Cathedral

Floating Harbour

Today was a little cooler, at least in the afternoon after a good breeze developed around lunch time.

We walked up to the cathedral for the 10 main morning service. As we Crossed Perio Bridge we had a good long view of the visitor moorings - we are on the inside at the far end just before the  entrance gate.

Nearing College Green where the cathedral entrance is located, we came through Abbey Gate. The main arch dates in parts back to 12C. The more ornate upper part was added much later. The whole building was restored at the end of the 19C, oversee by John Loughborough Pearson, the architect responsible for Truro Cathedral.

The building immediately to the right in now Bristol Central Library.

Close by is an imposing statue to commemorate Rajah Rammohun Roy who died in Bristol, in 1883. The plaque describes him as a philosopher, reformer, patriot, scholar, who was a founding father of Indian renaissance.

On the side of College Green to the cathedral is the imposing building the holds the offices of Bristol City Council. Although it was designed to look like a traditional Georgian terrace, it is, for its time, a modern concrete structure behind the facings. Building commenced in 1938 but it took until 1952 to complete.

The cathedral service was quite traditional accompanied by the supplementary choir,  which leads services in the absence of the main cathedral choir. It was founded in 2009 and provides an opportunity for promising young singers to hone their professional skills.

Worship was led by the Vice Dean, supported by other members of the Chapter. The sermon extolled the benefits of churches - especially cathedrals - in providing spaces for thoughtful worship. Bristol also hosts the graduation ceremonies for the University.

The Nave was started shortly after the Dissolution when Bristol became a diocese. However, work soon petered out and it was not until the late 19C that the present nave was completed, again overseen by Pearson. By then the city was a wealthy place, founded much on the trade based around slavery and horrendous industrial working conditions. Much of the cost of the nave was met from local donors.

Thomas Daniel was the inheritor of his father's estates in the West Indies. He was staunchly Conservative and opposed many of the reforms of the age - Catholic emancipation, abolition of slavery and parliamentary reform amongst them. He was born in Barbados in 1762 but the family moved to Bristol a couple of years later and became perhaps the leading importer of sugar. The Rose window was given by his children in his memory. The cathedral, like many inthe city today, struggle to come to terms with the extent to which their present day position is derived from the slave trade and other businesses which seem abhorrent today.

Until July, there is a modern sculpture installed just inside the great west door. Designed by Luke Jerram, the Oil Fountain is meant to highlight the extent to which our world has become as much dependent on oil as on water, more traditionally associated with fountains. The structure is made from recycled acrylic and depicts life forms that have become extinct since the start of the industrial revolution.

We walked back to the  boat via Millennium Square, one of several popular open spaces in the city centre. 

At one end there is a large water sculpture, close to the science museum We are the curious, sadly currently closed following a disastrous fire last year. 

Unintentionally, the picture above showing part of the sculpture captures the line Test Things Out. These two young children were certainly doing just that!

The land opposite our mooring, part of which we had just walked through, was a heavy industrial area by the end of the 19C, including a large gas works. There is now very little evidence of that past, but the Prezzo restaurant is housed in what was once a lead works built in 1884.

John Cabot (an Italian explorer), whose expedition in the time of Henry VI is said to have discovered America, set sail from Bristol in 1497 (he thought he had been to Asia!). There is an atmospheric statue to him on the quayside where we are moored. A full scale replica of Matthew of Bristol, Cabot's ship, is moored a little further down the Floating Harbour.

We had thought about exploring the area a bit more this afternoon, but after lunch we soon agreed simply to take it easy! (Why not?)

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