I hadn't planned to devote a separate post to the cloisters and chapter house at Salisbury, but they are of such quality and the cathedral so large and complex, I don't think it possible to do them justice any other way.
Strictly speaking, the cloisters and chapter house at Salisbury are superfluous; the cathedral has never been monastic. It was, and still is, governed by a body - the Chapter - of secular priests. And it's not as though they connect the cathedral to any other structure apart from the chapter house, so their utility is limited, providing perhaps merely shelter from the British climate for processions. Salisbury was not however unique among Medieval 'secular' cathedrals in England in possessing cloisters; they exist at Lincoln, Hereford (two), Exeter, Chichester, and Old St Pauls had two, one on either side of the nave. Of these the cloister at Salisbury is the largest.
Of the Post-reformation cathedrals two were planned, at Bury St Edmunds and Truro, but neither have been completed. Truro, long ago, threw in the towel.
Of the Post-reformation cathedrals two were planned, at Bury St Edmunds and Truro, but neither have been completed. Truro, long ago, threw in the towel.
The Salisbury cloisters are spacious and serene, a beautiful and almost frivolous gesture. (Frivolous is almost certainly the wrong word here as it suggests a lack of seriousness, when the design is actually very serious.) They stand to the south of the cathedral nave. Square in plan, and almost completely inward looking - there are, for instance, no exterior windows. And it is this exclusion, along with that seriousness of design and intent, that makes for such serenity. Two porches tether the cloisters to the cathedral; one in the nw corner to the w end of the nave and one in the ne corner to the south transept. Cloister and chapter house were built, of the same Chilmark stone as the cathedral, in the 1270s in the Geometric Decorated style, the English response to the development of the Rayonnant style in Northern France in the first half of the 13th century. On the exterior is a conscious attempt to tie-in the new work to the cathedral with the adoption the same parapet design; while the interior shares some of the serene austerity of the cathedral interior eg. no foliate capitals.
In the late Middle Ages a library was constructed over the length of the e walk, but that fell victim of that ol' bruiser Wyatt who curtailed it to a mere four bays.
In the late Middle Ages a library was constructed over the length of the e walk, but that fell victim of that ol' bruiser Wyatt who curtailed it to a mere four bays.
In the w walk poignant relics of WWI in form of the original grave markers for men, connected with the cathedral, lost in that terrible conflict. Too poignant for words, really.
There is something almost Zen about the position of two cedars add greatly to the atmosphere of this serene almost transcendental space, but the contemporary sculpture does not.
There is something almost Zen about the position of two cedars add greatly to the atmosphere of this serene almost transcendental space, but the contemporary sculpture does not.
The plan of the cloisters and their relationship to the chapter house suggest an ultimately Late Antique origin, but I think that must coincidental. Salisbury chapter house, is based on that at Westminster Abbey, though, I think, smaller. Like its prototype, it is a centralised structure, octagonal in plan with a tall central pier of Purbeck marble (a sort of axis mundi) to support the vault, but unlike Westminster all of the eight sides contains a window. The effect is dazzling. Both buildings represent some of the best examples of the Rayonnant style in Britain, with the windows filling all the available space between the structural elements. Below the windows is a tall dado decorated with arcading. In all very refined and sophisticated, and a uniquely English/British architectural form.
The spandrels above the arcading contain a sculptural cycle of events from the first two books of the Old Testament: Genesis and Exodus i.e. from the Creation to the Patriarch Moses receiving the Law on Mt Sinai. For some reason, which we couldn't work out, a disproportional number of the sculptures relate the story of Joseph, Son of Jacob. I realise that Joseph is the type of Christ, but this emphasis seems to throw things out of balance somehow.
Sir George Gilbert Scott Snr restored the chapter house in the 19th century, introducing painted decoration, stained glass, and encaustic tiling, and restoring the sculptures. And he has come in for criticism ever since. The restoration of the sculptures below the windows has come in for particular criticism. I suppose it matters to some, but it seemed fine to me. The painted decoration has been erased at some point in the late 19th/early 20th century, probably for the best.
Sir George Gilbert Scott Snr restored the chapter house in the 19th century, introducing painted decoration, stained glass, and encaustic tiling, and restoring the sculptures. And he has come in for criticism ever since. The restoration of the sculptures below the windows has come in for particular criticism. I suppose it matters to some, but it seemed fine to me. The painted decoration has been erased at some point in the late 19th/early 20th century, probably for the best.
Between the cathedral and the cloisters is a space known as the Plumbery. I think wisely the cathedral authorities have used this space for the café and gift shop. Fine views of the cathedral.
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