Editing Peterborough Cathedral (section)

==History==

===Anglo-Saxon origins===
{{main|Medeshamstede}}
The original church, known as "[[Medeshamstede]]", was founded in the reign of the [[History of Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] [[Peada of Mercia|King Peada]] of the [[Middle Angles]] in about 655 AD, as one of the first centres of Christianity in central England.<ref name=sweeting>{{cite book
 | last = Sweeting
 | first = W.D
 | editor = Bell, E
 | title = The Cathedral Church of Peterborough: A Description of its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See
 | orig-year = 1898
 | url = http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13618/13618-h/13618-h.htm
 | access-date = 23 April 2007
 | edition = [[Project Gutenberg]] transcription of the 1926 reprint of the 2nd
 | series = Bell's Cathedrals
 | date = 5 October 2004
 | publisher = G. Bell and Sons
 | location = London
 | chapter = Chapter 1. History of the Cathedral Church of St Peter
 | chapter-url = http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13618/13618-h/13618-h.htm#Page_3
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929103230/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13618/13618-h/13618-h.htm
 | archive-date = 29 September 2007
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref> The monastic settlement with which the church was associated lasted at least until 870, when it was supposedly destroyed by [[Viking]]s. In an alcove of the New Building, an extension of the eastern end, lies an ancient stone carving: the [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peterborough_Cathedral_Hedda_Stone.jpg Hedda Stone]. This medieval carving of 12 monks, six on each side, commemorates the destruction of the Monastery and the death of the Abbot and Monks when the area was sacked by the Vikings in 864. The Hedda Stone was likely carved sometime after the raid, when the monastery slipped into decline.<ref>http://cambridgemilitaryhistory.com/2014/11/30/the-hedda-stone-and-peterborough-abbey/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141208150807/http://cambridgemilitaryhistory.com/2014/11/30/the-hedda-stone-and-peterborough-abbey/ |date=8 December 2014 }} The Hedda Stone and Peterborough Cathedral at the Cambridge Military History Website</ref>

In the mid-10th century, monastic revival (during which churches at [[Ely Cathedral|Ely]] and [[Ramsey Abbey|Ramsey]] were also refounded) a [[Benedictine]] [[Abbey]] was created and endowed in 966, principally by [[Æthelwold of Winchester|Athelwold]], [[Bishop of Winchester]], from what remained of the earlier church, with "a [[basilica]] [church] there furbished with suitable structures of halls, and enriched with surrounding lands" and more extensive buildings which saw the aisle built out to the west with a second tower added. The original central tower was, however, retained.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Biddick
 | first = Kathleen
 | title = The Other Economy: Pastoral Husbandry on a Medieval Estate
 | url = http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft8199p22b&chunk.id=d0e213&toc.id=d0e208&toc.depth=1&brand=ucpress&anchor.id=JD_Page_13#X
 | access-date = 25 April 2007
 | year = 1989
 | publisher = [[University of California]] Press
 | isbn = 0-520-06388-0
 | page = 13
 | chapter = 1 – Consumption and Pastoral Resources on the Early Medieval Estate
 | chapter-url = http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft8199p22b&chunk.id=d0e203&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e203&brand=ucpress
 | quote = He restored Peterborough Abbey to its former royal splendor and dedicated "a basilica there furbished with suitable structures of halls, and enriched with surrounding lands."
 }}</ref> It was dedicated to St Peter and surrounded by a palisade, called a [[burgh]], hence the town surrounding the [[abbey]] was eventually named Peter-burgh. The community was further revived in 972 by [[Dunstan]], [[Archbishop of Canterbury]].<ref name=sweeting /><ref>The most recent survey of the Anglo-Saxon history of Peterborough Abbey is in Kelly, S.E. (ed.), ''Charters of Peterborough Abbey'', Anglo-Saxon Charters 14, [[Oxford University Press|OUP]], 2009.</ref>

This newer church had as its major focal point a substantial western tower with a "[[Rhenish helm]]" and was largely constructed of [[ashlar]]s.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}} Only a small section of the foundations of the Anglo-Saxon church remain beneath the south transept but there are several significant artefacts, including [[Anglo-Saxon art|Anglo-Saxon]] carvings such as the Hedda Stone, from the earlier building.

In 2008, Anglo-Saxon grave markers were reported to have been found by workmen repairing a wall in the cathedral precincts. The grave markers are said to date to the 11th century, and probably belonged to "townsfolk".<ref>[http://medievalnews.blogspot.com/2008/03/anglo-saxon-graves-found-at.html Anglo-Saxon graves found at Peterborough Cathedral.] Medievalists.net. Retrieved on 15 May 2008. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001064547/http://medievalnews.blogspot.com/2008/03/anglo-saxon-graves-found-at.html |date=1 October 2011 }}</ref>

===Norman and medieval architectural evolution===
[[File:Peterborough Cathedral Nave, Cambridgeshire, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|left|The nave]]
[[Image:PeterPlanDehio.jpg|thumb|350px|Plan]]
Although damaged during the struggle between the [[Normans|Norman]] invaders and local folk-hero, [[Hereward the Wake]], it was repaired and continued to thrive until destroyed by an accidental fire in 1116.<ref>{{cite web |title=Peterborough Cathedral |url=http://easterncathedrals.org.uk/members/peterborough-cathedral.php |website=Eastern Cathedrals |access-date=11 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511082541/http://easterncathedrals.org.uk/members/peterborough-cathedral.php |archive-date=11 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> This event necessitated the building of a new church in the [[Norman architecture|Norman]] style, begun by Abbot John de Sais on 8 March 1118 ([[Old Style]]).<ref name=sweeting /> By 1193, the building was completed to the western end of the Nave, including the central tower and the decorated wooden ceiling of the nave. The ceiling, completed between 1230 and 1250, still survives. It is unique in Britain and one of only four such ceilings in the whole of Europe.<ref>The others are at [[Zillis-Reischen#Heritage sites of national significance|Zillis]], Switzerland, [[St. Michael's Church, Hildesheim|Hildesheim]] in Germany and [[Dädesjö]], Sweden. The longest of these is less than half the length of Peterborough's ceiling.</ref> It has been over-painted twice, once in 1745, then in 1834, but still retains the character and style of the original. (The painted nave ceiling of [[Ely Cathedral]], by contrast, is entirely a [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] creation.)

The church was largely built of [[Barnack]] [[limestone]] from quarries on its own land, and it was paid annually for access to these quarries by the builders of Ely Cathedral and [[Ramsey Abbey]] in thousands of eels (e.g. 4,000 each year by Ramsey).<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.ramseyabbey.co.uk/abbots.html#Alfwin%20Fifth%20Abbot%201043-1080
| title = Abbots of Ramsey
| access-date = 23 January 2007
| last = Beeke
| first = Clive
| year = 2006
| work = Ramsey Abbey website
| publisher = Clive Beeke
| quote = Edward [the Confessor] also became a party to an agreement between the Abbot of Ramsey and Abbot of Burgh (Peterborough) in regard to the exchange of lands; to bounds and limits of King's-delf; also the right to Ramsey Abbey to dig stone both 'squared and broken' at the quarries of Barnack. For this privilege the Abbey had to give the Monks of Peterborough 'four thousand eels yearly in Lent'
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070310225412/http://www.ramseyabbey.co.uk/abbots.html#Alfwin%20Fifth%20Abbot%201043-1080
| archive-date = 10 March 2007
| url-status = live
}}</ref> Cathedral historians believe that part of the placing of the church in the location it is in is due to the easy ability to transfer quarried stones by river and then to the existing site allowing it to grow without being relocated.

Then, after completing the Western transept and adding the Great West Front Portico in 1237, the medieval masons switched over to the new [[Early English Period|Gothic]] style. Apart from changes to the windows, the insertion of a porch to support the free-standing pillars of the portico and the addition of a "new" building at the east end around the beginning of the 16th century, the structure of the building remains essentially as it was on completion almost 800 years ago. The completed building was consecrated in 1238 by [[Robert Grosseteste]], [[Bishop of Lincoln]], within whose diocese it then fell.

[[File:Peterborough Cathedral Choir, Cambridgeshire, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|left|The choir]]
[[File:Peterborough Cathedral Lady Chapel, Cambridgeshire, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|right|The New Building]]
The trio of arches forming the Great West Front, the defining image of Peterborough Cathedral, is unrivalled in medieval architecture. The line of spires behind it, topping an unprecedented four towers, evolved for more practical reasons. Chief amongst them was the wish to retain the earlier Norman towers, which became obsolete when the Gothic front was added. Instead of being demolished and replaced with new stretches of wall, these old towers were retained and embellished with cornices and other gothic decor, while two new towers were added to create a continuous frontage.

The [[Norman architecture|Norman]] tower was rebuilt in the [[Decorated Gothic]] style in about 1350–1380 (its main beams and roof bosses survive) with two tiers of Romanesque windows combined into a single set of Gothic windows, with the turreted cap and pinnacles removed and replaced by battlements. Between 1496 and 1508, the Presbytery roof was replaced and the "New Building", a rectangular building built around the end of the Norman eastern apse, with [[Perpendicular Period|Perpendicular]] [[fan vault]]ing (probably designed by John Wastell, the architect of [[King's College Chapel, Cambridge]] and the Bell Harry Tower at [[Canterbury Cathedral]]), was added.

===Monastic life===
[[File:Hand carved Choir Stalls, Peterborough Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 3469533.jpg|thumb|The 19th century choir stalls of the cathedral retain some surviving elements of the medieval stalls where the monks held their services.]]
As in all Benedictine abbeys, the monks of Peterborough made vows of stability in the abbey until death. The community was governed by the [[Rule of St Benedict]] and was focused chiefly on the daily services of the [[Conventual Mass]] and the [[Liturgy of the Hours]] in the church. Meals and meetings were also important ritual events, with monks eating in silence while listening to readings from spiritual texts. Outside of this schedule they engaged in scholarship, education, pastoral care for the local community, and other kinds of work with daily time set aside for recreation, an opportunity to socialise with other members of the community and with guests. The duty of welcoming guests and pilgrims is a cornerstone of the Benedictine Rule and at Peterborough this was probably the primary focus of activity.<ref>{{cite book |author=Saint Benedict |author-link=Benedict of Nursia |translator-first= Timothy |translator-last=Fry |date=1981 |title=Rule of St Benedict |location=Collegeville, Minnesota |publisher=The Liturgical Press |isbn=0814612725}}{{page needed|date=July 2024}}</ref>

Pilgrimage to Peterborough was common because of the abbey's many relics. The existing mid-12th-century records of [[Hugh Candidus]], a [[monk]], list the Abbey's [[reliquaries]] as including two pieces of swaddling clothes which wrapped the baby [[Jesus]], pieces of Jesus' manger, a part of the five loaves which fed the 5,000, a piece of the raiment of [[Mary the mother of Jesus]], a piece of [[Aaron]]'s rod, and relics of [[St Peter]], [[Paul the apostle|St Paul]] and [[Saint Andrew|St Andrew]] – to whom the church is dedicated.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Brooke
 | first = Rosalind
 | author2 = Brooke, Christopher
 | title = Popular Religion in the Middle Ages; Western Europe 1000–1300
 | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/popularreligioni0000broo/page/19
 | publisher = [[Thames and Hudson]]
 | isbn = 0-500-25087-1
 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/popularreligioni0000broo/page/19 19–21]
 | chapter = Chapter 2
 | year = 1984
 }}</ref>

The supposed arm of [[Oswald of Northumbria]] disappeared from its chapel, probably during the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]], despite a watch-tower having been built for monks to guard its [[reliquary]]. Various [[contact relic]]s of [[Thomas Becket]] were brought from Canterbury in a special reliquary by its Prior Benedict (who had witnessed Becket's assassination) when he was "promoted" to Abbot of Peterborough.
[[File:Fan vaulting (detail) in Peterborough Cathedral.jpg|thumb|300px|Fan vaulting showing the wealth of the abbey]]
These items underpinned the importance of what is today Peterborough Cathedral. At the zenith of its wealth just before the Reformation it had the sixth-largest monastic income in the country and was one of the most powerful communities in the [[English Benedictine Congregation]]. It had a 120 monks, including all the standard roles of a monastic community such as the [[almoner]], the infirmarian, the [[sacristan]] and the [[cellarer]], and many more dependant lay brothers and employees.

===Tudor===
In 1541, following Henry VIII's [[dissolution of the monasteries]], the relics were lost. The church survived by being selected as the cathedral of the [[Anglican Diocese of Peterborough]]. The last [[Abbot of Peterborough]], [[John Chambers (bishop)|John Chambers]], became the first [[Bishop of Peterborough]]. Henry's former wife, [[Catherine of Aragon]], had been buried there in 1536. Her tomb was damaged in 1643 and restored in the 19th century.<ref>Courtney Herber, 'Katherine of Aragon: Diligent Diplomat and learned Queen', Aidan Norrie, ''Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), p. 58.</ref> To this day, her grave is honoured by visitors who decorate it with flowers and pomegranates (her symbol). The gold letters at the site read "Katharine Queen of England", a title she was denied at the time of her death. A festival to commemorate the Queen is held yearly.

In 1587, the body of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]] was initially [[Funeral of Mary, Queen of Scots|buried here]] after her execution at nearby [[Fotheringhay Castle]], but it was later removed to [[Westminster Abbey]] on the orders of her son, King James VI of Scotland and [[James I of England]].

===Civil War to present===
[[Image:Peterborough Cathedral - West prospect C17 - Project Gutenberg eText 13618.jpg|thumb|left|West prospect in the seventeenth century]]
[[File:Peterborough Cathedral High Altar, Cambridgeshire, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|right|The high altar]]

The cathedral was vandalised during the [[English Civil War]] in 1643 by Parliamentarian troops. As was common at the time, almost all the [[stained glass]] and the medieval choir stalls were destroyed, and the high altar and [[reredos]] were demolished, as were the [[cloisters]] and [[Lady Chapel]]. All the monuments and memorials of the Cathedral were also damaged or destroyed.

Some of the damage was repaired during the 17th and 18th centuries. Extensive restoration work began in 1883, which was initiated after large cracks appeared in the supporting pillars and arches of the main tower. These works included rebuilding of the central tower and its foundations, interior pillars, the choir and re-enforcements of the west front under the supervision of [[John Loughborough Pearson]]. New hand-carved choir stalls, cathedra (bishop's throne), choir pulpit and the marble pavement and high altar were added. A stepped level of battlements was removed from the central tower, reducing its height slightly.

The cathedral was hit by a fire on the early evening of 22 November 2001; it is thought to have been started deliberately amongst plastic chairs stored in the North Choir Aisle.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/viewarticle.aspx?sectionid=845&articleid=418347
| title = CATHEDRAL FIRE: Candle theory on cathedral arson
| access-date = 23 January 2007
| date = 27 November 2006
| format = Newspaper
| work = Peterborough Evening Telegraph
| publisher = [[Johnston Press]] Digital Publishing
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930185841/http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/viewarticle.aspx?sectionid=845&articleid=418347 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 30 September 2007}}</ref> The fire was spotted by one of the [[verger]]s allowing a swift response by emergency services.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/viewarticle.aspx?sectionid=845&articleid=420733
| title = FIRE: 'I watched the beautiful building go up in smoke'
| access-date = 23 January 2007
| date = 23 November 2006
| work = Peterborough Evening Telegraph
| publisher = [[Johnston Press]] Digital Publishing
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930190052/http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/viewarticle.aspx?sectionid=845&articleid=420733 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 30 September 2007}}</ref> The timing was particularly unfortunate, for a complete restoration of the painted wooden ceiling was nearing completion.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/viewarticle.aspx?sectionid=845&articleid=420739
| title = FIRE: Devestating blow to appeal work (sic)
| access-date = 23 January 2007
| date = 23 November 2006
| work = Peterborough Evening Telegraph
| publisher = [[Johnston Press]] Digital Publishing
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928110432/http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/viewarticle.aspx?sectionid=845&articleid=420739 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 28 September 2007}}</ref> The oily smoke given off by the plastic chairs was particularly damaging, coating much of the building with a sticky black layer.<ref>For a comprehensive study on the fire see ''Peterborough Cathedral 2001-2006: from Devastation to Restoration,'' Michael Bunker and Paul Binski, Paul Holberton Publishing, London 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-903470-55-8}}.</ref> The seat of the fire was close to the [[organ (music)|organ]] and the combination of direct damage from the fire, and the water used to extinguish necessitated a full-scale rebuild of the instrument, putting it out of action for several years.

An extensive programme of repairs to the west front began in July 2006 and has cost in excess of half a million pounds. This work is concentrated around the statues located in niches which have been so badly affected by years of pollution and weathering that, in some cases, they have only stayed intact thanks to iron bars inserted through them from the head to the body. The programme of work has sought donors to "adopt a stone".<ref>Adopt a Stone a gift to last a lifetime. Peterborough Cathedral 2013 (accessioned 20131229) [http://www.peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/adopt-a-stone-a-gift-to-last-a-life-time.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103122800/http://www.peterborough-cathedral.org.uk/adopt-a-stone-a-gift-to-last-a-life-time.html|date=3 January 2014}}</ref>

The sculptor [[Alan Durst]] was responsible for some of the work on the statues on the West Front.<ref>Alan Durst, Mention of work on West Front.</ref>[[File:Peterborough Cathedral Youth Choir.jpg|thumb|Peterborough Cathedral Youth Choir with conductor David Humphreys]]