Читать книгу The Cambrian Tourist, or, Post-Chaise Companion through Wales: 1834 онлайн

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The present Cathedral was the collegiate church of the monastery of St. Augustine, originally founded by King Henry the Second, and Robert Fitzharding, father of Maurice, the first of the Berkeley family. At the suppression of the monasteries by king Henry the Eighth, after that of St. Augustine had been destroyed, with the exception of the gate, and the west end of the collegiate church had begun to share the same fate, the King changed his mind, and resolved upon erecting it into a bishopric, directing the church to be repaired, and thenceforth termed the cathedral church of the holy and undivided Trinity, appointing Paul Bush, rector of Winterborn, to be the first Bishop, appropriating the revenue of the suppressed monastery, amounting to 765l. 15s. 3d. per annum, partly to the bishop and partly to the chapter; consisting of a Dean and six Prebendaries. He likewise took the county of Dorset from the see of Salisbury, transferring it to that of Bristol.

The interior of the Cathedral, though not to be named with those of Gloucester and Worcester, is still worthy of attention; particularly its vaulted roof, those of the side aisles, and an emblematic picture of the Holy Trinity, by Vansomers, over the altar. The windows of the side aisles, which are of enamelled glass, are said to have been the gift of Nell Gwynn.