The Architectural History of Canterbury Cathedral

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Since the arrival of Augustine in Kent in 597, Canterbury has been the very heart of the Church in England. The Saxon cathedral, much enlarged over the years, burnt down in 1067. Its replacement suffered a similar fate in 1174, to be rebuilt again. As a result, the modern visitor is presented with a confusing historical patchwork which needs some explanation. Eadmer the singer was an eyewitness to the demolition of the Anglo-Saxon cathedral and the construction of the new one by Archbishop Lanfranc. He also describes the building of Conrad’s ‘glorious choir’ at the time of Archbishop Anselm. Gervase of Canterbury likewise describes the destruction of Lanfranc’s church by fire in 1174 and the rebuilding by William of Sens and English William. Professor Willis connects these and other sources, such as William of Malmesbury and Matthew Paris, to his own acute observations, creating a vivid impression of the Saxon, Norman and later cathedral. The text is interspersed with many superb wood engravings which, in many cases, offer a clarity which is hard to achieve with photography. Robert Willis (1800–1875) was Jacksonian Professor of natural and experimental philosophy at the University of Cambridge and lecturer in applied mechanics at the Metropolitan School of Science, Jermyn Street, London. He brought a new scientific rigour (but also an artistic eye) to the fields of archæology and architectural history.

Tiger of the Stripe; August 2006
188 pages; ISBN 9781904799122
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Excerpt

Introduction The cathedral which is the subject of the following pages is remarkable for its extent, beauty, and importance, for the variety of its architectural styles, for the changes of plan and structure which it has undergone, and especially for the numerous historical particulars relating to these changes which have been preserved to us. By a careful investigation of the architectural history of Canterbury cathedral, we may therefore expect to obtain great insight into the motives that dictated such changes of plan and structure in all similar buildings, as well as a knowledge of the mode of their erection, and of the causes that led to those well known varieties of style that form so interesting and at the same time so perplexing a subject for investigation. Amongst the other difficulties of such enquiries, two are prominent: first, that of understanding the exact meaning of the historical documents, which is too often obscured by our imperfect knowledge of their technical terms; next, the uncertainty which often occurs with respect to the application of the documents to the buildings that exist. I have endeavoured, therefore, throughout this history, to separate as much as possible my own opinions and interpretations from the historical documents upon which they are based. It will be found that I have given in each case the written records in their own words as closely as translation would allow, and usually accompanied in the notes by the passages in the original language. I have done this partly because the words and phrases and sentiments of a coeval writer appear to me to possess an interest so great, that every change, every attempt to modernize them, must deteriorate from their value, and from the pleasure and instruction which they convey to their readers. Partly also because the rapid strides which are now making in architectural history, may probably weaken or correct many of my interpretations; and by thus separating the evidence from the opinions, the foundation of each will always be manifest and the correction rendered more easy, while the history, as a collection of evidence, will lose none of its value. My plan therefore has been, first to collect all the written evidence, and then by a close comparison of it with the building itself, to make the best identification of one with the other that I have been able. I have also confined myself strictly to the history of the building, without mixing up with it the history of the see, which most writers upon this subject have been tempted to do. Thus the mission of Augustine, vast and important as its consequences were, has for my purpose no other result worth noting than the recovery of the ancient Christian church at Canterbury, the work of the Roman believers, which in the course of ages grew up into the huge fabric of the present cathedral; and the murder of Thomas à Becket only concerns me as the cause of the removal of the pillar and vault which originally occupied the scene of his death, and as the motive which led to the erection of the magnificent eastern termination of the cathedral; and perhaps as the source of the wealth which enabled the monks to re-erect the church on so extensive a plan. On the other hand, various events so trifling, that they would be neglected altogether in a history of the see, require in a history of the building a complete and prominent notice if they even affect the change of position of a door or the reconstruction of a window. It is impossible to understand the intricacies and changes of these buildings unless we take the trouble to examine the purposes for which they were constructed, and steadily recollect the state of learning and religious opinions at the same period. A vision, or the supposed acquisition of the relics of some noted saint, were often reasons which led to the erection or enlargement of a considerable church or chapel, the plan of which is usually distributed so as to display these latter treasures to the greatest advantage. In the following history I have shewn how the gradual acquirement of relics, and the accumulation of sainted archbishops, led from one addition to another to the present complicated plan of the structure. The language in which the history is clothed by the original writers will shew that they considered a provision for the repose of the saints to be one of the principal objects for which the building was erected. This may serve as my apology for having so often quoted passages which relate to the relics and entombment of the saints and archbishops. I have been the more tempted to do this, because the minute descriptions of such objects by Gervase (whose tract on the cathedral I have given entire) enables us to assign the local position of most of them; and I have been desirous of presenting to my readers a picture of the manner in which these buildings were in the old time occupied in all directions by shrines, altars, and monuments, and obstructed by screens and lofts, roods and reredoses, in singular contrast to the modern attempts to throw open and expose to sight as much as can be by any possibility seen at one view. This at any rate is in flat opposition to the intention of the original contrivers of such structures. I must also plead guilty to the introduction of certain miraculous narratives in the earlier part of the history. It will be found, however, that each legend contains some indirect evidence relating to the arrangement or construction of the building, which is wholly independent of the miraculous part of the story. And as the narrators are usually speaking of buildings with which themselves and their readers at that time were well acquainted, we may be quite sure that what they say of the building is true, however they may deceive themselves and others with respect to the supernatural interpretations which the habits of thought in those days led them to give to the events in question. The most remarkable medieval writer of architectural history is undoubtedly Gervase. Himself a monk of Christ Church at the time of Becket’s death, and an eye-witness of the fire in 1174, and of the rebuilding of the church, he has left us a most valuable and minute account of the latter events in his tract ‘On the burning and repair of the Church of Canterbury.’ The information thus conveyed is not confined to the church in question, but gives us a general insight into the modes of proceeding in the carrying on of buildings at that period, the manner of providing architects, the time consumed in erecting these structures, the way in which old portions were adopted and worked up, the temporary expedients for carrying on the daily service, the care which was taken of the venerated remains unavoidably disturbed by the progress of the work, and many other most instructive particulars which occur in every page of this circumstantial writer. For these reasons it has always appeared to me that a complete translation of his book would supply an exceedingly useful help to architectural investigation. It is true that the complete original was most excellently printed in the well known collection of Chronicles, usually called the ‘Decem Scriptores,’ and that considerable extracts from it have been translated by every subsequent writer on Canterbury cathedral. But the work loses its interest by being served up piecemeal, and I have therefore given it entire in a new translation,a and have endeavoured to supply a more close and particular comparison of the text with the existing building than has been hitherto undertaken. A task the more easy from the consistency and evident veracity of our historian in the most minute particulars. But Gervase confines his history to the few years of his own experience, first describing the church as he knew it before the fire, then the events of the fire, and lastly the progress of the rebuilding. The previous and subsequent history of the structure must be supplied from other sources. The most copious authority for the early history is Edmer (or Eadmer) the singer, that is, the cantor or precentor of the cathedral. He was a boy in the school of the monastery when Lanfranc began to pull down the Saxon cathedral in order to erect his own, and he also lived under the rule of Anselm and his successor Radulph. He wrote a history of his own times, and a volume of Opuscula, consisting principally of biographies of the archbishops. From these works may be gathered a number of particulars of the Saxon cathedral and of the Norman one which succeeded. These of course have not the value of a continuous narrative like that of Gervase, because we can never be certain that some important link in the chain of events may not be wanting, because it did not happen to be connected with the person whose life was the immediate object of the writer we are quoting. But this is unfortunately the case with the greater part of structural history. Few medieval writers made a building the theme of their literary efforts, and even Gervase thinks it necessary to apologize for writing about the mere putting together of stones, by explaining his object to be the description of the resting-places of the saints. The monastic writers usually enumerate the building or repairing of a church, or part of it, amongst the good works of their ecclesiastics, and from such disjointed hints, for the most part, we must be content to heap together our architectural histories. Thus from Edmer and a few other authorities I have compiled the first chapter, mostly from well known materials, which I have tried to give as nearly as possible in the words of the originals, leaving my own comments and interpretations of their meaning to the subsequent chapters. But I can lay no claim to literary research in the following pages. Everyone who is acquainted with the writings of Somner, Battely, Dart, Gostling, Wharton, &c., must know that every available source of information has been already indicated, and indeed for the most part printed by them.