Cathedral Treasures of England and Wales: Deans' Choice (Director's Choice)

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The competition to find Britain’s favourite treasure from our winter campaign, #CathedralTreasures has now closed, the votes have been counted, and the winners are in! Cathedral Treasures – The Results Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett (Penguin, 1989) – a gripping novel on the building of a cathedral in the aftermath of the 1130s English Civil War Inside, its remarkable CathedralTreasure – the early 13th century painted nave ceiling – runs from the east end to the crossing and is the largest medieval painted ceiling in Europe. The cathedrals of England and Wales are remarkable buildings. From the centuries leading up to the Norman Conquest to the tumults of the Reformation and devastating wars of the twentieth century, they carry traces of our nations’ darkest moments and most brilliant endeavours.

St Deiniol founded his clasor monastic community at Bangor – now Bangor Cathedral – in 525. It is one of at least two of the six Welsh cathedrals that predate the English cathedrals as places of continuous Christian worship. In the neighbouring diocese, St Asaph’s Cathedral has a copy of William Morgan’s first Welsh Bible 1588, authorised by Elizabeth I.The cathedrals of England and Wales are remarkable buildings. From the centuries leading up to the Norman Conquest to the tumults of the Reformation and devastating wars of the twentieth century, they carry traces of our nations’ darkest moments and most brilliant endeavours. The gloriously-coloured cover shot is the central oil painted panel from Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s The Seed of David triptych (1856-64) in Llandaff cathedral. Also in 2022 the manuscript known today as Textus Roffensis (‘the Rochester book’), compiled circa 1123 - and comprising Anglo-Saxon laws and early charters for the foundation of the priory that became Rochester cathedral - was added to the UNESCO memory of the world UK register. At the time of the triptych’s making it was the early 16th century in northern Europe, on the cusp of the Reformation. This was an era of heightened religiosity and improved realism. Artists were drawing directly from the world around them – think of Albrecht Dürer’s drawing of a tuft of grass. The public will then be invited to vote for their top three and three members of the public who vote will receive a free copy of Janet’s publication – chosen at random. Amidst the beauty of the architecture are some hidden treasures: medieval games. Boards are scratched into the surface of the seating on the far side of the cloisters. They were used for two medieval games: fox and geese and nine men’s morris.

Canterbury Cathedral was founded in 597 by St Augustine who was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to evangelise Anglo-Saxon England and regularise the English church. Canterbury became and remains the seat of one of two Archbishops of the Church of England (the other being York). This extraordinary work of art speaks of the things King Richard III lost and, in doing so, brings an everyman element to his story. This painting was one of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s first major commissions. He chose as his subject the Nativity of Christ. The title emphasises Christ’s descent from David, who is depicted on both wings of the triptych: on the left as a shepherd boy and on the right as a king. The centre panel shows that Christ can be worshipped by rich and poor, shepherd and king, while a shepherd’s crook and a crown are laid at his feet. The infant Christ holds out his hand to be kissed by a poor shepherd and his foot by a king, showing the superiority of poverty over wealth. The cathedrals of England and Wales are remarkable buildings. From the centuries leading up to the Norman Conquest to the tumults of the Reformation to the devastating wars of the twentieth century, they carry traces of our nations' darkest moments and most brilliant endeavours.The glory of the cloisters is the fan vaulting, which dates from between the 1350s and the 1390s. This is a development of the new style of English Perpendicular Gothic architecture, whereby the panels that already covered the walls and windows were extended up onto the ceiling to meet each other overhead. It is called ‘fan vaulting’ because it is formed of hollow cones or ‘fans’, with decorative tracery forming part of each stone. The fans would have been made in a workshop and then assembled piece by piece in situ. This form of ceiling on this scale was invented and first used in Gloucester.

The cloisters are the great architectural treasure of Gloucester Cathedral. They formed the heart of the monks’ lives at Gloucester from the 1090s until the dissolution in 1540. The monks lived, ate, worshipped and worked around the four sides of this garden space. This beautifully illustrated new volume tells the stories behind 50 artefacts from the cathedrals of England and Wales. Janet’s latest volume, Deans’ Choice: Cathedral Treasures of England and Wales tells the story of the treasures from 44 Church of England cathedrals and six cathedrals from the Church in Wales, each one chosen by the Dean or senior clergy of the cathedral featured. The 50 treasures also bear witness to centuries of Christianity and cathedrals as places of worship glorified by artistic expression – here in rood screens, crosses and liturgical items. These local and national treasures are a vital part of our heritage, testifying to the powerful and enduring links between cathedrals and the wider communities of which they are part.Precious glass: adetail from Thomas Denny’s 2016 Richard III-themed stained-glass windows at Leicester Cathedral

UPDATE 11th January 2023 : We now have the 10 finalists and we’re calling on you to vote on your favourite so we can name Britain’s Favourite Cathedral Treasure. Vote here. You’ll be in with a chance of winning a copy of Deans’ Choice: Cathedral Treasures of England and Wales. It is made up of 57 lozenge shapes each filled with a painted figure, from the Lamb of God to Luna (the moon) and St Peter – after whom the cathedral and town are named. As some point he converted to the reformed Protestant Church of England and went on to become the most famous dean of St Pauls, with his sermons much admired and published. Equally extraordinary, his is the only statue to survive intact the destruction of St Paul's in the Great Fire of 1666. Set now into the south aisle wall of Sir Christopher Wren's later baroque cathedral, I shall never again just walk past.The more likes and engagement each treasure gets each day will count towards its popularity for the final competition to find Britain’s favourite cathedral treasure from the top ten most “liked” treasures. The triptych bears the symbol of the Antwerp Guild of Woodcarvers, confirming its place of origin. It is thought to have been in a church in Cologne until it was brought to this country by Henry Brougham (1778–1868) in the 1840s. Brougham was at one time Lord Chancellor of England and also a prominent slavery abolitionist. The triptych was installed in the family church of St Wilfred’s, Brougham, where it was cut into three pieces to fit between the windows. The conditions in the church took their toll, and in the 1970s the triptych was reassembled, restored and displayed for seven years at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was then installed in Carlisle Cathedral in 1979.