The Cathedrals of Britain

Page 6 of 9

• 1. Centuries of style
• 2. Cathedral floorplan
• 3. Salisbury Cathedral
• 4. Winchester Cathedral
• 5. Wells Cathedral
• 6. St Magnus Cathedral
• 7. Lincoln Cathedral
• 8. Liverpool's cathedrals
• 9. Find out more
• Print entire article

St Magnus Cathedral

St Magnus, the most northerly cathedral of Britain, towers over the town of Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands. Work on the cathedral began in 1137; many of the masons came from Durham whose cathedral was also under construction. It was founded by Earl Rognvald in the memory of his relative St Magnus, who had been murdered by his cousin Hakon, co-ruler of the Orkneys. Hakon is depicted in a stained glass window in the north transept which dates from the 19th century. In 1980, local children contributed a whole series of paintings to show the events in his life and the brutal murder.

Although St Magnus Cathedral is small compared to other cathedrals in Britain, it has a number of distinctive features. One of these is the use of 'polychrome' work: the technique of using different coloured stones to form patterns in the stonework. At St Magnus local red stone and a yellow sandstone, probably from the nearby island of Eday, is arranged in a chequered pattern effect around the window arches. The red stone was dug from a nearby quarry just a few miles from Kirkwall on a piece of land known as the Head of Holland.

St Magnus is also renowned for being the only cathedral in Britain with a dungeon - Marwick's Hole. The origins of the name have been associated with a romantic story. In the 1600s, Jane Forsyth was accused of witchcraft and sentenced to be burned at the stake. She was rescued from the dungeon the night before this was due to be carried out by her lover and they went off to live in Manchester, then a distant place.

The most poignant memorial in the cathedral is dedicated to the memory of the hundreds of sailors who died when the British ship Royal Oak was sunk by a German U-boat just a few months after the declaration of war in 1939. Charlotte Omand, from Orkney, remembered that Kirkwall was shocked by the sinking and that the air stank of oil for days afterwards. Now, once a week, a single page of the memorial book in the cathedral is turned as a reminder of the loss of life.

St Magnus is unique among British cathedrals for its use of the Norwegian style of bell ringing known as 'clocking'. Just one bellringer can operate the bells by hand and using footpedals. This custom is proof of the strong Viking influence found on these islands and in Kirkwall itself, a cathedral city of just 7,000 people.

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