one of the largest cathedrals in Britain . It was built in Winchester from 1079 to 1093 .
Previous construction
A pre-Norman cathedral was founded in 642 at a location immediately north of the present day. This building became known as the Old Minster. It became part of a monastic settlement in 971 and demolished in 1093. In 1043, Edward the Confessor was crowned in the old cathedral .
Norman construction
Around the year 828 Winchester became the first capital of England before becoming London in the 11th century . William the Conqueror and some of his successors were crowned not only in London but also in their other capital, Winchester.
The transept of today's cathedral is the oldest part. It was built from 1079 to 1090. Much of the limestone the building was built in quarries around Binstead on the Isle of Wight . The northern transept and the crypt as the most impressive interior of the early Romanesque decades have been preserved from this Romanesque building. The side aisles around the narrow sides have their own galleries. The church was consecrated in 1093.
For the first time, the elevation system 1: 2: 3 appears here, which is the usual one for England: an arcade arch on the ground floor corresponds to a double arcade in the gallery region and a three-part arch position in the Lichtgaden according to the scheme aba (greater width of the center with the Norman-style window behind the walkway). The Norman blind arch markings on the lower aisle walls are characteristic. Originally the side aisles were only covered with groin vaults between girders. “The overall effect is determined by the compact rock mass of the walls” (Pevsner).
After the crossing tower collapsed in 1107, the crossing piers were strengthened and the crossing tower was renewed in the early 12th century.
The retro choir from the years 1189–1202 was changed in the late Gothic period. In it are the funeral chapels for Cardinal Beaufort and for Bishop Waynfletes.
The frescoes in the Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher date from around 1230 and document the style of the court at that time.
Choir and nave
The Norman building was rebuilt in the choir from around 1320. The nave followed from 1371 until the end of the 15th century. Today's cathedral has the largest nave in Europe. In the 14th century it was 180 meters long. The west facade was later torn down and moved back 12 meters, so that the current length of the nave is 168 meters. In the late 14th century, large parts of the church were rebuilt in the perpendicular style . The floor plan and parts of the masonry were retained. The three ships appear as independent, simply cubically delimited spaces. The scaffold-like grating on the walls is striking.
The Lady Chapel was extended at the end of the 15th century and its vault was renewed. In the first quarter of the 16th century, the choir aisles were rebuilt. In 1635 the vault of the Vierungsturm was renewed in the Gothic style.
Furnishing
The diver William Walker worked on the foundation of the cathedral from 1906 to 1911 to secure it with underpinnings and to prevent it from collapsing. A bust reminds of him to this day. The frequently flooded crypt also houses the Sound II statue (1986) by Antony Gormley and a modern shrine to Saint Swithin (Swithun), to whom the church was dedicated before the Reformation.
In today's cathedral there are so-called corpse chests, in which the remains of Saxon kings such as King Eadwig of England, who was first buried in the Old Minster, and his wife Ælfgifu.
The writer Jane Austen was buried in the cathedral in 1817. A tombstone slab - albeit without reference to their activity - reminds of them.
organ
The organ goes back to an instrument that was built in 1851 by organ builder Henry "Father" Willis . In 1938 the instrument was extensively restored and rebuilt by the organ builder Harrison & Harrison. The organ has 78 stops (including two transmissions) on four manuals (five works) and a pedal . The action actions are electro-pneumatic, the stop actions are electric.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
literature
- Harry Batsford, Charles Fry: The Cathedrals of England , 7th Edition, BT Batsford Ltd., London 1948
- Marcel Durliat : Romanesque Art . Freiburg-Basel-Vienna 1983. Fig. 322 (baptismal font)
- Peter Sager: South England . Cologne [1977] 8th edition 1985. (DuMont Art Travel Guide), p. 154
- Werner Schäfke : English cathedrals. A journey through the highlights of English architecture from 1066 to the present day . Cologne 1983. (DuMont Art Travel Guide), p. 181, Figs. 52–57; Color plate 9.30 and front flap
- Rolf Toman (ed.): The art of the Romanesque. Architecture - sculpture - painting . Cologne 1996, p. 225
Individual evidence
- ^ Harry Batsford, Charles Fry: The Cathedrals of England , 7th Edition, BT Batsford Ltd., London 1948
- ↑ Winchester Cathedral on elopadie.com (2015)
- ↑ More information about the organ
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 3 ′ 38.6 " N , 1 ° 18 ′ 48" W.