Бристольский собор: История архитектуры и святыни

The earliest surviving fabric is the late 12th century chapter house, which contains some of the first uses of pointed arches in England. The eastern end of the church is medieval, the oldest part being the early 13th century elder lady chapel. The remainder of the east end was rebuilt in the English Decorated Gothic style during the 14th century as a hall church, with aisles the same height as the central choir. In the 15th century the transepts were rebuilt and the central tower added. The nave was incomplete when the abbey was dissolved in 1539 and demolished; a Gothic Revival replacement was constructed in the 19th century by George Edmund Street, partially to the original plans. The western towers, designed by John Loughborough Pearson, were completed in 1888. In addition to the cathedral's architectural features, it contains several memorials and an historic organ. Little of the original stained glass remains, with some being replaced in the Victorian era and further losses during the Bristol Blitz.

Bristol Cathedral was founded as St Augustine's Abbey in 1140 by Robert Fitzharding, a wealthy local landowner and royal official who later became Lord Berkeley. As the name suggests, the monastic precinct housed Augustinian canons. The original abbey church, of which only fragments remain, was constructed between 1140 and 1148 in the Romanesque style, known in England as Norman. The Venerable Bede made reference to St Augustine of Canterbury visiting the site in 603ACE, and John Leland had recorded that it was a long established religious shrine. William Worcester recorded in his Survey of Bristol that the original Augustinian abbey church was further to the east of the current site, though that was rebuilt as the church of St Augustine the Less. That site was bombed during World War II and the site built on by the Royal Hotel, but archaeological finds were deposited with Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. Further stone buildings were erected on the site between 1148 and 1164. Three examples of this phase survive, the chapterhouse and the abbey gatehouse, now the diocesan office, together with a second Romanesque gateway, which originally led into the abbot's quarters. T. H. B. Burrough, a local architectural historian, describes the former as "the finest Norman chapter house still standing today". In 1154 King Henry II greatly increased the endowment and wealth of the abbey as reward to Robert Fitzharding, for his support during The Anarchy which brought Henry II to the throne. This building, which still stands, was to become known as the "Elder Lady Chapel". The architect, referred to in a letter as 'L', is thought to have been Adam Lock, master mason of Wells Cathedral. The stonework of the eastern window of this chapel is by William the Geometer, of about 1280. Abbot David argued with the convent and was deposed in 1234 to be replaced by William of Bradstone who purchased land from the mayor to build a quay and the Church of St Augustine the Less. The next abbot was William Longe, the Chamberlain of Keynsham, whose reign was found to have lacked discipline and had poor financial management. In 1280 he resigned and was replaced as abbot by Abbot Hugh who restored good order, with money being given by Edward I. The new diocese was created from parts of the Diocese of Gloucester and the Diocese of Bath and Wells; The new cathedral was dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Between the merger of the old Bristol diocese back into the Gloucester diocese on 5 October 1836 and the re erection of the new independent Bristol diocese on 9 July 1897, Bristol Cathedral was a joint and equal cathedral of the Diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. George Gilbert Scott was consulted in 1860 and suggested removing the screen dated 1542 to provide 'a nave of the grandest possible capacity'. The work at this time also removed some of the more vulgar medieval misericords in the choir stalls. clearing the houses which had been built, crowded onto the site of the former nave, including Minster House. However, the west front with its twin towers, designed by John Loughborough Pearson, was only completed in 1888. The niches around the north porch originally held statues of St Gregory, St Ambrose, St Jerome and St Augustine, but their frivolous detail invoked letters of protest to their "Catholic" design.

The full peal of eight bells was installed in the north west tower, taken from the ruins of Temple Church after the bombing of World War II. In 1994, the ceremony took place in Bristol Cathedral for the first 32 women to be ordained as Church of England priests. Since the early 2000s, the cathedral's associations with the legacy of philanthropist and enslaver Edward Colston have been the subject of public debate, resulting in changes to annual commemoration services and memorials inside the cathedral.

Another feature of Bristol Cathedral is the vaulting of its various medieval spaces. The work that was carried out under Abbot Knowle is unique in this regard, with not one, but three unique vaults. In vaulting a roof space using stone ribs and panels of infill, the bearing ribs all spring from columns along the walls. There is commonly a rib called the ridge rib which runs along the apex of the vault. There may be intermediate or "tierceron" ribs, which have their origin at the columns. In Decorated Gothic there are occasionally short lierne ribs connecting the bearing and tierceron ribs at angles, forming stellar patterns. This is the feature that appears at Bristol, at a very early date, and quite unlike the way that "lierne" ribs are used elsewhere. In this case, there is no ridge rib, and the lierne ribs are arranged to enclose a series of panels that extend the whole way along the centre of the choir roof, interacting with the large east window by reflecting the light from the smoothly arching surfaces. From the nave can be seen the intricate tracery of the east window echoed in the rich lierne pattern of the tower vault, which is scarcely higher than the choir, and therefore clearly visible. The two aisles of the choir both also have vaults of unique character, with open transverse arches and ribs above the stone bridges.

The 13th century East Lady Chapel is built of red sandstone in an Early English style, making it stand out from the rest of the building. It is four bays long and has a vaulted ceiling. The windows are supported by Blue Lias shafts matching those between the bays. Much of the chapel, including the piscina and sedilia, is decorated with stylised foliage, in a style known as "stiff leaf".

Street's design followed the form of the Gothic choir. On a plan or elevation it is not apparent that the work is of a different era. But Street designed an interior that respected the delicate proportions of the ribs and mouldings of the earlier work, but did not imitate their patterns. Street's nave is vaulted with a conservative vault with tierceron ribs, rising at the same pitch as the choir. Street's aisle vaults again echo their counterparts in the mediaeval chancel, using open vaulting above the stone bridges, but the transverse vaults are constructed differently.

The cathedral has two unusual and often reproduced monuments, the Berkeley memorials. These are set into niches in the wall, and each is surrounded by a canopy of inverted cusped arches. Pearson's screen, completed in 1905,

The late Norman chapter house, situated south of the transept, Some of the early glass is also incorporated into the Tree of Jesse which goes across nine lights. During the restoration led by Street, most of the work on the glass was by Hardman & Co.; these include the rose window and towers at the west end and the Magnificat in the Elder Lady Chapel. Some of the most recent stained glass is by Bristolian Arnold Wathen Robinson following damage during the Bristol Blitz of 1940 and 1941. These included depictions of local Civil Defence during World War II including St. John Ambulance, the British Red Cross and the fire services along with air raid wardens, police officers, the Home Guard and the Women's Voluntary Service. The most recent glass is an abstract expressionist interpretation of the Holy Spirit designed by Keith New in 1965 and installed in the south choir. A Victorian era window under the cathedral's clock, marked "to the glory of God and in memory of Edward Colston" and commemorating that 17th century Royal African Company magnate and Bristol philanthropist, was ordered to be covered in June 2020 in advance of its eventual removal. The Diocese of Bristol also decided to remove from the cathedral other dedications to Colston after the toppling of the late 19th century Statue of Edward Colston in the city centre on 7 June 2020, along with the removal of another stained glass window at St Mary Redcliffe. The high altar stone reredos are by John Loughborough Pearson of 1899. The three rows of choir stalls are mostly from the late 19th century with Flamboyant traceried ends. There are also 28 misericords dating from 1515 to 1526, installed by Robert Elyot, Abbot of St. Augustine's, with carvings largely based on Aesop's Fables. In the Berkeley chapel is a very rare candelabrum of 1450 from the Temple church in Bristol. The monuments within the cathedral include recumbent figures and memorials of several abbots and bishops: Abbot Walter Newbery who died in 1473 and Abbot William Hunt (died 1481) are within 14th century recesses on the north side of the Lady Chapel, while the recumbent effigy of Abbot John Newland (died 1515) is in a similar recess on the southern side. The coffin lid of Abbot David (died 1234) is in the north transept. In the north choir aisle is a chest tomb to Bishop Bush (died 1558) which includes six fluted Ionic columns with an entablature canopy. Also honoured are: Thomas Westfield, Bishop of Bristol (1642–1644), Thomas Howell (Bishop of Bristol) (1644–1645), Gilbert Ironside the elder, Bishop of Bristol (1661–1671), William Bradshaw (bishop), Bishop of Bristol (1724–1732), Joseph Butler, Bishop of Bristol (1738–1750), John Conybeare, Bishop of Bristol (1750–1755) and Robert Gray (bishop of Bristol) (1827–1834), who is buried in graveyard attached to the cathedral. The Berkeley family as early benefactors are represented by Maurice de Berkeley (died 1281), *Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley (died 1321), Lord Berkeley (died 1326) and Thomas Berkeley (died 1243) who are depicted in military effigies on the south side of the choir aisle, along with the chest tomb of Maurice Berkeley (died 1368). In addition there are notable monuments to local dignitaries of the 17th and 18th century. There is a perpendicular reredos showing figures kneeling at a prayer desk flanked by angels to Robert Codrington (died 1618) and his wife. Phillip Freke (died 1729) is commemorated with a marble wall tablet in the north choir aisle. The oval wall tablet to Rowland Searchfield, English academic and Bishop of Bristol (died 1622) is made of slate. Dame Joan Wadham (1533–1603) is buried, with her two husbands Sir Giles Strangways and Sir John Young, in an altar tomb at the entrance to Bristol Cathedral. She was one of the sisters and co heiresses (through her issue) of Nicholas Wadham (1531–1609) of Merryfield, Ilton Somerset and of Edge, Branscombe Devon, the co founder with his wife Dorothy Wadham (1534–1618) of Wadham College, Oxford. Dame Joan is represented in effigy lying beneath the armorials of Wadham and those of both her husbands, Giles Strangways MP (1528–1562) of Melbury Sampford, with her the ancestor of the Earls of Ilchester, and John Young MP (1519–1589) with whom she built the Great House Bristol from 1568, of which only the Red Lodge, now the Red Lodge Museum, Bristol and completed by Dame Joan in 1590 after the death of her husband, remains today. Queen Elizabeth I stayed with Joan and Sir John Young at The Great House when she visited Bristol in 1574, and the Red Lodge Museum with its Tudor panelled rooms and wood carvings is only a short walk from the cathedral. The importance of exploration and trade to the city are reflected by a memorial tablet and representation in stained glass of Richard Hakluyt (died 1616) is known for promoting the settlement of North America by the English through his works. He was a prebendary of the cathedral. More recent monuments from the early 18th century to the 20th century include: Mrs Morgan (died 1767) by John Bacon to the design of James Stuart and a bust by Edward Hodges Baily to Robert Southey a Bristolian poet of the Romantic school, one of the so called "Lake Poets", and Poet laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843. Baily also created the monument to William Brane Elwyn (died 1841). The obelisk to local actor William Powell (died 1769) was made by James Paine. The memorial to Elizabeth Charlotte Stanhope (died 1816) in the Newton Chapel is by Richard Westmacott. There is a memorial plaque to the education reformer Mary Carpenter (died 1877).

The organ was originally built in 1685 by Renatus Harris at a cost of £500. This has been removed and repaired many times. However, some of the original work, including the case and pipes, is incorporated into the present instrument, which was built by J. W. Walkers & Sons in 1907, and which is to be found above the stalls on the north side of the choir. It was further restored in 1989. The current restoration of the organ by Harrison & Harrison commenced in January 2024. Prior to the building of the main organ, the cathedral had a chair organ, which was built by Robert Taunton in 1662, and before that one built by Thomas Dallam in 1630.

The earliest known appointment of an organist of Bristol Cathedral is Thomas Denny in 1542. Notable organists have included the writer and composer Percy Buck. The present Organist is Mark Lee and the Assistant Organist Paul Walton.

The first choir at Bristol probably dates from the Augustinian foundation of 1140. The present choir consists has twenty eight choristers, six lay clerks and four choral scholars. The choristers include fourteen boys and fourteen girls, who are educated at Bristol Cathedral Choir School, the first government funded choir academy in England. Choral evensong is sung daily during term. The Bristol Cathedral Concert Choir (formerly Bristol Cathedral Special Choir) was formed in 1954 and comprised sixty singers who presented large scale works such as Bach's St Matthew Passion. ; The Bristol Cathedral Consort is a voluntary choir drawn from young people of the city. They sing Evensong twice a month.

Bristol is also home to a Roman Catholic cathedral, Clifton Cathedral. The Church of England parish church of St. Mary Redcliffe is so grand as to be occasionally mistaken for a cathedral by visitors.