Ely Cathedral

Ely Cathedral is one of England’s architectural masterpieces, made all the more stunning by its location in the fens of north Cambridgeshire, such that it can be seen rising majestically from its flat surroundings from many miles away.

The name “Ely” means “eel island”, and it was indeed an island when first settled by monks led by St Ethelreda in the 7^th century. The first abbey was destroyed by the Danes in the late 9^th century and only rebuilt as a Benedictine monastery in 970.

The present cathedral is Norman in origin, its construction having begun in 1083. William the Conqueror had experienced considerable resistance in this area, notably provided by the semi-legendary figure of Hereward the Wake who took advantage of his local knowledge of routes through the marshy fens to mount a guerrilla campaign against the Normans. William’s response was to build structures that would cow the locals into recognising his regime’s superiority, and Ely Cathedral was one such building.

The cathedral took several centuries to complete, with long periods of inactivity dividing the building of various parts, so the architectural styles that can be seen today include Romanesque, Early English Gothic and Decorated Gothic. The cathedral in its present form was virtually complete by 1340, with only minor changes and restorations taking place since then.

The west front is one of the earliest parts, and is a fine example of a Norman façade, although very unusual in its design. Ely Cathedral was originally built with two pairs of transepts, the second pair being at the west end with a tower rising between them. This arrangement is unique to cathedrals in Britain.

However, three major changes were made later, two of them by design and the third by accident. In the 13^th century a large two-storeyed Galilee porch was added in front of the tower. In the 14^th century the height of the tower was increased by the addition of an octagon flanked by four octagonal turrets. In the 15^th century one of the transepts collapsed and was never rebuilt. This therefore gives the otherwise impressive front a curiously lop-sided appearance.

The nave of the cathedral was built between 1110 and 1130 and is therefore Romanesque in style. It is long and narrow, and the three stages of arcade, tribune and clerestory are perfectly proportioned to lead the eye upwards. Unfortunately, there is no stone vault but a wooden ceiling that was painted in the 19^th century and is something of a disappointment.

However, this is forgiven and forgotten when the visitor reaches the crossing and encounters one of the most splendid features of any cathedral anywhere, namely the Ely Octagon. The original central tower, built in 1100, collapsed in 1322. This was not unusual in medieval cathedrals, as they tended to be built with thousands of tons of stone resting on inadequate supports.

At Ely, the decision was made not to rebuild the tower as it had been but to create something that was wholly original. Due to the damage caused by the falling tower, which also destroyed part of the choir, the opportunity was taken to widen the crossing and erect the Gothic equivalent of the Classical dome. The octagon is of stone but its vaults do not bridge the complete gap, which at 69 feet in diameter would have structurally impossible. Instead, at the centre rises a lantern which is built of wood with external lead facings.

To build the lantern, eight massive oak beams, each 63 feet long and more than three feet thick, were erected, being supported on hammer-beams. The glass around the lantern lets in shafts of light that illuminate the centre of the crossing and create an amazing effect as one walks underneath. Looking up, one sees a perfect 8-pointed star, brightly lit on a fine day, in the roof of the lantern. The construction can best be appreciated on closer inspection, which can be done via a guided tour of the octagon.

Although the lantern as seen today is the result of extensive restoration by George Gilbert Scott in the mid-19^th century, he stuck very closely to the original design.

At the east end on the cathedral is the choir which dates mainly from the 13^th century, being an extension of the original small Norman choir. This is work of the very highest quality, beautifully proportioned and with splendid ornamentation, especially at the tribune level. Unlike the nave, the choir is stone vaulted with ribs soaring upwards to meet in carved bosses at the apex.

The Lady Chapel at Ely is of interest for being the largest in England and having the widest medieval vault in the country, at 46 feet. It was begun in 1321, the building being almost detached from the main cathedral, but work was interrupted by the tower falling the following year and it was not completed until 1373. What is seen today is far removed from how it would have looked before the Reformation, as the building was devoted to the life story of the Virgin Mary, with brightly painted carvings, and this was anathema to the Protestants who removed virtually all the decoration to leave only foliage carvings.

Another victim of Protestant zeal was the shrine of St Etheldreda, which was destroyed in 1541, with only an engraved slate marking its location.

One 17^th century bishop was Matthew Wren, whose young nephew, Christopher, designed a Gothic-style door on the north side of the cathedral. It is interesting to speculate that perhaps the replacement of a tower with an octagon was part of the inspiration for designing a dome for the new St Paul’s Cathedral, where a massive tower had been a feature of the old one.

Ely Cathedral is one of England’s “must-see” cathedrals, alongside others in eastern England, notably Norwich, Peterborough and Lincoln. It will always retain its ability to impress on first sight as the “ship of the fens” hoves into view.

© John Welford

The Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice, Postman's Park, London

The Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice was the brainchild of George Frederic Watts, a Victorian painter and philanthropist who thought that public recognition should be made of ordinary London people who had died while trying to save others. The Memorial can still be seen in London today.

George Frederic Watts

George Frederic Watts (1817-1904) was a very popular artist during his lifetime (a painter and sculptor) but he is not as highly regarded today. His works, many of which were portraits, were symbolic and allegorical and intended to give uplifting messages to their viewers.

He has been described as a philosophical artist and a “preacher in paint”, but the preaching, while striking a chord among his fellow Victorians, is less welcome in modern times. In his own words, he sought to “condemn in the most trenchant manner prevalent vices” and give “warning in deep tones against lapses from morals and duties”.

Perhaps it was ironic that his first wife, the actress Ellen Terry who was 16 years old at the time (he was 30 years older), did not share his high moral aspirations and eloped with another man only a year after the wedding!

A great admirer of royalty, Watts proposed his Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice as a contribution to the celebrations to mark the golden jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887, but the idea was turned down at the time. It was not until 1898 that he was able to turn his idea into reality.

The Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice

The plan was to commemorate the selfless actions of ordinary people who had died while trying to save others. This would be done be placing ceramic plaques, giving details of their deeds, on a public wall where people could read what they had done.

A wooden loggia was designed by Ernest George, an architect and painter. The loggia provided shelter for anyone reading the plaques, for which space was made available for 120 of them.

Postman’s Park

The Memorial was placed in Postman’s Park, an open space in the City of London not far from St Paul’s Cathedral. This area was opened as a park in 1880, being the site of adjoining former churchyards. It takes its name from the fact that it was next door to the former General Post Office and workers from there used it during breaks from work.

Collecting the stories and mounting the plaques

George Frederic Watts was only able to start the project late in life, being in his 80s when the first plaques were made and mounted in the loggia. Indeed, at the time it was opened in 1900 there were only four plaques in place. By the time of his death in 1904 (at the age of 87) only another nine had been added.

Watts’s widow Mary (his second wife who was, like his first, more than 30 years his junior) then took on the role of commissioning the plaques.

Watts had spent many years collecting stories of self-sacrifice, and Mary’s task was therefore to work down his list and raise the funds to get the plaques made. These were initially made by William de Morgan, a well-known ceramicist. She also commissioned a memorial to her husband to be set alongside the plaques.

Unfortunately, De Morgan stopped making ceramics in 1907 and Mary Watts was forced to go to another supplier, namely Royal Doulton. These were not of the same quality or colour as the originals. Eventually, Mary Watts decided that she could not continue the project as she wanted to concentrate on building a chapel and gallery devoted to the memory of her late husband.

The Memorial is therefore unfinished to this day. Instead of 120 plaques there are only 54. Of these, three were added during World War I, one in 1927 and the final one in 2007. The original design allowed for five rows of plaques, but the top and bottom rows remain empty.

 Some examples of the plaques

The stories told on the plaques clearly cannot be complete, and they are therefore frustrating in what they are forced to leave out. Even so, they say enough to make it clear that the people in question deserve to be commemorated.

Here are some examples:

William Donald of Bayswater. Aged 19. Railway clerk. Was drowned in the Lea when trying to save a lad from a dangerous entanglement of weed. July 16 1876

Mary Rogers. Stewardess of the Stella. Mar 30 1899. Self sacrificed by giving up her life belt and voluntarily going down in the sinking ship.

Henry James Bristow. Aged eight – at Walthamstow. On December 30, 1890 – saved his little sister's life by tearing off her flaming clothes but caught fire himself and died of burns and shock.

Daniel Pemberton. Aged 61. Foreman LSWR. Surprised by a train when gauging the line hurled his mate out of the track saving his life at the cost of his own. Jan 17 1903.

And the most recent plaque:

Leigh Pitt. Reprographic operator. Aged 30, saved a drowning boy from the canal at Thamesmead, but sadly was unable to save himself. June 7, 2007.

It has to be said that there is more than a little Victorian mawkishness and sentimentality about this Memorial, but even so it does commemorate real people who died while saving others, and their stories would almost certainly have been forgotten were it not for the efforts of George Frederic and Mary Watts.

© John Welford

The statue of Hodge in Gough Square, London

London teems with statues and memorials to famous men and women, but sometimes one can happen across one that commemorates an animal, one such being the life-sized bronze of “Hodge” in Gough Square, which is just north of Fleet Street.

The statue of Dr Johnson’s cat “Hodge”

17 Gough Square was the home of Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-84). Johnson was no great lover of men but was extremely fond of his cats, of which he had several. Hodge’s claim to fame was that he got a mention in James Boswell’s “Life of Samuel Johnson”.

Boswell, who did not like cats, thought he would please Johnson, during a visit to Gough Square, by remarking that Hodge was “a fine cat”. Johnson replied that he had had other cats whom he preferred but then thought that Hodge was giving him a less than friendly look. He therefore tried to make it up to him by saying: “but he is a very fine cat, a very fine cat indeed”.

The statue, which is on a plinth of Portland stone in Gough Square (pedestrianised) shows Hodge sitting on top of a copy of Dr Johnson’s famous “Dictionary of the English Language”.

Also on the dictionary is an empty oyster shell, which reflects the fact that oysters were Hodge’s favourite food – they were considerably cheaper in the 18^th century than they are now and were regarded as the food of poor people rather than the rich. Johnson bought Hodge’s oysters in person, because he thought it demeaning to his manservant to ask him to fetch the cat’s food.

The statue (by John Bickley) dates only from 1997 and it serves a double purpose, which is symbolised by the dictionary. Inscribed on the plinth is a Latin phrase which translates as “He refined and corrected”, the “he” being Major Byron Caws, who worked with H W Fowler on the “Concise Oxford Dictionary”, first published in  1911. The statue was erected by Major Caws’s grandson and thus commemorates two lexicographers as well as the “very fine cat” of the older one.

© John Welford

A short guide to Winchester

Winchester, the county town of Hampshire, was once of far greater importance, being the capital of Alfred the Great’s Kingdom of Wessex and therefore the most important city in England. William the Conqueror hoped that his claim to the throne would be accepted by having himself crowned in Winchester as well as London. It was the monks of Winchester who were commissioned to prepare the Domesday Book.

Today, the visitor is rewarded by a compact city with many narrow lanes, surrounded by old buildings, to explore, as well as one of England’s greatest cathedrals and plenty more to excite the imagination.

Winchester Cathedral

The cathedral has the distinction of being the longest church in Europe, at 556 feet, and its squat external profile contrasts with the soaring spire at Salisbury, just 25 miles down the road. However, the interior is superb, being a mixture of Norman and Perpendicular styles. The choir stalls date from the early 14^th century and are the earliest complete set in the country.

Winchester Cathedral was the burial place of several early kings of England, including Cnut and William Rufus, as well as Jane Austen, who died in the city in 1817.

Of particular interest is the statue of William Walker, a deep-sea diver, who stands holding his massive diving helmet. From 1906 to 1911 he worked on a project to save the cathedral from collapse by diving into the flooded foundations and packing them with bags of concrete. He spent up to six hours a day working in total darkness, and it was mainly due to him that the cathedral still stands.

The Great Hall

The hall was originally part of a Norman castle, most of which no longer exists. The hall was rebuilt between 1222 and 1235 and remains the finest example of its type and age in the country. The main feature of interest is the brightly painted disc, some 18 feet across, that hangs on the wall at one end. This was venerated for many years as the famous round table at which King Arthur sat with his knights, but it is now known to have been constructed in the 14^th century and painted at the time of Henry VIII as a “PR” exercise; the supposed portrait of King Arthur bears a remarkable resemblance to King Henry!

Also in the Hall is a massive bronze statue of Queen Victoria, constructed to mark her golden jubilee in 1887.

Winchester College

This is the earliest “public” school in England, established in 1382 for “poor scholars” but now charging the highest fees in the country! Guided tours are available throughout the year (with some exceptions) and include most of the oldest parts of the College such as the chapel, cloisters and scholars’ dining room.

St Cross Hospital

This is the oldest continuing almshouse in England, having been in operation for more than 850 years. Visitors can still ask for the “wayfarer’s dole” and be given a beaker of beer and morsel of bread.

The late Norman church, begun in 1135, is all that remains of the original buildings, and is notable for its metre-thick walls and the cross of St Cross on which sunlight falls on only two days a year, 3^rd May and 14^th September, the latter being Holy Cross Day. The Brethren’s Hall, with its musicians’ gallery, can also be visited.

Visitors should take time to wander through the grounds which provide a welcome respite from the busy city. The Hospital can be reached via a 20-minute riverside walk from the city centre.

City Mill

The original medieval mill, powered by water from the River Itchen, was rebuilt in 1743 and ground corn for the city until the 20^th century. It has now been restored by the National Trust and milling demonstrations are given at weekends. Visitors can buy bags of flour from the shop and take part in hands-on activities including using hand querns.

Winchester is a great place just to wander through and discover the unexpected, such as medieval buildings and gateways and some excellent antique shops.

Devotees of Jane Austen will want to pay their respects at 8 College Street, where she died, although the house is not open to the public and there is only a blue plaque on the wall to distinguish the house from its neighbours. However, it is only a short drive from Winchester to Chawton (near Alton) where Jane Austen spent her final years and wrote several of her novels, her house now comprising the Jane Austen Museum.

© John Welford