[Illustration: BRISTOL CATHEDRAL.]
An Augustinian monastery, founded by Robert Fitzhardinge in 1142, had
its church, of Norman architecture, to which additions were made in
the early English period. When Edmund Knowle was abbot, from 1306 to
1332, the Norman choir was replaced by that which now exists. His
successor, Abbot Snow, built the chapels on the south side of the
choir. Abbot Newland, between 1481 and 1515, enriched the transepts
with a groined roof and with ornamental work of the decorated Gothic
style, and erected the central tower. Abbot Elliott, who followed
Newland, removed the Norman nave and aisles, intending to rebuild
them; but this was prevented by his death in 1526 and by the
dissolution of the monastery a few years afterward; he completed,
however, the vaulting of the south transept. The church remained with
a nave, and otherwise incomplete, until the modern restorations; after
which, in 1877, it was reopened with a special service. Messrs. Pope &
Bindon, of Bristol, were the architects employed. The exterior, of
which we give an illustration, viewed from St. Augustine's Green, or
Upper College Green, is not very imposing; from the Lower Green there
is a good view of the central tower and the transept. The height of
the tower is but 127 ft. It is of perpendicular Gothic architecture,
but the piers supporting it are Norman. The interior presents many
features of interest. The clustered triple shafts of the piers in the
choir, with their capitals of graceful foliage, the lofty pointed
arches between them, and the groined vaulting, have much beauty. The
chancel is decorated with tracery of a peculiar pattern.
The Abbey of St. Augustine at Bristol was surrendered to King Henry
VIII. in 1538, and became, in 1542, the cathedral of the new Episcopal
see then created. The first Bishop of Bristol, Paul Bush, was deprived
of his see by Queen Mary, being a married clergyman and refusing to
part with his wife. Bishop Fletcher, in Queen Elizabeth's time,
afterward Bishop of Worcester and of London, was twice married, at
which this queen likewise expressed her displeasure. He was father of
Fletcher, the dramatic poet; and he is said to have been one of the
first English smokers of tobacco. Among noted Bishops of Bristol were
Bishop Lake, afterward of Chichester, and Bishop Trelawny (Sir
Jonathan Trelawny, Bart., of Cornwall), two of the "seven bishops";
imprisoned for disobeying an illegal order of James II. "And shall
Trelawny die? Then twenty thousand Cornishmen will know the reason
why." But the most eminent was Bishop Joseph Butler, the author of
"The Analogy of Natural and Revealed Religion" and of the "Sermons on
Human Nature." He was born at Wantage, in Berkshire, and was educated
as a Nonconformist. He was Bishop of Bristol from 1738 to 1750, when
he was translated to Durham. In 1836, the see of Bristol was joined
with that of Gloucester; and the Right Rev. Drs. J.H. Monk, O. Baring,
W. Thomson (now Archbishop of York), and C.J. Ellicott have been
Bishops of Gloucester and Bristol.--_Illustrated London News._
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