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BCD Special Report on
Historic Churches
18th annual edition
41
on Lindisfarne. He was a constant presence with
them, their patron and protector, interceding
for them and working miracles. The whole of
the life and miracles of the saint were shown in
a set of windows running all the way from the
south door into the cloister right to the door
to the new cathedral. These too were smashed
during the reign of Edward VI by Dean Horne.
11
Clearly, during the medieval period, sacred
space hallowed by the presence of the saint was
to be found both within and outside the church.
The cloister was hallowed ground – a place of
ceremony and prayer. It was in this eastern part
of the cloister where, on Maundy Thursday,
13 poor men had their feet washed by the prior
and were given 30 pence along with food and
drink. Daily after eating, the monks would
proceed through the cloister into the garth
where they would say prayers for their departed
brethren buried there. They would then return
to the cloister for study until evening prayer.
Bishop William Carileph, Prior Turgott and
Malcolm King of Scots (as chief benefactor) laid
the first stones of the new cathedral in 1093,
and when the choir was complete in 1096,
Bishop William ordered that the Saxon building
completed by Bishop Aldwin should be pulled
down. Bishop Cosin’s manuscript recounts
how William went to Rome in 1093 to get a
licence from Gregory VII to remove the lazy
Canons and replace them with Benedictine
monks from the twin monastery of Jarrow and
Wearmouth. William died two years later and
was succeeded by Ranulf Flamberd as Bishop.
12
Long before the cathedral was finished,
probably with the completion of the eastern
arm in 1104,
13
Cuthbert was translated into
his new tomb, ‘a faire and sumptuous shrine
about three yards from the ground on the
back side of the great Altar which was in
the east end of the quire, where his body
was solemnly placed in an iron chest’. This
feretory was in the original apsidal east end
of the Norman cathedral, the shape of which
has been archaeologically well established.
On the arrival of Bishop Richard
Poore from Salisbury in 1228 a new eastern
termination was projected, resulting in the
Chapel of the Nine Altars, completed in 1253.
These architectural changes transformed the
pattern of use for this most sacred area of the
cathedral. Pilgrims and their circulation routes
had to be separate from those of the monks
who were constrained to total celibacy; altars
had to be separated from the laity; the relics
had to be securely protected; and peculiarities
of the local rite were to be suppressed.
The nine altars were ranged each in its own
bay and separated by panelling with storage for
all the supplies, vestments and objects for use
there. Everything was at hand for the reverent
celebration and reservation of the sacrament,
and for the final ablutions. The iconography of
the space, though it is not a tightly coordinated
scheme, is established by the dedication of the
altars and related stained glass in the windows
above.
14
With its grand new setting, the now
square feretory of St Cuthbert was continuously
embellished with jewels and gifts from pilgrims.
The tomb itself in the feretory was:
estimated to be one of the most
sumptuous monuments in all England,
so great were the offerings and Jewells
that were bestowed upon it; and no
less the miracles that were done by
it, even in these latter days;… And
at this feast [St Cuthbert’s Day,
20 March] and certain other festival
days and at the time of divine service
they were accustomed to draw the
cover of St Cuthbert’s shrine… and
the said rope was fastened to a
loop of Iron in ye North pillar of
ye feretory having six silver bells
fastened to ye said rope; so as when
ye cover of ye same was drawing
up ye bells did make such a good
sound that it did stir all ye people’s
hearts that was within ye Church
to repair unto it and to make their
prayers to God and holy St Cuthbert;
and that ye beholders might see
ye glorious ornaments thereof.
15
The aural interconnectedness of the spaces was
important: the sound of the bells on the shrine’s
mechanism rang out through all the spaces of
the cathedral prompting prayers in response
and, when the shrine was accessible, visits to see
the splendid offerings. Lord Neville, for instance,
after victory in battle, brought the banner of
the King of Scots and a captured holy cross as
well as jewels for a thank-offering to the saint.
Cuthbert was a powerful patron and all the
sacred activities, ceremonies and liturgies were
carried out with reference to places hallowed
by his presence and the iconography of his life
and works. Candles held aloft on the ironwork
of the feretory lighted the liturgies celebrated on
the nine altars; the main objective of the pilgrim
was access to the feretory, but as an alternative,
the monument of his former resting-place in
the cloister was also acceptable; the cloister saw
ceremonies of foot-washing and monk’s funeral
processions passing that same monument;
finally, the high altar, for the grandest of
liturgies, was hard up on the west side of the
feretory. Above the high altar was a pyx (for
the reserved sacrament) in the form of a silver
pelican feeding her young with the blood of her
own breast, as an image of Christ’s sacrifice.
The Central Tower viewed from the Cloister (Photo: The Chapter of Durham Cathedral)