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MONDAY - SATURDAY
8.00am Holy Communion 8.30am Morning Prayer (said) 12.30pm Holy Communion 5.30pm Choral Evensong (4.30pm on Saturdays)
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28 Gloucester Cathedral News
Mission Statement: ‘We aim to produce a Christian magazine which is widely accessible and which informs, involves and inspires its readers.’
Cathedral Chapter The Editorial Team consists of:
Dean: The Very Reverend Stephen Lake Maureen Smith - Editor Pat Foster Barrie Glover Canons: Lay Canons: Christopher Smith - Photographer. Nikki Arthy John Coates Dr Andrew Braddock Paul Mason Cathedral Advice and Information : Stephen Lake, Sandie Conway.
Richard Mitchell Dame Janet Trotter "We are happy to receive articles, handwritten or typed. We regret that, Jackie Searle due to the limited space available, and to enable us to continue to
Celia Thomson produce a lively, varied and informative magazine, we can normally only accept articles of 400 words or less. Articles over 400 words will only be accepted at the Editor’s discretion. Chief Operations Officer: Emily Shepherd The Editor reserves the right to alter articles as necessary, without losing ------the general sense. Contributions can be emailed to: The Cathedral Office, 12 College Green, Gloucester GL1 2LX [email protected] Telephone: 01452 528095 or you can leave them at the Cathedral Office at the address given at the front of this booklet. Email: [email protected] You may also email Maureen Smith direct: The Clergy may be contacted through the Cathedral Office at the [email protected] above address and telephone number. Disclaimer: We try very hard to make sure details are correct before going
to print, but things can change! Please check with the Cathedral Office Gloucester Cathedral News Subscriptions and the notice board. Please note that articles do not represent the A year’s postal subscription for 10 copies of Gloucester Cathedral opinions of the Chapter, the Church of England or the editor - only the News may be obtained by cash or cheque for £12 made payable to writer! ‘The Chapter of Gloucester Cathedral’ and sent to the Cathedral Office at the above address. The next Editorial meeting is on Monday 10 April at 10.30am
www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk The deadline for the May edition is the 5 May.
Cover picture: ‘The Ascension of Christ’ - From the Rabulla Gospels
(See article on page 4)
2 27 CONTENTS Ceilidh in the Cathedral Page Cotswold Ceilidh Band Friday 26 May, 7.30pm - 10.30pm Seeing We Have a Great Come along and join us for a Highland Fling as we turn the Cathedral High Priest Paul Ross 4 Nave into the setting for an energetic ceilidh. Guests can Strip the Willow along the aisles and enjoy a complimentary hog roast to the Away James Whitcombe Riley 6 sounds of the fantastic Cotswold Ceilidh Band. A bar will be available during the evening. John Calvin Maureen Smith 8 Tickets £15.00 available from 01452 768928 or on line from: www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk Gloucestershire Churches series: 4. St Catharine’s Church, Wotton Pitch Ray Pocock 10
"A Medieval False Leg Strap?!" John Melhuish 12
All Change Along the River Tony Conder 14
Centenary of the First World War Series: The War Drags On Barrie Glover 16 The Home Front Maureen Smith 17
Around the Community 19
Jottings from the West End Humph ’n Harry 20
A Salutary Warning! Hassocks Can Attack! 21
Diary of special services and Events
Please consider a voluntary donation of £1 to help cover the cost of this magazine 26 3
Seeing we a have a great high priest
At Choral Evensong in Gloucester Cathedral we are invited to turn and face the High Altar to profess our faith in the words of the Apostles’ Creed. ‘He ascended into heaven.’ We can see in the centre of the reredos screen a striking and powerful scene of the Ascension, that good news story which continues to bring such great comfort and everlasting joy to Christ’s Church and his disciples today.
Pictured above is a rare example of early Christian art, from the Rabulla Gospels which were completed in c.586 at the monastery of St John of Zagba, between Antioch and Apamea in modern Syria. The picture depicts the Ascension of Jesus but not as described by St Luke. The artist imagined Jesus going to heaven in the fiery chariot throne described by Ezekiel, who saw cherubim, wheels within wheels, and a sapphire throne where the human form of the Lord was enthroned in glory. Here Jesus is depicted as that human form. The fiery chariot has four heads and wings full of eyes, and beneath the wings, as in Ezekiel’s vision, there is a human hand. There is a wheel within a wheel, and attendant angels veil their hands to offer holy things – the crowns of victory for the Lord who has conquered death. Below the ascending Jesus, Mary his mother, takes a central position among the apostles.
4 25 Luke, of all the gospel writers, gives us the fullest life-story of Jesus – and it’s the only one to have a sequel. In his account of the Ascension, we read: ‘While Jesus was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.’ Why were the disciples so joyful? It might make more sense if the story said that they returned with tears and emptiness. Were they joyful that Christ was going away to be seated at the right hand of the Father?
When we say “Jesus is Lord!” it has radical implications for us in our own lives, its impact on the way we think and work. Were the disciples joyful that Christ was going to send the Holy Spirit in his place? When we are baptised, commissioned, ordained, prayed for by laying on of hands, this too has radical implications for us in our lives of service to the Church and the world. And were the disciples joyful that the ascended Christ continues to pray for them and us as a great high priest? In Romans 8. 34 we read: ‘Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.’
John in Chapter 17 of his gospel gives us Jesus’ long prayer to the Father for his followers, present and yet to come. It is beautiful in its intimacy, both in the way Jesus speaks to his Father and the things he asks for his friends. To know oneself to be the subject of such a prayer must have sustained the disciples in that ‘in between time’ after the Ascension and before the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. To know that we are the subject of such a prayer can sustain us too.
We are recommended by Archbishop Justin to spend the last ten days of Easter, between Ascension Day and Pentecost, reflecting on the Lord’s Prayer in the ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ series of worship, events and prayer walks and activities. In Paula Goodber’s book ‘Let Me Go There’ she writes this: ‘Why do you think Jesus tells us to pray that we are not brought to a time of testing? There is no avoiding times of testing – times when who we really are is put to the test. It is worth reminding ourselves that we follow Jesus, but we are not Jesus. It is all right to fail and be forgiven – this is the heart of the Gospel.’
24 5 The second verse of the Eucharist hymn ‘Alleluia, sing to Jesus!’, reminds us of the Ascension and its comforting and joyful promise:
‘Alleluia, not as orphans are we left in sorrow now; alleluia, he is near us, faith believes, nor questions how: though the cloud from sight received him, when the forty days were o’er, shall our hearts forget his promise, ‘I am with you evermore’?’
May we all be blessed with great comfort and everlasting joy this Ascension-tide. Paul Ross.
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Away
I cannot say, and I will not say, That he is dead - he is just away. With a cheery smile and a wave of the hand,
He has wandered into an unknown land,
And left us dreaming, how very fair It needs must be, since he lingers there.
And you - O you, who so wildly yearn
For the old-time step and the glad return, Think of him faring on, as dear In the love of There as the love of Here,
Think of him as the same, I say;
He is not dead - he is just away.
James Whitcombe Riley (1849-1916)
6 23 May special services and events: Prayer ? Sun 28 April - Sat 20 May - Spring Exhibition by The Fosseway Artists
Mon 1 1.05pm Meditation for Everyone.
Mon 8 1.05pm Meditation for Everyone.
Mon 15 1.05pm Meditation for Everyone.
Mon 22 1.05 Meditation for Everyone.
Thu 25 ASCENSION DAY 7.00am Eucharist and procession up the tower. Join us to break bread and share wine in Jesus' name. 6.30pm Friends of Gloucester Cathedral. Talk by Richard Cann on the Great East Window.
Fri 26 7.30pm Ceilidh in the Cathedral. Cotswold Ceilidh Band. (See details on page…
Mon 29 1.05pm Meditation for Everyone.
June looking ahead…
Sun 4 PENTECOST
22 7 John Calvin Ascension Day is coming. Rule Britannia and Up the Corbels. God for Harry, England and St George. John Calvin was born in 1509 in Noyon, Picardy, France. Humph ’n Harry. After discovering Luther’s teachings during his student days, Calvin rejected Roman Catholicism, left France and went to live in Basle. Transcribed by Sylvia Coppen-Gardner with a huge “Thank You” for Whilst there, he published, The Institution of the Christian Religion, such a very kind mention in April GCN. It really did help. (The Institutes), which clearly upholds Reformation ideas.
In 1536, Calvin was invited by Guillaume Farel to help consolidate the Reformation in Geneva. However, in 1537, following disputes about church government, Calvin and Farel were expelled. Calvin then went to Strassburg to minister to French refugees. *********************************************************************************** In 1541, he returned to Geneva where the church was in serious trouble. Nevertheless, he stated at the time that ‘I would have preferred a hundred other deaths to that cross, on which I should A Salutary Warning! have to die a thousand times a day’, however, ‘a solemn and conscientious regard to my duty prevailed with me to return to the Hassocks can Attack! flock from which I had been torn – but with what grief, tears, great anxiety and distress I did this, the Lord is my best witness. The following is a true story published in the Western Daily Press on 29 May 1864: Many years of bitter struggles followed. In particular there was fierce opposition to Calvin’s rigorous views on discipline which ‘A lady attended Sunday service at the Cathedral dressed in the included a strict dress code and a ban on dancing. Undeterred, he latest fashion – a crinoline. As she was leaving the pew at the end of preached daily to the people, affirming his comment in The the service, a large hassock got stuck up her skirts and would not Institutes, that, ‘Wherever we find the Word of God surely preached budge, no matter how much she wriggled, twisted and shook. and heard, and the sacraments administered according to the Eventually, one of the lay clerks came to the lady’s assistance, and institution of Christ, there, it is not to be doubted, is a church of managed to free her by lifting her skirts gently, one at a time, until God’. He also founded the Geneva Academy which attracted he found and removed the offending item’. theological students from all parts of western and central Europe.
In his final years, Calvin became highly respected. He died in 1564 Published with the permission of the Western Daily Press. and is remembered in the Church Calendar on 26th May.
Maureen Smith.
Sources: Lion Handbook – The History of Christianity. The Lion Book of Christian Thought. Tony Lane.
8 21 Jotting from the West End:
Greetings from us Corbels - Humph ’n Harry
A joyous Easter and a splendid Saint George’s Day were had by all. Spring is here and we’re back, BUT we have had a right old drama. Odo Motte thought “YOLO”, “you only live once” and VANISHED!
Garth Bailey awoke from a snooze and Odo had gone, with no response on his panic button, so a general alarm was sounded, with Mr. H. in prime position. Clutching his squeeze box, (melodeon), Gurth was removed to safety, leaving his banjo behind.
Kidnap? There was nothing on the internet. Odo has legendary talons and could be extremely nasty to handle, so possibly not. Had he had a senior moment or embraced virtual reality? A red alert with total lockdown - no respnse. Had he gone to visit the Coffee Shop? The menu in April GCN was very tempting - all cakes present and correct!
The gargoyles primed their water cannon and attempted to drown Ulph, who was searching the bins. They have been looking for aliens for some time and informed Gurth that, in future, Odo’s new address would be “c/o Planet Zonk”! Cries of anguish from Gurth.
Had he been “excavated” and removed for further archaeological examination or, worse, had he met a dumper truck? Gurth was in despair and Mr. H was beginning to think “Army, Navy, Air Force, Special Boat Service and NATO” if need be.
Then Gurth had an idea. Blondel found Richard I by singing from one castle to another. Perhaps Odo was trapped and might respond if Gurth took his melodeon and toured the precincts? Mr. H. joined him and Odo was flushed out to “Rule Britannia” from under a car in Miller’s Green, while pretending to be a cat. (He and Gurth appear in Welander (1991: page 83), and in the Friends’ Report 2005 (Fernie : page 22), but are they owls or avian lions, hence Odo’s flight and a crash landing in Miller’s Green? Let’s hope for no more alarms and excursions!
20 9 Photo of St Catharine’s. Around the Community
Palm Sunday procession / Pony. Report and Photographs.
Gloucestershire Churches series:
4. St Catharine’s, Wotton Pitch
St Catherine’s, (renamed St Catharine’s in 1866), is probably unique in that during its 465 years it has had three churches.
The first church: In 1548, a Church, dedicated to St Catherine, was built using the remaining north wall of the ruined St Oswald’s Priory. It was severely damaged, however, during the Siege of Gloucester in 1643 and was demolished in 1656.
There followed a period of 220 years when the parish had no Church. During that time, marriages were passed to St Mary de Lode, while St Catherine’s clergy could only conduct burials at St Oswald’s cemetery and “at home” baptisms. A number of curates were appointed during the interregnum, but, with few duties to perform and a stipend of only 10-15 shillings per week, they had to seek other duties, such as prison chaplaincies, in order to survive.
The second church: In 1866, with growing dissatisfaction that such a large parish had no church, the churchwardens wrote to the Chancellor of the Diocese, Mr. C. J. Monk, urging him to provide a new building. He not only agreed, he also subscribed £500 towards the cost, providing it was built on the former church site. The new building was consecrated in 1868. The revised parish boundary had by then extended into the district around Wotton.
10 19 As well as all of this, families all over Britain, who had loved ones The third and present church: In 1906, a Bishop’s commission, set serving at the Front, lived in constant fear of them being either up to examine parish boundaries and the disposition of churches in killed or severely injured. the City deanery, agreed that the growing parish of Wotton urgently needed a church. A key player in the subsequent planning and Life at home, then, was far from pleasant and, to make matters preparation period was James Bruton, a pillar of St Catherine’s, five even worse food supplies were in danger of running out. Between times Mayor of Gloucester and later MP for Gloucester. He felt that January and June 1917, 47,000 tonnes of meat and 87,000 tonnes of the Church should not only be at the centre of the parish but should sugar had been lost due to U-boat attacks on supply ships. Although dominate it. What better, then, than to build it at the very top of less ships were lost after the introduction of the convoy system, the hill? He clearly gave much time and effort ensuring that the new there was still a need for strict controls on food supplies. For church building was “fit for the purpose”. When he died, his wife instance, it was now forbidden to throw rice at a wedding was and donated the reredos behind the High Altar in his memory. the feeding of bread or meat to animals was strictly illegal. One unfortunate farmer was fined £50 for feeding his pigs with bread The foundation stone was laid in 1912 and St Catharine’s Church was crusts discarded by navvies constructing a new aerodrome. consecrated on 21 June 1915. (The former church was closed the following day). The building had cost around £15,000. However, with By the end of 1917, queues for food were reaching epidemic World War I in its second year, and numerous calls for money to proportions. On 10 December, The Times reported that an estimated support it, the parish was unable to meet the cost. It, in fact, took 3,000 people queued for margarine, in Walworth, London, and that, many years to pay the debt off. Several gifts, however, ensured that after two hours of sales, 1000 of them left empty handed. the Church was properly equipped. These ranged from the large East window and the organ, to contributions of 1s 6d for a kneeler! Vegetables were never in short supply, however, thanks to a successful campaign encouraging people to grow their own! By May In 2015 St Catharine’s Church celebrated its centenary. Standing 1917, an estimated half a million allotments and vegetable plots proudly at the top of a hill, it is a tribute to those who nurtured and were under cultivation. The Archbishop of Canterbury subsequently sustained the parish over nearly 500 years, especially during the 220 sanctioned Sunday labour and services were held on allotments. years without a church. What a challenge that was. Thanks to the Sunday tea on an allotment also became a regular event, and, no architect, Mr. W. Wood, it is a wonderfully light and spacious doubt, a welcome respite in those difficult times! building, adaptable for worship as well as for social uses which help
Maureen Smith. to bind the local community together. Primarily, it is a firm base from which to reach out and spread the word of God to its parish Source: The Home Front in the Great War. Aspects of the Conflict and beyond. 1914-18 by David Bilton. Ray Pocock.
Editor’s Note: I intend to write more articles about life at Home *Interestingly, Mr. John Collett, who sold the site, insisted on a during World War I in future editions of GCN. I would also welcome clause being added to the conveyance stating that, “If a church is articles on the subject from any of our readers! It would be erected, it should have no peal of bells or bell placed therein, or particularly interesting to hear from anyone with knowledge of life used in connection therewith, without the written consent of John in Gloucestershire at that time. Collett, his executors, etc.” In fact, Mr. Collett was moving to Hill House, less than 100 yards from the Church. Apparently, he didn’t want his early mornings disturbed by the sound of bells!
18 11 "A Medieval False Leg Strap?!" debates about who was carrying the heavier burden: moreover the German high command had also learned lessons from Messines.
Consequently, when the attack opened on 31 July, their trench In early March this year, during an archaeological dig south-east of systems were prepared and general preparation was in advance of the south porch of our Cathedral; where the lay cemetery was; was the allies. Notwithstanding, the courage of the latter a blood bath found to be a possible medieval false leg strap that once held a of British, Commonwealth and French forces resulted. prosthetic leg around a skeleton. Its buckle, strap fragment and bands were made of iron and it was thought to date back to the We can look back with the hindsight of history and a common 1600's. reaction of those who visit Flanders and the battle areas for the first
time is “What a dreadful waste.” The contemporaries had no such Initially caked in mud and looking like little stones, the strap was worry. sent off to be analysed by a specialist at Durham University's Artefact Conservation Service. Barry Glover. With acknowledgements. The specialist's report stated that the bands were 40 x 125 mm (1" - 4") long, 17 x 26 mm (7/10" x 1") wide and 1 x 30 mm (1/30" x 1") deep. The buckle was 23 x 23 mm (9/10" x 9/10") long and 2 x 8 mm (1/15" x 4/15") deep. In addition, various nails of differing sizes were also found. There was evidence of mineral-preserved wood and Life on the Home Front preserved bone in the interior and underside. In May 1917, the war which everyone had hoped would end by A director of "Border Archaeology" at the cathedral dig said that he Christmas 1914, was now dragging on into its third year, with no end had only seen something like this once before in London in the in sight. Although, of course, nothing could compare with the 1980's, so it was a very rare find - although a cathedral spokesperson horrors and terrors experienced by those serving at the Front, life at pointed out that something similar is now on display in London! home was getting worse every day.
The director commented on the very difficult situation the disabled Residents on the eastern side of the country, for instance, lived in found themselves in seventeenth century Britain. There was no constant fear of air-raids and shelling from enemy ships. By 1917 governmental assistance and it was regarded that any bodily aeroplanes were carrying out devastating daylight bombing raids. impairment was a punishment for sin or that the person had the The first of these, and the most deadly of the war, was inflicted misfortune in being born under the influence of Saturn, which was upon Folkstone and London on 25 May 1917, killing 162 civilians and deemed to be a hostile planet! injuring 432. Particularly tragic, was the killing of 16 children and the wounding of 30 others as they sheltered in a cellar at their A cathedral spokesperson has stated that, after further analysis, the school. strap is expected to go on display at our cathedral in the future. There was also the very real danger of a munitions factory The use of false limbs dates back to ancient Egypt some three explosion. For instance, one in the East End of London, killed 69 thousand years ago. people and injured 450. It also flattened buildings within a square mile of the site, leaving two thousand people homeless.
12 17 Centenary of the First World War Series: In addition to the strap, other finds at our cathedral during this dig this year included old coins, a "Janus-faced" medieval rosary bead The War Drags On and very recently, a Roman copper alloy brooch.
Among the first influential books to be published about the war was It's unlikely that the remains of an ex-king of England will be found Liddell Hart’s ‘History of the First World War’ (Pan Books, 1930), at these digs, but Leicester found it to be so, much against the which remained in print for many years. One of the characteristics odds! that makes it so readable is not only his access to contemporary John Melhuish. sources but also its ability to provide a combination of detail and overall views. Sources: "Gloucester Cathedral"; "Border Archaeology"; "Daily Mail"
In 1917, the war seemed to be in no prospect of ending and there was some pressure (on all sides?) to do something dramatic to bring it to a conclusion. The actions around Messines and Passchendael in Flanders vividly illustrate the consequences of such thinking. Liddell Hart describes the battles there as a badly needed tonic after a depressing end to the Spring offensive at Arras.
Marshal Petain, the French commander was conscious that his men (and his government?) could be encouraged together with their British allies by securing high ground in the area north and east of Ypres which had been in the control of the German Army. In conventional battles, possession of high ground is invariably an advantage. It was not spelt out, but such an initiative would also play well with the Belgian, British and French governments, together with dispiriting the German commanders. Many of the scars of the battles on and around the slopes may still be seen.
No doubt the wires between Paris and London were hot for weeks, and, at 3.10am on 7 June 1917, nineteen mines were blown, which wrecked large parts of the enemy trenches and, simultaneously, a barrage opened, followed by the allied infantry being able to advance and over-run the enemy’s front-lines. The records show that within three hours the whole crest of the ridge of hills was secured.
Passchendaele was rather different. To the north-east of Ypres, it was also seen as an opportunity for Franco-British action under the overall command of the French Marshal Petain. However, there were doubts in both London and Paris where there were frequently 16 13 All Change Along the River The prison opened in July 1791, it was partly rebuilt in the 1840’s which is the part that survives today. In 2013, the prison closed and
is now owned by City and Country who specialise in redeveloping The western side of Gloucester has always been defined by the river heritage sites. Their plans for Gloucester are proceeding and they Severn. The Romans had a port round the area that is St Nicholas have held several consultations. The historic prison buildings and Church, the medieval port was on the Quay round the old Custom wall will survive; within the prison there will be housing House. Close to that we Gloucester’s second Castle, built after 1100 development, but nothing is finalised. A.D.
The river is also subject to scrutiny. There are proposals by the Along the bank south of that was an area of pasture and osiers that Hereford and Gloucester Canal Society for a barrage to hold back Miles the King’s Constable of Gloucester Castle gave to a group of the river (except in time of flood) to give Gloucester a better Augustinian monks fleeing Welsh rebels in 1136. They built riverside. Llanthony Secunda Priory on the site. In 1538, when Llanthony
Secunda was dissolved by Henry VIII it was one of the richest These developments will help bring Castle, Prison and Priory back to monasteries in the country owning 97 churches and 57 manors life and add considerably to Gloucester as a place to live and visit. around the country. Tony Conder. The old Priory site has passed through many hands since then, Gloucester Civic Trust. buildings were destroyed during the Civil War but what remains is now closely allied with Gloucestershire College and being reinvigorated by a Trust with Lottery funding.
The Castle was important as a rallying point for English armies marching into Wales or on to Ireland. It was a symbol of Royal authority and occasionally a favourite house of royalty but by the 1480’s its primary use was to provide building materials to the city. From the 1640’s, the heart of the old Castle became a County Gaol. By 1783, it was recognised as a ‘hell hole’. Like a lot of prisons, you were more likely to die of disease inside it than survive to your hanging.
The great social reformer, Sir George Onesiphorus Paul, wanted the site for a new prison to the ideals expressed by John Howard. Had his plans not swiftly passed through local scrutiny, the land might well have become Gloucester’s new docks. In 1783, a group started to plan for a canal to start just south of the old quay and join up the Stroudwater canal. In the long run, they would develop land once owned by Llanthony priory and open the docks in 1827.
14 15