Wells Cathedral - Essay Example

Wells Cathedral Built in the 12th and 13th centuries, Wells Cathedral is known for its soaring arches and unusual interior design. This cathedral is one of my favorites because there is always something to see that one didn't see before. The senses are nearly overwhelmed at times here and it is easy to forget one even has a body composed of anything but eyes and ears. The site was founded as a church in about 705 A.D., and the beginning of the present cathedral originated under Bishop Reginald de Bohun, who died in 1191 (ed. David Nash Ford, 1924). The building of the present cathedral continued until 1239, under Bishop Jocelyn of Wells. The decoration of the West Front was completed in about 1260. The entire West Front is a three-dimensional storyboard, even marking major liturgical holy days and seasons. The open space of the walkway leading to the West Front with wide swaths of green grass gives one the chance to gain a perspective from distance or close proximity. There is a feeling of freedom in this area, but also one of magnificence and reverence. On the exterior, the eyes lift to the many statues of saints and angels; each wall depicts the honor or story of biblical figures in intricate detail. The closer one gets to the cathedral, the more awe-inspired one is at the sheer majesty of this building; one can feel the presence of the hundreds of masons and stone carvers that crafted each detail. Bells ring in the courtyard and one feels dwarfed by the soaring towers and almost dizzy from observing the flying buttresses that support them. The magnitude of esthetical beauty is indescribable. The sounds and smells of the street market close to the cathedral fade as all attention is drawn to the sheer magnitude of the West Front, invoking powerful feelings of being in the presence of master stone masons by the hundreds whose spirits still stand guard. Upon entering the nave, the sight of inverted arches within is almost shocking. These innovative arches were installed in the 14th century when it was discovered that the massive 160-foot central tower was causing its supporting pillars to sink into the ground under its weight. The inverted arches solved the problem of supporting the tower and have held up for seven hundred years. The arches give the interior of the cathedral a sense of being alive, observing pilgrims, visitors, students and worshippers as much as they are observing it. One immediately gets the feeling that the cathedral has recorded the presence and movements and activities of every person who has passed through its doors. The eyes are immediately drawn to the choir with its massive organ pipes and welcoming open space at the end of what feels like a narrow and demanding passage through the nave; walk through the center and you will be rewarded, it seems to say. Walk the good path. Looking up, the fan vaulting gives a sense of solace and praise. There is gentleness amongst the power expressed in the architecture. Shadows move across the fan vaulting from the hundreds of stained and leaded glass windows, and it is difficult sometimes for the eyes to discern whether the carvings are moving in relation to the observer or the other way around. The acoustics are masterfully executed in the placement of each stone and arch; footsteps echo, voices, even hushed, can be heard clearly. When the massive pipe organ begins to play, one can feel the vibrant sound through the body and the church seems to come alive. Upon descending the staircase to the Chapter House, the stone stairs reflect centuries of use; they can be slippery, and having to slow down while descending brings attention to the incredible acoustics in the stairwell. One recording was done there already, a haunting song sung in Gaelic with no sound effects needed. The natural acoustics of this particular stairwell provide an ethereal echo to the voice, making it a natural attraction to singers. Here one lingers, the sense of being still in a place of movement and the chill of retracting from the sunlight immediately alters the mood. Pausing in this stairwell is almost overwhelming and for some odd reason this place is like a magnet for me. Bombarded with feelings of ancient and modern, joy and grief, the echoes of those who ascended and descended these stairs over the course of seven hundred years all seem to collect here. People have two reactions; linger and absorb it or get up or down as quickly as possible. The worn down areas in the centers of the stairs tell their own story and to move to one side of the stairs or the other gives one the feeling of being a pioneer, a traveler out of synch with the flow of everything the cathedral stands for. The Chapter House is octagonal, it's ceiling lifted by the fan vaulting and brilliantly lit by the stained glass windows. Over 40 canons once met here, and each had a carved stone seat with their name on it. There is a feeling of openness to this room where the canons met, a sense of timelessness and being in the presence of powerful men who made big decisions. The open-air feeling of the Chapter House brings a sense of the careful thinking of the architects who designed this room. Sitting in one of the seats gives a feeling of almost breaking the law or sneaking into the principal's office. The cold stone and empty seats brings a sense of the enormous power the Church once had, and a present feeling of that power having ebbed. Back upstairs, in the north transept, is the famous Wells clock. People gather to wait for the quarter hour when the clock comes to life; a clock character (called the Quarter Jack) beats on the bell while jousting knights rush out; the clock buzzes and whirs and clinks as the jousting knights conduct their battle. The feeling here is one of delight at such sophisticated craftsmanship and technology from the medieval times. A complex mechanism of pulleys and gears drives the clock, connecting to a massive clock outside, opposite the Vicar's Hall. The very feeling of movement through this entire complex evokes different feelings; light and gentleness, imposing power, the play of the knights, the haunting staircases. There are also palpable temperature changes as movement through the church occurs. Moving East to the Lady Chapel, the feeling of imposing power and weight of the ages disappears; the semi-octagonal chapel is intimate. It brings the feeling of movement to an end and elicits feelings of peace and safety. Built with incredible delicacy and attention to the feminine, the Lady Chapel emphasizes the quietness of introspection and prayer. The light is softer, candles quietly burn and the lingering smell of incense from a previous service remind visitors that this once mighty place is still in use, though on a much lesser scale. Visiting Wells Cathedral for the first time is like an initiation; subsequent visits encourage a sense of familiarity and ease of movement as one becomes familiar with the nuances of each section. Still, so much detail is contained within this complex that to be able to touch on all of it would be an undertaking. Where one-time visitors to this exquisite statement to Gothic architecture leave having been moved by it, repeat visitors acquire a sense of intimacy with this cathedral; the very evolution of it along with the final result are made to inspire a wide range of feelings by integrating light and texture into every section. References Ford, David Nash. "The History & Architecture of Wells Cathedral in Somerset, Part 1", Cathedrals, 1924, Britannia. Retrieved 19 November 2005 at: http://www.britannia.com/history/somerset/churches/wellscath.html Wells Cathedral Home Page. "Architecture." Retrieved 18 November 2005 at: http://www.wellscathedral.org.uk/ Read More