Hey Blog! Last weekend I went on a visit to Durham, for a history field trip, and so that is the subject of today’s post.
As you probably know, I do lessons with Humanatees, run by Jake. The current one is a history GCSE, and I am on the Conflict in Asia unit it the moment. One of the units I haven’t got to yet is the Normans unit, and the case study for that is Durham Cathedral. The field trip for history, therefore, is going to Durham to have a look round the cathedral and the castle next to it. I went up on the train, and therefore had a very good view out of the window before arriving.
The first impression is of a small castle. Yes, you heard that correctly – small. You wouldn’t think castles are small, but this one is – at least, compared to the cathedral next to it. The castle only has three floors and a small mote, but the cathedral is far larger – more than twice as high, it is slender and graceful and reaches up to the sky. Imagine the Norman peasants looking up, and seeing that – from a short distance, it seems massive. When you’re close to it, it might not seem as big – but when you’re at the top of the tower it seems tallest of all.
There is a reason for this massive building being built here, in the north of England, on a windy hill – it is here that St. Cuthbert was carried from Lindisfarne, Holy Isle, before the Vikings attacked. For some background: Cuthbert became a monk after experiencing visions in connection to another missionary who lived in the area. He moved about the country becoming bishop of several different areas, and some 11 years after he died, when the monks went to move him to a different resting place, they found his body uncorrupted, which was enough to prompt the church to make him a saint. His body was moved, to avoid the Vikings, and the monks took with them a set of gospels, inked on Lindisfarne (the “older sister” of the Lindisfarne Gospels), his elaborate coffin, and a few treasures; and set off for the place which had been told to them in dreams. With the aid of a milkmaid and a lost cow, which showed them where to go, they arrived at Durham. When the monks discovered that the coffin was unable to be moved, they built a cathedral around it, and this was the early church. Later, William the Conqueror rebuilt it even bigger and better. The Venerable Bede was also interred in the cathedral, and when William wanted to instate a bishop of his own choosing, it gave rise to the Prince Bishops of Durham. This role, both religious and secular, with the seat of power being the resting place of more than one saint and an imposing, ancient cathedral, made the Prince Bishops a great power of the north.
Back to the trip. We walked up to the cathedral in the morning, and met Jake – who had been having issues with trains and arrived at the time of the tour, rather than half an hour before it! It was only then we realised the tour didn’t exist – the guide was not there. So we had to make our own way round, luckily with the help of one student who had been there before. Among the features of the cathedral are:
- The tower, which is reached by a series of very long spiral staircases, getting narrower and narrower before emerging on a small square of roof from which you can see for miles
- The resting places of the two saints mentioned above
- The sanctuary ring (gives the claimer religious sanctuary: invoke this and you have about a month to hide from the law, during which time you conduct yourself as a monk. After the term is up, you have the option to submit to punishment or escape into exile.).
- Cuthbert’s Cross, a small gold and gemstone pectoral cross found in his coffin a century or two ago.
- The pillars, each of which are differently carved, and rise beautifully to the ceiling high above
- The font, a sculpted masterpiece of wooden decoration
- And the cathedral itself, which is more than beautiful on its own, but looks even more stunning with its contents
The castle was interesting too; we went there separately, not on the field trip, the day after. It is a motte and bailey castle (I always find this type of castle interesting, since Bailey is my surname – perhaps I need to marry someone with the surname of Motte?) built by the Normans to stop the Scots invading. First Hadrian’s wall, now a chain of castles – what did people have against the Scots so much?! It is now a university, so you get to live in the castle at uni – that would be amazing! Apparently, the great hall of the castle was the inspiration for the great hall at Hogwarts, and a few scenes of the Harry Poter films were filmed in the cathedral cloisters. I would love to go back to Durham, as there was not enough time to see everything, and so I hope to do more visits and field trips like this in the future!
