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ARCHITECTURAL WALK THROUGH THE BUILDING |
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The
present cathedral was begun around 1180, on a new site
to the north of the old. Started nearly 10 years before
Lincoln and more than 40 years before Salisbury, Wells
was the first English cathedral to be built throughout
with the pointed arch, shafted column and ribbed vault
of the Gothic style. At the same time, nearby Glastonbury
was rebuilding part of its abbey still in the Romanesque
(Norman) style.
Looking Down the Nave
Looking from the west, the original Gothic building
stretches beyond the organ to the middle of the present
Quire. Later extensions were built further east. Most
of the cathedral, built mainly in local limestone
from nearby quarries, has thick walls, small pointed
windows (lancets) and massive columns. At the top
of the columns, stone foliage shelters carved birds
and animals, mythical beasts and ordinary men and
women going about their everyday lives in the England
of the 1200s. The sometimes humorous scenes include
toothache sufferers, a fox running off with a goose
and the story of the grape stealers.
Learning
from the Stones
Looking at the stones used in the walls tells something
about the construction of the building. Halfway down
the nave where the cathedral was sealed off in the
early 1200s during a pause in the building work, the
size of the stone blocks changes. This indicates where
more efficient lifting gear was brought into use.
The larger blocks are also more cleanly cut or 'dressed',
and some of the carved ornament is sculpted in a different,
more elaborate style.
Facing
a Crisis
At the crossing under the central tower (where the
cathedral's only true - late gothic- fan vaulting
is seen) are the famous 'scissor arches', put in place
a century after the cathedral was consecrated. They
were needed to stabilise the structure when a heightened
tower with an added spire caused some of the supporting
pillars to sink. They have not sunk again in nearly
700 years, but when the spire burned down in the 1400s
no one dared rebuild it.
New
East End
Beyond the stone screen beneath the organ and the
choir stalls with their embroidered hangings a new
(decorated) style of Gothic begins. Window openings
are larger, and the thinner walls are supported by
external flying buttresses. Inside, the change in
wall thickness is shown by the noticeably narrower
aisle window-cills. In the Quire itself, much care
was taken to make the new 14th century work merge
with new ceiling vault, splendidly decorated, to unify
the whole Quire between the crossing and the great
east window.
Stained
Glass
The east window, showing a Jesse Tree is the finest
medieval glass of 1340. David, as one of Christ's
ancestors depicted, is easily recogniseable, holding
a harp. Below this window, three open arches give
a glimpse of the rich colours of the Lady Chapel glass
beyond. The windows, apart from one nineteenth century
replacement, are filled with a jumble of fragments
recovered after over-zealous Puritan (or drunken)
soldiers went on a window smashing rampage.
Ablaze
with Light
Like the Lady Chapel, the early 14th century Chapter
House is octagonal. Situated on the north side, it
is approached by steps worn down by generations of
feet. Very little glass has survived here and sunlight
floods freely through transparent windows into this
amazing space. The great central pillar soars up into
thirty-two shafts. Seats round the walls (like the
stalls in the Quire) show that the cathedral was once
served by more than 40 canons. Today's team is much
smaller, but the purpose of this sacred building remains
the same - to offer praise to Almighty God to the
end of time.
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