The Changing Face of Worcester
Clive R. Haynes FRPS
Worcester Cathedral
THE CATHEDRAL BY THE SEVERN
For almost 900 years the skyline of Worcester has been dominated by the great Cathedral of St. Mary. Despite this long history, there is scant documentary evidence for the earliest beginnings and as for the details of its predecessor, we are only left to conjecture - our imagination fired by the few tantalising glimpses gained through archaeology.
In the post Roman period, three church sites have been identified near the northern edge of the defensive ditch which surrounded the settlement. The churches are those of St. Helen's, St. Alban's and St. Margaret's (the latter has disappeared completely, but was in the vicinity of the western section of the car park between the Worcester College of Technology and the river).
The Hwicce (probably pronounced "Witcher"), an Anglo-Saxon tribe, occupied the Worcester area which was to become the Diocese of Worcester.
In the middle of the 7th Century a group of missionaries sent by Princess Hilda of Whitby, established a monastic community. They erected a simple church on a river terrace.
During the 7th century the English Church was in a state of reorganisation and as a result, a see at Worcester was established with Bosel as its first Bishop. Bosel set to work and supervised the building of the first Cathedral, dedicated to St. Peter. Unfortunately, no physical evidence of this early building remains.
In 961, Oswald, a leading cleric in the monastic reform, became Bishop. He organised the Benedictine monastic community at Worcester along more formal lines and to accommodate the community, built a new Cathedral, dedicated to St. Mary, which was completed in 983.
Artist's impression of Oswald's Cathedral & Benedictine Monastery Ca 983
Following the Norman Conquest in 1066 all Saxon Bishops were removed from office with one exception, Wulfstan (Wulstan). He had been Prior at the time of attacks by the Danes during which the Cathedral had been sacked. The number of monks had dropped to only twelve by the time Wulstan became Bishop, in 1062, and he set about restoring the community and replacing the badly damaged church.
Described as a man of striking personality and genuine piety, he soon had a community of fifty monks, and by 1084, had started work on a new cathedral church. Within five years the monks had moved into the new Cathedral. As Wulfstan ordered the church of Oswald to be unroofed and destroyed, it is probable that it stood in the building line of the new nave and cloister. It is also probable that fragments from Oswald's Saxon Cathedral were, where useful, incorporated into the new building.
These Saxon fragments can be seen in the cloisters and the vaulting of the undercroft, adjacent to the dormitory ruins.
Wulfstan's new Cathedral was built from pale Cotswold limestone and green Highley sandstone. The design was simple and spacious, whitewashed inside and out. The crypt, with its ambulatory, side chapels and apsidal east end, is the most evident survivor from this early period The finest remaining Norman crypt in the country, it great sinews of masonry reach out to form the vaulting, giving an impression of strength and serenity.
By the end of the 12th century, the building had expanded to include a massive bell tower or 'clochium'.
Artist's impression of Worcester Cathedral Ca end 12th Cent.
It had long been thought that the shrines of both St. Oswald and St. Wulstan were in the crypt, but research can find no evidence for this and archaeology supports this view, as the floor of the ambulatory does not exhibit the sort of wear one would expect from the passage of the thousands of pilgrims who would have paid homage there.
Remains indicate that the extent of Wulfstan's building was as wide as the Cathedral today, the nave being the same length, with the tower and north and south transepts being of equal area to those that now stand.
Over the course of the next two hundred years, the Cathedral continued to evolve, under the care of successive Bishops, master masons and craftsmen, reflecting , as it changed, transitions in fashion and architectural style.
By the end of the 14th century, the cathedral was virtually complete and pilgrims from that time wouldn't have too much difficulty in recognising the building that we so admire today.
Artist's impression of Worcester Cathedral Ca end 14th Cent.
The Benedictine Order survived for some six hundred years at the Cathedral, until the Dissolution in the reign of Henry VIII.
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