Gloucester Cathedral, West Midlands, England

Gloucester is in my opinion, one of the prettiest Cathedrals in all of Europe. It began its life as a Benedictine monastery, although the site can be traced back to the 7th Century when Osric was King of Mercia.

The Benedictine monastery began in the early 11th Century, when King Cnut gave it to the monks. By the end of the 11th Century, William the Conquer appointed Serlo as Abbot, after this time the Abbey began to grow in wealth and in numbers. Abbot Serlo then began the building of the church we see today. 

In the 12th Century a wall was built around the monastic precincts, part of this wall remains today on the west and south sides of the current Cathedral.  The precinct at one time was over 13 acres.

The Abbey also underwent an extensive re-building program in the 13th Century under Abbot Henry Foliot and was re-dedicated in 1239.

In 1216, Henry III was crowned in the Abbey church at the age of nine; he was the only King to be crowned outside of Westminster Abbey.  His father King John died during the first Barons War and just after the signing of the Magna Carta.  The Baron’s had asked the King of France to take the crown of England, unbelievable as that may be today or even 100 years later. King Louis was also married to the granddaughter of Henry II. A council was formed to protect the young King Henry under William Marshal, which would rule until he came of age but having him crowned in haste was the safest route.  He was crowned only nine days after the death of King John.  

The very short answer reason as to why Henry III was crowned at Gloucester is because Louis of France was in control of London.

Three months after the death (or murder) of Edward II, in 1327, his body was buried in the north aisle of the Presbytery where his effigy stands today. After the burial, his son Edward III provided some of the funds for this part of the Abbey to be upgraded so it would provide a suitable mausoleum for a King. 

In the mid-14th Century a new architectural style, the Perpendicular style, became fashionable, in part because it was English.  Previous architectural styles had originated from the continent but during the 100 years war with France, a more English style of architecture had developed and an early example of this can be found on the tomb of Edward II. 

The medieval church would have originally been divided in two by a great screen.  Beyond the screen, only the monks were allowed to enter. The nave was located on the other side of the screen, where the townspeople could come and listen to the community at prayer.  

The great cloister was more than just a beautiful passageway to the church, where the monks could stay dry.  It was also used by them for quiet meditation, where they could read or write and where silence was always strictly observed. 

The fan vaulting in the cloister dates from the late 14th Century  and early 15th Century and may be the earliest fan vaulting to survive anywhere. 

Each morning the entire community met in the chapter house to discuss Abbey business. They would allocate work for the day, listen to grievances and dole out any punishments.  They would also read a chapter from the rule of St. Benedict.

Gloucester possesses what may be the best preserved Lavatorium, or medieval sink, for washing anywhere. This has been built onto the side of one of the cloister walkways. At the end where there is now a window, could have originally been a towel cupboard. 

At the time of the dissolution, in 1541, the Abbey church of St. Peter was turned into the Cathedral of the Holy and Undivided Trinity.  The wealthy ornaments, silver and jewels which it possessed, were removed for the King’s use. 

During World War II there were fears of the possible destruction of the Great East window, so it was dismantled and kept in the crypt for safe keeping.  The stained glass was labeled so that it could be reconstructed later but the labels were mixed up and it took almost two years to put the puzzle pieces of the stained glass back together. 

Gloucester Cathedral was also used for the majority of interior scenes of Hogwart’s in the Harry Potter movies. 

Most styles of gothic architecture can be seen in Gloucester Cathedral, but the primary building styles are Romanesque dating from the original abbey in the 12th century and Perpendicular dating from the 14th century.

A large amount of Romanesque architecture survives which include the crypt, much of the east end, the nave and Norman chapter house.

There is also representation of the early English and decorated styles which can be seen in the nave’s vaulting and on the Tomb of Edward II.

The Perpendicular style was added after the burial of Edward II when Edward III wanted a more fitting burial place for his father.

The south transept is the earliest surviving example of English Perpendicular architecture.