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Ships of Heaven: The Private Life of Britain's Cathedrals
When Christopher Somerville set out to explore Britain’s cathedrals, he found his fixed ideas shaken to the roots. Starting out, he pictured cathedrals—Britain possesses more than 100—as great unmoving bastions of tradition. But as he journeys among favorites old and new, he discovers buildings and communities that have been in constant upheaval for 1,000 years. Here are stories of the monarchs and bishops who ordered the building of these massive but unstable structures, the masons whose genius brought them into being, the peasant laborers who erected (and died on) the scaffolding. We learn of rogue saints exploited by holy sinners, the pomp and prosperity that followed these ships of stone, the towns that grew up in their shadows, the impact of the Black Death, the Reformation and icon-smashing Puritanism, the revival brought about by the Industrial Revolution, and the hope and disillusion of two world wars. Meeting believers and non-believers, architects and archaeologists, the cleaner who dusts the monuments and the mason who judges stone by its taste, we delve deep into the private lives and the uncertain future of these ever-voyaging Ships of Heaven.

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Ships of Heaven: The Private Life of Britain's Cathedrals
When Christopher Somerville set out to explore Britain’s cathedrals, he found his fixed ideas shaken to the roots. Starting out, he pictured cathedrals—Britain possesses more than 100—as great unmoving bastions of tradition. But as he journeys among favorites old and new, he discovers buildings and communities that have been in constant upheaval for 1,000 years. Here are stories of the monarchs and bishops who ordered the building of these massive but unstable structures, the masons whose genius brought them into being, the peasant laborers who erected (and died on) the scaffolding. We learn of rogue saints exploited by holy sinners, the pomp and prosperity that followed these ships of stone, the towns that grew up in their shadows, the impact of the Black Death, the Reformation and icon-smashing Puritanism, the revival brought about by the Industrial Revolution, and the hope and disillusion of two world wars. Meeting believers and non-believers, architects and archaeologists, the cleaner who dusts the monuments and the mason who judges stone by its taste, we delve deep into the private lives and the uncertain future of these ever-voyaging Ships of Heaven.

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Ships of Heaven: The Private Life of Britain's Cathedrals

Ships of Heaven: The Private Life of Britain's Cathedrals

by Christopher Somerville
Ships of Heaven: The Private Life of Britain's Cathedrals

Ships of Heaven: The Private Life of Britain's Cathedrals

by Christopher Somerville

Overview

When Christopher Somerville set out to explore Britain’s cathedrals, he found his fixed ideas shaken to the roots. Starting out, he pictured cathedrals—Britain possesses more than 100—as great unmoving bastions of tradition. But as he journeys among favorites old and new, he discovers buildings and communities that have been in constant upheaval for 1,000 years. Here are stories of the monarchs and bishops who ordered the building of these massive but unstable structures, the masons whose genius brought them into being, the peasant laborers who erected (and died on) the scaffolding. We learn of rogue saints exploited by holy sinners, the pomp and prosperity that followed these ships of stone, the towns that grew up in their shadows, the impact of the Black Death, the Reformation and icon-smashing Puritanism, the revival brought about by the Industrial Revolution, and the hope and disillusion of two world wars. Meeting believers and non-believers, architects and archaeologists, the cleaner who dusts the monuments and the mason who judges stone by its taste, we delve deep into the private lives and the uncertain future of these ever-voyaging Ships of Heaven.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780857523648
Publisher: Penguin Random House UK
Publication date: 11/01/2019
Pages: 352
Product dimensions: 6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Christopher Somerville is the walking correspondent of the Times. He has written many travel guides for National Geographic and AAA, and he is the author of Walking in Ireland.

Table of Contents

Map ix

The layout of a cathedral x

Introduction 1

Cathedrals: A Short Inspection 5

1 Wells: A Ship of My Own 15

2 Lincoln: Everyman's Barque 33

3 Salisbury: Ship Shape 53

4 Chichester: Dressed Overall 73

5 Canterbury: The Holy Mutineer 87

6 York: Long Hard Haul 103

7 Durham: The Phantom Helmsman 123

8 Ely: The Ship of the Fens 143

9 Worcester, Gloucester and Hereford: 'Commend our bones to Davy Jones, our souls to Fiddler's Green' 167

10 Kirkwall: The Orkney Boat 185

11 St Davids: The Ship in the Hollow 207

12 St Paul's: Ship of State 223

13 Westminster: Aloft and Below 241

14 Armagh: Two Lookouts 257

15 Liverpool: "We'll haul away together' 277

16 Coventry: Shipbuilding 297

17 Inverness: Launching Lucy 311

Acknowledgements 319

Bibliography 321

Must-See Items 324

Picture Acknowledgements 329

Index 331

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