DURHAM CATHEDRAL HAS BEEN

DESCRIBED AS ONE OF THE GREAT

ARCHITECTURAL EXPERIENCES OF
EUROPE.
It is renowned as a masterpiece of Romanesque (or Norman)
architecture. It was begun in 1093 and largely completed within
40 years. It is the only cathedral in England to retain almost all
of its Norman craftsmanship, and one of few to preserve the
unity and integrity of its original design.
The Cathedral was built as a place of worship, specifically to
house the shrine of the North's best-loved saint, Cuthbert, in
whose honour pilgrims came to Durham from all over England.
It was also the home of a Benedictine monastic community. For
more information about St Benedict and Benedictine
monasticism in Durham visit the Order of St Benedict
website. The Cathedral holds an annual Benedictine Week when
there is an opportunity to explore in more depth the historical
and living tradition of St Benedict, focusing on its expression at
Durham Cathedral in the past and present.
The Cathedral also served a political and military function by reinforcing the authority of the
prince-bishops over England's northern border.

The Cathedral is built on a peninsula of land created by a loop in

the River Wear and the west end towers over a precipitous
gorge. The northern front of the Cathedral faces onto Palace
green and here the full 496 foot (143 metres) length from west to
east can be seen. The nave, quire and transepts are all Norman,
at the west end is the twelfth-century late Norman style Galilee
Chapel and at the east end the thirteenth-century Chapel of the
Nine Altars is in the Gothic style. The western towers date from
the twelth and thirteenth centuries and the great central tower is
the most recent addition, it dates from the fifteenth century and
displays perpendicular Gothic detailing.
The Cloister, on the south side of the Cathedral, was begun at
the same time as the Cathedral but contains much work from the
fifteenth century or later. Many of the Claustral buildings are
open to the public and full details can be found under Visiting
the Cathedral. The College, the name given in Durham to the
Cathedral Close, is a quiet area on the south side of the
Cathedral. It is the home of the Cathedral clergy and others
associated with its life, and of the Chorister School, a co-
educational school where the Cathedral choir boys are educated.
Many of the buildings surrounding the Green originated in the
Middle Ages, and entry is gained via the medieval gate house
which is still locked every night. Buildings in the College are
not open to the public. The Reformation was a watershed in the
Cathedral's history as it brought the dissolution of the Priory and
its monastic community. The monastery was surrendered to the
Crown in December 1540, thus ending hundreds of years of
monastic life at the Cathedral. In January 1541 the Cathedral
was refounded, the last Prior became the first Dean, and twelve
former monks became the first Canons.
Much valuable information about life in the Cathedral in the
period immediately prior to the dissolution can be found in a
1591 work, The Rites of Durham which it is presumed was
written by a former member of the monastic community and is
available in the Cathedral. Despite the continuity of some of the
personnel, this period must have been very traumatic in the life
of the Cathedral as medieval worship and monastic life gave
way to the new Book of Common Prayer.
There was much regrettable destruction of historic furnishings
and artefacts in the later sixteenth century as the reforms were
zealously upheld. During the Civil War and the Commonwealth
period in the seventeenth century things became even worse in
Durham; in 1650 the Cathedral was closed and used by
Cromwell to incarcerate 3,000 Scottish prisoners. With the
Restoration in 1660, the new bishop of Durham - John Cosin, a
former Canon - set about refurbishing the church and his work
can be seen in the quire with its richly carved woodwork.
The late eighteenth century was another sad period in the history
of the Cathedral as there was much unfortunate work to the
fabric of the Cathedral including the chiselling off of between 2
and 3 inches of stone from most of the exterior and the
demolition of part of the Norman Chapter House. Luckily the
idea of demolishing the Galilee Chapel was abandoned. The
Chapter House was rebuilt to the original design in 1895.
The nineteenth century also saw the introduction of much of the
stained glass in the Cathedral and the Scott screen in the
crossing. The Bishop of Durham and the Cathedral Chapter
founded Durham University in 1832. In the twentieth and
twenty-first centuries the emphasis has been on sensitive conservation, along
with the introduction of some contemporary art. The Cathedral is also responsible for the care
and upkeep of the woodland and riverbanks which provide the stunning setting for the Cathedral
when seen from the west.

Today the Cathedral thrives as a place of worship, welcome and hospitality. It continues to be a
focal point for the community of Durham and the wider North East region offering a deep sense
of place to all who come.
The Plan
The building takes the form of a Latin cross, centered on
the four great piers of the crossing. Thechoir extended
four bays to the east and originally terminated with a short
bay which lead into a semicircular apse (some remains of
which were recovered in nineteenth-century excavations).
The aisles also terminated in apses and these were
encased with rectangular outer walls. Thetransepts, which
extend north and south for four bays, are furnished with
an aisle on the eastern side. Stair turrets project at the
north-west and south-west angles. The aisled nave is eight
bays long, and terminates at the west in two towers.
Throughout the building there is an alternating system of
major and minor piers.

Closer scrutiny of the plan reveals a number or

irregularities which have a bearing on the history and
design of the building:

in the choir the major piers are longer and more

substantial than those elsewhere.

in the transepts the piers are irregularly spaced and

the ribs of the vault (indicated on plans by dotted
lines) are not well co-ordinated with the piers.

at the west end of the nave the alternation of piers

is interrupted by an extra set of major piers, which
are there to support the towers.
WE'LL INSERT THE PLAN WHEN WE HAVE INFORMATION

The Interior Elevations of the Building

Durham is built with a three storey elevation, comprising an arcade, gallery and clerestory. The
main arches, which are supported alternately on cylindrical (minor) and compound (major) piers,
have their soffits (under surfaces) decorated with roll mouldings. The minor cylindrical piers are
furnished with incised decorationspiral patterns, zig-zags, losenges and flutes. The gallery
opens to the nave through a sub-divided arch. Single round headed windows provide illumination
at clerestory level.

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gallery, in the nave in the nave
clerestory, showing incised showing incised
compound zig-zag zig-zag
piers, and (chevron) (chevron)
cylindrical piers decoration decoration

In the choir a slight offset at the base of the gallery provides a

ledge for the support of engaged shafts (three above the minor
piers), one at each side of the major piers). The gallery has an
outer enclosing arch, with a pair of sub arches below. it is
noticeable that the clerestory windows are not aligned vertically
to the arches of the gallery. The present vaults over the choir
belong to the thirteenth century, but at certain points the marks
of the earlier Romanesque vault can be seen.
The minor piers of choir and transepts are not constructed as
complete cylinders. On their outer (aisle) face a group
of responds is incorporated into the pier, designed to provide a
support for the ribs of the aisle. A corresponding set of responds
was provided along the aisle wall.

The original ribbed vaults survive in the aisles, and these are
decorated with a torus or roll moulding on their soffits. It is
important to note that the diagonal ribs are depressed, following
only a segment of a circle (i.e. they do not form a complete
semi-circle). The aisle walls in the choir (i.e. the 'dado'), like
those throughout the building, are decorated with intersecting
arches, supported on pairs of engaged shafts.

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In the transepts certain alterations in the design can be observed, the most important of which is
the addition of a wall passage at clerestory level. Furthermore, above the minor piers, there are
now two, rather than three, engaged shafts. In the outer bay these do not support any ribs; they
are in fact redundant, continuing upwards, before vanishing into the cells of the vault. The high
vaults are irregular in plan, the outer two bays of both transepts being covered by a single
quadripartite vault. At the south-west and north-west corners the ribs spring awkwardly from the
angle of the stair turret. On the west walls, the ribs are supported by sculptured corbels rather
than engaged shafts.

In the south transept the clerestory windows are flanked by tall, narrow arches, which have been
blocked, evidently when the ribbed vault was constructed. By contrast, in the north transept the
corresponding arches take a different form, being carefully designed to fit within the curve of the
vaulting cells. Another difference between the two transepts can be found in the decoration of the
ribs. In the south transept they are ornamented with chevron ornament, whereas in the north a
plain torus moulding suffices.

Although the design of the nave broadly follows that of the transepts, further alterations can be
detected. The minor piers were slightly enlarged and now took the form of pure cylinders.
Without any engaged shafts to support the ribs of the aisle, the latter are, as a consequence,
supported on the abacus of the main capital. Against the aisle wall a circular respond was
introduced to correspond with the curved face of the minor piers.

In the gallery a second order was introduced into the enclosing arch. Inside the gallery itself (and
not visible from ground level) quadrant arches were placed at the back of all the piers; these
contrast with the semi-circular arches found in the equivalent position in the choir. At clerestory
level the design is similar to that in the north transept with sub arches flanking the main window
opening.

The nave is covered by quadripartite ribbed vaults, arranged in pairs over each of the double
bays. The ribs themselves spring from corbels set in the wall, rather than from engaged shafts as
was the case in the choir. Above the major (compound) piers are transverse arches, which
accentuate the rhythm of the double bays. These transverse arches are pointed in profile, a
contrast to those in the transept which are stilted semi-circles.

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Quadripartite vaults in the Chevron ornament in the
nave nave

Chevron ornament was employed extensively in the nave,

decorating most of the arches as well as the ribs of the
vault. The chevron is, however, absent from the first two
(eastern) arches, and from the first arches north and south
of the gallery.

Towers were constructed above the western bays of the

aisles, each of which was widened to allow for the greater
dimensions of the towers. Apart from an extra set of major
piers, the existence of the towers is not immediately
obvious from inside the building, and the main elevations
of the building continue unbroken to the west faade.

The west faade which overlooks the steep valley of the

river Wear, is partially blocked by the addition of the
Galilee Chapel c. 117580. This takes the form of a five
aisled building, with a series of three arcades, richly
decorated with chevron ornament. The piers consist of
clusters of four slender detached shafts, surmounted by
plain 'chalice' capitals. In contrast to the main body of the
cathedral, the Galilee chapel was not covered by a stone
vault.