Notre Dame (Paris) on fire?

Seems tailor made for BBC4 mind.

And Tony Robinson.

By chance yesterday I was on a tour around Canterbury Cathedral . Canterbury like Notre Dame is undergoing extensive repairs that will take several years and I suspect that this morning a lot of worried people will be looking very closely again at the safety of the site in the light of yesterday's terrible fire in Paris.

Canterbury itself burned down in the Middle Age and was rebuilt. Many of these ancient great buildings have suffered catastrophic damage over the hundreds of years that they have existed. The collapse of the main tower has not been uncommon as happened at Hereford and Ely and we all remember the recent fire at York caused by lightening. It's very unfortunate when it does happen but its seems almost inevitable that given enough time a 1000 year old buildings will suffer some sort of disaster. Looking at these Cathedrals today the rebuilding work of the past has however now become part of the fabric of the history of the building.

Like York I am sure that the French will repair the damage to Notre Dame. The Cathedral will not be the same as it was before but their work will be the work of their generation of French crafts men and women and that it will last 1000 years and become part of the buildings history

Chichester cathedral is currently having its copper roof replaced with a lead one. I was surprised to learn that the copper roof only replaced a previous lead one as recently as the 1940s. It's also been found that copper is accelerating the decay of the medieval timbers underneath.

Anyway, Chichester was originally a Norman build but has had lots of Gothic added over the years. It's also collapsed a few times and been rebuilt, including once when the steeple telescoped into the building below in the 1800's. Nobody was hurt thankfully.
 
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By chance yesterday I was on a tour around Canterbury Cathedral . Canterbury like Notre Dame is undergoing extensive repairs that will take several years and I suspect that this morning a lot of worried people will be looking very closely again at the safety of the site in the light of yesterday's terrible fire in Paris.

Canterbury itself burned down in the Middle Age and was rebuilt. Many of these ancient great buildings have suffered catastrophic damage over the hundreds of years that they have existed. The collapse of the main tower has not been uncommon as happened at Hereford and Ely and we all remember the recent fire at York caused by lightening. It's very unfortunate when it does happen but its seems almost inevitable that given enough time a 1000 year old buildings will suffer some sort of disaster. Looking at these Cathedrals today the rebuilding work of the past has however now become part of the fabric of the history of the building.

Like York I am sure that the French will repair the damage to Notre Dame. The Cathedral will not be the same as it was before but their work will be the work of their generation of French crafts men and women and that it will last 1000 years and become part of the buildings history
It’s not as good as Durham though is it, Lord Potts?

They've managed to save the crown of thorns that Jesus was apparently wearing when he was crucified. No word yet if they've saved the Mad Hatters hat yet from Alice in Wonderland.
I am happy that they did manage to save it, but I would suspect that there’re lots of other churches that could donate them theirs if it had been lost. Creating religious artefacts was a nice little scam in medieval times. The one that always makes me laugh is that when Jesus ascended into heaven, he did leave a little bit of himself behind. There are a few Holy Foreskins knocking around.
 
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And Tony Robinson.



Chichester cathedral is currently having its copper roof replaced with a lead one. I was surprised to learn that the copper roof only replaced a previous lead one as recently as the 1940s. It's also been found that copper is accelerating the decay of the medieval timbers underneath.

Anyway, Chichester was originally a Norman build but has had lots of Gothic added over the years. It's also collapsed a few times and been rebuilt, including once when the steeple telescoped into the building below in the 1800's. Nobody was hurt thankfully.
I was told yesterday that the French stonework in the great medieval window at Canterbury which had been installed in the C13th was rebuilt in Dorset stone in the C19th. By 2000 the window had to be rebuilt again using French stone as the stone used in the C19th has deteriorated so much. It is only in recent years that restorationists have really begun to research what they were proposing to do before getting stuck into it. Botched restorations have done so much damage.

By the way as impressive and historical as Canterbury is in my view it does not match the breathtaking magnificence of our 's at Durham. I have yet to find a cathedral in the UK that does.
 
Not at all. If all is the work of God, and the work of God is all good, then how can a building burning down be a bad thing? How can anything be bad? If you are a believer, then belief in a God who created and represents all things shouldn’t be confined to the walls of a building from the dark ages, anyway. Symbolically, this could be perceived to be truly the work of God.
Unless the thinking is that God did the deed because He was displeased by The King (historically) or Macron these days , I suppose. That's the way it used to work back in the days.

God's Will was always a double edged sword.
 
Chichester cathedral is currently having its copper roof replaced with a lead one. I was surprised to learn that the copper roof only replaced a previous lead one as recently as the 1940s. It's also been found that copper is accelerating the decay of the medieval timbers underneath.

Anyway, Chichester was originally a Norman build but has had lots of Gothic added over the years. It's also collapsed a few times and been rebuilt, including once when the steeple telescoped into the building below in the 1800's. Nobody was hurt thankfully.

Soon to be advertised with this slogan "Visit Chichester Cathedral: Trigger's Broom in church form."
 
I was told yesterday that the French stonework in the great medieval window at Canterbury which had been installed in the C13th was rebuilt in Dorset stone in the C19th. By 2000 the window had to be rebuilt again using French stone as the stone used in the C19th has deteriorated so much. It is only in recent years that restorationists have really begun to research what they were proposing to do before getting stuck into it. Botched restorations have done so much damage.

By the way as impressive and historical as Canterbury is in my view it does not match the breathtaking magnificence of our 's at Durham. I have yet to find a cathedral in the UK that does.
When my kids were young I would take them on holiday and would always visit the local cathedral if there was one. The kids were trained to always say “It’s not as good as Durham, Dad”. This pleased me immensely. I later found out that the kids called these holidays ABC ones, Another Bloody Cathedral!
 
I forgot to say that while at Canterbury I was delighted to be able to buy a Thomas Becket fridge magnet in the cathedral shop. I had a feeling that in one form or another the cathedral has been selling Becket fridge magnets or their equivalent to its visitors for around 900 years. :lol:

When my kids were young I would take them on holiday and would always visit the local cathedral if there was one. The kids were trained to always say “It’s not as good as Durham, Dad”. This pleased me immensely. I later found out that the kids called these holidays ABC ones, Another Bloody Cathedral!
I am far from being a Christian but Cathedrals are wonderful places.
 
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I forgot to say that while at Canterbury I was delighted to be able to buy a Thomas Becket fridge magnet in the cathedral shop. I had a feeling that in one form or another the cathedral has been selling Becket fridge magnets or their equivalent to its visitors for around 900 years. :lol:
Of course they have. :lol: It would be your 'badge' which you would rub against the relic of old Tom's lock of hair/little toe/bellend etc and then you pass the healing power of that relic via the badge onto you sickly family members.

The catholic church had a million ways of skimming off the top.
 
Of course they have. :lol: It would be your 'badge' which you would rub against the relic of old Tom's lock of hair/little toe/bellend etc and then you pass the healing power of that relic via the badge onto you sickly family members.

The catholic church had a million ways of skimming off the top.
It does work ... I stuck my Thomas Becket fridge magnet on to my fridge and it cured the bacon.
 
Not at all. If all is the work of God, and the work of God is all good, then how can a building burning down be a bad thing? How can anything be bad? If you are a believer, then belief in a God who created and represents all things shouldn’t be confined to the walls of a building from the dark ages, anyway. Symbolically, this could be perceived to be truly the work of God.

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That’s why Durham is so good. It has not got loads of bits added on in different architectural styles, it is built the way that the master builder, whoever he was, intended.
Can you imagine what it would have been like in the C12th being a Anglo Saxon peasant bending over cultivating your muddy strip of land in the miserable North East weather and then you raise your eyes and in the distance is this giant Norman stone monolith the likes of which you have never seen before? You wouldn't have been in any doubt that you had been conquered and who was now in charge.
 
When my kids were young I would take them on holiday and would always visit the local cathedral if there was one. The kids were trained to always say “It’s not as good as Durham, Dad”. This pleased me immensely. I later found out that the kids called these holidays ABC ones, Another Bloody Cathedral!

I get teased for that! "Do you fancy going to .... on holiday?" "What Churches are there Mam?" :lol:

Went to Glasgow Cathedral last year and a man greeted us on arrival and asked where we were from. I said Durham and he laughed and said "oh so you're spoiled with Cathedrals and this will be poor compared to yours then?" :lol: It was really nice actually and we enjoyed it, especially some Muslims singing in the undercroft. Lovely to see the two faiths mingling.
 
Can you imagine what it would have been like in the C12th being a Anglo Saxon peasant bending over cultivating your muddy strip of land in the miserable North East weather and then you raise your eyes and in the distance is this giant Norman stone monolith the likes of which you have never seen before? You wouldn't have been in any doubt that you had been conquered and who was now in charge.

There was a program with Terry Deary a while ago where he was arguing that Durham Cathedral should be converted to flats as it symbolised Norman oppression. Lord knows what he wants to happen to Newcastle.
 
That’s why Durham is so good. It has not got loads of bits added on in different architectural styles, it is built the way that the master builder, whoever he was, intended.

There's evidence to suggest that they used Muslim masons at Durham (or at least certain parts of the structure were influenced by Moorish architecture in Spain). It's amazing to think how far ideas and skills could travel even a millennium ago.
 

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