The Cathedral Church of Peterborough written by W.D. Sweeting
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W.D. Sweeting >> The Cathedral Church of Peterborough
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9 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF
PETERBOROUGH
A DESCRIPTION OF ITS FABRIC
AND A BRIEF HISTORY OF
THE EPISCOPAL SEE
BY
THE REV. W.D. SWEETING, M.A.
WITH FIFTY ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON: G. BELL AND SONS, LTD. 1926
First Published, February 1898
Second Edition, Revised, 1899.
Reprinted, 1906, 1911, 1922, 1926.
PREFACE.
The chief authorities consulted in the preparation of this book are
named in the text. Besides the well-known works of reference on the
English Cathedrals, and the "Monastic Chronicles," there are several
that deal with Peterborough alone, of which the most important and
valuable are "Gunton's History" with Dean Patrick's Supplement,
"Craddock's History," the monographs by Professor Paley and Mr Poole,
and the Guide of Canon Davys. If I have ventured to differ from some of
these writers on various points, I must appeal, in justification, to a
careful and painstaking study of the Cathedral and its history, during a
residence at Peterborough of more than twenty years.
My best thanks are due to Mr Caster of Peterborough, for permission to
incorporate with this account the substance of a Guide, which I prepared
for him, published in 1893; and to Mr Robert Davison of London, for his
description of the Mosaic Pavement, executed by him for the Choir. I
desire also to express my thanks for the drawings supplied by Mr W.H.
Lord, Mr H.P. Clifford, and Mr O.R. Allbrow; and to acknowledge my
indebtedness to the Photochrom Company, Ld., and to Messrs S.B. Bolas &
Co., for their excellent photographs.
W.D. SWEETING.
In this new edition the corrections are limited almost entirely to
alterations necessitated by lapse of time. In connexion with which I
have to thank Mr H. Plowman of Minster Precincts, Peterborough.
E. BELL.
_June 1922._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.--History of the Cathedral Church of S. Peter 3
CHAPTER II.--The Cathedral--Exterior 36
The West Front 39
The Towers 44
The Porch and Parvise 45
The Bell-Tower 48
The Dean's Door 50
The Lantern-Tower 51
The North Transept 52
The New Building 55
The South Transept 55
CHAPTER III.--The Cathedral--Interior 57
The Choir 60
The Choir Stalls 67
The Pulpit and Throne 70
The Organ, Baldachino, and Pavement 72
The Screens 74
The Lectern 74
The New Building 76
The Transepts 77
The Saxon Church 80
The Nave 81
The Nave Ceiling 84
The West Transept 87
Altars 87
Stained Glass 88
The Parvise 90
Monuments and Inscriptions 91
CHAPTER IV.--The Minster Precincts and City 99
The Chapel of S. Thomas of Canterbury 100
The Knights' Chamber 101
The Deanery Gateway 102
The Infirmary and Cloisters 103
The Palace 106
The City and Guild Hall 108
The Tithe Barn 111
CHAPTER V.--History of the Monastery 112
CHAPTER VI.--History of the Diocese 127
ILLUSTRATIONS.
The Cathedral, from the South-East _Frontispiece_
Arms of the Diocese _Title_
The Cathedral and Palace 2
The Cathedral; from the North, c. 1730 7
Remains of Saxon Church 10
Map, 1610 23
The West Front in the Seventeenth Century 25
Iron Railings, 1721 27
Finial of the Central Gable of the West Front 34
The West Front 37
Plan of Central Portion of the West Front 41
West Porch and Parvise 43
Gates to West Porch 44
South-West Spire and Bell-Tower 47
The West Front, restored according to Gunton, 1780 49
The Dean's Door 51
Apse and New Building, from the South-East 53
Plan of Monastery Buildings 58
The Choir 61
View from the Triforium South of Choir 63
North Transept and Morning Chapel 65
The Pulpit 71
Apse and Canopied Reredos 73
The New Building--Interior 78
The Transepts, looking North 79
Evangelistic Symbols, from Lantern Tower Roof 80, 81
Boss from Lantern Tower Roof 82
The Nave, looking East 83
The Choir and Nave, looking West 85
Head of S. Peter in Ancient Stained Glass 89
Part of the Monks' Stone 92
Saxon Coffin Lids in North Transept 93
Portions of Abbots' Tombs 94, 95, 96
South Aisles of Choir and Nave 97
South Side of the Close, 1801 99
Cathedral Gateway, 1791 101
Door to Palace Grounds from the Cloisters, 1797 104
Door way to Cathedral from the Cloisters 105
Archway from Cloisters, North-West 107
Church of S. John the Baptist and Guildhall 109
Rose Windows and Details of West Front 117
Tomb of an Abbot, possibly Abbot Andrew, 1201 120
Iron Railings, 1721 123
Details of Chasuble on Abbot's Tomb 129
Details of Albs on Abbots' Tombs 133
PLAN OF THE CATHEDRAL. 135
[Illustration: The Cathedral And Palace, From The South-west.]
PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORY OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF S. PETER.
Until the middle of the nineteenth century, Peterborough remained one of
the most unchanged examples in the kingdom of the monastic borough. The
place was called into existence by the monastery and was entirely
dependent on it. The Abbot was supreme lord, and had his own gaol. He
possessed great power over the whole hundred. And even after the See of
Peterborough was constituted, and the Abbey Church became a cathedral,
many of the ancient privileges were retained by the newly formed Dean
and Chapter. They still retained the proclamation and control of the
fairs; their officer, the high bailiff, was the returning officer at
elections for parliament; they regulated the markets; they appointed the
coroner. Professor Freeman contrasts an Abbot's town with a Bishop's
town, when speaking about the city of Wells.[1] "An Abbot's borough
might arise anywhere; no better instance can be found than the borough
of S. Peter itself, that Golden Borough which often came to be called
distinctively the Borough without further epithet." And again, "the
settlement which arose around the great fenland monastery of S. Peter,
the holy house of Medeshampstead, grew by degrees into a borough, and by
later ecclesiastical arrangements, into a city, a city and borough to
which the changes of our own day have given a growth such as it never
knew before."
Situated on the edge of the Fens, some miles to the east of the great
north road, without any special trade, and without any neighbouring
territorial magnates, it is hardly surprising that the place seemed
incapable of progress, and remained long eminently respectable and
stagnant. In one of his caustic epigrams Dean Duport does indeed speak
of the wool-combers as if there were a recognised calling that employed
some numbers of men; but he is not complimentary to those employed, for
he says that the men that comb the wool, and the sheep that bear it, are
on a par as regards intelligence:
"At vos simplicitate pares et moribus estis,
Lanificique homines, lanigerique greges."
In another epigram he derides the city itself, calling it contemptuously
"Urbicula"; and he suggests, with a humour that to modern ideas savours
of irreverence, that this little city of S. Peter's, "Petropolis,"
unless S. Peter had the keys, would run away through its own gates.
The great development of the last half of the nineteenth century is due
to the railway works at New England, and to the Great Northern Line
making Peterborough an important railway centre. In 1807 the entire
population of the city and hamlets was under 3,500. In 1843 it was just
over 5,500, and when the railway was laid it was not much more than
6,000. It has since gone up by leaps and bounds. In 1861 the population
exceeded 11,000. By 1911 it had grown by steady increments to 33,578.
The private diary of a resident of about 1850 would read like an old
world record. The watchman in the Minster Precincts still went his
rounds at night and called out the time and the weather; sedan-chairs
were in use; the corn-market of the neighbourhood was held in the open
street; turnpikes took toll at every road out of the town; a weekly
paper had only just been started on a humble scale, being at first
little more than a railway time-table with a few items of local news at
the back; a couple of rooms more than sufficed for the business of the
post office.
In 1874 a charter of incorporation was granted, not without some
opposition; it had been, up to that time, the only city in England
without a mayor, except Ely and Westminster.
An account of the church which is now the cathedral church of a diocese
that was only constituted in 1541, must of necessity trace its history
for some centuries before it attained its present dignity, and when it
was simply the church of an abbey. Three centuries and a half of
cathedral dignity have not made its old name of Minster obsolete; it is
indeed the term usually employed.[2]
The village was first known by the name of Medeshamstede, the homestead
in the meadows. There is no evidence that any houses were built at all
before the foundation of the monastery. There was probably not a single
habitation on the spot before the rising walls of the religious house
made dwelling-places for the workmen a necessity. As time went on the
requirements of the inmates brought together a population, which for
centuries had no interests unconnected with the abbey. The establishment
of the monastery is due to the conversion of the royal family to
Christianity. It was in the middle of the seventh century when Penda was
King of the Mercians, and his children, three sons, Peada, Wulfere, and
Ethelred, and two daughters, Kyneburga, and Kyneswitha, became converted
to the Christian faith. On succeeding to the throne, Peada the eldest
son, founded this monastery of Medeshamstede. The first Abbot, Saxulf,
had been in a high position at court; he is described as an earl
(_comes_); and most likely had the practical duty of building and
organising the monastery, as he is called by Bede the builder of the
place as well as first Abbot (_Constructor et abbas_). This was in the
year 654 or 655 (for the date is given differently by different
authorities), and Peada only lived two or three years afterwards. His
brothers in turn came to the throne, and both helped to enrich the
rising foundation. The elder of the two, however, had lapsed from
Christianity, and killed his own two sons in his rage at finding they
had become Christians; but afterwards stung with remorse he confessed
his offence to S. Chad, who had brought the princes to the knowledge of
Christ, and offered to expiate it in any way he was directed. He was
bidden to restore the Christian Religion, to repair the ruined churches,
and to found new ones. The whole story is told with great particularity
by the chronicler, and it was represented in stained glass in the
cloisters of the abbey, as described hereafter.
The church thus built must have been of considerable substance, if, as
recorded, Peada in the foundation of it "laid such stones as that eight
yoke of oxen could scarce draw one of them."[1] It has nevertheless,
utterly perished. We read of the continued support bestowed by a
succession of princes and nobles, of the increasing dignity of the
house, and of the privileges it acquired; but there is nowhere a single
line descriptive of the buildings themselves. Gunton does indeed speak
of a goodly house for the Abbot constructed by King Peada; but he must
have been capable of strange credulity if he imagined, as his words seem
to imply, that this very house was in existence in the time of Henry
VIII. He writes thus:[3] "The Royal Founder ... built also an house for
the Abbot, which upon the dissolution by Henry the Eighth, became the
Bishop's Palace. A building very large and stately, as the present age
can testifie; all the rooms of common habitation being built above
stairs, and underneath are very fair vaults and goodly cellars for
several uses. The great Hall, a magnificent room, had, at the upper end,
in the Wall, very high above the ground, three stately Thrones, wherein
were placed sitting, the three Royal Founders carved curiously of Wood,
painted and guilt, which in the year 1644 were pulled down and broken to
pieces."
[Illustration: The Cathedral; from the North, c. 1730]
There is no doubt that this first monastery was utterly destroyed by the
Danes about the year 870. The very circumstantial account given in the
chronicle of Abbot John, derived from Ingulf, is well known; but as it
is entirely without corroboration in any of the historians who mention
the destruction of the monastery, recent criticism has not hesitated to
pronounce the whole account a mere invention. It is unnecessary,
therefore, to give it here. The account "may have some foundation in
fact," Professor Freeman admits, "but if so, it is strange to find no
mention of it in Orderic."[4] But the discredit thrown upon the minutely
graphic story of Ingulf, does not of course apply to the actual fact, of
which there is ample evidence, that the monastery was burnt by the
Danes. Matthew of Westminster says:[5]--"And so the wicked leaders,
passing through the district of York, burned the churches, cities, and
villages ... and thence advancing they destroyed all the monasteries
(_coenobia_) of monks and nuns situated in the fens, and slew the
inmates. The names of these monasteries are, Crowland, Thorney, Ramsey,
Hamstede, now called Burgh S. Peter, with the Isle of Ely, and that once
very famous house of nuns, wherein the holy Virgin and Queen Etheldreda
laudably discharged the office of abbess for many years."
The re-edification of the monastery, henceforth known as Burgh, is due
to Bishop Ethelwold, of Winchester, with the approval and support of
King Edgar. This was accomplished in 972. We have now reached a point
where all can take a practical interest in the subject, because portions
of this church are to be seen to this day. The exact site of the Saxon
church had always been a matter of conjecture until the excavations made
in the course of the works incidental to the rebuilding of the lantern
tower (1883-1893) finally settled the question. Many students of the
fabric supposed that the existing church practically followed the main
outlines of the former one, possibly with increased length and breadth,
but at any rate on the old site. It is now ascertained that the east end
of the Saxon church was nearly under the east wall of the present south
transept and the south walls of the south transepts of both buildings
were but a very few feet apart. The dimensions of the former church both
its length and breadth, were as nearly as possible half of those of the
existing one. A description of the present appearance of the remains
will be found in a later chapter (see page 80).
The Church of Bishop Ethelwold was not without its vicissitudes. Nothing
was more promising than its origin, and the circumstances of its
building. King Edgar and Dunstan, whom he had made Archbishop of
Canterbury, were very enthusiastic in extending the growth of monastic
influence in the country. No less than forty Benedictine convents are
said to have been either founded or restored by Edgar. Bishop Ethelwold
was entirely of one mind with the King and Archbishop, in the
ecclesiastical reforms of the day. Mr Poole well describes the
commencement of the work. "At Medeshamstede the ruins were made to their
hands, and they at once commenced the grateful task of their restoration
and appropriation. As usual, we find certain supernatural interferences
assigned as indications of the divine approval of the work. It is
related how Ethelwold was directed by God, in a dream, to go to the
monastery of S. Peter, among the Mid-English; how he halted first at
Oundle, supposing that to be the monastery intended; but being warned in
a dream to continue his eastward course, at length discovered the ashes
of the desolated Medeshamstede. It needs but little ingenuity to collect
from this that Ethelwold, having received some vague intelligence of the
present condition both of Oundle and Medeshamstede, started from
Winchester, determined on reaching either or both; and that being less
pleased with what he saw at Oundle than he expected, he extended his
progress to Medeshamstede."[6] The Queen is said to have overheard the
Bishop's fervent prayers for the success of his object, and to have used
her influence with the King; but he probably required very little
persuasion to undertake what was so much to his taste. It may be
mentioned that if we accept the date 972 for the completion of the
re-building (the Chronicle gives 970 for its commencement), the very
same year witnessed that well-known scene on the River Dee, when King
Edgar held the helm of a royal barge as it was being rowed by eight
vassal kings.
[Illustration: Remains of Saxon Church]
The King came to visit the monastery thus rebuilt under his direction.
The Archbishops, Dunstan and Oswald, with a large company of the
nobility and clergy attended at the same time. The King is said to have
inspected some old deeds which had been saved from the general
destruction a century before, and to have wept for joy at reading the
privileges belonging to the place. He therefore granted a new charter,
confirming all the old privileges and possessions. Since in this charter
no allusion is made to the triple dedication of the church, but S. Peter
alone seems named as the Patron Saint, it is not unreasonable to
conclude that the first church of Burgh monastery was dedicated to S.
Peter only, and that the dedication of the original minster to SS.
Peter, Paul, and Andrew, was not repeated. Edgar says that he renews the
ancient privileges "_pro gratia Sancti Petri_"; and that certain
immunities shall continue as long as the Abbot and the inmates of the
house remain in the peace of God, and the Patron Saint continues his
protection, "_ipso Abbate cum subjecta Christi familia in pace Dei, et
superni Janitoris Petro patrocinio illud (sc. coenobium) regente._" This
charter is noteworthy for the title the King gives himself, "_Ego Edgar
totius Albionis Basileus._"
For some time this establishment continued to flourish. But the
troublous times that followed the Norman conquest did not leave Burgh
undamaged. It plays a considerable part in the story of Hereward, the
Saxon patriot. Situated on the direct line between Bourne, his paternal
inheritance, and the Camp of Refuge near Ely, it was exposed to the
attacks of both the contending parties. Brando (1066-1069) had made
Hereward, who was his nephew, a knight; and the patriot might be
credited with a regard for the holy place where he had been girt at a
solemn service with the sword and belt of knighthood; but upon Brando's
death the abbacy had been granted to a Norman, doubtless with the
intention of making the place available as a military centre. Hereward
joined the Danes, who had again begun to infest the district, in an
attack upon the abbey. The accounts vary as to the time at which this
attack was made. One says that it was before Turold, the Norman Abbot,
had entered upon possession: another says that Turold had in person
joined Ivo Taillebois in an attempt to surprise Hereward and his men in
the woods near Bourne, but had been taken prisoner and only released
after paying a large ransom. When dismissed there seems to have been
something in the nature of an undertaking that the Abbot would not again
fight against Hereward; but as soon as he was free he organised fresh
attacks, obliging all the tenants of the abbey to supply assistance. In
revenge for this Hereward went with his men to Burgh, and laid waste the
whole town with fire, plundered all the treasure of the church, and
destroyed all the buildings of the abbey except the church itself.
Though Hereward spared the church and went away, yet very soon
afterwards the monks, possibly sympathising more with Hereward than with
their Norman Abbot (who had left them for a time), allowed themselves to
indulge in a drunken revel; and while carousing, a fire seized upon the
church and other remaining buildings, from which Gunton says they
rescued only a few relics, and little else. But, as Mr Poole has well
observed[7], "we must receive such accounts with some allowance; and, in
fact, neither was the abbey so despoiled, nor the church so destroyed,
but that there was wealth enough to tempt robbers in the next abbacy,
and fuel enough for another conflagration." The robbers in question were
foreigners who got into the church by a ladder over the altar of SS.
Philip and James, one of them standing with a drawn sword over the
sleeping sacrist. The plunder they carried off was valuable, but it was
recovered when the thieves were overtaken. The King, though he may have
punished the robbers, retained the goods so that they were never
restored to the abbey.
That Ernulf (1107-1114) should not have done anything towards improving
the church is a fact that speaks as plainly as possible of its being
already in good condition. Had there been anything like the desolation
that some accounts pretend, Ernulf would have spared no exertions in his
endeavours to put things right. He came from Canterbury, where he was
Prior, and where he had already distinguished himself as a zealous
builder; but all that is recorded as due to him at Burgh is the
completion of some unfinished buildings, the dormitory, the refectory,
and the chapter-house. We may feel confident therefore that the Saxon
Church built by Ethelwold remained substantially as first erected until
the time of Ernulf's successor; and that the remains to be seen to this
day were in their present position when Edgar and Dunstan visited the
place.
These newly erected buildings were all that escaped a terrible
conflagration that occurred in the time of John of Sais (1114-1125).
Hugo Candidus, the chronicler, was an eye-witness of this fire, and has
left us an account of it. On the second day of the nones of August,
being the vigil of Saint Oswald, King and Martyr (4th Aug. 1116),
through neglect, the whole monastery was burnt down, except the
chapter-house, dormitory, refectory, and a few outside offices. The
refectory had only been in use for three days, having been apparently
opened (as we should say in these days) by an entertainment given to the
poor. The whole town shared the fate of the monastery. The Abbot was a
very passionate man, and being in a great rage, when he was disturbed at
a meal by some of the brethren who had come into the refectory to clear
the tables, cursed the house, incautiously commended it to the enemy of
mankind, and went off immediately to attend to some law-business at
Castor. Then one of the servants, who had tried unsuccessfully to light
a fire, lost his temper, and (following the evil example of his
superior) cried out, "_Veni, Diabole, et insuffla ignem_." Forthwith the
flames rose, and reached to the roof, and spread through all the offices
to the town. The whole church was consumed, and the town as well, all
the statues (or perhaps _signa_ may mean the bells) were broken, and the
fire continued burning in the tower for nine days. On the ninth night a
mighty wind arose and scattered the fire and burning fragments
_(carbones vivos)_ from the tower over the Abbot's house, so that there
was a fear that nothing would escape the devouring element.
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