OHCT trustee Nicola Coldstream welcomes a likely Christmas present for Trust members.
Professor Emeritus Nicholas Orme quite correctly writes that what he is exploring in this book has never been attempted before: the history of the English cathedral as an entity from the earliest foundations in the 4th century AD down to the present day. He treats cathedrals as a group – a phenomenon, almost – and through his chronological account runs a discussion of their collective purpose and functions: worship, involvement in learning and education, in their locality, in national politics and – fascinatingly – the public reaction to them down the centuries.
For what lies at the heart of his investigation is not only what cathedrals are for but why are they there, or rather, how have they survived down the centuries to become, as they are now, a significant feature in Anglican life, attracting substantial Sunday congregations while those of parish churches dwindle almost to nothing. The story as it unfolds is one of deep conservatism, preserved by a layer of continual adaptation. If it were not for the cathedral building itself, immovably present in its traditional setting, you might call it shape-shifting.
Long predating the parochial system and remaining outside it, cathedrals ought to have somehow faded away. Yet centuries of adroit negotiation by deans and chapters preserving their exemptions and privileges, and surviving when all seems lost, as in the Commonwealth years on the 1650s, has kept them going. The country may have endured the long Reformation but it was almost spared the religious wars that engulfed mainland Europe, if not the destruction of so much art created in reverence of God. Cathedrals, for all their anomalous status in the weekly round of congregational worship, dug deeply into the national consciousness from an early date, and there they have stayed. The buildings, some decayed almost beyond help by the 19th century, were restored back to life; Coventry was resurrected; St Paul’s given extra protection. If some would argue that naves filled by light shows, helter-skelters and golf courses are a long way from the liturgy, the church argues that such things bring people in and that some visitors at least stay or return.
Professor Orme is, as we know, a great enthusiast for cathedrals both as a concept and as architecture. The book is an eye-opener, readable and informative, and it left this reviewer, who realised in the course of reading it that she had always taken cathedrals for granted, gasping at the centuries of roller-coaster riding that have brought them this far.
The History of England’s Cathedrals, by Nicholas Orme (rev.ed., Yale University Press, New Haven and London) January 2024, Pages 320, 90 colour illustrations, ISBN: 9780300275483. Paperback £20.00
