Interpreting Ely Cathedral - Dr Lynne Broughton

Ely Cathedral demands interpretation. Why was it built on an island in the watery fens and why is it so large and elaborate?
www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and...
Is the Octagon simply a splendid piece of architectural design or does it have a deeper meaning? Why is there such a large and elaborate Lady Chapel? Are the carved beasts and grotesques just products of the masons' playful fancy?
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College Website: www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and...
Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,500 lectures free to access or download from the website.
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[@EveyMash]

Wonderful lecture, thanks for posting it!

[@tomfetter4011]

This is so lovely. Thank you.

[@coyoteroadkill]

Thank you for posting this. I had taken art history classes so thought I knew everything about Christian symbolism, but Dr. Broughton brought up stuff I had never knew.
Medieval churches were the "Bible" of an illiterate society so everything would have some symbolic meaning to teach the congregation. So it is not at all silly to read some meaning into every detail. Dr. Broughton certainly knows her stuff. I would love to walk through any cathedral with her as a guide.