Wesley House

After singing at Great St. Mary's, I happened to pass by the Wesley House. Curious to see more, I was very cordially welcomed by the staff and even given a brief tour.

"Wesley House was founded as a Methodist theological college in Jesus Lane, Cambridge, England. It opened in 1921 as a place for the education of Methodist ministers and today serves as a gateway to theological scholarship for students and scholars of the Wesleyan and Methodist traditions from around the world. It was a founding member of the Cambridge Theological Federation, an ecumenical body of theological colleges in Cambridge which is affiliated to but independent of the University of Cambridge." -- Wikipedia

Octagonal Tower

Ely Cathedral's large stone octagonal tower, with its eight internal archways, according to Wikipedia, "leads up to timber vaulting that appears to allow the large glazed timber lantern to balance on their slender struts. The roof and lantern are actually held up by a complex timber structure above the vaulting which could not be built in this way today because there are no trees big enough. The central lantern, also octagonal in form, but with angles offset from the great Octagon, has panels showing pictures of musical angels, which can be opened, with access from the Octagon roof-space, so that real choristers can sing from on high. More wooden vaulting forms the lantern roof. At the centre is a wooden boss carved from a single piece of oak, showing Christ in Majestry. The elaborate joinery and timberwork was brought about by William Hurley, master carpenter in the royal service."

Just so that you know, none of our choristers sang from "on high." I don't think I could have recovered from vertigo long enough to sing. 😵

Ely Cathedral

According to Wikipedia, Ely Cathedral "can trace its origin to the abbey founded in Ely in 672 by St Æthelthryth (also called Etheldreda). The earliest parts of the present building date to 1083, and it was granted cathedral status in 1109. Until the Reformation, the cathedral was dedicated to St Etheldreda and St Peter, at which point it was refounded as the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely. It is the cathedral of the Diocese of Ely, which covers most of Cambridgeshire and western Norfolk, Essex, and Bedfordshire. It is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon."

Limestone

South transept (above) and altar (below).

"Lincoln Cathedral is one of the few English cathedrals built from the rock on which it stands. It is mostly built from Lincolnshire Limestone. The cathedral has owned the existing quarry, on Riseholme Road, Lincoln, since 1876. As of 2016, the quarry was expected to run out of stone in 2021. The cathedral's stonemasons use more than 100 tonnes of stone per year for maintenance and repairs." -- Wikipedia

Selby Abbey

After Ripon, we headed to Selby Abbey for a midday concert.

"The church is one of the relatively few surviving abbey churches of the medieval period and although not a cathedral, it is one of the largest. It was founded by Benedict of Auxerre in 1069 and subsequently built by the de Lacy family.

On 31 May 1256, the abbey was bestowed with the grant of a mitre by Pope Alexander IV and from this date was a 'Mitred Abbey'. This privilege fell into abeyance a number of times, but on 11 April 1308, Archbishop William Greenfield confirmed the grant, and Selby remained a 'Mitred Abbey' until the Dissolution of the Monasteries." -- Wikipedia

Choir & Pulpit

Ripon Cathedral choir and pulpit. According to my sources, the choir stalls are "studded with a series of thirty-four small ledges that protrude from the underside of the hinged seating [VERY uncomfortable!]. These are referred to as misericords, or the modern English translation ‘mercy seats’, and are perches that were designed for clergy to respectfully rest against during the back-to-back services of pre-Reformation Britain."

The pulpit was designed by Henry Wilson and dates from 1913. It stands on marble pillars and has silver and bronze decoration.

Ripon Font

According to the North Yorkshire Council, the Tudor font in the Ripon Cathedral, was created in the early 16th century and carved out of a solid piece of granite taken from Lintzgarth in Teesdale. "In 2017 the wooden top can still be seen on the font. Originally, it would have had a chain attached via a metal hasp to provide a locking mechanism to prevent people from stealing the Holy water which was often appropriated by pagans and other sects for their own practices including sorcery."

Quiet

 

Had a few moments to explore Ripon Cathedral before heading down the hill to the cathedral's rehearsal hall. We served as the choir in residence for the weekend while the cathedral's regular choir was on break.

"Ripon Cathedral has a vibrant choral tradition that has spanned 14 centuries, since St Wilfrid introduced cantors from Canterbury Cathedral in AD680, and it remains at the heart of our worship. The uplifting sound of the cathedral’s outstanding choirs, as well as the dramatic notes of the mighty pipe organ, can be experienced at regular services such as Choral Evensong."

Crypt

Some oddities about Ripon Cathedral. I took this photo in the crypt below. Here's how one website describes it:

"Built in 672 by Saint Wilfrid, Ripon Cathedral’s Crypt predates England itself by 255 years, and it’s still accepting pilgrims and visitors today.

Accessed by steep and narrow steps, a claustrophobic and gloomy passageway winds underneath a medieval cathedral. This cramped tunnel leads to a white painted void, believed by its creators to be a faithful representation of Jesus’s modest tomb.

With an arched ceiling, a simple altar, and a 14th-century alabaster carving of the resurrection, the otherwise chilly emptiness of this simple whitewashed crypt disguises its rich historical significance.

Ripon's crypt, and the long-vanished basilica it was originally built beneath, were the first of their kind to be built in the Kingdom of Northumbria, a territory that once covered most of Northern England and part of Southern Scotland."

Ripon

First look at Ripon Cathedral, where we sang evensong and the next morning's Eucharist.

"The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a monastery by monks of the Irish tradition in the 660s, it was refounded as a Benedictine monastery by St Wilfrid in 672. The church became collegiate in the tenth century, and acted as a mother church within the large Diocese of York for the remainder of the Middle Ages. The present church is the fourth, and was built between the 13th and 16th centuries. In 1836 the church became the cathedral for the Diocese of Ripon." -- Wikipedia

The Crown

After rehearsing in Stamford, our choir traveled to the Crown Hotel in Harrogate (shown abpve) where we arrived just in time to take our bags to our rooms and head out to find something to eat for a late supper.

Here's how The Crown describes itself: "This glorious Victorian exercise of Italian Renaissance in sandstone has a long and distinguished history that reaches back to the early 1600s when visitors first began to drink the waters of the world's strongest known Sulphur Well The name Crown may have been adopted around the time of Charles II's restoration of the monarchy in 1660, when a much smaller inn overlooked the Sulphur Well to the west. Since then, the Crown thrived, reaching 'gigantic proportions,' by the time Lord Byron and his 'string of horses, dogs and mistresses' were guests in 1806 . . . . When Elgar stayed at the Crown, it was probably at the peak of its Edwardian perfection. After being sequestered by the government in 1939, the Crown reopened to visitors in 1958."

St. John's Pulpit

 

 

Again, according to Wikipedia, the pulpit in St. John the Baptist's Church in Stamford "dates from 1953, and was donated by the restorers of the church at that time."

All Shall Be Well

 

 

The Julian Shrine 

Norwich, England

Cell

 

 

"In 14th century Norwich a young woman fell under a life-threatening illness, during which she experienced a series of extraordinary visions. These revelations transformed her life, and after a miraculous recovery she took vows to live as an anchoress, locking herself away in a small cell attached to a church in Norwich" -- The Julian Shrine

St. Julian's

 

"St Julian's is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England in Norwich, England. It is part of the Diocese of Norwich. During the Middle Ages, when the city was prosperous and possibly the second largest city in medieval England, the anchoress Julian of Norwich lived in a cell attached to the church. The cell was demolished during the 1530s.

Due to a lack of funds, the church slowly became dilapidated during the 18th century. It underwent a restoration after one side of the building collapsed in 1845. The tower, also in danger of collapsing, was repaired in 1934. In June 1942, St Julian's received a direct hit during the Norwich Blitz. The only one of the four churches destroyed in Norwich during World War II that was rebuilt, it reopened in 1953." -- Wikipedia

Song of Mary

One of the pieces we sang at evensong in Norwich Cathedral was a setting of the Magnificat:

He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble and meek.

He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away.

IX

Norwich Cathedral

"The IX monogram or XI monogram is a type of early Christian monogram looking like the spokes of a wheel, sometimes within a circle.

The IX monogram is formed by the combination of the letter 'I' or Iota for Iesous (Ιησους, Jesus in Greek) and 'X' or Chi for Christos (Χριστος, Christ in Greek). The spokes can also be standalone, without the circle. These monograms can often be found as ancient burial inscriptions." -- Wikipedia

Tariffs

Actually, the news about tariffs was just a good excuse to try out this Pilot Retro Pop ballpoint pen and to photograph it in the morning light streaming through my dining room window. A really smooth writer, with a nice wide .1mm tip. Like it much better than the Jetstream ballpoints. But, back to tariffs, I wonder if even ballpoint pens will cost more now. Sheesh! What a crazy world.

"Be Merciful"

Yesterday's event in Washington, D.C. reminded me of this image I captured in front of St. John's Episcopal Church back in 2017. It was at yesterday's service that Rev. Budde reminded Trump of his obligation to "be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land."

False Votes

Thomas Jefferson "sketched a scenario to James Madison whereby a future president, having been defeated for reelection, refused to accept the outcome and civil war threatened, 'If once elected, and at a second or third election outvoted by one or two votes, he will pretend false votes, foul play, hold possession of the reins of government, be supported by the states voting for him, especially if they are the central ones lying in a compact body themselves and separating their opponents: and they will be aided by one nation of Europe, while the majority are aided by another.' The solution would be to restrict the president to a single term (a stricture Jefferson would ignore in 1804 when he ran for a second presidential term)." Cogliano, A Revolutionary Friendship, p. 203