DURHAM CATHEDRAL
North England’s Great Norman Church
It is one of the world’s
great Cathedrals and the best Norman period church architecture in
England. Where many great churches were
begun
under during Romanesque styles but completed in the Gothic era, the Cathedral
at Durham was built over only 40 years started in 1093. Durham was founded
on a narrow plateau in a bend of the Wear River, which is now mostly
taken up by the Cathedral and Durham Castle which houses 
Durham University.
Durham Cathedral is perhaps most striking and memorable for view of
its west towers which rise over the trees above a steep cliff to the
river
below, quite magical when struck by the light of the setting sun. The
cathedral was laid out facing east to west so that it faces across the
river gorge. The side view which is for practical purposes the front
stretches for 496 feet across the Palace Green facing the castle. The
nave and transepts are all Norman period, the western towers are from
the 13th Century. The central tower and the Chapel of Nine Alters were
the latest additions with Gothic influences.
Durham
Cathedral was built as a seat for the Bishop of Durham, traditionally
one of the more powerful positions in England religious/political history
and as a shrine for the bones and relics of St. Cuthbert, replacing
an earlier church. Surrounding the cathedral are the cloister
buildings
of a former Benedictine Monastery which ended in the Reformation. Many
of the monks converted to the Church of England and the church survived,
unlike strictly monastic abbeys like Whitby (see Gothic
Whitby Abbey). The Prince-Bishops
of Durham increased in power and today the Bishop of Durham
stands
at the
right hand of the English monarch during coronations. During the English
Civil War, Cromwell used the cathedral as a prison, housing 3,000 Scots
prisoners. The cathedral’s current stained glass windows came
in the 1800s about the same time Durham University was founded in 1832.
About a half million Brits visit Durham Cathedral every year and was
named as one of Great Britain's first World Heritage sites.
Historical
artifacts associated with the shrine of Saint Cuthbert, the 7th Century
monk and later Bishop of Northumbria Cuthbert of Lindisfarne can be viewed
in the Treasures of
St. Cuthbert, including his cross and coffin.
St Cuthbert's image remains on the wall of the nave in a well relatively
well preserved medieval painting. Cathedral visitors can purchase a full
color brochure to the Cathedral which its
outlines
its history and provides a guide to the interior areas. A 17 minute
video presentation tells the story of 
St Cuthbert and Durham, as well
as the
construction of the church. Many of the cloister buildings are open
to the public as well as a the Monk's Dormitory. The church tower can
be climbed for a magnificent view of
Durham and surrounding countryside. Just don't fall
like a medieval tight-robe walker did in the 1200s. Durham Cathedral
is open most every day. Services are regularly held, though occasionally
is closed for
special events. The cathedral is free to enter, but a donation is requested.
There are admission charges of a few pounds for the tower and exhibits.
The Undercroft Restaurant is open for lunch and all day for snacks
of scones and cakes. Durham is well worth a stop on a London to Scotland
train journey or if touring the northeast of England by car. © Bargain
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See Also:
BEAMISH OPEN AIR HISTORY MUSEUM
HEXHAM
ABBEY
CASTLE
HEDINGHAM - NORMAN CASTLE KEEP
