Fan vaulting is an English innovation not seen elsewhere in Europe, and Gloucester Cathedral's Cloister boasts a magnificent example of the first ever fan vaulting developed in Gloucester during 1350. Following its success, fan vaulting then spread across the country. The Cloister is built in a quadrangle, and it is where the monks of Gloucester lived and studied. It is a magnificent piece of architecture, and although once privy to the monks only it is now open every day for all to enjoy. The Cloister must also be familiar to many Harry Potter fans where it featured as the mystical corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in three of the films. One wonders whatever the Monks would think about such goings on in and around their holy cloister, a place where they spent their lives, living, eating, meditating, and praying.
The cathedral has been a place of Christian worship continuously for over 1,300 years, since Osric, an Anglo-Saxon prince, founded a religious house on the site in 678-9 AD. At the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066 the Monastery was not thriving so in 1072 King William l appointed Serlo, a monk from Mont St. Michel in Normandy to be its Abbot. He was an energetic, charismatic, devout man, who built up the wealth of the Monastery to the point where in 1089 he was able to start building the magnificent abbey church seen today.
The King that never was
In the cathedral is a memorial to Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, the eldest son of William the Conqueror. He did not succeed his father to the English throne. On the death of William the Conqueror his lands were divided up: Normandy went to Robert, and England went to William the Conqueror's second son William.
As a result of social distancing, the cathedral to my eyes has never looked more magnificent. It has been pared right back i.e minus chairs or furnishings, and now looks more like it would have appeared a thousand years ago. The fine Norman architecture now takes centre stage and is shown off to its full glory. We actually enjoyed this glorious building virtually to ourselves.
Having the car serviced in what appeared at first to be rather tiresome circumstances, did in fact turn out to be a very pleasant few hours away from home.
I did a post on Gloucester Cathedral here if you are interested seeing more of its interior.
images courtesy wiki
As you know we also love visiting cathedrals, monasteries and the like. I'm glad your morning worked out well for you. Normally these place are always busy and noisy, so it must be wonderful to be able to stroll around and enjoy it so peaceful. I haven't watched any Harry Potter. A cathedral needs lots of money for it's upkeep and they would have been payed well for it's film use which would have been very welcome. Take care of yourselves. Best, Jane x
ReplyDeleteThat is true Jane - our cathedrals and churches all cost a small fortune to maintain. Gloucester has a permanent team of stonemason working on the building continuously. However, didn't our medieval ancestors leave us so many fine and glorious buildings which stand as proud today as they did hundreds of years ago.
DeleteOh they certainly did! :)
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DeleteGloucester Cathedral is indeed a beautiful place, and the cloisters outstanding in their magnificence. I have seen one or two Harry Potter films - I probably thought such a place was computer generated. It is wonderful to know it is there for all to see. What a great distraction during the wait for your car service.
ReplyDeleteIt was a long morning that we were not looking forward to, but in the end it turned out to be very enjoyable.
DeleteYes everything has become so complicated to make a spontaneous visit. But you were rewarded with a beautiful cathedral to have a look in. And so quiet to make photo's!
ReplyDeleteWe enjoyed having it virtually to ourselves.
DeleteAs you point out, Rosemary, we all have to be flexible at present, and take opportunities as they present themselves. I think hopping on the bus might have caused me to be a little nervous. But then again, I would have been looking for open spaces and perhaps I might have found them closer to suburbia.
ReplyDeleteThere were very few people on the bus - we didn't feel at all nervous, everyone was wearing a mask. It is compulsory, otherwise you can receive a very large fine.
DeleteWow! That is an eye-popping Cathedral interior! What a magnificent turn of events for your rather humdrum outing. I must wonder about Robert's effigy; he looks terribly uncomfortable to be holding that pose in perpetuity.
ReplyDeleteIt is only a monument - his bones actually rest under the floor in front of the high altar.
DeleteThe Cathedral certainly was a great opportunity which you could have planned, but it was just a given instead. Love those ceilings.
ReplyDeleteIn the end it turned into a good morning Barbara
DeleteFan vaulting was a very special English innovation not seen elsewhere in Europe - agreed. So not only was Gloucester Cathedral's Cloister (1350) a very early version of fan vaulting to be designed. It also made the Cloister a place of reflection and serenity for the monks who otherwise lived rather simple lives.
ReplyDeleteThe cloister is a delight to be able to wander around, very peaceful and serene. A scriptorium survives there, and at the far end of the cloister you can see a well preserved lavatorium where the monks used to wash.
DeleteThe architecture is just amazing something I've certainly never seen before.
ReplyDeleteThe stained glass is looking wonderful.
Rather a long walk doing 1 hour before transport. We get our vehicle serviced in another city only 100km away, we are given a car to drive around whilst waiting, if we don't have to wait long there is a lovely waiting room with a coffee machine, tea and biscuits provided and comfortable lounge and lounge chairs.
Take care.
We have the same services normally, coffee machine, tea, biscuits etc, and also the use of a car, but with Covid-19 it is not currently possible.
DeleteTo think that more than a thousand years ago knowledge of how to build something this beautiful was available. Yours is my first introduction to Fan Vaulting. I'm amazed.
ReplyDeleteMy mechanic and his wife come to my house. He fixes my car, my truck and my tractor and then we share a bottle of champagne.
We don't build like that today - I wonder what will be still standing in two hundred years time that is being built at the moment. Very little I suspect.
DeleteHow interesting it will be when I can visit a cathedral and see it so empty. I hope you were able to get a taxi back to the garage. A very interesting solution to a potentially drab few hours!
ReplyDeleteNo, the bus driver that we could catch the bus back where he dropped us off, and going back he dropped us off just 50 yards from the garage.
DeleteThe lack of people really to the beauty of the amazing photographs.
ReplyDeleteIt was really a treat having this whole building almost to ourselves.
DeleteDearest Rosemary,
ReplyDeleteWow, that indeed was an unexpected treat for seeing Gloucester Cathedral in this way!
Incredible that fan vaulting; such unique architecture indeed.
Glad things worked out the way they did.
Does it help for placing the image before the text in having it show up on the sideline?
Your blog was already 7 hours on, did not catch it at first as I was still asleep of course...
Wonder if Blogger will improve before they take the legacy version off on August 24, as they stated.
Hugs,
Mariette
Dear Mariette - at first I tried to do everything on new blogger, but the image still did not appear, so I reverted to legacy blogger for the first image. They obviously still have not sorted the problem out. I may try to put the image after the writing rather than before and see if that helps.
DeleteWell, I've usually place the image behind some text and that neither works...
DeleteLet's hope things will improve!
That's frustrating - sounds as if we have had it then once legacy blogger departs.
DeleteI bet Normandy was seen as the better part of the inheritance, somehow.
ReplyDeleteHe was very dissatisfied with the share of power he received as the Duke of Normandy and quarrelled with both his father and brothers fiercely. As first born he wanted the throne of England, but it went to his younger brother who became King William II and on William's death the throne went to the third brother who became Henry I
DeleteDziękuję Ci bardzo
ReplyDeleteHello Rosemary, That is breath-taking architecture, and you were lucky to have it to yourselves. In a museum you can put up with other people, however annoying, but in a space like that you need some room to take it all in, not to mention for photographs, and some quiet for reflection.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Hello Jim - the morning turned out far better than anticipated. It was particularly special having the whole cathedral building almost to ourselves.
DeleteYour photo of the fan vaulting in the cloisters is stunning and really shows off the intricate architecture. And how serendipitous to not have anyone else there. I wonder why Robert is buried in Gloucester rather than Normandy.
ReplyDeleteRobert spent most of his time waring with his brothers, he wanted England and felt usurped. His younger brother became King William 11 and when he died the next brother became King Henry 1. Henry had him put in the Tower of London where he spent 28 years, he was then transferred to Devizes Castle and spent his last couple of years in Cardiff Castle where he died.
DeleteI love this cathedral and the cloisters and stained glass windows, and the fan vaulting which gives an airy look to the walkways. The memorial sculpture of Sir Norbert is artistically done.
ReplyDeleteThe fan vaulting is really exquisite, and so old, what stories it could tell.
DeleteThe lack of chairs made me think of medieval times when everyone stood for services, which then made we wonder if, in fact, people knelt on the floor, as is still the custom in other faiths. I admire your determination not to waste your time.
ReplyDeleteThere were no chairs, pews or seating in any places of worship until the 17th century. People prayed whilst standing, some would kneel down in an act of individual devoutness, but the normal worshipper would pray in a standing position.
DeleteBeautiful place and fine history. I've never had my car picked up. I always have to drive it over then get the bus back home- then another bus near shutting time to pick it up again which is all I've ever heard about and fairly standard here. Mind you it's a cheap car so any service it gets is also cheap. That's probably why.
ReplyDeleteWell I don't know what to say in reply - may be we are being spoilt! Mind you we don't have any buses near to where we live, we are fairly high up and quite remote.
DeleteSorry. Did not mean anything negative by that comment. Just astonished as that collection concept never occurred to me before. Thinking about it probably just the natural difference between a rural business and a city one. You would need to be an A list celebrity or some other VIP to get a garage car collection service here. Would not make much financial sense for a city garage either I suppose.
DeleteThose cloisters are truly magnificent. Great that what you thought would be a long, boring wait for your car turned out so well (and for us). It would be lovely to have building like that to look at while waiting.
ReplyDeleteI am realising, especially in the current climate, that we are fortunate to have so many interesting places that we can visit which are fairly nearby.
DeleteHow beautiful your photos are showing such an awesome interior - and your history lesson, as always, so interesting dear Rosemary. Your morning walk brought such a wonderful reward!
ReplyDeleteWe're still mostly stuck here but this week has been very busy with tree removal/pruning and today they'll return to grind the stumps - THEN, hopefully we can return to the landscaping project in the back garden! Only problem now, a hurricane headed to the NC coast and of course there's a chance we'll get bad weather until early next week. Never a dull moment!
Enjoy your weekend xx
Our weather is 34℃ today - far too hot for me, so I am hiding away in the shadows. Your garden project sounds really interesting, and I look forward to the big reveal when it is completed. Hope that hurricane misses you completely.
DeleteTake care.
Hi Rosemary...
ReplyDeleteTurned into a lovely adventure...
Hot here too...ugh!!
Enjoy your weekend...
Cheers!
Linda :o)
Hello Linda - hope all is well with you - I can't stand it too hot, hoping tomorrow will be cooler.
DeleteUtterly magnificent!
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked William.
DeleteThe angle of the first photograph is very good!
ReplyDeleteOh my! What a beautiful cloister! Your side trip turned out to be a great treat. I wish I could stroll that cloister.
ReplyDeleteSeeing is believing; the cloister image shows how people were sparse. I understand how you felt almost monopolizing the views at the cathedral. Seeing from the angle of the past photos in 2014, looks like you photographed avoiding people. Right?
ReplyDeleteYoko