Peterborough Cathedral

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Description

The monks who in 1118 began rebuilding the abbey in honor of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew, transported their materials from Barnack in Northamptonshire, just 10mi/16km away, where they could select the beautiful ivory-colored stone from their own quarries. The choir was completed by 1140, the transepts and nave by the end of the century. The west front was added between 1200 and 1222 and is one of the most unusual facades of the early Gothic period with its three huge doorways (81ft/25m high) which form a kind of triumphal arch leading into the church. The facade is flanked by corner towers and the three doorways, which are merely composed of jambstones, are each crowned by a gable of tracery. Behind these the silhouette of the square 15th century crossing tower can be seen. The Perpendicular porch was added in 1370 as a strengthening device for the pillars.

Hobbies & Activities category: Architecture - Medieval; Historic site; Architecture - Gothic; Christian sites

Attractions within Peterborough Cathedral

Cathedral Abbey Buildings

Of the former Peterborough abbey buildings only Abbot's Lodging, Prior's Lodging and a few old gatehouses still remain, including Knight's Gateway (1302), which used to lead to the Bishop's Palace.

Cathedral Interior

The interior of the three-aisled columned basilica has retained its Norman appearance, with massive rows of arches, arched galleries decorated with zigzags, and triple windows in echelon formation

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as a clerestory. The extremely beautiful painted flat ceiling of 1220 is unique in England (partly restored). In the south side aisle the visitor can admire some most unusual Norman hipped vaulting, which anticipates the Gothic style of ribbed vaulting. On the west wall near the main doorway there is an 18th century portrait of "Old Scarlett" (1496-1594), sexton and gravedigger, who buried two queens and two generations of citizens in the church. The eagle lectern in the nave is a piece of 15th century brasswork, the choir stalls date from the end of the 19th century, while the crossing area with its tower was refashioned by Pearson between 1883 and 1886. The north and south transepts display impressive Norman architectural features allied to the original wooden ceiling.

The choir with the high altar and the bishop's throne was redesigned at the end of the 19th century, while the wooden ceiling dates from the 15th century and is made to look like stone vaulting. In the north section of the choir is the tomb of Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536), queen of Henry VIII, who from 1533 was forced to live separately from the king because of her failure to produce a male heir to the throne. While she was living close to Peterborough as a royal prisoner, Henry VIII, angered at the refusal of the Pope to sanction an annulment of the marriage, broke with Rome and in so doing ushered in the Reformation in England, with the king as head of the Anglican Church. In the south section of the choir there is a plaque marking the tomb of Mary Queen of Scots, who, after her execution at Fotheringhay (Northamptonshire), was interred here. Her remains were subsequently transferred to Westminster Abbey in London in 1612 at the behest of her son James I. Both graves were destroyed by Cromwell's troops. Also of note are the abbots' graves from the 12th and 13th century in the choir ambulatory, including the marble tomb of Abbot Benedict of Canterbury (d. 1193), who was responsible for the building of the nave and brought the relics of St Thomas Becket to the church.

The retrochoir, also known as the New Building, has splendid fan vaulting (about 1500) and the Hedda Stone, a piece of Saxon sculpture originally made around 780, which was intended to form part of a shrine set up over the mass grave of monks who, along with their abbot Hedda, were murdered in 870 during the Danish invasion.