The Seat

Sat. 3rd Feb., 2001

The Cathedral Church of Saint Nicholas stands on the site of the original Norman, built at the end of the eleventh century, following Robert Curthose, William the Conquerer's son, establishing a stronghold here and building the Castle.

The original building was destroyed by fire in 1216 and again 32 years later. This time it was decided to rebuild the church from scratch and the Norman remains were removed.

Work was interrupted by the Black Death in 1348, but in the following century, noted for witch burning, Canterbury Tales and Joan of Arc most of the ground plan and the lower part of the tower was completed.

The prosperity of Newcastle, a major trading centre for the north, was clear from the use of ornate glass and the addition of small chapels. Finally, in 1448 the lantern, formed by flying buttresses, atop the tower was erected, a gift from Robert Rhodes, a generous and leading citizen of the day.

During the Reformation, a time of church and political splits and extremes, the non-Catholic branch became Protestant (protesting against the Pope) and to make themselves different stripped all churches of decoration and ornate ceremony. Out went the bells and smells, in came the whitewashed walls.

John Knox thundered his brand of political Puritanism from the pulpit here, and was tipped to become the first Bishop of Newcastle. The death of King Edward VI in 1553 put an end to these ambitions.

The church was touched by the Civil War when the Scots besieged the town. Locals filled the tower with Scottish prisoners to avert the threatened bombardment.

On each corner of the lantern are gilded statues of Adam, eating the apple, Eve, holding out the apple, Aaron is dressed as a Bishop, and David holds a harp. When in the 1860s the tower was found to be cracking and tilting two porches were added to buttress the structure.

The Victorians really believed they were the highest order of human development. They invented the past, and had scant regard for the efforts of previous generations. Their supreme arrogance led them to plonk their grandiose and highly ornate decoration in place of hastily destroyed historical artefacts.

Here, the old Queen sits in rain and shine with a wreath to commemorate the 100th anniversary of her death on February 2nd.

She sits on a raised paved area with no apparent purpose. The truth is sinister. This is the top of a Plague pit in which over three hundred bodies lie. Even the Victorians could not think of a use for the this "foul and pestilential place".

The tower is supported by four massive pillars, 11 metres in circumference. The nave is 33.8 metres long and 22.8 metres wide. The floor slopes down 42 cm from west to east. The stone arches of the nave were erected in 1359 and are supported by octagonal pillars. The wooden roof bosses are decorated with armorials of many famous families over many centuries.

The entrance is the site for war memorials, including a Romanesque bust of Sir Matthew White Ridley, now unfortunately obscured by the kitsch gift shop  built to ape the wooden west door screen. This oak panelled screen was built by R.J. Johnson, architect, "To the glory of God and in honour of the men of Northumberland who served in the Great War".

Here a detail of the screen shows a soldierly Bishop. Other little figures illustrate combatants and a crucified Christ.

Just inside the north portico entrance used now for all but the most grandest of entrances, is a monument to Admiral Lord Collingwood (1748 -1810). He was born less than a kilometre from here and lived in a house about 30 metres from this statue, now the site of part of Milburn House.

He assisted in the defeat of the French with Nelson at Trafalgar and commanded the Mediterranean fleet thereafter. He was nor only a distinguished naval officer, but also a gunnery expert, a diplomat, and humanist.

Every year on Trafalgar Day a simple ceremony is held here. Collingwood is buried alongside Nelson in St. Paul's, London.

The font, made from dark Frosterley marble, dates from the early 15th century. The ornate cover seen hoisted aloft here, was hidden by Cuthbert Maxwell, a local mason, from the marauding Scots after the Battle of Newburn in 1640. At that time it was about 60 years old.

The font is decorated by eight shields six of which are variations of the Rhodes family. When Robert Rhodes, of Lantern Tower family  fame, died in 1744 his heiress, his brother's daughter, was 14 years old. A little later she married Richard Bainbridge, so joining two powerful and rich families.

Here the nave is bounded by those arcades of 1339 arches. The walling in the spandrels above and between the arches is the original wall from 1150.

The north and south aisles thus formed by the widening of the building are actually wider than the nave.

In the distance the rood screen separates the nave from the choir, the point at which building started after the demolition of the older Norman structure.

During the 1880s the diocese of Newcastle was divided from that of Durham and much wooden and light stone decoration was thought necessary. The designs were by R.J. Johnson and the carving was done by Ralph Hedley.

This charming monument on the western wall of the south transept is in memory of Henry Madison and his wife, Elizabeth.

They are seen kneeling at prayer. Their wedding vows were taken in this church in 1594. On the left is Lionel Madison Henry's father, and on the right is Sir Lionel, son of Henry and his wife. Below are the figures of their ten sons and six daughters.

Henry was a prominent citizen and was for a time Mayor of the town. He died in 1634

The organ was originally built by Renatus Harris in 1676, and was altered by R.J. Johnson in 1891. The works were repaired in 1911 by Harrison & Harrison, and further alterations were made by K.F. Malcolmson, Master of music, in 1954. A division of the choir organ was moved from the main part to the enclosed section in the north choir aisle, close to the detached console.

There are 5,000 pipes and four manuals with 82 stops.

Beyond the choir is the high altar and reredos. The panels and carved alabaster and Caen stone reredos dates from 1882, and its figures include a central seated Christ, and above him St. Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne from 685 to 687. Newcastle recently hosted a display of his splendid illuminated Bible. It rightly belongs here, but the brigands of London have swiped it, saying that they know best. I imaging that in the near future the Lindisfarne Gospels might become the north east's stone of Scone, and be symbolically wrested out of the capital's grip in a sop to the Devolutionists.

The altar is made from cedar of Lebanon, from one of the timbers from the temple at Jerusalem, inset with a piece of jasper stone from the original pre-reformation altar.

At the eastern end of the church is the great window in memory of Thomas Ions, organist at this church for twenty two years who died in 1857. It was erected by public subscription in 1860 and depicts the last supper.

Below this window is the altar of the chapel of the resurrection. This is a Jacobean table with wall oak panels with a central triptych portraying the Annunciation, Nativity and Visitation.

At the east end of the north wall there is a large panel painted by the famous Dutch cartoonist, Louis Raemakers, renowned for his anti-German lampoons and cartoons during and after the First World War.

Here we see George slaying the dragon with the ruins of Ypres Cloth Hall in the background.

Below this is a plaque to  the memory of General Riddel who was killed in the battle of Ypres in 1915, whose son I photographed at the Armistice parade in November 2000.