Gloucester Cathedral, Church of England

Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated in 678 or 679 with the foundation of an abbey dedicated to Saint Peter (dissolved by Henry VIII). Wardle records that in 1058 Ealdred, Bishop of Worcester at the time, rebuilt the church of St Peter. The foundations of the present church were laid by Abbot Serlo (1072–1104). Walter Frocester (d. 1412) the abbey’s historian, became its first mitred abbot in 1381. Until 1541, Gloucester lay in the see of Worcester, but the separate see was then constituted, with John Wakeman, last abbot of Tewkesbury, as its first bishop. The diocese covers the greater part of Gloucestershire, with small parts of Herefordshire and Wiltshire. The cathedral has a stained-glass window depicting the earliest images of golf. This dates from 1350, over 300 years earlier than the earliest image of golf from Scotland. There is also a carved image of people playing a ball game, believed by some to be one of the earliest images of medieval football. 👉If you like, follow me❤️: 🎥Youtube: 📷Instagram: 🛠Gear used GoPro Hero 8: 💳The credit card I recomend for travel: 💵The debit card I use when abroad without fee for the currency exchange: Construction and architecture The cathedral, built as the abbey church, consists of a Norman nucleus (Walter de Lacy is buried there), with additions in every style of Gothic architecture. It is 420 feet (130 m) long, and 144 feet (44 m) wide, with a fine central tower of the 15th century rising to the height of 225 ft (69 m) and topped by four delicate pinnacles, a famous landmark. The nave is massive Norman with an Early English roof; the crypt, under the choir, aisles and chapels, is Norman, as is the chapter house. The crypt is one of the four apsidal cathedral crypts in England, the others being at Worcester, Winchester and Canterbury. The south porch is in the Perpendicular style, with a fan-vaulted roof, as also is the north transept, the south being transitional Decorated Gothic. The choir has Perpendicular tracery over Norman work, with an apsidal chapel on each side: the choir vaulting is particularly rich. The late Decorated east window is partly filled with surviving medieval stained glass. Between the apsidal chapels is a cross Lady chapel, and north of the nave are the cloisters, the carrels or stalls for the monks’ study and writing lying to the south. The cloisters at Gloucester are the earliest surviving fan vaults, having been designed between 1351 and 1377 by Thomas de Cantebrugge.[7] The most notable monument is the canopied shrine of Edward II of England who was murdered at nearby Berkeley Castle (illustration below). The building and sanctuary were enriched by the visits of pilgrims to this shrine. In a side-chapel is a monument in coloured bog oak of Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror and a great benefactor of the abbey, who was interred there. Monuments of William Warburton (Bishop of Gloucester) and Edward Jenner (physician) are also worthy of note. The Abbey was the site of the coronation of Henry III. This is commemorated in a stained-glass window in the south aisle. Between 1873 and 1890, and in 1897, the cathedral was extensively restored by George Gilbert Scott. Film and TV location Harry Potter The cathedral was used as a location for filming the first, second and sixth Harry Potter films. Doctor Who In 2008, the cathedral was used by BBC Wales as a location for the Doctor Who Christmas special “The Next Doctor“. In 2019 it was used again to film on location for series 12, episode 5; “Fugitive of the Judoon“.[24] The Hollow Crown The cathedral was used as a filming location in the BBC’s series The Hollow Crown (an adaption of Shakespeare’s Henry IV parts 1 and 2).[25] Wolf Hall The interior of the cathedral represented the court of another King Henry, Henry VIII, in the BBC’s adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, first broadcast in January 2015.[26] Sherlock In 2015, the cathedral was used as a location to film the Sherlock special “The Abominable Bride“.[27][28] Mary Queen of Scots The cathedral and cloisters were used as a location for filming of Queen Elizabeth’s court scenes in Mary Queen of Scots.