[This is the twenty-second of a series of articles giving a
brief description of each of the 26 ancient Anglican cathedrals coupled with a
sketch of a person, activity or institution connected to the area]
Standing plum in the City centre, mainly 12th
century Peterborough Cathedral, with
its spectacular West Front, is one of England’s great sights bringing
distinction to the Cambridgeshire industrial city surrounding it.
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| The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral |
There was a succession of Anglo-Saxon and Norman buildings
on the site until the present building in Barnack limestone was begun as a Benedictine
abbey church in 1118. The Norman nave was completed by 1193 complemented later
by the splendid painted wooden roof vault. A central tower was erected then, to
be replaced by one in the Decorated Gothic style in 1380.
The imposing West Front was built in the Early English
Gothic manner. It is certainly impressive but not wholly a success
aesthetically. The middle arch is too narrow and the Galilee
porch much too small. The Tower peeping over the Front rather spoils the
proportions. Worse, the West front is in effect just clamped on to the
cathedral; its doors do not lead into the aisles as they would in a properly
integrated building. The West Front is a splendid tour de force but it was never repeated in other English
cathedrals.
The east end of the cathedral has tremendous 14th
century fan-vaulting and in the Sanctuary there are the burial places of two
queens, Katherine of Aragon, whose divorce from Henry VIII precipitated
England’s breach with Rome and Mary Queen of Scots, who was later reburied in
Westminster Abbey. Katherine’s standard and the Saltire and Lion Rampant of
Scotland fly there still.
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| The Nave |
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| Fan-vaulting in the Retro-Choir |
Peterborough Cathedral is full of interest and along with
Ely and Norwich comprises the trio of great
cathedrals in East Anglia.
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“The Posh” is the name given to Peterborough United Football
Club. Apparently a manager in one of the predecessor clubs in 1923 stated he
wanted “posh players for a posh club” and somehow the name stuck. Never was a
name more of a misnomer. Peterboro (as it is often written) was for years a
leading non-league club, feared for its giant-killing in the FA Cup. Eventually
it joined the League but was dogged by financial and managerial problems. It
was relegated in 1968 to the Fourth Division for financial irregularities but
is currently in the Championship, although it is bumping along at the bottom;
rough and ready journeymen footballers maybe, but hardly “posh”.
The City of Peterborough
does not really do “posh”. It was for years dominated by Perkins Diesel,
manufacturers of industrial engines, and its other main industry was the
manufacture of bricks due to large local clay deposits. Its atmosphere is
irredeemably proletarian.
Out of town however there are strongholds of “the posh”. The
elite public schools of Oundle (founded 1556, alumni including economist Lord
Crowther, naturalist Peter Scott and humorist Arthur Marshall) and Uppingham
(founded 1584, alumni including novelist Roland Firbank, speed aces Sir Malcolm
and Sir Donald Campbell and expelled polymath Stephen Fry) are nearby. So too
are the ruins of once royal Fotheringhay
Castle, scene of the
rather bungled beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587. To the East is the
handsome coaching town of Stamford
with its mellow stone but much the most impressive is Tudor Burghley House,
seat of the Marquess of Exeter, with its wonderful art collection and the venue
for famous Horse Trials - decidedly “posh”.
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| Posh stately home Burghley |
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| Posh Public School Oundle |
I have been using this rather unattractive word “posh”. It
has come to mean “upper class, stylish or expensive”. The origins of the word
are obscure (posh is the Romany word for “money”) and it first appeared in
English as a synonym for “a dandy”. Another suggested derivation is that it is
an acronym of “port outward, starboard home” supposedly written on tickets or
chalked on luggage of wealthy English travellers sailing to the East, as this
would give them the more desirable cabins in the shade. This is an ingenious
suggestion but sadly has no basis in fact and is yet another urban myth.
In the contemporary world the word “posh” instantly conjures
up the celebrity couple Posh and Becks – otherwise Victoria and David Beckham. Posh was so named while she
sang in the mega-successful girls’ group The Spice Girls who flourished
1994-2000 (with brief comebacks since) and were the biggest British group since
the Beatles, selling 80m albums: a marketing man’s dream. Posh fell for
handsome foot-balling icon David Beckham in 1997, then thrilling Manchester United and England and
they married in 1999 in the usual global-celebrity style. Victoria Beckham is
certainly a very hard-working fashion designer (she seldom sings these days) –
I wish she smiled rather more – and she copes with the slightly roving eye of
pleasant if reedy-voiced David. Her children are called Brooklyn,
Romeo, Cruz and daughter Harper Seven. She has her merits and the couple are
hugely popular, but I really cannot say she is “posh”.
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| The celebrated Posh and Becks |
SMD
5.12.12
Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2012
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