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| The cathedral viewed from The Bishop's Palace Garden |
Last weekend we had friends to stay and although the weather was waaaay warmer than I am comfortable with, we got out and played tour guide. There was a food festival on at nearby Reigate Priory Park and then we strolled around Reigate Hill, before going on to a great meal at one of our favourite local pubs (The Old Plough in Cobham). It was fun and obviously wonderful to spend time with good friends, but I found the heat and humidity exhausting - despite being protected by hat and sunscreen, and diving into the shade like a woman possessed whenever the opportunity presented itself.
So with the weather decidedly cooler this weekend, I woke up on Saturday and decided we were going to the cathedral city of Chichester.
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| The Market Cross - it's been standing here since 1501 |
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| Street after street of delightful architecture, much of it Georgian |
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| Walking the remaining sections of the Roman wall - 1,800 years of history! |
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| Gorgeous houses with their gardens backing onto the Roman wall. Yes, any one of these would do - thanks |
Somehow we'd never been near Chichester before, even when we lived at Frensham. It's not really close to anywhere else we frequented; it's about 30 minutes east of Portsmouth but we'd only jaunted down there a couple of times on errands. The journey to Chichester from Epsom takes around 90 minutes, unless of course you're forced into a slow crawl for 30 minutes with two lanes merged into one as you approach the Hindhead Tunnel - the reason cited as 'pedestrians in the tunnel'. Huh???? There was no evidence of any pedestrians when we went through. Just one of the mysteries of UK road travel.
Still, summer is in its full glory so even the protracted trip along the motorway was a pleasant experience with the abundance of leafy trees and wildflowers in bloom. Green and pleasant land indeed.
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| We stopped for a very enjoyable lunch at The Crate and Apple - thank you, Trip Advisor! |
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| The Bishop's Palace Garden |
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| The Bishop's Palace Garden |
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| A palladian entry AND a circular window. Wow. Serious street-appeal. |
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| Not a Banksy but pretty groovy street art on North Pallant |
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| Pallant House Art Gallery |
Well, what a thoroughly nice town is Chichester. It appears to be quite prosperous with tidy streets, some very large houses, lots of green space and a plethora of independent business as well as all the usual high-end boutiques and eateries. A large proportion of the city centre is pedestrianised which makes for very pleasant meandering.
The Romans founded the town in the first century AD, with the wall they constructed to encircle the town surviving for 1,500 years before the Georgians replaced it with something a bit more slimline. The Saxons and the Normans have also been in residence and the town appears in the Domesday Book.
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| East Street, part of the large pedestrianised area in the city centre |
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| The Deanery, which has a great view of the cathedral spire |
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| ...see? I'm standing right in front of The Deanery |
Of course the dominating feature of this town is the cathedral. It's a lovely example of both Norman and Gothic styles and has a green copper roof that can be seen for miles around. Construction was commenced in 1076 and completed in 1108.
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| St Richard's Walk, leading up to the cathedral |
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| The Cloisters |
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| One of the modern gargoyles - replacing a more traditional one that was damaged |
The interior seems to be unusually light and bright, but the really striking thing is that there's been a conscious decision not to make the cathedral a 'museum'. There are the usual examples of medieval art, and Tudor embellishments, but taking pride of place in several locations are two modern tapestries and altars from the 1960s and 1980s respectively, a copper and marble baptismal font designed in 1983, mid-century paintings by Hans Feibusch and a stained glass window by Marc Chagall.
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| The Qwire |
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| The Piper Tapestry, designed by John Piper and woven in France (1966) |
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| Resurrection - Hans Feibusch (1898-1998) I just love this - a strange alchemy of styles that calls to mind Holman Hunt's Pre Raphaelite masterpiece The Light of the World and Soviet era art |
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| The Anglo-German Tapestry - Ursula Benker-Schirmer (1985) |
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| Gazing up at the ceiling in the baptistry |
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| The Chagall Window - Marc Chagall (1978) |
Just when you think you couldn't be more surprised or delighted you arrive at the north transept and WHAM! there is Brazillian artist Ana Maria Pacheco's dramatic installation Shadows of the Wanderer, a very timely statement on displaced people. Those sculptures are so very engaging I could have sworn one or two of them were alive.
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| Shadows of the Wanderer - Ana Maria Pacheco (2008) |
Wow, what an enjoyable way to spend a day, and within an hour of arriving I was urging Kevin to send his cv to all the private schools in the area and planning our move to this lovely West Sussex city. We could actually afford to buy a little detached cottage in this neck of the woods, unlike where we are currently living.
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| Kevin in front of yet another gorgeous Georgian house - 2 St Faith's, right next to the cathedral |
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| Chichester's citizens at their leisure on a summer day - a spot of cricket, messing about with footballs and so on |
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| Another shot of St Richard's Walk, looking towards The Deanery |
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| 4 Canon Lane - available for rent http://www.chichestercathedral.org.uk/catering-hospitality/accommodation.shtml |
I can easily imagine myself living in this beautiful city. In England we really are spoiled for choice when it comes to history and charm.
Until next time,
- Maree xo
