Melody Art
Melody Art
Original Painting Information
Description: acrylic on paper
Price: SOLD
Code: MA21
Fine art Giclée print
Description: signed Giclée print
Edition: 350
All work includes delivery to UK mainland
© 2004 to 2008 Melody Art - All images and text - All rights reserved - Prices correct at the time of publishing
The red door - Winchester Cathedral
Original acrylic painting on paper
Painting of Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.
For more information on Winchester Cathedral please follow the link.
The cathedral was originally founded in 642 on an immediately adjoining site to the
north. This building was known as the Old Minster. It became part of a monastic settlement
in 971. Saint Swithun was buried near the Old Minster and then in it, before being
moved to the new Norman cathedral. Mortuary chests said to contain the remains of
Saxon kings such as King Edwy of England and his wife Queen Elgiva, first buried
in the Old Minster, are also housed in the present cathedral. The Old Minster was
demolished in 1093.
Construction of the cathedral began in 1079 under bishop Walkelin, and on April 8,
1093, in the presence of nearly all the bishops and abbots of England, the monks
removed from Saxon cathedral church of the Old Minster to the new one, "with great
rejoicing and glory" to mark its completion. The earliest part of the present building
is the crypt, which dates from that time. William II of England (son of William I
'the Conqueror') was buried in the cathedral on 11 August 1100, after he was killed
in a hunting accident in the nearby New Forest. The squat, square central tower was
begun in 1202 to replace an earlier version which collapsed, partly due to the unstable
ground on which the cathedral is built. It has an indisputably Norman look to it.
Work continued on the cathedral during the 14th century, in 1394 the remodelling
of the Norman nave commenced to the designs of master mason William Wynford, this
continued into the 15th and 16th centuries, notably with the building of the retrochoir
to accommodate the many pilgrims to the shrine of Saint Swithun. The Benedictine
foundation, the Priory of Saint Swithun, was dissolved in 1539. The cloister and
chapter house were demolished, but the cathedral continued.
Restoration work was carried out by T.G. Jackson during the years 1905–1912, including
the famous saving of the building from total collapse. Some waterlogged foundations
on the south and east walls were reinforced by a diver, William Walker, packing the
foundations with more than 25,000 bags of concrete, 115,000 concrete blocks and 900,000
bricks. He worked six hours a day from 1906 to 1912 in total darkness at depths up
to 6 m, and is credited with saving the cathedral from total collapse. For his troubles
he was awarded the MVO.
