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November 27, 2003

An Autumnal View

I felt I had to share this vision of an English Autumn afternoon with someone. It is taken from the West side of the Severn valley looking towards the city of Gloucester. The cathedral is the large tower structure showing the golden reflection on its stonework. Behind is the Cotswold escarpment.

Photos/2003-11-27--Autumn_View.jpg

Gloucester was made into a sea port by the Romans. It must have been interesting then, because the tides in the Bristol Channel/Severn mouth range up to 41 feet. The Cathedral was founded as a Benedictine monastery in 680 AD by Osric, King of Mercia. The present building dates to the late thirteenth century and has a magnificent East window of twelth century stained galss - the largest in England. The building was rebuilt over a century between around 1270 and 1370, during this rebuild the builders "invented" the English perpendicular style, described by architects as "more glass than wall".

Worth a visit if you're down this way.

Posted by The Gray Monk at November 27, 2003 11:45 PM