Cathedral Church Of The Holy And Undivided Trinity

The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Carlisle, began as a priory church in the early 12th century and evolved into a cathedral, undergoing rebuilding and alterations until the early 15th century. Further modifications occurred in 1652, 1764, 1846 (by Thomas Nelson), 1853-57 (by Ewan Christian), and in the 1950s, which included restoration and additions such as a vestry.

The original structure incorporates mixed red and calciferous squared sandstone blocks, with subsequent construction using red sandstone ashlar, heavily restored. Architectural features include a chamfered plinth, stepped buttresses which function as pinnacles, string courses, dentilled cornices, solid parapets surmounted by battlements on the tower, and steeply pitched lead roofs, with copper on the south transept and a flat roof on the tower. Coped gables are present, particularly at the east end where numerous cross finials are located.

The early 12th-century nave was initially seven bays but now has two bays, with fragments of the third bay remaining as buttresses, accompanied by aisles and a north vestry. The south transept, also from the 12th century, includes a 13th-century chantry chapel dedicated to St Catherine. The north transept, predominantly late 14th century, incorporates elements of the original 12th-century structure, which was reportedly damaged when the tower collapsed in 1380. The tower itself was rebuilt in the late 14th and early 15th centuries.

Internally, the 7-bay choir is predominantly 13th century, completed in the late 14th century, with the east window likely dating from around 1380. The nave features a triforium and clerestory in a Norman style, exhibiting some internal distortion due to subsidence. The west wall dates back to approximately 1652 and was fitted with windows in 1870; other nave windows are later insertions. A north door, added in 1813-4, now provides access to the 1956 vestry. A blocked south doorway, seemingly from the 12th century, once provided access to the cloisters. The south transept displays similar Norman detailing; the south door was added in 1856, and remnants of a former dormitory range are visible externally in the roofline. The chapel contains panelled and traceried wooden screens dating to the late 15th century. The north transept incorporates a 1858 window in memory of Dean Tait's children, replacing earlier windows from 1764 and around 1380; a previous external window is now internal, having originally lit the crossing when the transept had a flat roof (similar windows over the nave and south transept were removed during the 1855-7 restoration). The choir boasts 13th-century arches supported by clustered columns with elaborately carved capitals representing the 12 seasons, alongside 15th-century choir stalls with later 15th-century mural paintings on their backs. The barrel-vaulted ceiling is painted with stars on a blue ground and features coats-of-arms of local gentry, originally designed by Owen Jones in 1856, replacing a medieval ceiling concealed by a false ceiling in 1764. The east window’s tracery head contains medieval glass; the lower portion was removed in 1764 and replaced with plain glass in 1862.