I knew from our initial conversation that Truro is a Victorian build and I was, therefore [perhaps predictably], expecting to find it disappointing - despite his assurances that it was of merit. To my surprise he was absolutely correct and I found it to be of considerable merit. It doesn't contain as much interest as an older cathedral and the glass is poor quality but it is well designed and executed - even if it is stylistically all over the place which I think adds to its charm. Oh and the Tinworth panel is extraordinary.
CATHEDRAL. Designed by John Loughborough Pearson in 1880, the
E parts built before his death, the nave and central tower between 1898 and
1903, and the W towers between 1903 and 1910, all by F. L. Pearson, Pearson’s son,
to the father’s design. The building is in the E.E. style, with the exception of
the spires, which are Normandy Gothic (cf. Coutances). It is strange that so
sensitive an architect should have chosen this craggy sharpness for a county of
whose churches nothing is more characteristic than the absence of spires and
the long lowness of naves and aisles. Once one has got over the shock of this
compressed, upward-pointing, and yet somehow neat silhouette, however, the
merits of the design can be appreciated. The interior is in many ways a beau
idéal of the E.E. style, perfected as against the proportions of, say,
Salisbury, and purged of the many lovable irregularities of the others. The cathedral
is vaulted throughout. Pearson knew better than any other architect of his
generation how necessary stone vaults are to Gothic perfection. In the nave,
oddly enough, he has chosen sexpartite vaults, a French rather than an English tradition.
Otherwise English characteristics are evident everywhere: the gallery (which
France in the C13 had given up), the straight E end with its lancets, the
double transepts, the moulded capitals. The E parts have more decoration; the
nave is almost bare. Architectural sculpture, wherever it appears inside and
outside, is of a regrettably dull quality. Specially successful architectural motifs
are the tall W tower halls opened towards the nave, the niches in which the
aisle windows are placed, and the circular BAPTISTERY, E.E. at its richest and most
compact.
Of the parish church of Truro, ST MARY, Pearson allowed the S aisle to remain, while the rest (with a spire of 128 ft, rebuilt in 1768) was pulled down. The aisle, of 1504-18, is indeed one of the most ornate Gothic structures in Cornwall, probably by the same masons as Probus tower. It has the same decoration of the plinth in two tiers, the same use of niches for statuary, the same decorating of the buttresses. The window spandrels have tracery, and the battlements also are adorned with quatrefoils. The S windows are large, of four lights, the E window of five. The interior had its arcade with piers of standard Cornish design with plain capitals and arches nearly semi circular. Some of the roof timbers are still to be seen, and a few bits of old glass.
The new FURNISHINGS of the cathedral are on the whole not fortunate. Artists of conventional tastes have been used, not those of stronger individuality. STAINED GLASS by Clayton & Bell, except on the S side of the old aisle, where there is good glass by Warrington (1840s;TK). - CHOIR STALLS and BISHOP’S THRONE designed by Pearson himself. - PULPIT. Of a comfortably bulgy shape and with inlay of local workmanship. - PLATE. Gilt Chalice and Paten by F W (see Holy Trinity, Hull, and Batford St Martins, Wilts.), 1619-20; two similar Flagons, 1623-4; several C18 pieces; gold Chalice and Paten designed by Pearson; all the rest also C19. - MONUMENTS. In the crypt two lifesize kneeling alabaster figures of c.1620, not well carved. - Richard Robarts d. 1614 (‘of his age seventy or thereabouts’) and wife, a large affair with the two effigies reclining stiffly and behind each other, double columns l. and r., and on their entablatures two very good smaller figures of Father Time and Death. The carving of the larger figures is by no means good. - Some late C18 and early C19 monuments to Vyvyans, too high up to be seen.
I don't have any of the relevant
Truro Cathedral is probably the last considerable work of imitative Gothic to be built in England, having been consecrated in 1887 and only finally completed in 1903. Its architect, the late J. L. Pearson, R.A., designed it in distinctive version of the style of the thirteenth century, tinged with a French influence that is apparent in the general loftiness of its proportions inside and out, and in the attenuation of its towers and spires; and there is not a feature that has not its precedent somewhere in this country or in Northern France. To the modern eye, this unyielding literalism is the chief defect of the design, and the plan has all the intricacies of its thirteenth-century prototypes, and accordingly bears little relation to the requirements of English Protestantism. Ranking in its dimensions with Wells or Norwich, the spacious interior is treated with an admirable restraint and mastery of proportion, and the incorporation of part of the fabric of an old Perpendicular parish church to the south-east, adding a third aisle to the quire, results in some fine vistas. Generally speaking, there can be little doubt that Pearson's work is among the most impressive achievements of the later Gothic Revival, but despite its technical cleverness, its conception is inevitably anachronistic, and it never rises to the dignity of living architecture.*
TRURO. In the heart of the city the stately cathedral pile soars grandly to the sky as if to get away from the streets and buildings gathered all too closely round it. Cramped on its site so that good views of it are difficult near by, it is a striking picture from the mill-pool on its north side, from the main bridge over the river, and from the great railway viaduct, 100 feet high. But there is no lovelier view of it than the bishop has from his palace at Kenwyn, a picture free to us all from the neighbouring churchyard. Here are seen the elegant towers and spires rising majestically from a deep hollow, shining reaches of the river with boats sailing to the sea, all in a ring of wooded slopes.
Built mostly of local granite and stone, the cathedral stands on the site of the old church of St Mary which had been made new early in the 16th century and still survives in part. The architect was John Pearson, RA, his son Frank continuing the work after his father's death in 1897. Its style is Early English, with something of a French influence about it.
Three fine towers, seeming to be all windows, have spires wreathed with gabled dormers and pinnacles like traceried spirelets. The central steeple, climbing 250 feet (a foot for every mile the city is from London) is Cornwall’s memorial to Queen Victoria. The two western towers and spires, 204 feet high, are known as the Edward the Seventh and Alexandra Towers, and are a memorial to Mr H. T. Hawkins, a benefactor. It was Edward the Seventh who, as Duke of Cornwall, laid the foundation-stone of the cathedral in 1880. In the north-west tower hang the peal of ten bells.
The west front, looking all the loftier for being comparatively narrow, faces a little square, the name High Cross recalling a cross that once stood here. Between the flanking towers is a gabled projection with square turrets, a great rose window and lancet windows, and a porch with double entrance--all richly adorned with carving and statuary of kings and queens and bishops associated with the cathedral. Victoria, Edward the Seventh, Alexandra, and George the Fifth are here; Bishop Temple (in whose episcopate the ancient see was revived), and the first three bishops of Truro, Edward White Benson, George Howard Wilkinson, and John Gott. Under rich arches of zigzag over the doorways are scenes of Christ preaching the miracle of the loaves and fishes. On the southern of the two west doors a new bishop knocks for admission to his cathedral.
Wonderfully rich is the shallow porch to the south transept with its mass of carving outside and in. The three entrance arches in a row have flowers and leaves in their mouldings; within their gabled hoods and in medallions on the spandrels are sculptures of the Madonna and Child, the adoring Wise Men and Shepherds, Mary and Gabriel. In gabled niches on the buttresses (crowned by pinnacles above the handsome parapet) are figures of notable Cornishmen and builders of the cathedral - Sir Humphrey Gilbert with a quadrant, his kinsman Bevil Grenville, Canon Phillpotts who gave the porch, John Pearson the architect, Lord Mount Edgcumbe, chairman of the Building Committee. Sculptures of Peter and Paul, Christ as the Good Shepherd and as the King of Glory surrounded by saints, are set between the doors.
In spite of the grandeur of the modern cathedral, the most captivating part of the exterior to many of us will be the fragment of the old church of St Mary, which nestles under the wing of the rest like a chicken under its mother’s wing. It is the old south aisle of the church pulled down to make way for the cathedral, and is on the south side of the chancel, rather like a little church in itself, for between it and the transept has been built a tower with a spire of Cornish copper, its bright green conspicuous against the rest of the grey pile. The plinth of this 16th century aisle is richly adorned with bands of quatrefoils and dainty flowers. The windows have traceried spandrels, and the charming buttresses between them climb to the battlements. At each side of the east window is a fine niche, and on the south-east corner of the aisle is a fine modern pelican feeding her young. The aisle is linked to the south choir aisle by an ambulatory, but it keeps its own old granite arcade, the double row of arches giving it a beautiful view of the chancel. It has its old wagon roof, its old font of Caen stone carved with foliage and heads, and the 18th-century pulpit by John Bone of Truro, inlaid with quaint scenes of the Crucifixion and the Ascension. The old almsbox has quaint figures and rich panels, and a copy of Charles Stuart’s letter is under the tower. A sculptured figure in the tower, and one of Nicholas with three children in a tub (on a pillar of the ambulatory), both of dark old stone, came from Brittany. There are fragments of old glass, the east window has Kempe glass showing the Madonna and Child and the scene in the Temple with Simeon, and the reredos is a modern triptych with paintings of the childhood of Jesus.
A beautiful glow enriches the walls of cream stone when the sun streams into the noble interior, its length from east to west about 300 feet, its fine vaulted roofs looking down on a striking array of arches borne by stately clustered columns. Particularly fine are the arcading and the richly carved vaulting of the choir and the round Baptistry - which is the gem of the cathedral. It is a lovely memorial to Henry Martyn, the Truro missionary, and the windows glow with scenes from his life and Cornish saints above them. The floor is of marble mosaic. The great font of rich porphyry, carved with a border of leaves and resting on eight pillars, and a central shaft, was given by the Sunday schools of the diocese. The traceried spire-like cover was the gift of students. A charming thing to remember is the sight of the central tower as we stand beneath it, wearing its lovely vaulting like a crown above the windows and the traceried stone balcony.
The choir has a floor of various marbles and lapis lazuli, and screens of delicate ironwork are in the bays of its arcades. The rich stalls have pinnacled canopies like spires and pillars, with saints in them, and are carved in Burmese teak. So too is the splendid Bishop's Throne with its three divisions - the bishop’s seat under an elaborate canopy and a chaplain’s seat at each side. On the front of the desk are figures of Dr Benson, Dr Temple, and Dr Wilkinson, and above them are the Four Latin Doctors as poppyheads. St George and St Michael are on the ends of the desks, which have dragons for poppyheads.
Stone screens with canopied seats on each side of the sanctuary are a mass of rich carving of saints and scenes of the Resurrection. The reredos of Bath stone has an amazing wealth of sculpture, showing what seems to be a countless host of figures in niches and canopied scenes. The middle panels have groups of the Crucifixion and Our Lord in Majesty, with nine angels below and angels and Evangelists on each side. The side panels have other groups, and figures of apostles, prophets, and saints.
The rich mosaic of glass lighting the east wall throws a fine light on this array of stone carving in the choir. The space behind the reredos is the chapel of All Saints, and here the story of the glass in the two tiers of lancets is seen complete. In the three upper windows is Our Lord in Glory surrounded by the Company of Heaven and saints from all over the world. In the lower row are the Incarnation, the Passion, and the Resurrection. It is the climax to the whole scheme of glass in the cathedral, which illustrates God's dealings with mankind "through His word and spirit in the lives and characters of His servants.”
The rose windows of the west front and of the two transepts represent the Creation and Pentecost, a Jesse Tree showing the genealogy of the Second Adam. There are scenes in the life of Christ, saints and great churchmen, apostles, martyrs, doctors, poets, evangelists, missionaries, and pastors, many of them with scenes from the times in which they lived. In this glowing gallery come Boniface cutting down an oak with an axe, Anselm confronting William Rufus, the coronation of Charlemagne, Dante meeting Virgil, Thomas a Kempis meditating, Colet and the children of St Paul's School, the execution of Charles Stuart, Margaret Godolphin leaving the court of Charles the Second, John Wesley preaching at Gwennap Pit, Newton, Butler, Handel, St Louis of France, Joan of Arc, Catherine of Siena, Keble, Martyn, Morris, Queen Victoria with Gordon and Tennyson at her feet, and Edward the Seventh as Prince of Wales laying the foundation stone of this cathedral. He is wearing complete masonic robes, and with him are Queen Alexandra and Bishop Benson. There is a curious error in a north aisle window which shows King John signing Magna Carta with a quill pen.
The west window of the south aisle shows the guardian angel of fishermen, and a picture of the fishing fleet working in Newlyn harbour. Another has the guardian angel of miners, lamp in hand, pick on shoulder, with a scene at Dolcoath Mine, Carn Brea in the distance. This is in the Jesus chapel at the west end of the north aisle of the nave, where there is a striking unconventional painting of a youthful Christ blessing Cornish industries - farming, market-gardening, mining, and fishing. We see angels on the ploughed land, men and women gathering cabbages, a woman at her cottage gate, workers off to the tin mines, a church and a fishing village, a ship loading china clay. It is all under a golden canopy with a vine border, and is the work of Ann Walke of St Hilary.
In the Jesus chapel is a huge alabaster memorial with busts of three Cornish statesmen in dress of their day: Sir John Eliot of 1632, immortal champion of the liberties of Parliament; Sidney, Earl of Godolphin, 18th century Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer; and Sir William Molesworth, 19th century Secretary for the Colonies. The altar in this chapel has a wonderfully vivid painting of Our Lord.
In All Saints chapel are rich bronze plaques with figures of Dr Wilkinson and Dr Gott, second and third bishops of Truro. In St Margaret’s chapel are brass portraits of Arthur James Mason, first Canon Missioner, and Arthur John Worlledge, Canon and Chancellor of the cathedral till 1919. A stone in the east wall of the chapel marks the resting-place of Dr Stubbs, the fourth bishop.
Of Archbishop Benson, Truro’s first bishop, there is a magnificent brass in the floor of the Baptistry chapel, showing him in rich robes under a canopy with three saints. The south transept was built as his memorial, and in it is the jewelled staff used for all enthronements and on other occasions. It was given to Dr Benson by the students he had trained at Lincoln. The glass of the rose window was given by the boys and masters of Wellington College where he was headmaster for many years. A beautiful 17th-century pastoral staff with a richly carved ivory head of leaves encircling the Madonna was given by Mr Passmore Edwards. Here, too, is a case of Benson relics, his watch, the letter from Mr Gladstone offering him the archbishopric, and a copy of the Dream of Gerontius, belonging to General Gordon, whose sister gave it to Dr Benson. In the floor of this aisle is the fine canopied brass portrait of Augustus Blair Donaldson of 1903 in his robes; he was the first precentor. Another memorial keeps green the memory of Sister Emilie, who was drowned in an attempt to rescue two girls in danger at Crantock. A thank-offering for the safe return of two sons from war is a terracotta panel on the north wall, a sculpture by George Tinworth showing a crowded and animated scene of Our Lord going to Calvary. At one end are Pilate and his wife, the Centurion, and Barabbas being greeted by friends after his release from prison; in the middle is Our Lord turning to speak to the women, and Simon carrying the cross; at the other end are the two thieves.
West of the choir gates hangs the fine banner of the diocese embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework at South Kensington. Round the arms of the diocese are those of the ancient monasteries of Bodmin and St Germans, and the badge of that of Crediton, as well as figures of St Piran the monk, Athelstan the king, Henry Martyn the missionary, and Bishop Benson. In the north transept is a memorial set up by Dr Benson in memory of John Couch Adams, the Cornishman who by almost incredible ingenuity found the uttermost of the planets. Another has the bust of the first Baron Vivian, a famous soldier born in this town and buried here, who fought with Sir John Moore at Corunna and with Wellington at Waterloo. Here is the fine Jacobean monument of John Robartes of 1614 and his wife, startlingly lifelike as they recline on shelves under an elaborate canopy, Time with a scythe and a skeleton with an arrow standing on pillars each side. John holds a book; his wife, wearing a pretty bodice and farthingale of delicate blue, has a rose in one hand and rests her head on the other. A fine marble tablet with the portrait bust of Thomas Agar-Robartes who died of wounds received while carrying water to a comrade (for which he was recommended for the VC) is in the south aisle, by the desk on which lies the Book of Remembrance with the names of some 4000 Cornishmen who fell in the Great War. Their epitaph has the words:
True love by life, true love by death is tried,
Live ye for England, we for England died.
Live ye for England, we for England died.
There is an oak fragment brought from the ruins of Ypres cathedral, and under the south tower is the South African War Memorial with bronze statuettes. A wall inscription pays tribute to an old chorister who went down in the Titanic.
Down in the crypt are two alabaster kneeling figures which were part of a 17th-century monument. There is an interesting stone here with an inscription to Owen Phippen, brother of one of the rectors, who was taken prisoner by Turks and was for seven years a slave in Algiers. In 1627 with ten other Christian captives “he began a cruel fight with 65 Turks in their owne ship, which lasted three hours, in which five of his company were slain; yet God made him captaine and so he brought the ship into Cartagena. The King sent for him to Madrid to see him; he was proffered a captaine’s place and the King’s favour if he would turn Papist, which he refused. He sold all for £6000, returned into England, and died at Lamorran 1636.”
All who are interested may see the vestments and the cathedral plate, which includes a 17th-century chalice and flagon, a gold chalice and flagon with rich chasing and repoussé work, and the bishop’s chalice of gold and silver inlaid with gems. The fine organ of 1887 was built by Henry Willis. The pulpit, of Hopton stone, has canopied figures of “preachers of righteousness,” from the earliest days to Paul. The lectern is a brass eagle with detached standards supporting figures of the Evangelists.
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