Durham and Its Cathedral
=How to get there.=–Train from King’s Cross. Great Northern Rly.
=Nearest Station.=–Durham.
=Distance from London.=–256 miles.
=Average Time.=–6-1/2 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=–Single 35s. 10d. ... 21s. 2d.
Return 71s. 8d. ... 42s. 4d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=–"Royal County Hotel,” etc.
=Alternative Route.=–Train from St. Pancras. Midland Railway.
For the magnificent position it occupies, Durham Cathedral is without a
rival in this country; and even if one includes the Continent, the
cathedral of Albi in France will alone bear comparison in respect to its
position. Overlooking the Wear from a considerable height appear the two
massive western towers and the magnificent central tower of the
cathedral, and when these and the masses of foliage beneath them are
reflected on the calm surface of the river, the scene is one of rare and
astonishing beauty.
The origin of the cathedral and city of Durham may be directly traced to
the desire on the part of Bishop Eardulph and his monks to erect some
building in which to place the coffin containing the body of St.
Cuthbert. They had travelled with their sacred charge for seven years,
and at the end of that time, in 997, having reached the rocky plateau
overlooking the river Wear, they decided to build a chapel there. Bishop
Aldhun went further, and by 999 he had finished a large building known
as the “White Church.” Of this, however, there are no authentic remains;
for in 1081, William of St. Carileph had been appointed bishop, and
after he had remained in exile in Normandy for some years he returned to
Durham fired with the desire to build a cathedral on the lines of some
of the great structures then appearing in France. In 1093, therefore,
the foundations of the new church were laid, and the present building
from that day forward began to appear. Only the walls of the choir, part
of the transepts, and the tower arches had been constructed at the time
of Carileph’s death in 1096, but the work went on under Ralph Flambard,
and when he too was gathered to his fathers, the aisles were finished
and the nave also, excepting its roof. Flambard also saw the two western
towers finished as high as the roof of the nave. The beautiful
transitional Norman Galilee Chapel at the west end was built prior to
1195 by Hugh Pudsey. This narrowly escaped destruction at the hands of
Wyatt, who in 1796 pulled down the splendid Norman chapter-house.
[Illustration: Photochrom Co., Ltd.
DURHAM CATHEDRAL.
It has the finest situation of any English cathedral.]
Continue...
Preface •
Ham House and Petersham •
Walton-On-Thames (scold’s Bridle) •
Harrow •
Holwood House, Keston •
Chigwell, Essex •
Waltham Abbey and Cross •
Downe •
Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts •
Epping Forest •
Hampton Court •
Rye House, Broxbourne •
Hatfield House, Herts •
Runnymead, the Signing of Magna Charta •
The Oldest Brass in England •
St. Albans •
Stoke Poges Church, Bucks •
Windsor •
Jordans and William Penn •
Knole House and Sevenoaks •
Greenstead Church •
Chalfont St. Giles •
Westerham •
Guildford, Surrey •
Gad’s Hill •
Ightham Mote, Kent •
Penshurst •
St. Michael’s Mount and Marazion •
Rochester Cathedral •
Tunbridge Wells •
The Quintain Post At Offham and Malling Abbey •
Eversley •
Farnham, Surrey •
Hindhead, Surrey •
Shottermill •
Penn’s Chapel At Thakeham, Sussex •
Chawton the Home of Jane Austen •
Selborne •
Elstow •
Lewes, Sussex •
Bodiam Castle, Sussex •
Colchester, Essex •
Layer Marney •
Battle Abbey •
Cambridge •
Arundel Castle •
Olney, Bucks •
Wantage and the Country of Alfred the Great •
Canterbury and Its Cathedral •
Reculvers •
Oxford •
Midhurst •
Pevensey Castle •
Savernake Forest •
Ely Cathedral •
St. Ives, Huntingdonshire •
Winchelsea and Rye •
Blenheim Palace •
Peterborough Cathedral and Crowland •
Peterborough •
Southampton •
Helmingham Hall •
Stonehenge, Wiltshire •
Netley Abbey •
Salisbury and Its Cathedral •
Sandwich, Kent •
New Forest, Hampshire •
Osborne House •
Carisbrooke Castle •
Lutterworth •
Compton Wynyates •
Kenilworth Castle •
Belvoir Castle •
Bath •
Boston and the Pilgrim Fathers •
Warwick •
Gloucester and Its Cathedral •
Norfolk Broads •
Norwich Cathedral •
Lichfield •
Sherborne and Its Abbey Church •
Newark •
Wells and Its Cathedral •
Stratford-On-Avon •
Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk •
Lulworth Cove, Dorsetshire •
Corfe Castle •
Lincoln and Its Cathedral •
Somerset, the Birthplace of Tennyson •
Glastonbury Abbey •
Walsingham, Norfolk •
Cheddar Caves, Cheddar, Somerset •
Newstead Abbey •
The Wessex of Thomas Hardy’s Romances •
Tintern Abbey •
Chesterfield, Derbyshire •
Dukeries •
Haddon Hall, Derbyshire •
The Isle of Athelney, and Sedgemoor •
Raglan Castle •
Dovedale •
Wellington and the Wrekin, Shropshire •
Wroxeter and the Roman City of Uriconium, Salop •
Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire •
Ludlow and Its Castle •
Shrewsbury •
Buxton and the Peak District •
Tewkesbury •
Exeter and Its Cathedral •
Market Drayton, Salop •
Chester •
Exmoor •
Knutsford •
Torr Steps On the Barle, Somerset •
Cleeve Abbey, Somerset •
Hawarden •
York Minster •
Coxwold, Yorkshire •
Llangollen and Valle Crucis Abbey •
Knaresborough, Dripping Well •
Fountains Abbey •
Ripon Cathedral •
Dartmoor •
Haworth •
Rievaulx Abbey •
Brixham, Devon •
Conway Castle •
The Doone Valley, Exmoor •
Llandovery, South Wales •
Dartmouth, Devon •
Richmond, Yorkshire •
Tintagel •
Whitby •
Carnarvon Castle •
Plymouth •
Durham and Its Cathedral •
Raby Castle, Durham •
Snowdon •
Harlech Castle •
Grasmere and Rydal Mount •
The Lake District •
St. Davids Cathedral •
Furness Abbey, Lancashire •
Monkwearmouth, Near Jarrow •
The Isle of Man •
Brantwood •
Fowey •
Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall •
The Lake District •
Keswick •
Alnwick Castle •
Lanercost Priory, Cumberland •
Lanercost Priory and Stepping-Stones.] •
St. Ives, Cornwall •
Bamborough Castle, Northumberland
![[Buy at Amazon]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0006ADKOC.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg)