Bristol Cathedral

Founded in 1140, Bristol Cathedral located in College Green is one of the most magnificent religious buildings in the city. This romanesque gem presents a combination of Medieval architecture, with stone walls decorated with series of patterned carvings, and Gothic and Victorian additions.

It was Bristol's doors open day last Saturday 14th September, and the tour up to the impressive tower of Bristol Cathedral needed to be booked on the day. We arrived too late, though. As soon as we got to the Cathedral, we were told all visits were already full for the rest of the day. As I had never been inside the Cathedral, we decided to have a look.

The main view of the building as you enter is magnificent and apparently it is a highly unusual building for several reasons. It was conceived as a "hall church", which means that the aisles are the same height as the choir and it is a very rare design in Britain. The nave, with clustered columns and Purbeck marble shafts, as you can appreaciate in the picture, gives an effect of elevation.

As you walk down the aisle, you see most commonly used  altar (upper leftside picture) and the main altar of the Cathedral, only used for specific days such as Christmas and Easter (lower rightside picture). 

For the Doors Open day, they showed the clothes, plates and glasses they use during those special occasions. A very nice volunteer nearby reminded us that the Cathedral is an alive church and therefore, all items we could see there was currently used. 

As you walk by the Choir and get to the main altar, I suggest you pay attention to the Victorian decoration behind and how it merges with the rest of the building.

Following the rightside aisle, you will get to Berkeley's Chapel. Although it cannot be appreaciated in the two upper pictures, It is a place packed with very beautiful details. 

The lower pictures were taken in the Lady Chapel, which was built in 1298, and in my opinion, it is the most beautiful corner in the Cathedral, with tall windows and very colourful decoration.

There is another chapel on the left, Elder Lady Chapel. It is called the "elder" Lady Chapel because the other Lady Chapel which was added after this one. Pay attention to all windows too, they impressed me quite a lot!

As I have already told you when I posted about the Lord Mayor's Chapel back in April, my occupational habit made me pay attention to the organ this time too. It was made Renatur Harris in 1685 and it was rebuilt 1860. 

Cathedral's official website say "there were several features of the organ shich were old-fashined even for 1861, and with the new nave in the 1870s, it was no longer adequate to serve a building which had doubled in length". 

So, the organist Hubert Hunt modernised the organ in 1901. 

Finally, two extra things I would like to mention:

• Did you know there is special training to ring the bells of the Cathedral? 

There are volunteer roles available to people that want to exercise their creativity such as Bell Ringers, Flower Arrangers and Sewing Team.

• Did you know you can visit the Cathedral from your own home?

A very nice volunteer in the main altar told us that the Cathedral's webpage has a virtual tour on Google where you can see the inside of the cathedral. It was recorded in Easter so all the flowers and decoration that you can see in the virtual tour are expressly located.

LINKS
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Bristol Cathedral (official): http://bristol-cathedral.co.uk/
Bristol Cathedral (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Cathedral
Post about Lord Mayor's Chapel in this Blog.

Hidden gem

I will probably not share anything else Pope Benedict XVI preached but I do agree with this statement about the organ:

"The organ has always been considered, and rightly so, the king of musical instruments, because it takes up all the sounds of creation and gives resonance to the fullness of human sentiments, from joy to sadness, from praise to lamentation. (...) The organs great range of timbre, from piano through to a thundering fortissimo, makes it an instrument superior to all other. It is capable of echoing and expressing all the experiences of human life."

Last Friday, I saw The Lord Mayor's Chapel opened to the public. I never pass by College Green during its opening hours, so it was quite unusual for me to see it opened. Actually, I thought it was not even an active chapel. That's probably why it is often called "the hidden gem". So, I went in.

Built in 1230AD, it was a chapel to St. Mark's Hospital founded by Maurice de Gaunt, which was served by a number of clergy and lay brother. In 1450 Henry VIII sequestrated it and city fathers had to purchase the buildings and lands from him. The chapel's building is the only building left now.

The inside of the chapel is charming, very warm and cosy. Very well preserved and quiet. Not too big, not too small either.

As I always do in every church I visit (occupational habit, probably), I went directly to admire the organ. It is hidden at the very end of the aisle. The organist started his rehearsal at that exact moment I was there so that I could fully enjoy it. However, it did not sounded as it was in shape. Apparently, the organ has not been radically refurbished for more than 50 years. They are hoping it keeps working until funds are available to undertake the work needed (estimated in £300.000) to maintain the beautiful traditional instrument.

Name: The Lord Mayor's Chapel

Location: BS1 5TB
Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 10am-4pm
Entrance: Free

Webpage: http://www.lordmayorschapel.org.uk/