St Albans Cathedral

The Abbey of St Albans, the official name of the church: The Cathedral Church of St Albans ' in Hertfordshire in England - 35 km north of London - was in the year 793 in honor of the first Christian martyr of England, the Roman soldiers Alban ( Alban of England ), founded in the Middle Ages and was one of the richest and most powerful monasteries of the island.

Meaning and history

After the Norman conquest of the island by Wilhelm the office of abbot was filled. The Anglo-Saxon abbot Frithrig had after long wrangling with the King finally resigned in 1077, moved to Ely and died. The old church was leveled.

The first abbot of the Norman period came - as so often in these early Norman church foundations - from the area of France, from the Wilhelm came from Normandy. Archbishop Lanfranc had Abbot Paul (1077-1094) of Saint- Étienne -fetched in Caen. The model for this church is also noticeable in St Albans. Under Abbot Paul the religious life flourished on what is meant by him and his successor, Richard d' Aubigny (1097-1119) led to an increased number of religious foundations. St Albans was the monastery with the most dependent priories ( "Daughters monasteries " ), eight in number.

The forward-looking Bauschöpfungen Normandy have affected the entire Western world - to the Holy Land - but nowhere as intense as in England. The Norman church where it forms the only root of Romanesque architecture. Towards the end of the 11th century, even the emphasis shifted towards artistic creation here. Four cathedrals in England are expected to " Norman Building School ": Canterbury, St Albans, Ely and Peterborough.

St Albans was a major monument to the early Romanesque style in England. After coarse, clumsy beginnings massive buildings originated in England in the 11th century in most generous forms. From the first Normannenbauten little remained, since almost all abbeys and cathedrals were renewed or upgraded at a later time. Only the transept of Winchester Cathedral and the northern wall of the nave of St Albans still give an idea of ​​the first stage of Anglo -Norman architecture.

The abbey was abolished in the wake of the dissolution of the English monasteries under Henry VIII in 1539 and first converted into a school, and later continued to exist only the abbey church. Despite their great historical significance, the church was not brought until 1550 in the rank of parish and until 1877 in a cathedral.

In its present form, the church is a three-aisled basilica with 13 Jochen, a narrow, projecting transept, a central tower.

The Norman building

Was begun under Abbot Paul with the nave from 1077 to 1088, the consecration took place in 1115 but only. A striking feature of this building is the elongated nave and the choir long. Either you did not know on the mainland. This design is used in the future to a characteristic of the English church architecture.

The three-storey elevation of the nave wall shows a close relationship to the Normandy. The arches of the arcades are abgetreppt by joists. They rest on massive pillars stepped, they have only flat imposts. These templates rhythm to the entire wall surface. The Empor openings have the same width as the arcades of the ground floor, but they are narrowing backwards to the roof of the side aisles.

This classification system is indeed incurred principally from Normandy, but the overall appearance is another. The wall looks very bulky despite the large openings. By The structure of the Norman- continental wall has been implemented in crude severity of primitive force. In contrast to Peterborough and Ely St Albans received almost no plastic articulation, just a plain gradation quiet areas. This has also constructional reasons. The mainland buildings of Normandy consisted of Hausteinquadern. St Albans, however, was built with bricks from the ruins of the nearby Roman city of Verulamium - alternating with flint, the typical building material of the area. A brick wall is not to the extent malleable as a Hausteinmauer.

Are getting this " primitive " building the north side of the nave (except the four western yokes ) and the three yokes vierungsnächsten the south side. The cross- houses had to put up with only slight changes. The huge, fortress-like crossing tower also remained original. The nave was extended enormously with the then ten yokes. The huge pillars were almost as wide as the arcades. After the Norman tradition was an inner walkway in front of the nave windows.

The Gothic changes

The three western yokes 1195-1214 built, then be changed: two yokes were renewed gothic 1214-1235, then from 1325 five more yokes. The last three bays to the transept, however, are obtained in the original Norman style. The wooden ceiling has been renewed, although in the late Gothic period in the former forms, but as unobtrusively advised that the initial impression they influenced significantly lower than in the other Romanesque churches that have received massive Gothic vault landscapes later.

Under Abbot John de Cella (1195-1214) began with the Gothic Western facade, however, was rebuilt in the 19th century up to the portals.

Under William of Trumpington four arcades of the North and the south side of the nave five were 1214-1235 in the West renewed gothic, broken under John of Hertford 1235-1260 the Romanesque choir, rebuilt in gothic and extended. Instead of the original choir season just closed a long choir with retro choir and Lady Chapel was built.

1325 collapsed two Romanesque pillars of the nave south wall. This led to a new building of five bays in the vicinity of the crossing. By 1400, the windows were renewed in the north aisle, 1878 windows and vaulted in the south aisle (although the three eastern are obtained before the transept ). The monastic buildings were already destroyed in 1540 - except for a late-Gothic gate construction.

In the 19th century, the transept facade were changed.

The wooden ceiling in the nave and transept house were built 1077-1088, subsequently rebuilt with late Gothic forms, the original model but very similar. The vault in the south aisle of 1878.

Equipment

The organ was built in 1962 by the organ builders Harrison & Harrison (Durham ), 2007-2009 and restored by the builder company and expanded. The instrument received a new four -manual console. Furthermore, there the installation of a " Nave Organ" has already been prepared; However, the construction of this instrument is not yet in sight. The organ currently has 64 stops on four manual divisions and pedal work. The Spieltrakturen are electro- pneumatic, the Registertrakturen are electric.

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