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Did you know?
The Victorians rebuilt the nave, but they were not the first to do so.
The 1554 Gallery
In 1554 Queen Mary Tudor’s Charter was granted to ‘The 12 Capital Burgesses and the Commonality of the Town and Parish of Sheffield’. Since then the Church Burgesses’ Trust has carefully stewarded its resources, so that the Cathedral, many local churches, institutions and individuals in the city and Diocese of Sheffield have benefited from their generosity and support.
Facing the main entrance to the Cathedral is the stone archway to the new Cathedral Community Resource Centre. The Church Burgesses gave the Resource Centre its opening feature, the 1554 Gallery. Its glass doors have an etched design featuring the crest of the Burgesses with the date 1554 and the appropriate words ‘Sigillum Villa de Sheffelde’ - the seal for the town of Sheffield. The design (which is 1554cm in diameter), is the work of architect Martin Purdy. On either side of the doors is a display of silver plate.
The Heraldic Shields
The stone armorial shields in the light well were part of panels taken from a rectangular table tomb commissioned in London by George, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury between 1584 and 1585. Since he was Earl Marshal of England, in charge of heraldry and pageantry, it may be assumed that they provide a reliable record of the best of Elizabethan heraldic design.
The ornate heraldry on the tomb included various quarterings of the Talbot family; the garter belt, their crest, the family motto ‘Prest d’Accomplir’ (ready to accomplish), the lion passant of the Talbots and Talbot hounds. The tomb originally stood in the Shrewsbury Chapel and was most likely intended for the 6th Earl himself. However it was never used. The Earl’s monument is the impressive structure placed against the south wall of the Shrewsbury Chapel soon after his death in 1590.
These Tudor heraldic achievements, now in a 21st century setting, serve to remind us of the living heritage which links all the fabric of our Cathedral.
Stained Glass Window
The stained glass window now set within the well of the 1554 Gallery once sat below that in the west end. It was the work of Pearce of Birmingham, and was given in memory of Edward Birks, churchwarden from 1866 to 1896. The upper panels depict Christ and His disciples in the cornfields on the Sabbath; the Pharisees are shown rebuking them for breaking the rules of the Sabbath by plucking and eating ears of corn on the sacred day. The beautiful flowers shown in the design are said to have been based on flowers which grew in the Holy Land, including the ‘lilies of the field’.
The lower panels illustrate the story of the Nunc Dimittis canticle (‘Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace’, Book of Common Prayer 1662), an integral part of Anglican liturgy. Mary and Joseph (on the right) have come to present the child Jesus in the Temple, according to Jewish Law. Joseph carries the required sacrifice of turtle doves or pigeons. In the centre, Simeon the priest takes Jesus in his arms, and rejoices that he can now die in peace because he has seen in this child, the salvation promised by God. On the left Anna, the devout prophetess also recognises the child as the Christ who will redeem the world.
