The Exterior

Gloucester Cathedral is a place steeped in nearly 2000 years of British History and home to some of the most lavish décor and architecture around.

What we now see as the Cathedral today started out as a smaller Abbey and over time the duller Norman design grew to include all manner of Gothic architecture with the building of additional sections.

The Main Entrance - Opening out to the North

At its longest measurement the Cathedral stretches for 130 meters and the main iconic quadrangle tower soars a massive 70 meters into the air, making it the most easily distinguishable site from many areas in the Gloucestershire county.

The West side - The Bottom End of the Cathedral

What a sight! It really is mind boggling how such a structure was even created without the machines we use today. In fact, many of the same stone masonry techniques are still deployed today when carrying out renovations on the building.

The East Side - The Top End of the Cathedral

There are a lot of amazing stories about places in and around the Cathedral. But for the sake of brevity I shall include only the most important pieces of information and cover only the most beautiful looking locations.

This masterpiece of a building is home to the largest stained-glass window in Britain and houses the tomb of King Edward the II, which I will show later, along with a look into the Treasury and the locations were scenes from the Harry Potter trilogy were filmed among others.

The Interior

Main Hall & Organ

Full map for referencing some of the following pictures

In the above video the main entrance is to the right and I am filming from the very bottom. In the distance we can make out the organ, a true gem of a center piece by any Cathedrals standards.

It was introduced in the 17th century and for the last 3 centuries has been worked on and added to by some of the most famous organ builders around. It is also the only one from this era still around in the country today making it a national treasure.

I am no music aficionado, so I will include a quote here from the scholars at the official Gloucester cathedral website that contains the technical specifications of the organ itself :

The organ comprises four manuals and pedals and is designed particularly to play from its position on the Quire screen to both East and West. This stipulation has brought about some unique design features. The Swell, situated in the centre of the case at console level, is controlled by two swell pedals, one for each side of the case. The Great organ, directly above the Swell, is split into East and West divisions, comprising two separate principal choruses. And the fourth manual is a West Positive, mirroring the Choir organ in function for the West side of the Cathedral. The organ’s position underneath the eastern part of the Nave roof takes full advantage of the unparalleled acoustics of the Cathedral, projecting into both sides of the building with the utmost clarity. The organ is essentially “neo-classical” in its approach, with balancing choruses in each division based on the Werkprinzip ideal.

http://www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk/

In the future I shall try and go down when there is major concert on so I can share with you how amazing it actually sounds too! :)

But for now, on with the tour!

The following two images I took from the back of the main hall either side of the organ.

Right side walkway

Left side walkway

To be Continued...

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