English Cathedral Research Articles

Charnel-associated burial and monuments in late medieval England: Henry Barton’s effigy and its afterlife at Old St Paul’s Cathedral

In late medieval England, high-status individuals sometimes requested burial and/or memorialisation in association with charnel chapels, which primarily housed the exhumed and redeposited remains of the anonymous collective dead. The monument of Henry Barton (d.1435) in the charnel chapel at Old St Paul’s Cathedral, London, was one such memorial which held distinctive secular as well as religious resonance in context. In order to fully situate its significance, 40 examples of English cathedral, monastic, and parish charnel-associated burials and/or monuments will be identified and explored here for the first time. Their interrogation will furnish a broad understanding of this phenomenon’s meaning and motivation within the context of intercessory belief and mortuary practice in late medieval Catholic England. Further consideration of Barton’s monument will trace its revaluation following the 1547 dissolution of the chantries, which catalysed the widespread destruction of associated structures and material culture. While Barton’s effigy was subsequently destroyed in 1549, an ‘old worn stone’ bearing his name remained visible at the chapel site until c1666. Critical consideration of its form and survival will provide insight into the status of pre-Reformation monuments in the post-Reformation cathedral landscape, as well as the fate of the charnel chapel structure and site itself.

New light on the 17th-century English cathedral wind band: a (fragmentary) Canterbury tale

Abstract Despite the long-acknowledged and widespread association of wind instrumentalists with English cathedrals in the late 16th and 17th centuries, and the continued performance tradition enjoyed by sacred vocal music of the period, the performance practices of English cathedral wind bands during this time have been strangely neglected in the existing literature. Drawing on a combination of traditional musicological and archival research and bespoke practice-led research methodologies, this article discusses some possible solutions to the question of how wind instrumentalists may have been employed in the day-to-day enactment of Prayer Book services during a turbulent period of English history. New archival evidence surrounding the life of William Mather, cornettist at Canterbury Cathedral in the years before the suspension of sung worship in 1642, sheds new light on the interplay between civic and ecclesiastical music-making in the city, contributing to our knowledge of the historical and social contexts of the people and practices involved, and offering a tantalizing glimpse into life in the 17th-century gig economy.

Enduring impacts of cathedral choral training on choristers’ lives

ABSTRACT Investigations of the English Cathedral Choral tradition have ranged from studies of the pedagogical practices and environmental affordances and constraints that support choral excellence to the introduction of female voices into a male-dominated musical practice. Studies of choral participation have investigated the health and wellbeing outcomes of choral participation across the lifespan, and the psychological benefits and life skills of teamwork and leadership that develop in choral settings. These studies have focused on perceptions of current participation. Less is known of the enduring impacts of early choral participation across the lifespan. This study investigates two former cathedral choristers’ experience through extended interview and narrative case studies. Both choristers reported participation in the cathedral choir as significant and life-changing, continuing to impact them many years later. Chorister habits of thought and practice including attention to detail, care of others, assuming leadership, and self-discipline were reported to endure in life beyond the choir. Being thrust into the midst of a politically charged policy change introducing female cathedral choristers created life-forming experiences for girls, in what was retrospectively described as a first act of feminism. This research provides insights into the ways in which extra-curricular ensembles and vocal tuition shape possible musical selves.

Digitally aided analysis of medieval vaults in an English cathedral, using generative design tools

Medieval masons relied on a ruler and compass to generate designs of increasing complexity in both two and three dimensions. They understood that arcs and lines could be used for proportioning, working with halves, thirds, fifths and so on, rather than specific dimensions. Geometric rules enabled them to create vaulted bays, high up in church and cathedral interiors. In recent years, the influence of digital generative design tools can be seen in our built environment. We will explore generative design to reverse engineer and better understand the design and computational processes that the medieval masons might have employed at our case study site of Exeter Cathedral, England. Our focus is on a run of bays along the nave, which at first appear consistent in their design, yet in reality are subtly different. We will investigate the capacity for changes in the generative process while preserving the overall medieval design concept.

The Developing Female Chorister Voice: Case-Study Evidence of Musical Development

The human singing voice changes throughout the lifespan and there are gender-specific variations that need to be taken into account. Life changes in terms of voice are different for females and males and this paper concentrates on the female singing voice in the context of choral singing. Case-study data from three choristers are presented relating to the changing female voice during puberty as part of a longitudinal study of female choristers in a major English Cathedral Choir School. In addition, discussion is presented on important considerations with respect to the female choral singing voice with a particular focus on specific choral aspects during rehearsals and performance.

English Cathedral Music and Liturgy in the Twentieth Century. By Martin Thomas . Farnham: Ashgate, 2015. xvii + 265 pp. $122.00 cloth; $54.95 paper.

English Cathedral Music and Liturgy in the Twentieth Century. By Martin Thomas . Farnham: Ashgate, 2015. xvii + 265 pp. $122.00 cloth; $54.95 paper.

Creating Citizens: The Institutional Character of Cathedrals

This is the third in a series of reflections about Anglican cathedrals written by those of us who have been given custodianship of these great buildings: Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, Washington National Cathedral, and Salisbury Cathedral. Jane Shaw and Gary Hall have already described, from their context in the United States, how cathedrals across the whole Anglican Communion are icons of visible Christianity and mother churches within our dioceses. In the West, where churchgoing as a routine habit is on the decline- the Church of England lost a million regular attenders in the decade of the 1990s-our cathedrals are seen as beacons of confident, open Christianity making a difference through exceptional worship and outreach. What is happening within these buildings, whether small, middling, or large, is an intriguing phenomenon of contemporary Christianity. Regardless of size, they stand large on our landscapes, be they geographical or social, urban or rural.All of our Anglican cathedrals draw on the legacy of ancient foundations. Some, such as Salisbury Cathedral, have capitular foundations which go back over a thousand years, with buildings that predate the dissolution of the monasteries, Reformation zeal, the transforming worldview of the Enlightenment, and the collapse of empires. Some have libraries that contain manuscripts as early as Anglo Saxon. For all of us life tends to be measured in decades rather than weeks. Even twentieth-century cathedrals draw on those same ancient rhythms and habits of worship, shared common life, hospitality, outreach, education, and learning. In South Sudan, where civil society is as fragile as anywhere on the Anglican map, new dioceses enthusiastically build themselves a cathedral, many with basic materials of corrugated iron and brick, and the then appoints a dean and canons who build the diocese with him in that tradition of wellordered liturgy and the proclamation of the Word of God.Here in the Provinces of Canterbury and York, the Church of England has recently started offering its bishops and deans a newly created form of professional training. The body that won the contract for providing this training is a business school, so most current episcopal and decanal leaders will have joined MBA students in Cambridge for intensive courses where the skill sets offered are not theological but organizational and managerial.You can understand the justification for this investment of the church's resources. Deans are responsible for significant and complex enterprises involving heritage buildings and historic environments, commercial operations and schools alongside being also priests and guardians of the spiritualities of these communities of prayer. If things go wrong in a cathedral it tends to make national headlines. In recent memory, one English cathedral has had to be rescued from bankruptcy, another from a crisis brought on by the Occupy movement, and another from the scandal of historic child abuse by one of its leading volunteers. All manage the more routine risks of reputation and finance, with a severe breakdown of relationships always the most painful of threats. In the face of such responsibilities deans could legitimately ask what provision the church makes for equipping them for the task. Hence most of the English deans have found themselves students of accountancy skills, project management, marketing, and other forms of strategic leadership in a mini MBA program.In the two previous articles describing the experience of the modern Anglican cathedral, my fellow deans Jane Shaw and Gary Hall gave abundant evidence of the popularity of cathedral life. From being narrowly and exclusively the seat of the bishop they have become a trusted public space in which the whole community gathers, extending a truly Christ-like model of the church as a safe space in which people of all faiths or none meet to do risky or difficult things. These are not primarily structures for congregational existence, though multiple congregations thrive within them. …

English Cathedral Music and Liturgy in the Twentieth Century. By Martin Thomas . Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate Publishing, 2015. xiii + 265 pp. $119.95 hardcover.

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Tourism donations in sacred settings: an exploratory study of visitor donations in an English cathedral

Cathedrals have become important visitor attractions, but sacred buildings are typically ancient structures with high conservation and maintenance running costs that their managers struggle to fund. Cathedrals remain underfunded visitor attractions due to the limited opportunities for revenue generation they present. Visitor donations can be an appropriate way to raise much-needed funding, but any commercial activity in a sacred setting must allow the site to maintain its spiritual character. This paper explored visitor attitudes towards donations in Chichester Cathedral through the use of a self-administered questionnaire. It found that 94% of respondents were aware of the donation appeals and that 71% of them went on to make a donation, with the visitors aged 50 to 69 and living within 25 miles of the Cathedral being the most frequent and generous donors. When asked to suggest what they would consider an appropriate donation, 44% of respondents gave a figure between £1 and £2. This paper suggest measures that Chichester Cathedral managers can implement to increase visitor donations and makes recommendations on how other similar heritage attractions and sacred sites can increase visitor donations. Among these recommendations, the most significant is the identification and targeting of donors’ personal meanings to give a donation and in the case of Chichester Cathedral, to specifically target these on their local, middle-aged visitors.

English Cathedral Music and Liturgy in the Twentieth Century. By Martin Thomas

<i>English Cathedral Music and Liturgy in the Twentieth Century</i>. By Martin Thomas

Truro Cathedral: Spires of hope on the Duchy peninsula

A case-study is offered of a modern English cathedral set in a predominantly rural and less prosperous region of Britain. The author seeks to highlight the distinctiveness of this particular cathedral ministry as well as experiences in common with many other English cathedrals from the perspective of a participant observer. The unique social and religious inheritance in the Duchy of Cornwall leads to a diverse mix of local cultures strongly influenced by Celtic traditions that serve to emphasize its independence from its English neighbours. Truro Cathedral’s role as a community utility beyond the Church of England in giving voice to the role of the established church in this region is explored. This discussion refers to the challenges of responding to implicit and explicit expressions of contemporary religion. Generational differences, in particular, focus the cathedral’s attention on offering a generous hospitality to individual spiritual and religious exploration while maintaining its core values and purpose that have come to be summarized as ‘Sacred Space, Common Ground’. The growing diversity of ministry of this English cathedral at the heart of regional life is an encouragement to the continuing life of the Church of England in this extremity of the South West.

The English Cathedral

The English Cathedral

In search of heterotopia? Motivations of visitors to an English cathedral

AbstractThis paper explores visitor motivations at an English cathedral, and the role that heterotopia plays in their motives. More than a third of visitors to Chichester Cathedral appear to be motivated by a subconscious search for a spiritual experience, hidden by rational motives such as interest in history. It concludes by examining the management implications that arise from a potential lack of understanding about visitors' motivations. Cathedral managers should acknowledge their visitors' intrinsic sense of spirituality and recognise their spiritual motivations through interpretation, which should encourage them to explore their personal narratives around the emotional dimension of visiting a cathedral. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

The inter‐reflexive possibilities of dual observations: an account from and through experience

In this article, we explore the methodological possibilities of dual observation and ‘inter‐reflexive’ interpretation as we have experienced this in a longitudinal ethnographic case study of music teaching and learning in an English Cathedral Choir School. Our intent here is to understand the ways in which our particular historical, social and cultural perspectives lead us to partial yet complementary sensings, seeings, hearings and feelings in this setting, and the ramifications of this for the interpretations we bring to observational data, and the subsequent development of interpretive narrative accounts. Through an analysis of our respective narrative accounts of our first observational encounter in the research setting, and subsequent ‘inter‐reflexive’ interpretation, we seek to interrogate the ways in which a plausible, credible and believable narrative can be developed through the separate and joint analyses of storied reflexive observation.

Norwich Cathedral Close: The Evolution of the English Cathedral Landscape. Roberta Gilchrist

Previous articleNext article No AccessReviewsNorwich Cathedral Close: The Evolution of the English Cathedral Landscape. Roberta Gilchrist Virgina JansenVirgina Jansen Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Speculum Volume 82, Number 4Oct., 2007 The journal of the Medieval Academy of America Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1017/S0038713400011593 Views: 11Total views on this site Copyright 2007 The Medieval Academy of AmericaPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Norwich Cathedral Close: The Evolution of the English Cathedral Landscape

This is an original and important study of the close and claustral buildings of Norwich cathedral. This vast close of some forty acres is unusual in having been imposed on a partly built-up area of the Anglo-Saxon town. It is particularly well documented because so many obedientary rolls survive, and it has been closely studied in recent years, not least by Professor Gilchrist during a long period as Cathedral Archaeologist. Her study of the claustral buildings shows how coherent, and how closely integrated, was the Romanesque plan. Also how grand it was. Almost the most impressive of the illustrations (which are brilliant) is an imaginative reconstruction of what dinner-time in the refectory (170 feet long and 40 feet wide) would have looked like before the fire of 1272. The author's account puts the claustral buildings into a comparative context of English and Continental developments and makes such interesting suggestions as...

:Norwich Cathedral Close: The Evolution of the English Cathedral Landscape

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Norwich Cathedral Close: The Evolution of the English Cathedral Landscape &lt;I&gt;Studies in the History of Medieval Religion&lt;/I&gt;, vol. 26

Norwich Cathedral Close: The Evolution of the English Cathedral Landscape &lt;I&gt;Studies in the History of Medieval Religion&lt;/I&gt;, vol. 26

Episcopal Visitation of Cathedrals in the Church of England

In December 1994 the Revd Philip LS Barrett BD MA FRHistS FSA, Rector of Compton and Otterbourne in the Diocese of Winchester, successfully submitted a dissertation to the University of Wales College of Cardiff for the degree of LLM in Canon Law, entitled ‘Episcopal Visitation of Cathedrals in the Church of England’. Philip Barrett, best known for his magisterial study, Barchester: English Cathedral Life in the Nineteenth Century (SPCK1993), died in 1998. The subject matter of this dissertation is of enduring importance and interest to those engaged in the life and work of cathedrals, and the Editor invited Canon Peter Atkinson, Chancellor of Chichester Cathedral, to repare it for publication in this Journal, so that the author's work might receive a wider circulation, but at a manageable length. In 1999 a new Cathedrals Measure was enacted, following upon the recommendations of the Howe Commission, published in the report Heritage and Renewal (Church House Publishing 1994). The author was able to refer to the report, but not to the Measure, or to the revision of each set of cathedral Statutes consequent upon that Measure. While this limits the usefulness of the author's work as a point of reference for the present law of cathedral visitations, its value as an historical introduction remains.

Listener perception of and acoustic differences between girl and boy choristers in an English cathedral choir

For centuries, boy choristers have been singing the top (treble) line in English cathedrals. Girl choristers were first admitted in 1991, and there is a long-running debate as to whether they can carry out this role appropriately. This paper will detail the results from two listening experiments designed to establish whether or not listeners can tell the difference between girl and boy choristers singing the top line in cathedral music. In the first experiment, 189 listeners took part and on average they were able to tell the difference 60% of the time; this was statistically significant over chance. The results suggested that repertoire played a significant part in this ability, and the second experiment was carried out in which the boys and girls sang the same repertoire. Nearly 170 listeners have completed this experiment and, on average, they are making guesses (correct 52% of the time). The paper will discuss the acoustic differences between the stimuli with respect to the singing of boy and girl choristers, while placing the discussion in the context of the English cathedral tradition.