UNDERSTANDING ENGLANDS CATHEDRALS

Why were they built here and what is so special about the site? Who were the patrons and organizations that commissioned their building? How did they raise the finance to build them? What was the purpose of a cathedral and why were they so big? Where did the design ideas come from and who were the designers? How was it built and by whom? How has it changed over the years and is it still used today? This book aims to answer these and many other frequently asked questions. Overriding themes will cover English history, architecture, building technology and religion, all written in plain English with any specialist terms being fully explained in the glossary. The book includes contemporary accounts of building work at Canterbury and Ely cathedrals, the laying of the first stone at Salisbury Cathedral, the damage done to the cathedrals, abbeys and monasteries by the Reformation and the Puritans following their victory in the English Civil Wars. There are portraits of some of the key-figures in our narrative