Just back from a couple of nights in London, but more of that in another post
If you have been reading my cathedral posts over the years you may be aware of vicissitudes of these buildings have undergone over the centuries. This is particularly true of their furnishings, which are vulnerable not only to changes of theology, and liturgy, but also taste. All the Medieval Cathedrals of Great Britain, have since the Early Modern Period, been subject to repeated (and very often self-conscious) purging of furnishings, especially the art. Salisbury was no different. It is possible to view these building, perhaps paradoxically, as both symbols of continuity and the vicissitudes of history.
After the iconoclasms of the 16th & 17th centuries, the Salisbury underwent two seismic re-orderings firstly under Wyatt and then Sir George Gilbert Scott. Much effort has been expended since in gradually undoing latter, when there was an effort, I think successfully, to re-order the interior in the manner advocated by the Alcuin Club. Out went Scott's metal choir screen, the marble High Altar, the gasoliers and the encaustic tiling. The pulpit and some metal screens were allowed to remain, as were the remarkable wooden porches at the west end. The architect, William Henry Randall Blacking (1889-1958), who trained under Sir J N Comper, was the consultant to this process. Sadly his work in the Trinity Chapel has itself succumbed to the vagaries of fashion with terrible results - the 'English' altar has been removed and the new glass is far too dark. The place has become a horror.
After the iconoclasms of the 16th & 17th centuries, the Salisbury underwent two seismic re-orderings firstly under Wyatt and then Sir George Gilbert Scott. Much effort has been expended since in gradually undoing latter, when there was an effort, I think successfully, to re-order the interior in the manner advocated by the Alcuin Club. Out went Scott's metal choir screen, the marble High Altar, the gasoliers and the encaustic tiling. The pulpit and some metal screens were allowed to remain, as were the remarkable wooden porches at the west end. The architect, William Henry Randall Blacking (1889-1958), who trained under Sir J N Comper, was the consultant to this process. Sadly his work in the Trinity Chapel has itself succumbed to the vagaries of fashion with terrible results - the 'English' altar has been removed and the new glass is far too dark. The place has become a horror.
What I haven't mentioned so far in these series of posts on the cathedral is the role the cathedral played in the liturgy of the British mainland in the Middle Ages, when the Rite of the Cathedral - what is known as the Sarum Rite - became the predominate liturgical expression not only in England, but in Scotland and Wales, and parts of Ireland. Some of the Medieval furnishings such as the pulpitum, and (apparently) the Rood beam, survived until the fell hand of Wyatt swept them away.
Like Lichfield, Salisbury is rich in monuments.
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