Living Stones - A Spiritual Tour of Southwark Cathedral

The tour began outside in Humphrey’s Yard, where the Dean, The Very Reverend Andrew Nunn, proudly showed us three new corbels at aisle level on the choir, which were made by stone carvers at the City and Guilds College in Kennington and installed in August last year. They represent Evelyn Sharp, a local suffragist, Doorkins the Cathedral cat and PC Wayne Marques, who was one of the First Responders on the night of the terrorist attack on London Bridge on 3rd June 2017 – he was recently awarded the George Medal.

New Corbels at Southwark Cathedral installed in August 2018

We then walked to see the Tree of Healing planted in the churchyard to commemorate the attack. The compost which the tree grows in was created from the flowers that were left on the bridge as a mark of respect. Around the top of the pot, a verse from the Book of Revelation is inscribed ‘The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.’

The Tree of Healing

A fig tree nearby commemorates all those who lost their lives in the attack on the World Trade Center in New York on 11th September 2001. The tree was planted by the US financial services form Marsh, whose UK Headquarters is close to the cathedral. 358 of their employees died in the attack.

Opposite the fig tree, a fascinating granite sculpture by Peter Randall Page commemorates Mahomet Weyonomon a Mohegan Sachem (chief) who died in 1736 while lodging near St Mary Aldermary in the City of London waiting to petition King George II about the annexation of Mohegan lands by settlers in New England.

Memorial to Sachem Mahomet Weyonomon by Peter Randall Page

Inside and shielded from the sounds and smells of Borough Market, Andrew explained that the cruciform plan of churches is symbolic – some say that the offset chancel of Southwark Cathedral, which follows the footprint of the second Priory Church (dating from 1212) represents the head of Christ lolling on his right shoulder as he hung on the cross.

Walking along the south aisle of the nave, we stopped at the window dedicated to Henry Sacheverell (1674-1770) who was Chaplain here from 1705. His preaching, in support of the Tory party against the Whig government – particularly a sermon on 5th November 1709 in St Paul’s Cathedral – led to his trial in the House of Lords. He was banned from preaching for three years and two of his sermons were burnt in public. Support for Sacheverell grew and the subsequent riots are said to have led to the downfall of the Whig Government and the passing of the Riot Act in 1714. Preaching, as Andrew reminded us (and reminds himself) is powerful.

Until the late nineteenth century, Southwark was part of the Diocese of Winchester, whose Bishops lived in the nearby Winchester Palace – to be closer to the powerful institutions of London. Much of the alterations made to the interior of what is now Southwark Cathedral is as a result of their patronage. Andrew reminded us that in those days Bishops had tax raising powers, with jurisdiction over the licensing of taverns, bear baiting and theatre. The Clink was the Bishop’s own jail. Bishops even licensed prostitutes (who became known as ‘Winchester Geese’). 

It was through Cardinal Beaufort, who was Bishop of Winchester from 1404 (and later Lord Chancellor) that the Cathedral (or church as it then was) became host to its first and only Royal Wedding on 2nd February 1424 – that of James I of Scotland to the Bishop’s niece, Joan Beaufort. James spent much of his early live in captivity in England (during which time he met Joan). It is said that his love for Joan inspired the poem The Kingis Quair – one of the first major pieces of Scottish literature.

And there-with kest I doun myn eye ageyne,
    Quhare as I sawe, walking under the toure,
Full secretly, new cummyn hir to pleyne,
    The fairest or the freschest yonge floure
    That ever I sawe, me thoght, before that houre,
For quhich sodayn abate, anon astert
The blude of all my body to my hert.

Memorial to Lancelot Andrewes designed by Sir Ninian Comper

We then walked to the Lancelot Andrewes memorial, which, in honour of his feast day, was bedecked with flowers and candles, adding even more decoration to the gothic revival patterns and colours of the Ninian Comper design. Andrewes was elected Bishop of Winchester in 1619. He lived at a time of great conflict and was a skilled diplomat. He chaired the committee that was responsible for translating the Pentateuch – the first five books of the Old Testament – for the Authorised (King James) Bible – he was a skilled Arabic scholar and most translations of the bible at that time were in Arabic. It is said that T.S.Eliot was brought to faith because of his study of Andrewes, whom he revered (see his essay on Andrewes here) and took inspiration for his own writings and poetry. Eliot’s famous ‘Journey of the Magi’ (which you can hear him read here in a BBC Radio recording) openly quotes from a famous Christmas Day Sermon given by Andrewes in 1622.

HIV/AIDS Memorial Chapel at Southwark Cathedral

More examples of the work of Ninian Comper can be seen in the chapels of the retrochoir. The reredos of the St Andrew’s Chapel shows two white angels presenting two black people to a glowing white Jesus. There have been regular debates as to whether this image should be removed or covered. In 1991 the chapel was dedicated in memory of all those who live or die under the shadow of HIV and AIDs – the only such chapel in the UK. The Cathedral has strong links with Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, home to the AIDS memorial chapel in the USA.
We moved from the retrochoir to stand in front of the Great Screen – a gift of Bishop Fox of Winchester in 1520. In the 1970’s the two central figures which give the church its name (St Mary Overie & St Saviour) were gilded. Christ the Saviour is depicted sitting on a throne not just as the Jewish Messiah, but the saviour of the world. The Virgin Mary holds the Christ child, reminding us that God became man in Jesus. Andrew pointed out some of the other figures in the screen – which were installed in the twentieth century. St Olaf stands on the top row, second from the left. A statute of John Rogers – who translated one of the first bibles into English and was condemned to death as a heretic – stands on the row below. Mary Magdalene – with her untied hair – is the only figure not to be looking at us – she gazes upwards, towards Jesus.

The Great Screen at Southwark Cathedral

As we walked between the choir stalls, we crossed a memorial stone to Phillip Massinger and John Fletcher – theatre impresarios (and lovers) who were buried together in the churchyard.

We ended the tour in the Harvard Chapel, a space I know from attending the morning Eucharist at the cathedral now and again. Andrew pointed out some of the items on display here including a banner for the now defunct Church of England Working Men’s Society and a Vexillum – a cross with other symbols of the passion woven into it and explained that the chapel used to be a vestry (which explains the unusual layout and placement of windows which gives the space a “messy real-lifeness” which seems completely appropriate for this place). The Jacobean communion table is very clearly a table – with beautiful carved legs – rather than a stone altar. This is a table around which people gather together and share a meal, not a stone altar of sacrifice. The tabernacle, which looks rather too grand for a chapel in a former vestry, was designed by Pugin and stood in Ramsgate Abbey after being displayed at the Great Exhibition. This highly decorated edifice in brass, amethysts and crystals, is “where God dwells” – where the sacrament is held. Two objects representing two very different views of the Eucharist, co-existing in the same space in the cathedral. A useful reminder, Andrew explained, of the unique position of the Church of England – and of churches and cathedrals like Southwark – as places of welcome for those who hold different views on all manner things, but share the Kingdom values of the Gospel. Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread.  

Links
You can read more about the history of Southwark Cathedral here.