2-979-637 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Choir of the Cathedral Church of St. Mary, Carlisle, restored, 1857. View of the choir looking east...The most ancient portions of the Cathedral itself are those parts erected in the eleventh and twelfth centuries...The great east window...is of the date of the middle of the fourteenth century...and is one of the finest in the kingdom...The elegant semicircular oak ceiling, which had from 1764 been hidden from view by an ugly ribbed and plaster one, has been brought to light, and appears in its pristine glory, being now richly decorated in gold and colour...the entire fabric is now a magnificent specimen of ecclesiastical Gothic architecture...It is gratifying to learn that the estimate of the cost of alteration has not been exceeded: this sum was about £15,000. The time occupied in the restoration was about three years, under the able direction of Mr. Christian and Mr. C. H. Purday, his clerk of the works'. From "Illustrated London News", 1857.