Georgian House Hotel
33 Unthank Road
Norwich, Norfolk NR2
Exploring Norwich (and Norwich Cathedral), and back to Walsingham for Round II
The Holy Spirit arrived in a fairly big way today, with an Anglican 2-fer and an interlude of walking one of the most famous, but underrated, pilgrimage roads in England. Sunday morning was very quiet, but walking through the city center of Norwich towards the Cathedral I was treated to volleys of bells coming from every parish in town. (There must be a church about every 200 yards or so in the "downtown" area, and they were all ringing...) It turned out that many of the people who were in the area at that time were headed the same way I was, so I followed the flow of pedestrian traffic heading towards the bend in the River Wensum.
The spire of the Cathedral is famous for its height - and it is a good landmark to navigate by for walking.
I will confess that in this picture I was attempting to channel Elizabeth Matheson, with her wonderful talent for photographing curves in a landscape!
A number of pictures from the interior of the Cathedral and of Norwich in general, along with maps and so forth, can be found at: Tour Norfolk, and also the Wikipedia entry for the Cathedral.
I attended the principal Sunday service at Norwich Cathedral, which was a sung Eucharist to primarily observe Pentecost, but also to commemorate the culmination of the Norfolk and Norwich Festival - the yearly major arts festival that takes place in the city and surrounding county.
"Remembering our Baptism at Norwich Cathedral"
Mystery Worshipper: Civilized Engineer
The church: Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Norwich, Norfolk
Denomination: Church of England
The building: Norwich Cathedral is famous for its Romanesque style and soaring spire. 900 years old, it was the site of a thriving Benedictine community until the 16th C. Its ties to the OSB continue, though, as the identity of today's guest preacher attests. (He holds the status of Titular Prior of Norwich.) Much of the stone for the Cathedral was imported from Caen in France, which adds to its Continental look.
The cast: The Rt. Rev. Graham James, Bishop of Norwich, celebrant, Dom Henry Wansbrough, OSB (Ampleforth Abbey), guest preacher, musical participants as listed below, and assorted assisting clergy, acolytes, readers, etc. It was a big service, for sure. Sadly for me, no thurifer.
The date & time: Sunday, 11 May 2008, 11:00 AM
What was the name of the service? Norfolk and Norwich Festival Sung Eucharist
How full was the building? 400? 500? I am no good at counting in large churches.
What were the exact opening words of the service? "Good morning."
What books did the congregation use during the service? Service leaflet with hymn texts and prayers.
What musical instruments were played? Organ with some wind and string accompaniment by the Norwich Cathedral Players, who were very good. The service setting used was Haydn's St. Nicholas Mass, and the choir was under the direction of choirmaster David Lowe.
Did anything distract you? The 2 or 3 18-year-old folks right behind me chatting continuously for 20 minutes before the service.
Was the worship stiff-upper-lip, happy clappy, or what? Is there such a thing as "bog-standard Cathedral Festal Mass?" I guess not...but it was a smooth, well-done, middle-of-the-road service. No surprises here.
Which part of the service was like being in heaven? The Mass setting was certainly glorious, but honestly I most enjoyed hearing the chatty young people behind me belting out "Come down, O Love divine."
And which part was like being in... er... the other place? All the pre-service noise.
How would you feel about making this church your regular (where 10 = ecstatic, 0 = terminal)? 7.
What one thing will you remember about all this in seven days' time? Being sprinkled by the Bishop as he processed from the Font, and a line from the sermon: "No one has ever been converted to Christianity solely by instruction."
Norwich, like many places in England, had a problem in the 17th century with the Puritans. (This will be a running theme throughout the rest of my blog posts from the trip, as you will later see.) In 1643 a Puritan mob sacked the Cathedral and did their usual Puritan mob thing, as described by Joseph Hall, the understandably furious Bishop:
"It is tragical to relate the furious sacrilege committed under the authority of Linsey, Tofts the sheriff, and Greenwood: what clattering of glasses, what beating down of walls, what tearing down of monuments, what pulling down of seats, and wresting out of irons and brass from the windows and graves; what defacing of arms, what demolishing of curious stone-work, that had not any representation in the world but of the cost of the founder and skill of the mason; what piping on the destroyed organ-pipes; vestments, both copes and surplices, together with the leaden cross which had been newly sawed down from over the greenyard pulpit, and the singing-books and service-books, were carried to the fire in the public market-place; a lewd wretch walking before the train in his cope trailing in the dirt, with a service-book in his hand, imitating in an impious scorn the tune, and usurping the words of the litany. The ordnance being discharged on the guild-day, the cathedral was filled with musketeers, drinking and tobacconing as freely as if it had turned ale-house."
(Of course, the problems would only become worse, as 2 years later Archbishop Laud, of blessed memory, would be beheaded by other "lewd wretches.")
After lunch, it was back to Walsingham again for the second service I would attend here, but first it was time for a bit of walking. The last mile of the ancient pilgrimage route to Walsingham is called the "Holy Mile," though it is more like a mile and a half. The "Slipper Chapel" at the start of the Holy Mile is where pilgrims used to remove their shoes (thus the name) and walk barefoot to the Shrine. Today the Slipper Chapel serves as the RC Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, which sets up an odd situation. While walking _out_ from the village to the Slipper Chapel, I was passed by a procession of RC's with THEIR statue of OLW, heading in the opposite direction towards the village, though where they were going when they got there, I have no clue. So within a mile of each other there are 2 completely separate entities playing a centuries-long game of "my Marian devotion is bigger/purer than yours."
The road (really more of a paved footpath) about half way along the "Holy Mile" between the Slipper Chapel (now the RC Shrine) and the Anglican Shrine in the village itself comes to this fork - and thankfully, a place to sit down.
Most of the way along the Holy Mile, the narrow road is surrounded with wildflowers on both sides. Very Marian, eh?
The road primarily follows the path of a stream, where this duck family was going about its business.
From the same spot in the opposite direction was this bridge which carried another footpath over the stream. I wonder how many people over the last thousand years have stopped at this point, as I did, to cool off their feet at the ford.
The tiny Slipper Chapel surrounded by the grounds of the RC shrine.
After all that walking, out to the Slipper Chapel and back again, it was a relief to finally reach the village. Coming into the village, along the "main drag" is the gate to the site of the former Priory of Our Lady of Walsingham. Note that the statues over the gate are missing, and have been since 1538.
At the primary intersection is the location of the old pump.
Another shot of the Priory Gate.
The service at the Shrine could best be described as an extended-dance-mix Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. No preaching this time - instead it launched right into the procession after the opening hymn and Collect. For this one, the HUGE monstrance containing the Body of Christ is processed around the gardens outside the Shrine as everyone sings the Thomas Aquinas hymn, _Lauda Sion_. The procession then returns to the church for the actual Benediction. (Continued in next post.)
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