GLOUCESTER. 



tlie Norman and Englifli kings alfo occafionally rcfidcd 

 and tranfafted public biilinefs in this city. A memorable 

 era in the eventful liiRory of Glouceftcr oritjinatcd JH a 

 contefl between Henry III. and the barons. That monarch, 

 in 1263, appointed fir Maci de Befilc, a French knight, 

 flieritT of the county, and conftable of the caftlo witliin t'le 

 city. The preference thus given to a foreigner war. violently 

 refented bv the indignant nobles, who immediately made 

 choice of fir William Tracy, a native of the fliire. He 

 accordingly proceeded to exereife the duties of his office in 

 holding a county court, but was I'uddenly interrupted by 

 l)e Belile, who, entering with a party of the king's troops, 

 fei/ed the kr.ight, and, with circumilances of peculiar 

 cruelty, hurried him to the caIHe, where he was committed 

 to clofe coufuiement. After this outrage, the barons de- 

 pu;ed lir Roger de Clifford, and fir John Giffard, with 

 their dependants, to befiege the caftle, for the double pur- 

 pofes of refcue and revenge ; in a few days they obtained 

 an entrance, and compelled De Befile to retire to the keep ; 

 he afterwards furrendered, and was fcnt as a priloner to 

 Erdefley calUe, in the marelies of Wales. In the year 127S 

 Edward I. afiembled a parliament here, and leveral laws, 

 connefted with the (latute of Quo Warranto, were enacted, 

 and have, from that period, been known under the general 

 appellation of the Statutes of Gloucefter. In the coiirfe of 

 the two next centuries, four parliaments were held here. 

 Thcoppofition of the Glouceftrians to the royal caufe, dur- 

 ing the reign of Charles I., is generally fuppoied to have 

 operated fatally agalnll his interell throughout the kingdom : 

 fo early as the year 1641, they declared for the parliament ; 

 railed a company of volunteers, which they added to their 

 trained bands ; procured cannon from London and Brillol, 

 and repaired and ftrengthened the fortifications : though 

 frequently befieged by the royalifts, they fuccefsfully re- 

 filled every attack. 



The eccleilaltical Hate of Gloucefter, during the Roman 

 and former part of the Saxon period of its hiilory, is involved 

 in much obfcnrity : but in the year 657, Edwy, king 

 of Northumberland, having fubdued Mercla, eretted Litch- 

 field into a bilbop's fee, and included Gloucellcrlhire within 

 its diocefe. This biiliopric was foon afterwards divided 

 into the five Imaller of Litchfield, Dorchefler, Leiceiler, 

 Hereford, and V/orceifer ; to tlie laft of which this dlllriti 

 was annexed, and continued lubjetl;, till the reign of 

 Henry VIII., who, by letters patent, dated September ■^d, 

 1541, and afterwards ccnfirmed by aft of parliament, eretted 

 " tlie city of Gloucefter, the county of that city, and all the 

 county of Gloucefter, into a billiopric, with a dean and 

 chapter, by the name of the diocefe of Gloucefter ; and 

 ordained that fuch part of the then vlll and county of 

 Briftc'l, as formerly was in the diocefe of Worceilcr, fhoiild 

 be from thenceforward in the diocefe of Gloucefter for ever.'' 

 The church appointed for the cathedral of the new fee, was 

 that belonging to the abbey, founded by Wolpficrc, firft 

 Chriftian king of JMercia, and Ethelred, his brother and 

 fuccefTor, in the year 681. The New Minfter, as it is 

 termed in the records, was burnt, with the monaftery, in 

 1087 or 1088 ; probably at the fame time that the city was 

 partly deJlroyed by the adherents of R.obert, brother to 

 William Rnfus. Serlo, then abbot, began a new church in 

 .June, IC89; the iirft ftone was laid by Robert, bifhop of 

 Hereford ; and on the completion of the edilice, in the 

 follov.'ing year, it was dedicated to St. Peter, by tiie bifhops 

 of Worcefttr, Rochefter, and Bangor. The abbey was 

 again dcftroyed by fire in lioi or 1102, but tl;e church 

 was faved. The prefent magnificent and ir.terefting edifice 

 has been erefted at <;ifferent periods, and confequeutly dif- 



3 



plays various fpecimens of ancient eCclellaftical archhcfture, 

 in the Saxon, Norman, and Enghfli ftyles. The convcrlion 

 of the abbey church into a cathedral was the ciiief caufe of 

 its prcfervatiun at the reformation ; and, to tlie honour of 

 the inhabitants of Gloucefter, it became the objeft of their 

 peculiar care during the civil wars, after which they ob- 

 tained a grant of it from Oliver CromvvcH. Hence the cathe- 

 dral has been transferred to the prefent age, as nearly perfeCli 

 in all its parts, with regard to its general cunftruclion, as it 

 ■was left by the nioft favoured of its aichitec'ls. The eras of 

 erection of the principal parts are known ; and htnce the 

 charactcriftic ftyles of each can be fatisfactorily afcertaincd. 

 The lower part of the nave, the chapels that furround the 

 choir, and the crypt, are prefumed to have behmged to the 

 building erefted by bifliup Aldred, before 1089: the toof 

 of the nave obtained its fmiflilng and form in 124S Jn 

 1310 the fouth aide was begun ; and part of the fouth tra';- 

 fept was added in 1330. The building of the north Iran- 

 fept and choir commenced about the fame year ; the latter 

 was completed in 1457. Between the years 1351 and 1390, 

 the elaborate cloittci'S were finifhed. The chapel of our 

 Lady was built between the j-ears 1457 and T498 ; and the 

 centre tower between 1457 and Ijio. The interior of this 

 fplcndid fabric confifts ot a n<v.e, choir, fide a:fl.s, and tran- 

 fepts, with a chapel of our Lady, and feveral finaller chapels 

 or oratories. From theinterfeftion of tlie nave and tranfepts 

 rifes a high tower, and on the fouth fide is a handfomc prc- 

 jeiting porch. The roof is fuftained on twenty-eight co- 

 lumns, which extend in two rows from the weft end (o the 

 high altar, where the vrefbytery forms nearly a fcmi-circular 

 fweep : the tranfepts have no ifoLted pillars. The chapel 

 of our Lady is, as ufiial, attached to the prefbytcry ; and 

 there are chapels in the north-eaft and foutlv-eall angles of the 

 tranfepts and choir, with two others projecting in the fvvecp 

 between thofe and the chapel of our Lady. The outline, or 

 ground plan of the cathedral, is probably the fame at pre- 

 fent as deligned by bifhop Aldred previous to the year 1089 ; 

 and the crypt remains ahnoll as ptrfett as the mafons left it. 

 The architecture of this fubterraneous and gloomy place is 

 niafiy, and fuited to the immenfe weight relimgon the archts, 

 wliicli are turned upon huge lliort pillars, and I'.re.igthcned 

 by groins of proportionate foli.iity. The nave is an intereft- 

 ing fpccimen of the flyle which continued to prevail for 

 nearly two centuries after the Norman eonqiieft. The arcade 

 of ponderous round culumns, and the rows of femi-circular 

 arches .above, imprefs the mind with ideas cf the ftrength, 

 folidity, and profound iulemnity wh.ch mull have accompa- 

 nied its original ftate. The architedture of the well end is 

 very diiTerent from the other parts of the nave ; and the 

 vault is covered by interfefting ribs, and ornamented key- 

 flones ; but the remainder is of the plaineft defcription, v/itk 

 three ribs only to each pillar ; yet the key-ftones arc carved. 

 On each fide are eight malTive columns ; the arches between 

 them are bounded by large mouldings, carved into i;ig-zags, 

 and other ornaments. Direitly over each colunm, and at 

 fome diflanee, is a range of heads of various charafters ; foir.e 

 ferene, and others terrific. Thefefervcas 'orackcts to cluftcrs 

 of fhort pillars, whofe capitals difplay the moll beautiful 

 variety of foliage, on which zig-zag firings extend, ferving 

 as a bafe to other cluilered pillars wilh equally elegant capi- 

 tals : from thofe the ribs of the vault commence. The gal- 

 lery windows, pierced thrcugli the wall above the arches, are 

 divided by fhort thick pillars, and hounded by others, with 

 zig-zag arches : a twifted ftring fe])arates them from the 

 clereftory windows. The north and fouth aifles of the^nave 

 are nearly in the ftyle of the weft end, with pointed v/indow5, 

 rich ramifications in the arches from the muihons, and fillet- 

 ed 



