DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Cathedral Church of Peterborough" (A Description Of Its Fabric And A Brief History Of The Episcopal See) by W. D. Sweeting. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.
The British Archaeological Association Conference held at Peterborough in 2015 provided a welcome opportunity for a new analysis of the cathedral’s architecture, sculpture and artistic production, and a reassessment of the relationship between the former abbey, the city and its institutions, and the Soke over which it held sway. This ambitious volume casts new light on the Roman occupation of the Nene valley, and the rich Anglo-Saxon sculptural and manuscript context that preceded the construction of the present cathedral, as well as exploring the vital Romanesque tradition of the Soke and the essential contribution of the Barnack quarries. But inevitably the most exciting new disclosures concern the church: its high-quality building campaigns during the 12th to 16th centuries, its abbots’ tombs and the reconstruction of the lost 14th-century High Altar screen from descriptions and loose fragments. Peterborough has attracted the attention of antiquarian scholars since its sacking by Cromwell’s men during the Civil War, and as its secrets are gradually revealed it continues to stimulate the historical imagination.
This book sets the work of Frank Selwyn Macaulay Bennett, Dean of Chester 1920–37, in context, and traces the influence on other cathedrals of the changes he instituted at Chester. His earlier work as parish priest and his interrelated writings on theology and on education, health, and ecumenism are examined for the light they shed on his practice. Despite the efforts of his predecessors, Bennett found Chester Cathedral in need of much repair and renovation if it were to match his ideal and fulfill the purpose he had in mind for it. In the early twentieth century Anglican cathedrals in England were generally perceived as remote and unwelcoming places and of interest mainly to antiquarians seeking to inspect their monuments; admission charges were levied on visitors. Frank Bennett changed all this. In 1920, he promptly declared Chester Cathedral "open and free"; he would lock up nothing except the safe. "Visitors" now became "pilgrims", whose voluntary offerings rapidly surpassed the sums previously raised by compulsory entry charges. By the time he retired in 1937, the Cathedral’s finances were in credit; the fabric of the church and adjoining monastic buildings had been repaired, renovated, and developed, and all were fully in use, as Bennett had planned in 1920.
Vols. for 1871-76, 1913-14 include an extra number, The Christmas bookseller, separately paged and not included in the consecutive numbering of the regular series.
