Here we are, back at Salisbury Cathedral for Part B, the interior. See last week's Anglophile Friday for Part A. The exterior of the cathedral is really quite spectacular. And although we marvel at the architecture of these English cathedrals, we must bear in mind that they were built to be houses of worship, places where the Christian community gathers to worship King Jesus, Lord of the universe. Still true today, Salisbury Cathedral's mission is worship and outreach.
At the back of the nave, the first thing you can't miss is the beautiful, modern baptismal font, 'living water,' by William Pye. It was consecrated on September 28, 2008, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, on the 750th anniversary of the original consecration of the cathedral. Designed to be cruciform in shape, it is a beautiful work of art.
The font is nearly 10' wide in order to allow for total immersion baptism, which I'm certain is more convenient than having to march down to the River Avon. The original white alabaster font was rescued by a visiting rector from South Australia, and taken to his church there. I like knowing that rather than being discarded, it's being used in another part of the world.
Now we have several shots of the nave and quire with their beautiful ceilings and columns.
Pulpit near entrance to the quire
Transept, viewing the quire ceiling on the left, nave and upper gallery on right.
Rib Vault Ceiling of the Quire
Scissor Arch
'In Memory of the Choristers of this Cathedral Church and other Members of the Cathedral School who fell in the World Wars 1914-1918 and 1939-1945.'
Saints Sculptures
Quire
rises from a single column.
to be completed. It was consecrated in 1225.
Its location is behind the altar, at the east end of the cathedral.
'reflecting a Christian response to worldwide violence and injustice.'
Oh. And I neglected to mention in last week's post that this cathedral, the foundation stones of which were laid in 1220, is the 'new' cathedral. I'll try to come up with a summary paragraph about Old Sarum by next week. :-) Has anyone read the book Sarum: The Novel of England by Rutherfurd? I was wondering if it was worth reading.
Recognizing my tendency to ramble when there's a keyboard under my fingers, I'll just stop here and wish you all a great weekend.
***
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53 comments:
There are really no words to express the awe, beauty, majesty . . .
Baptismal Font
Stained Glass
Wood
Stone
Intricate
How wonderful for you to have witnessed in person . . .
and sharing . . .
I enjoyed last Friday's post ...
I enjoyed this Friday's post ...
and I am looking forward to
Next Friday's post ...
Lovely photo's you are sharing - I really must try and visit Salisbury again soon.
All the best Jan
Sorry, CM, I am way behind on my visits to blogs and commenting. Love this post, and part A. It is many years since the memsahib and I journeyed to Salisbury but, though I take your point about the danger of all these places looking a tad similar, Salisbury is a peach. And your photos are really excellent. I'm not sure that cathedrals were built entirely for the purpose of worship; I think they were statements of power and authority as well. Just love the idea of that font going to Australia and wondering how the guy got it in his baggage.
PS Cute black and white photo on the previous post! Have a great weekend.
How beautiful you have captured this gorgeous cathedral! I'm always in awe of such architecture being built without modern machinery! Just pulleys and ropes and a lot of manual labor! The new font is so unique with its overflowing water! What a grand house of worship! Thank you as always for taking me back to England! xo ♥
The font really is stunning isn't it! I wondered if you knew about the reason for the location of the cathedral and the arrow story! I will look forward to Part C!!
Amazing architecture and windows!
I love these Fridays with you Judy! As I click on your blog I say to myself: "Ok Judy, transport me!" - and you never fail! I love your photos of Salisbury and look forward to part C.!! The arches and ceilings are so beautiful. I can't believe 1220 is "new"! Wow!
Blessings on your weekend dear Lady. xoxo
gorgeous
I've enjoyed so very much the first part of this post, my dearest Judy, and this second one is even more gorgeous, all this magnificence leave me in awe !
I wholeheartedly thank you for a so inspiring post, sweet friend,
may the end of your week be blessed with gladness and serenity,
thank you again for the precious gift you present me every time you come to ∼ My little old world ∽,
sending so, so much sincere love to you,
with thankfulness
Dany
I really appreciate seeing all that you have shared. It is a wonderful place and everything is so great in style an design.
Just an amazing font. Seems so modern compared to the rest of it but it blends in well IMHO. I also learned some new vocab today. Have a good weekend!
Judy, The beauty just takes my breath away. I could sit and relax while admiring all the glory of the ceilings. Blessings to you and yours, xoxo,Susie
I'm always in awe of and gratitude for the beauty that has been left behind from past generations and now our generation gets to enjoy it.
Thanks so much for taking these stunning photos and sharing them with us on your blog!
Wishing you a beautiful weekend...
Brenda
xox
This is just breathtaking . . . unbelievably beautiful. Our modern churches don't even have a smidgen of the majesty and grandeur and beauty.
Such an amazing place, and to think it was built in the 1200's! That first picture is tricky to figure out until you see the second one. And i did read Rutherford's book, years ago, and really enjoyed it. I recommend it!
Such gorgeous interiors!
gorgeous church and gorgeous reflections in the water
Beautiful church and great reflections.
Sydney – City and Suburbs
Beautiful photos. I will put it on my list. The closest we got to Sailsbury was Bath....and they has been many years ago.
Spectacular fountain!
They don't build them like this anymore. Amazing that all this architecture came to be without computers or even calculators, fancy tools, yada yada...of course, that's probably why. Give these builders and iPad and they never would have gotten all this work done!
Hi Judy! Oh, this was wonderful and brought back some sweet memories for me. We were just there last year and took some of the same snaps as you! Isn't it just a glorious place? We took the Queen Mary 2 to Southampton, rented a car and drove around for a couple of weeks. Had a marvelous time and this trip to the cathedral was one of my favs.
Thanks for popping in to see me and hope you're doing well.
Be a sweetie,
Shelia :)
Beautiful architecture..Love all the arches..
Truly spectacular and awe-inspiring! Thank you for these wonderful posts.
Have a blessed Sunday!
I read "Sarum" and several others of Rutherford's books and really enjoyed them. I especially liked the ones about London and Ireland. Salisbury is on my to-see list and am grateful for your beautiful pictures.
Thanks for taking us on this amazing adventure! I am enjoying it!
The reflections you caught are one of a kind! Cathedrals - I love them because the art all says that they spent a lot of time on it!
what fabulous detail
gorgeous!! love those ceilings. the arches. what is not to love? ( :
Gorgeous photos. I really enjoyed reading about the baptismal "pool" for total immersion.
Thanks for taking me somewhere I will never get to go.
this is a beautiful cathedral and I look forward to seeing Part 3.
Diana
http://adifferentlenslens365.blogspot.co.nz/2016/01/st-marks-green-island.html
I had heard about the font but never seen it. It's almost a mirror and incredibly beautiful. I am always in awe of the architecture and engineering from centuries ago that is so ornate and lasting. A beautiful place and thank you so much for the tour. I really must get down there one day.
Beautiful, simply beautiful. Even if I wasn't a Christian & didn't acknowledge the Cathedral's importance as a place of worship I think I'd still be in awe of the incredible stonework, woodwork & other craftsmanship involved in the creation of this incredible building. What always amazes me more with these really old Churches & Cathedrals as well as Castles & Monasteries often built in rather difficult to access locations is that they did it all without the modern machinery that we have available in today's world. It really leaves me wondering how they managed to build such structures with what they had available to them at the time.
It just takes my breath away, viewing the photos.....how one must feel actually inside ! The architecture and workmanship is so beautiful and amazing.
Thanks for the lovely photos and tour. I'd forgotten that word quire. That's where we got to sit in Westminster Abbey for the Evensong. How nice too that this cathedral allows you to take photographs.
What beautiful photos! I just discovered your blog following a link on Preppy Empty Nester. I look forward to following along, especially your Anglophile posts. We lived in the UK for three years and just loved it. Here is my post about Salisbury. I especially loved the baptismal font. http://txtanya.blogspot.com/2012/01/stonehenge-and-salisbury.html
Superbe !
So fabulous. Cathedrals in Britain are so amazing. Have a wonderful week!
These pictures are to die for. What kind of camera are you using? It must be a fine one along with you being one great photographer. I just keep going thru them over and over again. I want to go back so badly.
Very envious of your trip round the Cathedral, it has become very high on my list of places to visit this year. By the way we say Choir in the UK
Stunning ...the ceiling and the prisoner of Conscience window made me gasp in awe
Hello Judy, what a beautiful post and a grgeous cathedral. The baptismal font is amazing. I love the ceiling, stunning. Lovely images, thanks for sharing your visit. Happy February, enjoy your new week!
Oh my, just fabulous photos of a fabulous cathedral! Those vaults and windows!
Salisbury cathedral is just wonderful, especially the font. I spent ages there trying to take a photo of the stained glass reflected in the font! I am not surprised that you have to do another post, there's so much to see! x
It really is hard to comment...everything is so magnificent. And it's nice to have the photos to really spend time looking at the details! Enjoy your day! Hugs, Diane
Absolutely stunning! The baptismal font is beautiful. Do they do emersion of adults in it as well since it's 10 feet wide? Just wondering. :)
Got your message on my blog. The answer is Choir, I checked the Church Primer I have and there s no mention of Quire. Wiki also says it is said Choir but sometimes Quire. I have seen it used a few times but I have always known it as Choir.
Bill, I'm not seeing any difference in the pronunciation of Choir or Quire. My understanding is that the Quire is the location within the cathedral where the choristers (choir) stand to sing. This is what I'm finding on Salisbury Cathedral's website and their guidebook.
What a magnificent place...even more so in person I bet...and that font is like nothing I have seen before.
Donna@GardensEyeView
and LivingFromHappiness
Oh my...I can hardly take it all in...such amazing and beautiful architecture! Your photos are fantastic, Judy. Thank you for sharing this!
What a beautiful cathedral! The baptismal is so unique. I am always attracted to strained glass windows and these are spectacular! I enjoyed your tour, Judy!
This is where I read about Choir https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choir_(architecture). Your right about where it is situated but why they say Quire I could not say, maybe its down to pronunciation.
PS I don't leave any contact details but you can ask a question I don't have to publish it.
The inside certainly didn't disappoint, such opulence. The baptismal font must really spill over for total immersion, much different than what our church has. Wouldn't it be hard to focus on the pastor in a church like this?
Impressive photos from one of the premier "Early English" style Cathedrals.
The font is something else not only that you have captured the amazing reflection or its modern design but the fact that it's an immersion tank. It kind of speaks to me progress on many levels in such an important building.
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