I took this photo last summer when the boys and I went up to the top of the cathedral he
re in Worcester. See if you can be as amazed about this as I am. I am speaking of the floor in this image; the stone bit which looks like a long mound of dirt down the middle of the room. That is actually the top side of the ceiling of the cathedral below. It is made entirely of stone, and was built in the year 1376. So it has been erected in this position for 632 years. Now for the exciting parts. It is self supporting. There are no beams of any kind holding it up from below. It is only about 10 inches thick, and if per change you were to drop off the catwalk and fall through it, you would drop some 65 feet to the stone floor below it. This space is over the North West Transept. If you are walking the stairs to the top of the cathedral, you will find this room atop 109 spiraling stairs. When you pass from this room through the door at the far end, you will be under the bell tower, with a further 126 tightly spiraling steps
in a shoulder tight passage to go to get to the top of the bell tower. At that point you will be on a roof deck that stands 170 feet above the ground. (The second view is looking down the upper set of stairs. At the top of this set, I had to turn my shoulders sideways just to fit through the passage.) Of course the view from the top is amazing!
This third and final image is looking North, The River Severn at left, and St. Andrew’s Spire and Dean’s Way to the right. In the distance you can see the Abberley Hills, and the saddle (long indentation between them) is just above Whitley Court. It is in the saddle that Abberley Clock Tower stands. I will include more on those in another post to come.
St. Andrew’s Spire stands 245 feet base to tip and was part of an old church that burned down some years ago, leaving only the spire standing. I suspect that the spire may have been built so tall in order to give it greater importance than the cathedral, as if to say, "we can get you closer to heaven," or "w
e are closer to God." It is hard to say without definitive proof of any kind, but you know how people are. What’s more, I have yet to hear anyone say much about the old church anywhere. Conspiracy Theories aside, it will have to be a topic on its own!
Incidentally, beyond the bridge, on the right is a white building. In front of that is where the old bridge used to cross the Severn. It was at the point of the original Roman crossing, and remains of the old Roman road have been found under the road in front of the white building.
–KB–