Every day in English Tourism Week, we are sharing one of our ‘Top Ten Tourist Treats’ here at Bradford Cathedral.
Today’s treat is our Links to wool and the “Battle/s of the Steeple”
Medieval Shears
To the left of the entrance to St. Aidan’s Chapel, is an interesting feature found during the east end extensions in the 1950-1960s.
It is an old stone with a crude carving of sheep shears on it. The stone is possibly from a grave or more probably from a doorway, perhaps of a guild chapel connected with the wool trade, and is thought to be medieval- perhaps from the second church that stood on this site, which was destroyed by Scottish raiders around 1327. It is one of a number of links to wool that can be found in this building.
The Cathedral Shield
This can be seen in many places at the east end of the building in particular, as well as on drainpipes and underneath the golden crossed keys high up above the Lantern Tower outside.
It features a woolsack as one of its symbols. Rather than relating to Bradford’s wool history in general, this relates to something specific in the Cathedral’s own history, known as the Battle/s of the Steeple. In the English Civil War, Bradford was involved in 5 encounters between the Royalist and Parliamentarian armies between October 1642 and March 1644. In December 1642 and June 1643 when Royalist troops attacked Bradford and fired their cannons at the parish church (now Cathedral) tower, the defenders wrapped woolsacks round the outside of the tower to defend it and thereby saved it from harm and destruction.
Why not come along and see how many woolsacks you can spot, inside and out, at Bradford Cathedral?