Catch a cathedral Tuesday: B is for Bristol

Along the nave - Bristol with TWO lady chapels

Bristol Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is the Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol. Up the hill towards Clifton on College Green. It was established in 1140 originally as a Romanesque abbey. The Chapter House is the surviving gem of this period.

Two lady chapels ushered in the Gothic style with fine ‘reach-for-the-sky’ carvings. Work on creating a new nave was interrupted by Henry VIII in 1539. Ah yes, the Reformation! 

It was nearly three hundred and thirty years later that G. E. Street finished the job. J.L. Person (architect of Truro Cathedral) added a high altar reredos and the western towers. Job done.

This is a small extract from English Cathedrals: A journey in drawings The book is an affectionate voyage around the country capturing on paper the wonder of these very special places. It is to be published in April 2016. 

Copies can be ordered in advance, £16 including postage and packing, via www.timbaynesart.co.uk