101. APSE TILING

When visiting cathedrals it is always worth checking out the floor mosaics and the roof treatments! Peterborough Cathedral does not disappoint.    PLAN

102. APSE TAPESTRIES

On the wall on either side of the high altar hang large tapestries showing biblical scenes. Here we see two events in the life of St Peter. In the South tapestry Peter and John heal the man crippled from birth, encouraging him to rise up and walk (Acts 3). In the North tapestry, the angel helps Peter escape from prison (Acts 12).

103. APSE WINDOWS

The apse windows are difficult to photograph because of their distance above the floor, and the obstruction caused by the altar canopy. By the end of the Middle Ages, almost every window in the church would have been filled with stained glass, but now the vast majority of glass is either clear, or Victorian. In the mid-18th century, the Dean and Chapter ordered that ‘the old painted glass scattered in the several windows be taken out and collected together and placed in the several windows over the Communion Table’, and this is why the Cathedral’s medieval glass is almost entirely in the windows round the apse, at the East end, at gallery level and at clerestory level. There are no complete medieval images; it is all muddled up, with a roundel here, a head there, a pair of eyes or decorative detail over there.

104. HIGH ALTAR AND CANOPY

This is an Eastern view from a point closer to the choir. The elaborate alabaster canopy was designed by J. L. Pearson and placed over the altar in 1894.

105. HIGH ALTAR CANOPY

In ecclesiastical architecture, a freestanding canopy or covering supported by columns, that stands over and covers the altar in a basilica or other church is called a a ‘ciborium’. It may also be known by the more general term of baldachin, though ciborium is often considered more correct for examples in churches.

106. CANOPY DETAIL

The altar canopy is beautifully and intricately designed. St Peter looks out from the gable towards the nave, holding his distinguishing Keys of the Kingdom.

107. APSE ROOF

The apse roof is of detailed construction being made up of a complex grid studded with gold bosses, enclosing triangular blue panels, each with a golden star. Around the outside a host of angels is providing musical accompaniment.

108. SANCTUARY CEILING

The ceiling of the sanctuary is beautifully decorated and painted showing Jesus surrounded by the twelve apostles. Jesus and the disciples are incorporated into a fruiting vine, much like a family tree, sheltering a number of birds. Around the ceiling is the text from Jn 15:5 : ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.’ This completes our tour of Peterborough Cathedral.