U.K. 2013
Day 12, Saturday
September 14, 2013
PETERBOROURH
Our sleep was interrupted at 5:00 am by a
loud siren. It was coming from the Boat House restaurant, which is attached
to our inn. It continued for about 20 minutes. No one except a man in the
houseboat in front of us came around. It finally shut off. They said it was
a burglar alarm. We weren’t sure what to do so we just stayed in bed.
This
was our first morning for breakfast at the Riverside Inn in Ely. The inn only has
three guest rooms, so there were three tables set in the breakfast room.
Cereals were on the buffet table. There was a brief menu…..nothing like what
my sister and daughter serve at their B&B- the Inn on the Avenues in
Farmville, Virginia. We had very nice cheese omelets (I also had pieces of
ham in mine) and toast.
Since the train station is just several blocks away,
we walked to it to catch the 10:00 train to Peterborough. We had changed
trains in Peterborough yesterday but there was nowhere to store our luggage
while we went to the cathedral, so we had to go back again today. It is only
about a 30 minute ride.
We decided to walk from the train station to the
cathedral. There were signs pointing the way plus a pedestrian walled walkway
to the center of town. Of course the cathedral was the center of attention.
Since we were early, we walked around town and stopped in a pastry shop and
had a snack.
Our appointment for the tour was 1:00. It was noon so we
decided to go up and look around at the outside. We knew that today there was
a large service of Commissioning of Lay Ministers. In fact the Dean had
written back that he could not meet us because of the service.
As we were
walking up the walk, a man in a blue shirt without a collar stopped us and
asked if I was the Rev. Thomas Clay. He was the Dean, waiting for us. He
said that he didn’t have to
participate in the service. He invited us to the
Deanery (the Deanery is where the Dean lives). Dean Charles Taylor invited us
into his home to his lovely parlor. He offered us “bubbly” along with nuts and
cookies to celebrate my 50th anniversary of my ordination. We had almost an
hour visit with him.
Then the young man, who was to give us the tour, came to
get us. He was very attentive and knew everything about all the history of
England as well as the cathedral. He spent 2 ½ hours with us.
Peterborough Cathedral was originally a Benedictine monastery, named
St. Peters, founded in 655. The
Celtic
abbey promoted a somewhat austere lifestyle centered upon rigorous
discipline.
The first abbey was destroyed by
a Danish attack in 870 that left the site abandoned and in complete ruin. It
was not until the 10th century Benedictine revival that they re-founding of
the community began at this site when Aethelwold of Winchester claimed to have
had a vision from Christ instructing him to rebuild the abbey of St. Peter.
A
new church was consecrated
in 972, and for almost 600 years Peterborough
followed the rule of Benedict. Within 30 years a defensive wall was built
making the settlement a burgh. Eventually the town name of Burgh St. Peter
was changed to Peterborough.
The late Saxon period bought increasing
prosperity to the monastery but with the Norman Conquest of 1066 a great deal
of damage was done to the building.
An accidental fire in 1116 caused further
damage to the building resulting in an entirely new church being built which
took 120 years to complete.
The cathedral was recently damaged by another
great fire in 2001. Funds were raised to repair the ceiling, organ,and the
stonework. The West Front has a unique design. Completed in the early 13th
century, the classical portico of the West Front is the only part of the
building in Gothic style. There are three gigantic arches which are 85 feet
high. The perpendicular porch in the middle was added to 1380. Cathedral is
482 feet long, 206 feet wide, the internal height is 82 feet, and the tower is
114 feet tall.
Today the West Front has an oddly asymmetric appearance caused
by the incomplete top
stage of the south west tower. This was due to some
structural problems. The West Front has 33 statues adorning the stonework
representing the patron saints of the cathedral including St. Peter and other
figures from the abbey's history. PLEASE
LOOK AT MY MODEL.
Upon entering through two huge doors, we
found a
huge Nave with a remarkable ceiling which is the only surviving wooden
ceiling of its age in the UK. It was completed around 1250 and was repainted
in the 18th and 19th century. There is a mirror in the aisle under the
ceiling where you can get a good look at the design without straining your
neck. The nave as well as the transepts are Norman (Romanesque ) in style,
having rounded arches rather than the later pointed arches of the Gothic. 
As
we walked down the center aisle our attention was drawn to a huge hanging
crucifix. A gold figure of Christ mounted on a bright red cross, which was
donated to the cathedral in 1975 and designed by George Pace, and sculpted by
Frank Roper. The inscription on the bottom means "the cross stands whilst the
world turns".
The choir stalls are situated where the Benedictine abbey
stalls would have been, and dated from the 1890s. Placement of the choir is a
little different from most cathedrals in that the choir is before the tower
and the transepts. We could look up into the beautiful central tower which
has been rebuilt twice as the original tower completed around 1160 proved to
be too heavy and was declared
unsafe.
Under the tower with the transepts on
each side, we entered into the Sanctuary area which was rather large and
contained two interesting tombs which is a major attraction of visitors to
Peterborough Cathedral.
There is the tomb of Katharine of Aragon, who was the
daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and the first wife of King Henry
VIII. Henry eventually divorced Katharine
because she did not produce a male heir. Each January there is a service of
remembrance for the former queen, attended by the Spanish Ambassador and
Spanish visitors.
Mary, Queen of Scots – the cousin of Mary Tudor – was buried
here in 1587, after being executed at Fotherin
ghay Castle.
She had been
implicated in a plot to kill Elizabeth, who stood in her way to the English
throne. Although she was initially buried in Peterborough cathedral, her body
was removed to Westminster Abbey by her son, James I in 1612. Her former
burial place is still marked in the south sanctuary aisle in Peterborough
Cathedral and there is a display giving more details to her life.
At the east
end of the Sanctuary is the main altar with an Apse behind it. The Apse
contains three stories of large beautiful windows. The ceiling is early 16th
century and of a different design than the nave ceiling.
The original east end
was modified in the
14th century by making rectangular ends to each aisle.
Beyond this is an extension built in between 1498 and 1509 known as the New
Building. It was similar to the Lady Chapels and Chapter Houses that we have
seen in other cathedrals. The fan vaulted ceiling was breathtaking. It
reminded us of Bath Abbey and what we will see in King's College
Chapel in
Cambridge. There were several large stained-glass windows and a number of
effigies (tombs with statues of the deceased on top) of those associated with
the cathedrals past are around the walls.
Evensong was at 3: 30 and we joined
our guide for this lovely service.
We went outside to look at some of the
architecture. I have built a model of this cathedral and it had several parts
I want to see in person. 
Our wonderful guide graciously drove us to the train
station. Everyone has been so gracious to us on this trip.
We caught the 5:17
train back to Ely. We decided that we would like to go back to the Boat House
for dinner since it was next door and it was getting very cold. I stuck my
head in to ask for a reservation and they were full. They did say that if we
could come now (6:30) if we could finish by 8:00. We said yes. We had
another good dinner. Last night we noticed the size of steaks, so we ordered
one and split it. We had a potato cake, snap beans, salad and vanilla crème
brulee for dessert.
We have another early morning 10:00 train tomorrow to
Cambridge where we will spend the day.
