Churches

Click on an image to see a larger version

Norwich cathedral

First appeared in Let's Talk! Norfolk, April 2005

WHERE can you see the beginning and end of the world? Where can you see Noah in his ark (and in his cups), Salome dancing before the severed head of John the Baptist, or Christ leading sinners from Hell - and all in glorious colour?

If you visit Norwich's magnificent cathedral, the answer will be all around you - or, rather, above your head.

For all these are among the hundreds of biblical scenes portrayed in a most remarkable series of carvings. The earliest, in the cathedral's cloister, date from the 13 th century; the latest, high above the nave, are from the late 15 th century, when the roof and spire were added, replacing those destroyed when the previous spire fell in.

Founded in 1096, in the great wave of Norman building that helped make sure England stayed conquered, Norwich is one of Europe's great cathedrals, even if it is not always recognised as such.

Most of the building remains as it was planned and constructed over 50 years, making it one of Britain 's earliest and most perfect great churches.

It was complete before the gothic period that produced famous cathedrals such as Canterbury, Peterborough or Salisbury. Only the east end of the sanctuary and that awe-inspiring roof are from the very end of the gothic period - which in some ways gives it the best of both worlds.

The blend of the round-topped Norman arches, on three towering levels, with the delicate fan vaulting above is unique and glorious.

The earliest sculpture in the cathedral is the life-size effigy of St Felix, the seventh-century christianiser of East Anglia. The Saxon figure is of unknown age, but certainly older than the cathedral itself.

The most recent figures are those of St Benedict and the great religious writer Mother Julian of Norwich , whose fine statues by local sculptor David Holgate were commissioned for the millennium and now flank the west door.

There are other treasures too, including the 70 misericord carvings beneath the choir seats. But it is those 3D scenes that decorate every roof boss throughout the cathedral that make it a place of international importance - and private delight.

You will really need binoculars to appreciate the scenes from Genesis that hang above the nave.

The cathedral's visitor officer, Andrew McFadyen, who has made a detailed study of the carvings, believes they portray the miracle plays that brought the bible stories to vivid life in the streets of medieval Norwich.

As such, they give a rare and thrilling glimpse into the realities as well as the mysteries of medieval life.

The same is true of some of the carvings in the cloister, which you can enjoy without special lenses, just a cricked neck - as the monks would have done in the time when they were first made.

Here is a sometimes baffling series of images depicting Judgement Day as described in the Book of Revelation - but also everyday scenes of musicians, thieves and washerwomen.

Perhaps the biggest mystery of all is how this treasurehouse of lively medieval artwork survived the Reformation. And here too Andrew McFadyen has a convincing theory.

He thinks the Protestant iconoclasts of the 1530s simply did not bother to destroy the carvings - because they assumed that with the dissolution of the monastery the whole building would be demolished, like the great abbey of Bury St Edmunds.

How very fortunate we are that they were wrong.