Gloucester - Cathedral

In Roman times Gloucester (= "Glevum") Glevum was an important crossing of the River Severn. At its height, Glevum may have had a population of as many as 10,000 people. The entire area around Glevum was intensely Romanised in the second and third centuries with a high distribution of villas.

Withdrawal of all Roman forces in about 410 may have allowed leading families of the Dobunni tribe to regain power. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Gloucester is shown as part of Wessex from the Battle of Deorham in 577.

The foundation in 681 of the abbey of St Peter by Æthelred of Mercia, favoured town growth; and before the Norman conquest of England, Gloucester was a borough governed by a portreeve, with a castle which was frequently a royal residence, and a mint. In the early 10th century the remains of Saint Oswald were brought to a small church here and shrine built there, a draw for pilgrims.

The first Norman ruler, Earl Godwine, was succeeded almost a century later by Robert of Gloucester. In a charter of 1155, Henry II of England granted the citizens the same rights as the inhabitants of London and Winchester. Henry II's second charter guaranteed free passage across the River Severn. The first charter was confirmed by King Richard I in 1194. King John Lackland´s charter in 1200 considerably extended the town's rights.

A mainstay of the local economy in the late Middle Ages was the textile trade. In the days of the Hanseatic League, the clothmakers of Gloucester maintained lively business contacts with the German merchants in London.
Gloucester Abbey was initially founded as a nunnery in the 7th century. Benedictines moved in in 1022. In 1072, Serlo, a native of Normandy, became abbot and the dilapidated old Gloucester Abbey was reoccupied. At Christmas 1085, William the Conqueror commissioned the legendary Domesday Book to be drawn up in the old chapter house, in which the new ownership of the conquered land was recorded. In the following years, the abbey received various donations from William and his sons, enabling Bishop Robert of Hereford to lay the foundation stone for a new, larger Norman church in 1089. It was consecrated in 1100. At this time, probably only the choir with the gallery and the extensive crypt, the crossing and the first bays of the nave had been completed. The structure of the wall then changed; it is assumed that a fire in 1122 was the cause of this.

Then there was a series of structural damages. Among other things, the southern west tower collapsed in 1170. After the roof truss burnt down in 1190, the stone vaulting of the nave was completed in 1242.This created a clear contrast between the mighty Norman pillars and the delicate Gothic vaulting rising from the triforium zone. At the beginning of the 14th century, the abbey had funds at its disposal, which were invested in the embellishment of the church. Firstly, the north aisle was renovated from 1318 to 1329 and the south transept was remodelled from 1331 to 1337 by not demolishing the old "Serlo building", but instead deciding to rebuild it.This part of the Serlo building from around 1100 is therefore still largely preserved, albeit hidden behind a new wall.The vault was raised, the clerestory windows enlarged and the remains of the Norman wall covered with the new Decorated Style tracery.

After the Dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII created the new Diocese of Gloucester and in 1541, the abbey church became the cathedral.


The iron tongue