Photos

This is the 10th and final(for now)shot in a short series on Salisbury Cathedral.
The photo is a detail of a portion of the Chapter house ceiling.

I have mentioned before I think that Cathedrals can be likened to forests,if so this shot might be compared to viewing a single giant tree from ground level.
To carry the analogy further it also contains an element of forbidden fruits, as having taken this single image I was reminded that no photographs are permitted in this area of the Cathedral, as it holds one of the four remaining original copies of the Magna Carta.
Reluctantly I complied with the request and so this is the only image I have of the Chapter house.

Please see my previous posts for more information and images.


The following text is taken from the link below.


'The Salisbury chapter house, a consecrated building, was second only to the cathedral in importance. It enjoyed daily use until the Reformation, when Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of monasteries. Up to that time, following the Sarum Use, the cathedral community walked in procession to the chapter house every morning after prime-song. There the daily ritual continued as prescribed by the consuetudinary of St. Osmund known as De Officiis Ecclesiasticis Tractatus.

The dignitaries and canons took the seats permanently assigned to them by the Tractatus. When present, the bishop occupied a central seat along the east wall, with the dean, chancellor, and sub-dean on his left. On either side the members of the cathedral community took their places according to their rank in the cathedral hierarchy, and also in order of rank, the boy choristers stood on either side of the pulpitum.

The service in capitulum began with the reading of the first lesson from Salisbury's martyrologium by the boy chorister who had been designated as reader for the week. After the lesson, he read the obits for the day, if any. Then, standing behind him, the priest blessed the souls of those deceased and completed the liturgical ritual for remembering the dead. The service continued with the second lesson, again delivered by the boy reader, lessons usually taken from the writings or homilies of Haymo, a ninth-century scholar in Charlemagne's court. The benediction then concluded the daily service. Next, stepping down from the pulpitum, the boy read the tabula, the 'brede bord' or common table containing the roster of daily and weekly assignments set by the precentor. It was, and still is, his duty to designate the places of the canons and boys in processions and in the choir'.





I found the following site which contains a vast amount of information and a virtual tour of the Cathedral.

http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/salisbury/docs/cathedral.html