Lincoln Cathedral

After singing the midday concert at Selby Abbey, we made a stop at Lincoln Cathedral on our way to Cambridge. Lincoln is where the fellow who helped arrange our tour from the England side studied and sang as a student.

"The earliest parts of the current building date to 1072, when bishop Remigius de Fécamp moved his seat from Dorchester on Thames to Lincoln. The building was completed in 1092, but severely damaged in an earthquake in 1185. It was rebuilt over the following centuries in different phases of the Gothic style, with significant surviving parts of the cathedral in Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular." - Wikipedia

Old Sacristy

Robing in Selby Abbey's Old Sacristy before our midday concert.

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

Verger

So on Sunday morning at Ripon, the verger lined us up in the south transept of the cathedral, then led us in procession to the west end and up the nave to our places behind the low altar. No mean feat considering what a rabble we are normally on Sunday mornings! Maybe that's why he's smiling. :-)

Evensong

The renowned British composer Andrew Carter on the right with the scarf congratulating members of the choir for our performance of his Californian Canticles at evensong.

After evensong in Ripon, it was a quick bus trip back to Harrogate for a bite to eat at The Crown's bar and grill and a night's rest before returning to sing for Sunday morning Eucharist.

Eucharist

 

 

Ripon Cathedral's setup for Sunday morning Eucharist.

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.