{"id":703,"date":"2024-09-06T18:39:30","date_gmt":"2024-09-06T18:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/home-ed-in-a-shed.blog\/?p=703"},"modified":"2024-09-06T18:39:33","modified_gmt":"2024-09-06T18:39:33","slug":"castle-and-cathedral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/home-ed-in-a-shed.blog\/?p=703","title":{"rendered":"Castle and Cathedral"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hey Blog! Last weekend I went on a visit to Durham, for a history field trip, and so that is the subject of today\u2019s post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first impression is of a small castle. Yes, you heard that correctly \u2013 small. You wouldn\u2019t think castles are small, but this one is \u2013 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 \u2013 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 \u2013 from a short distance, it seems massive. When you\u2019re close to it, it might not seem as big \u2013 but when you\u2019re at the top of the tower it seems tallest of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a reason for this massive building being built here, in the north of England, on a windy hill \u2013 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 \u201colder sister\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to the trip. We walked up to the cathedral in the morning, and met Jake \u2013 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\u2019t exist \u2013 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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n