Worcester Cathedral

Worcester Cathedral
Basic information
Full name	Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary
County	Worcestershire
Country	England
Ecclesiastical information
Denomination	Church of England
Province	Canterbury
Diocese	Worcester
Diocese created	670
Bishop	Bishop John Inge
Dean	Canon Peter Atkinson
Organist	Adrian Lucas
Website	www.worcestercathedral.co.uk www.cofe-worcester.org.uk
Building information
Dates built	1220-1386
Architectural style	Norman, Gothic

Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, England; situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Mary the Virgin of Worcester. Built between 1084 and 1504, Worcester Cathedral represents every style of English architecture from Norman to Perpendicular Gothic. It is famous for its Norman crypt and unique chapter house, its unusual Transitional Gothic bays, its fine woodwork and its "exquisite" central tower^[1] which is of particularly fine proportion.^[1][2]

The cathedral's west facade appeared, with a portrait of Sir Edward Elgar, on the reverse of £20 note issued by the Bank of England between 1999 and 2007.

History

The east end of Worcester Cathedral.

The Cathedral was founded in 680 with Bishop Bosel as its head. The first cathedral was built in this period but nothing now remains of it. The existing crypt of the cathedral dates from the 10th century and the time of St. Oswald, Bishop of Worcester. The current cathedral dates from the 12th and 13th centuries.

Monks and nuns had been present at the Cathedral since the seventh century (see Bede). The monastery became Benedictine in the second half of the tenth century (one author gives the time range 974-7, another considers 969 more likely). The Benedictine monks were driven out at 18 January 1540 and replaced by secular canons. There is an important connection to Fleury as Oswald, bishop of Worcester 961-92, being prior at the same time, was professed at Fleury and introduced the monastric rule of Fleury to Worcester.^[3][4]

The former monastic library of Worcester contained a considerable number of manuscripts which are, among other libraries, now scattered over Cambridge, London (British Library), Oxford Bodleian, and the Cathedral library at Worcester of today.^[5]

Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the building was re-established as a cathedral of secular clergy. The cathedral was subject to major restoration work by Sir George Gilbert Scott and A E Perkins in the 1860s. Both men are buried at the cathedral.

The Cathedral contains the tomb of King John in its chancel. Before his death in Newark in 1216, John had requested to be buried at Worcester. He is buried between the shrines of St Wulstan and St Oswald (now destroyed).

The cathedral has a memorial, Prince Arthur's Chantry, to the young prince Arthur Tudor, who is buried here. Arthur's younger brother and next in line for the throne was Henry VIII. Worcester Cathedral was doubtless spared destruction by Henry VIII during the English Reformation because of his brother's Chantry in the cathedral.

Other famous burials include Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin (1867-1947), Bishop of Worcester John Gauden (1605-1662) and Richard Edes (d.1604), a Chaplain to Elizabeth I and James I.

An image of the cathedral's west facade appeared on the reverse of the Series E British £20 note commemorating Sir Edward Elgar, issued between 1999 and 2007.^[6] The notes are gradually being withdrawn from circulation to be replaced by a new series.^[7]

Worcester Cathedral regularly featured as artwork on the front of Kays Catalogues.

Architecture

Worcester Cathedral embodies many features that are highly typical of an English medieval cathedral. Like the cathedrals of Salisbury and Lincoln, it has two transepts crossing the nave, rather than the single transept usual on the Continent. This feature of English Cathedrals was to facilitate the private saying of the Holy Office by many clergy or monks. Worcester is also typical of English cathedrals in having a chapter house and cloister. To the north side of the cathedral is an entrance porch, a feature designed to eliminate the draft which, prior to the installation of modern swing doors, would blow through cathedrals whenever the western doors were open.

Worcester Cathedral has important parts of the building dating from every century from the 11th to the 16th. Its tower in the Perpendicular style is described by Alec Clifton-Taylor as "exquisite"^[1] and is seen best across the River Severn.^[2]

The earliest part of the building at Worcester is the multi-columned Norman crypt with cushion capitals remaining from the original monastic church begun by St Wulfstan in 1084. Also from the Norman period is the circular chapter house of 1120, made octagonal on the outside when the walls were reinforced in the 14th century. The nave was built and rebuilt piecemeal and in different styles by several different architects over a period of 200 years, some bays being a unique and decorative transition between Norman and Gothic. It dates from 1170 to 1374.^[1][8]

The east end was rebuilt over the Norman crypt by Alexander Mason between 1224 and 1269, coinciding with, and in a very similar Early English style to Salisbury Cathedral. From 1360 John Clyve finished off the nave, built its vault, the west front, the north porch and the eastern range of the cloister. He also strengthened the Norman chapter house, added buttresses and changed its vault. His masterpiece is the central tower of 1374, originally supporting a timber, lead-covered spire, now gone. Between 1404 and 1432 an unknown architect added the north and south ranges to the cloister, which was eventually closed by the western range by John Chapman, 1435-38. The last important addition is the Prince Arthur’s Chantry Chapel to the right of the south choir aisle, 1502-04.^[1][8]

Worcester Cathedral was extensively restored from 1857 to 1874 by W. A. Perkins and Sir George Gilbert Scott. Most of the fittings and the stained glass date from this time.

Misericords

Thirty nine of the misericords date from 1379 and include a complete set of the Labours of the Months. The subject matter includes biblical stories, mythology and folklore including N-07, The Clever Daughter which shows naked woman nude draped in a net, riding a goat and carrying a rabbit under her arm. Three of the misericords are Victorian replacements such as N-02, Judas in the jaws of Satan.

Bells

The tower has a ring of twelve bells plus three semi tone bells and a non-swinging bourdon.^[9] The current peal of 15 ringing bells were cast in 1928 by John Taylor & Co., of Loughborough, from the metal of the original ring cast in 1869. The ring is the fifth heaviest in the world, only the bells in the cathedrals of Liverpool, Exeter, York and St Paul's, London are heavier. The bells are also considered to be one of the finest toned rings ever cast. The bells hang in a wooden frame that was constructed in 1869 for the previous ring. Worcester Cathedral is unique in having a purpose-built teaching centre equipped with eight special training bells, linked to computers.^[9]

Music

The Transept organ-case

Worcester Cathedral has three choirs: the Worcester Cathedral Choir (the main choir which has both a boys' and a girls' treble line, which normally work independently), Worcester Cathedral Chamber Choir, and the Worcester Cathedral Voluntary Choir. All three choirs were involved in the BBC broadcast of the midnight and Christmas morning services in 2007, with the boys and the girls of the Cathedral Choir, respectively, taking the lead in the two services. Since the 18th century, Worcester Cathedral Choir has taken part in the Three Choirs Festival, the oldest music festival in the world.

The composer Edward Elgar spent most of his life in Worcestershire. The first performance of his Enigma Variations took place at the cathedral during the 1899 Three Choirs Festival. He is commemorated in a stained glass window which contains his portrait.

Worcester Cathedral has a long history of organs dating back to at least 1417. There have been many re-builds and new organs in the intervening period, including work by Thomas Dallam, William Hill and most famously Robert Hope-Jones in 1896. The Hope Jones organ was heavily re-built in 1925 by Harrison & Harrison, and then regular minor works kept it in working order until Wood Wordsworth and Co were called in 1978. It was a large 4 manual organ with 61 speaking stops. It has a large gothic case with heavily decorated front pipes as well as two smaller cases either side of the quire.^[10]

This organ (apart from the large Transept case and pedal pipes) was removed in 2006 in order to make way for a new instrument by Kenneth Tickell which was completed in the Summer of 2008. The specification and drawings can be found on Kenneth Tickell's website. The Nave has a three manual Rodgers organ totally electronic instrument.

Notable organists include Thomas Tomkins (from 1596), Hugh Blair (from 1895), Ivor Atkins (from 1897) and David Willcocks (from 1950). The present organist (from 1996) is Adrian Lucas.

Organists

Assistant organists

• JH Caseley
• Henry Holloway

• Hugh Blair 1887 - 1892
• Frank Alfred Charles Mason 1893 - 1899^[11]
• George Street Chignell 1893 - 1896^[12]
• Edgar Thomas Cook 1904 - 1909
• Edgar Day
• Donald Hunt 1947 - 1954 (later organist)
• Christopher John Robinson 1962 - 1963 (later organist of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle)
• Harry Bramma 1963 - 1976 (later organist of Southwark Cathedral)
• Paul Trepte 1976 - 1981 (later organist of Ely Cathedral)
• Adrian Partington 1981 - 1991
• Raymond Johnston 1991 - Unknown
• Daniel Phillips 1998 - 2004
• Christopher Allsop 2004 - current

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

See also the List of Organ Scholars at Worcester Cathedral.

Events

Worcester Cathedral is the host of the annual Graduation Ceremonies for the University of Worcester. These ceremonies are presided over by the Chancellor of the University, and take place over 3 days in November.

An image of the cathedral's west facade, with a portrait of Sir Edward Elgar, was featured on the reverse of the Series E £20 note issued by the Bank of England, issued between 1999 and 2007.^[6] The notes are gradually being withdrawn from circulation to be replaced by a new series.^[7]

Gallery

The West Window	The East End	The East Window	A Turret of the Tower	The Tower
College Green	Worcester and River Severn	1836 Cathedral floorplan	Statues above the portal	The altar area
The altar	Painted ceiling

See also

• Aldred
• Bishop of Worcester
• Worcester Cathedral Voluntary Choir
• Architecture of the medieval cathedrals of England
• English Gothic architecture
• Romanesque architecture
• Church of England

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Alec Clifton-Taylor, ‘‘The Cathedrals of England’’
2. ^ ^{a b} Tim Tatton-Brown and John Crook, ‘’The English Cathedral’’
3. ^ David Knowles; R. Neville Hadcock (1971). Medieval Religious Houses: England & Wales. Longman. pp. 81. 
4. ^ Braunfels, Wolfgang (1972). Monasteries of Western Europe. Thames and Hudson. pp. 154. 
5. ^ N. R. Ker (Ed.) (1964). Medieval Libraries of Great Britain. Royal Historical Society. pp. 205–215. 
6. ^ ^{a b} "Current Banknotes: Old-style £20 Note (Sir Edward Elgar)". Bank of England. http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/current/current_20.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-30. 
7. ^ ^{a b} "County MPs join fight for Elgar on £20 note". Peter Luff MP. 2006-10-02. http://www.peterluff.org.uk/record.jsp?type=release&ID=206. Retrieved 2007-10-10. 
8. ^ ^{a b} John Harvey, English Cathedrals
9. ^ ^{a b} Worcester Cathedral church bells Retrieved 4 July 2009
10. ^ "Worcester Cathedral". National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR). http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=N03607. Retrieved 2007-12-27. 
11. ^ Dictionary of Organs and Organists. First Edition. 1912. p.306
12. ^ Dictionary of Organs and Organists. First Edition. 1912. p.258

Further reading

• Worcester Cathedral (official guidebook), Scala Publishers Ltd. (2004) ISBN 1857593472
• Tatton-Brown, Tim; John Crook (2002). The English Cathedral. New Holland Publishers. ISBN 1-84330-120-2. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Worcester Cathedral

• Worcester Cathedral official web site. Retrieved 3 June 2009
• Worcester Cathedral at Skyscrapernews.com
• A history of the choristers of Worcester Cathedral
• Adrian Fletcher’s Paradoxplace – Worcester Cathedral Pages – Photos
• Flickr images tagged Worcester Cathedral
• The Worcester Cathedral Voluntary Choir
• The Worcester Cathedral Chamber Choir

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Coordinates: 52°11′20″N 2°13′15″W / 52.18889°N 2.22083°W / 52.18889; -2.22083