The story of Durham Cathedral
Dec 12 2006 By Tony Henderson, The Journal
Tony Henderson on how the Northumbrian countryside has helped inspire one man to tackle a monumental task.
Writing a new account of more than 900 years of history behind one of the world's great buildings is, to say the least, a mighty challenge.
But John Field, who took on the task of telling the story of Durham Cathedral, had two factors on his side.
Firstly, he had lived next to another great religious edifice, Westminster Abbey, for 30 years. An English teacher and director of plays at Westminster School, John's home was in the Westminster Abbey precinct.
But after retiring at 53, the keen walker decided on a complete change in lifestyle and moved from central London to the depths of rural Northumberland.
He restored an 18th Century farmhouse several miles west of Alnwick. It is at the end of a half-mile rough track and John says: "It is as remote as can be imagined."
But that very remoteness confers peace and quiet - a distinct advantage while wrestling with a history of Durham Cathedral.
"It couldn't be better for writing books," says John, now 65, who drew on the calm to also write Kingdom, Power and Glory - a history of Westminster Abbey and Parliament: The Story of the Palace of Westminster.
Then came the Durham project, with the pictures for the new book being taken by Malcolm Crowthers, originally from Gosforth in Newcastle but who is now a professional photographer based in Buckingham Palace Road in London.
John says: "I have had a lifelong connection with two great churches in Westminster Abbey and Durham Cathedral."
He had visited Northumberland for walking and cycling holidays, but says his move from the middle of London to the depths of the countryside was a "leap in the dark".
John, who after 40 years has just completed the scaling of all 284 of the Scottish Munro peaks, says: "I wanted a complete new start, and Northumberland has wonderful walking country and coastline."
Of his Durham work, he says: "I set out to tell the whole Durham story from St Aidan and St Cuthbert, using contemporary material such as letters, diaries and eyewitness accounts to bring the past freshly to life."
He rates the world heritage site of Durham Cathedral as "being up there with the Taj Mahal and the Parthenon". John has three lasting impressions of the cathedral. "The first is the extraordinary extent to which the cathedral is tied up with the identity of the kingdom of Northumbria.
"The second is that so much of the cathedral has survived centuries of conflict and warfare."
He opens his book by citing the events of May 1, 1942, as German bombers were heard approaching Durham, where the cathedral was brightly lit by moonlight.
Then, according to eye witnesses, a white mist rose up from the River Wear, blotting out the town. The circling aircraft dropped their bombs on the outskirts of Durham at Belmont and Finchale.
His third impression is of a cathedral with a strong sense of mission, not only in spreading the Christian word but also in the links of some bishops to the area's mining communities.
It was Bishop David Jenkins who, during the intense bitterness of the 1984 miners' strike, rebuked the Tory Government in his enthronement sermon for its apparent determination to defeat the miners and its seeming indifference to poverty and powerlessness.
Today, says John Field, that sense of mission extends to providing as warm a welcome as possible to the cathedral's 700,000 visitors a year.
The Dean of Durham Cathedral, the Very Rev Michael Sadgrove, says: "I am delighted to welcome a major new publication on the cathedral which traces the fascinating story of its past as a seat of immense spiritual and temporal power, culminating in a living portrait of Durham today."
* Durham Cathedral: Light of the North, by John Field with photography by Malcolm Crowthers (Third Millennium Publishing, £35).
