Gloucester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the river. It originated in 678 or 679 with the foundation of an abbey dedicated to Saint Peter ( dissolved by King Henry VIII).

History

Foundations
The foundations of the present church were laid by Abbot Serlo (1072”“1104). Walter Gloucester (d. 1412) the abbey's historian, became its first mitred abbot in 1381. Until 1541, Gloucester lay in the see of Worcester, but the separate see was then constituted, with John Wakeman, last abbot of Tewkesbury, as its first bishop. The diocese covers the greater part of Gloucestershire, with small parts of Herefordshire and Wiltshire. The cathedral has a stained glass window containing the earliest images of golf. This dates from 1350, over 300 years earlier than the earliest image of golf from Scotland. There is also a carved image of people playing a ball game, believed by some to be one of the earliest images of medieval football.

Construction and architecture
The cathedral, built as the abbey church, consists of a Norman nucleus ( Walter de Lacy is buried there), with additions in every style of Gothic architecture. It is 420 feet (130 m) long, and 144 feet (44 m) wide, with a fine central tower of the 15th century rising to the height of 225 ft (69 m) and topped by four delicate pinnacles, a famous landmark. The nave is massive Norman with an Early English roof; the crypt, under the choir, aisles and chapels, is Norman, as is the chapter house. The crypt is one of the four apsidal cathedral crypts in England, the others being at Worcester, Winchester and Canterbury. The south porch is in the Perpendicular style, with a fan-vaulted roof, as also is the north transept, the south being transitional Decorated Gothic. The choir has Perpendicular tracery over Norman work, with an apsidal chapel on each side: the choir vaulting is particularly rich. The late Decorated east window is partly filled with surviving medieval stained glass. Between the apsidal chapels is a cross Lady chapel, and north of the nave are the cloisters, the carrels or stalls for the monks' study and writing lying to the south. The cloisters at Gloucester are the earliest surviving fan vaults, having been designed between 1351 and 1377 by Thomas de Cambridge. The most notable monument is the canopied shrine of King Edward II of England who was murdered at nearby Berkeley Castle ( illustration below). The building and sanctuary were enriched by the visits of pilgrims to this shrine. In a side-chapel is a monument in coloured bog oak of Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror and a great benefactor of the abbey, who was interred there. Monuments of Bishop Warburton and Dr Edward Jenner are also worthy of note. Between 1873 and 1890, and in 1897, the cathedral was extensively restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott. Misericords The cathedral has forty-six 14th-century misericords and twelve 19th-century replacements by George Gilbert Scott. Both types have a wide range of subject matter: mythology, everyday occurrences, religious symbolism and folklore.

Music

Three Choirs Festival
An annual musical festival, the Three Choirs Festival, is hosted by turns in this cathedral and those of Worcester and Hereford in rotation. The Three Choirs is the oldest annual musical festival in the world. Three Choirs Festival

Organ
Details of the organ from the National Pipe Organ Register

Organists
The known organists of the cathedral are listed below. In modern times, the most senior post has become known as Director of Music; only these names are recorded here.

Assistant organists

• William Hine 1707”“1710 (later organist of Gloucester Cathedral)
• John Alexander Matthews 1862 - 1865
• Henry John Vaughan ? - 1873
• George Robertson Sinclair 1879”“1880 (later organist at Truro Cathedral and Hereford Cathedral)
• A. Herbert Brewer 1880 - 1882
• George Washbourn Morgan
• James Capener
• A. Herbert Brewer - 1896
• Ivor Morgan 1898
• Ambrose Robert Porter 1907”“1913 (later organist of Lichfield Cathedral)
• Harold C. Organ 1915 -
• Reginald Tustin Baker 1920”“1926 (later organist of Sheffield Cathedral)
• William O Minay 1926”“1927 (later organist of Wigan Parish Church)
• Arthur John Pritchard 1927”“1932
• (Alfred) Melville Cook 1932”“1937 (later organist of Hereford Cathedral)
• W. Lugg 1938
• Peter Stuart Rodway
• Donald Frederick Hunt 1948”“1954
• Wallace Michael Ross 1954”“1958 (later organist of Derby Cathedral)
• John Sanders 1958”“1963
• Richard Latham
• John Francis Clough
• Andrew Millington 1975”“1983 (later organist of Guildford Cathedral)
• Mark Blatchly 1983”“1990
• Mark Lee 1990”“1998
• Ian Ball 1998”“2002
• Robert Houssart 2002”“2008
• Ashley Grote 2008 ”“ current

See also the List of Organ Scholars at Gloucester Cathedral.

Burials

• Edward II of England, seventh Plantagenet king of England (1307”“1327)
• John Wakeman, last Abbot of Tewkesbury and first Bishop of Gloucester (1541”“1550)
• James Brooks Bishop of Gloucester (1554”“1558)
• Richard Cheyney, Bishop of Gloucester (1562”“1579)
• John Bullingham, Bishop of Gloucester (1581”“1598)
• William Nicholson Bishop of Gloucester (1660”“1672)
• Martin Benson, Bishop of Gloucester (1734”“1752)
• Richard Pate, landowner and Member of Parliament for Gloucester
• Thomas Machen, mercer who was mayor of Gloucester three times and Member of Parliament for the city once.

Use by schools and as a film location
Locations for Harry Potter films The cathedral has been used from 2000 as a location for filming the first, second and sixth Harry Potter films, which has generated revenue and publicity, but caused some controversy amongst those who suggest that the theme of the films was unsuitable for a church. Doctor Who In 2008 the Cathedral was used by BBC Wales as a location for the Doctor Who Christmas Special.

Academic use

University of Gloucestershire
Degree ceremonies of the University of Gloucestershire take place at the cathedral. The King's School The cathedral is also used during school term-time as the venue for regular school assemblies, known as morning chapel by The King's School, Gloucester which is deeply historically and physically connected to the cathedral, and for events by the High School for Girls (Denmark Road, Gloucester), the Crypt Grammar School for boys and Ribston Hall High School.

Timeline

• 678-9 A small religious community was founded here in Saxon times by Osric of the Hwicce. His sister Kyneburga was the first Abbess.
• 1017 Secular priests expelled; the monastery given to Benedictine monks.
• 1072 Serlo, the first Norman abbot, appointed to the almost defunct monastery by William I.
• 1089 Foundation stone of the new abbey church laid by Robert de Losinga, Bishop of Hereford.
• 1100 Consecration of St. Peter’s Abbey.
• 1216 First coronation of King Henry III.
• 1327 Burial of King Edward II.
• 1331 Perpendicular remodelling of the quire.
• 1373 Great Cloister begun by Abbot Horton; completed by Abbott Frouster (1381”“1412).
• 1420 West End rebuilt by Abbot Morwent
• 1450 Tower begun by Abbot Sebrok; completed by Robert Tully.
• 1470 Lady Chapel rebuilt by Abbot Hanley; completed by Abbot Farley (1472”“98)
• 1540 Dissolution of Abbey
• 1541 Refounded as a Cathedral by King Henry VIII.
• 1616”“21 William Laud holds the office of dean of Gloucester.
• 1649”“60 Abolition of Dean and Chapter, reinstated by Charles II.
• 1735”“52 Martin Benson, Bishop of Gloucester carried out major repairs and alterations to the cathedral.
• 1847”“73 Beginning of extensive Victorian restoration work ( Frederick S. Waller and Sir G. Gilbert Scott, architects).
• 1953 Major appeal for the restoration of the cathedral; renewed
• 1968 Cathedral largely re-roofed and other major work completed.
• 1989 900th anniversary appeal.
• 1994 Restoration of tower completed.
• 2000 Celebration of the novecentennial of the consecration of St Peter’s Abbey

• 1582 Robert Lichfield
• 1620 Elias Smith
• 1620 Philip Hosier
• 1638 Berkeley Wrench
• 1640 John Okeover
• 1662 Robert Webb
• 1665 Thomas Lowe
• 1666 Daniel Henstridge
• 1673 Charles Wren

• 1679 Daniel Rosingrave
• 1682 Stephen Jeffries
• 1710 William Hine
• 1730 Barnabas Gunn
• 1743 Martin Smith
• 1782 William Mutlow
• 1832 John Amott
• 1865 Samuel Sebastian Wesley

• 1876 Charles Harford Lloyd
• 1882 Charles Williams
• 1897 Sir Arthur Herbert Brewer
• 1928 Herbert Sumsion
• 1967 John Sanders
• 1994 David Briggs
• 2002 Andrew Nethsingha
• 2007 Adrian Partington