We continue our tour of Hereford Cathedral in Part 2 - for other photos please see Part 1.
South Aisle
The Elizabethan Denton tomb with Alexander Denton and his wife together with the child with whom she died in childbirth. Denton later remarried and was actually buried elsewhere, although the tomb implies that the whole family is here.
South Transept
John Piper Tapestries
John Piper was born in Surrey on 13th December 1903. The tapestries shown in the photos below were commissioned in 1976 as a thanksgiving for 1300 years of Christianity at the cathedral. They were woven using traditional dyeing and weaving techniques in Namibia, South West Africa. The theme of the tapestries is the Tree.
- Tree of Disobedience in the Garden of Eden
- Tree of Obedience at Calvary or the Tree in Zion
- Tree of Life from the Book of Revelation
Designed by Kempe 1895 in memory of George Herbert, Dean 1867-94. The design represents a text from "Te Deum Laudamus" - "the glorious company of the Apostles praise thee"
In the nave I found a display of replica misericords - later in the post there are a few photos of the actual misericords in the Choir but the area was very dark and not many were on display which was a shame. I do have a pen torch but camera flash is not allowed in many areas so I did not dare switch the pen torch on just in case!
Font
The C12th font dating from 1140-1145. Made of sandstone it has 12 arches with the figures of the Apostles. Many of them were defaced probably during the Civil Wars.
West Window
In memory of Queen Victoria who appears at the base of the window. Women saints are depicted too. It was made by Clayton and Bell in 1902.
Looking down the nave from the West Tower
Tomb of Sir Richard Pembridge died 1375
Sir Richard was a Herefordshire knight who fought at the battle of Crecy and Poitiers. King Edward II made him a Knight of the Garter.
The feathered head wear on which Sir Richard's head rests is his ceremonial helmet.
When the knight's alabaster tomb was constructed the effigy carved showed him wearing the Garter insignia only on his left leg. The right leg on the tomb was damaged during the C17th probably during the Civil War. A replacement wooden leg (see photo below) wrongly included a garter. A new alabaster leg was commissioned in the C19th by Lord Saye and Sele, Archdeacon of Hereford. The replacement wooden leg has since been purchased by a donor for the cathedral.
At this stage I went outside to sit on Castle Green for a while. I was still not due to meet up with B for another three quarters of an hour and I needed a break from taking photos!
It was very hard to get photos of this door as you approach it swings open as you approach the automatic doors and the latter doors obscure the view of the ironwork on the door!
Back in the Nave
Lectern
Here are a few of the real misericords I mentioned earlier.
I nearly missed this tiny chapel and there were already people in the small space so it was difficult to get photos :(
John Stanbury was bishop of Hereford from 1453 to his death in 1474. Stanbury was a Carmelite Friar, a doctor of theology and chaplain and confessor to King Henry VI. This chantry chapel is in the same Perpendicular style as the chapels of the King's foundations at Eton College and King's College Cambridge. Masses would be said in the chapel for the bishop's soul after he had died.
The beautiful stained glass is by Archibald Davies who was a member of the Bromsgrove Guild which made the windows. The glass depicts scenes from Stanbury's life including his early links with Eton College where he was offered the post of Provost but did not take the post.
Back to the Nave
This window is a combination of ancient and more recent work. There is a background of grisaille or grey glass together with canopies of tabernacle work which is C14th. From the C19th are the figures of four saints - St Katherine, St Michael, St Gregory and St Thomas of Canterbury.
I then spent another 10 to 15 minutes in the Audley Chapel - in solitude this time - thank goodness and just soaked up the loveliness of the Tom Denny windows.
At half two I met B in the Chapter House Garden and took him to see the Tom Denny Traherne windows.
We then had a late lunch in the Cloister tea room - quiche for me.
In 1582 Hereford Library was in a state of neglect and so in 1590 it was moved to the Lady Chapel and eventually from 1611 to the present location where new chained book cases were provided. To save space books for the first time were stored upright and chained to bars parallel to the shelves to prevent theft. Books were removed from the shelf and read on desks below.
In Medieval times making books was a long process. First parchment or vellum (sheep or calfskin) had to be prepared. Then the unbound pages were planned and the text written by a scribe leaving space for drawings to be added in the next stage. Finally the book was bound by a book binder in a cover made of wood and covered in leather.
The oldest book in the chained library is the C8th Hereford Gospels
Mappa Mundi
The Mappa Mundi is the largest complete world map drawn on vellum that is known to have survived from the Middle Ages.
The arrangement of countries and seas is very different to a map of the world today. On the Mappa Mundi Jerusalem is placed at the centre with Christ reigning in Majesty above which demonstrates how important Christianity was during the Middle Ages. England is in the left hand corner of the map at the bottom. We should not assume that it was believed the world was flat at this time!
It is a map of the world and Heaven as it was believed to be in Medieval times.
3D Version
A Replica
The Mappa Mundi is full of animals and people some of which are very strange. Tales about creatures and people had in medieval times come down to them from centuries before and they were often distorted for example the early writings of Pliny the Elder.
Below we have some examples of the wonderful creatures seen on the map.
Folio Society Edition of Hereford Mappa Mundi - a limited edition. Published in 2010
The name of the map maker can be seen in the bottom left of the map and his name was Richard of Holdingham or Sleaford. Not much is known about him but he may have worked for Bishop Swinfield and moved with him from Lincoln Cathedral, where it was believed another Mappa Mundi, existed to Hereford Cathedral.
After looking round the exhibition, chained library and at the Mappa Mundi which were all brilliant we had a look round the shop where I spent a fortune getting an early Christmas present for D and some books, tea towel, postcards etc for me. D and I did visit Hereford Cathedral to see the Mappa Mundi back in 2010 which seems a long time ago now!
It was finally time to make our way out of the Cathedral after a wonderful 3 hours.
West Front
All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).
Reference:
Information Boards around the Cathedral
Hereford Cathedral Guide Book
Hereford Cathedral Stained Glass published by Jarrold
"The Buildings of England Herefordshire" by Alan Brooks and Nikolaus Pevsner, Yale University Press, 2017
10 comments:
I know you do a very thorough job of recording, but I find myself wondering what the obligatory guide book is like? It is either a pamphlet that barely scratches the surface, or indeed a weighty tome. I suppose most people just wander round, as they do here, up the south aisle, across the east end, down the north aisle, past the gift shop and back out, not looking at anything in any depth or appreciation, just ticking another box on their list. We have a fine collection of misericords here. Anyway, another lovely blog full of information and pictures!
Thanks so much Debbie. I do have a guide book for this cathedral bought in 2010 but it doesn't have a lot of information on features etc of the cathedral. There may be a better one available now. I bought a book on stained glass there this time and that has a lot of info on the main windows. I do tend to rely a lot on Pevsner for research and also the internet can be useful and when you visit a parish church they can have informative guide books. Would love to see your misericords at St David's.
I've enjoyed all your photos. I can't remember what year it was we visited, seems ages ago. I bought a book on the Mappa Mundi from the shop there. I wonder how many people were baptised at the font and what their lives would have been like. I guess some of the people in the memorials would have been baptised in the cathedral, perhaps married too. You made the most of your time there and hopefully saw all that you wanted to see:)
Thanks so much Rosie - glad you enjoyed. I did post rather a lot of photos - I got carried away!! I had to check when David and I went and couldn't believe it was 2010. I've since bought him a book on the mappa mundi too and a t shirt with it on! I was sad he wasn't with us because he would have loved to see it again. I saw most things apart from the crypt! It is interesting to think about people over the centuries baptised in font and the story behind memorialsas you say.
Wow, I missed the first blog then must have look. One thing did you have to pay to go in? I know I did not in Brecon but I want to visit Christ Church in Oxford and that is 20 odd quid to go in. Hereford is huge and must take a good while to look around. Amazing amount of effigies to see
Thanks so much Billy. I have paid in some cathedrals although not as much as £20. Hereford is free but you do have to pay if you want to see the Mappa Mundi and Chained Library - £8.50 each from memory. Yes there were loads of tombs and effigies there. Some cathedrals required you to buy a photo permit too.
What a very thorough pictorial and historical journey around the Cathedral over both your posts. I must go again, as there are so many things which you miss because you get distracted by more obvious ones. I am so glad you had a proper amount of time to explore this time. It is a wonderful Cathedral, with SUCH a history.
Worcester comes to mind, I remember going in there years ago while waiting for my wife's van to be serviced. I was told if I want to take photos with my tripod I would need to pay £5 as it was I got call while I was there telling me the van was ready so I did not get to see around
Thanks so much BB - so pleased you enjoyed the post. I agree it is wonderful there and the history just seeps out of the stones. Hope you can revisit soon. I think to be honest the more one might visit the more one might find.
Billy I remember buying a photo permit at Worcester. Sorry you didn't get chance to have a look around. I've been twice and both visits were short so I could do with visiting again.
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