Day Four Continued Tuesday June 2

We Are Watching YOU

The Minster at Last

Photos don't do it justice. You cant imagine what its like to stand below this massive structure and feel your insignificance. That for 200 years and 10 generations men created this soaring and amazing building. When you think that all this was done by hand! The more I looked the more I saw. I bet some of the workmen used their friends and family as face models. 

The Minster is the second largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe (the biggest, as any pub quiz champion will tell you, is the very-big-indeed Kolner Dom in Cologne). The impressive stone carvings  date back to the 13th century – although there have been several churches on the site since 627AD. The Vikings, very rudely, burned one of them. The remains of the earlier ones can be seen in the crypt.... religious talk for cellar. For all its ornate grandeur the scale of it is really very human and small. It doesnt dominate, it inspires. 

Angelic Carved Musicians

Check out the lute player on the bottom! 

Inside the choir screen (a common structure in medieval churches, used to separate the altar area from the cheap seats), is an ornate 15th century artwork that features sculptures of every English king from William The Conqueror to Henry VI. 

The Conqueror (far left) would probably have been pleased with his appearance. He looks bearded, fiery, and generally like the sort of fellow who could squash a rival and take his country (which indeed, he was). But his son William Rufus (William II) fares less well. He looks as if he's about to be sick. Then there's Stephen, who sat on the throne during the turbulent civil war era of 1135-1154. Unlike his fellow rulers, who all opt for flowing, floor-length robes, and stand proud and regal with it, Stevie seems to be wearing a prototype mini-skirt. On the plus side, he does have a shapely pair of legs.

King Edward III, His Wife Phillipa and Infant Son William Are All Buried Here

George Poses As a Tombtop Effigy - Well Done! We Need a Small Lion to Go Under His Feet


Another very cool day in this medieval city, loving every second.