Chichester, West Sussex
Photo features on the Cathedral and Pallant House Gallery
(Photos © Mike Slocombe, Sept 2006)

Chichester Cathedral is a living, working building which has been a focus of Chichester life for nearly 1000 years.

The Pallant House Gallery (further down this page) is somewhat newer, being created in 1981.

CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL



Chichester cathedral's roots lie way back in 681, when Saint Wilfred came charging into Sussex to spread the word about Christianity, establishing a Cathedral in the small community of Selsey, south of Chichester.

After the Norman invasion of 1066, it was decreed that cathedrals should be shunted from small communities into the big centres of population, resulting in construction of the current cathedral, starting in 1076.



Built in the heart of the former Roman town, the cathedral was completed in 1108, only to suffer a major fire in 1114.

Despite being restored and extended westwards by Bishop Luffa, another hefty fire in 1187 completely destroyed the timber roof and caused major damage to the arcade stonework.



Shiny new naves added during the thirteenth century made Chichester one of the widest English cathedrals, with a fourteenth century extension of the Lady Chapel showing off windows in the 'decorated' style.





Bishop John Langton rocked up 1315 and rebuilt the south wall of the south transept, while fifteenth century additions saw the building of cloisters enclosing the south transept, the detached bell-tower - the only one of its kind left in England - and a much-admired spire.



The cathedral suffered a right trashing during the Reformation, with brasses removed from memorials, stone figures and carvings defaced and the shrine of St Richard totally destroyed.

After years of neglect, Dean George Chandler set about restoring the Cathedral in the 1840s, with his successor, Dean Walter Farquar Hook commissioning a replacement spire (by Sir George Gilbert Scott) after the original collapsed in 1861.



MORE CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL VIEWS








PALLANT HOUSE GALLERY, Chichester

Pallant House Gallery in Chichester is home to one of the best collections of 20th century British art in the country, with the collection housed in a 1712 Queen Anne town-house and a new wing, opened in July 2006.



The gallery, which sports the tag line,'It's not for boring old arts' in its publicity, offers seven new gallery rooms in addition to the ten gallery spaces in the existing house.

There's also a library, bookshop, prints and drawings room and a very pleasant cafe with an open courtyard area.



Created by artist Susie MacMurray, this stunning installation on the stairwell is made from 20,000 mussel shells inlaid with velvet.




Salvador Dali chair.

The gallery also features works by 20th century artists such as Peter Blake, Patrick Caulfield, Richard Hamilton, Howard Hodgkin, Lucian Freud and Eric Gill.






View from the gallery.