History 2013
The Broderers
Group was founded in 1978 by Phyllis Richardson, widow of Dean Richardson who had been asked to do some restoration and
repair work on vestments and some of the older altar frontals. There were originally 4 members. Two experienced needlewomen who were teaching
embroidery, Joan Finlinson (until 1995) and Dorothy Watson, were invited to act
as tutors. When Phyllis retired in 2000,
the Broderers were led by another founder member of the Group, Dorothy Watson,
until her retirement in 2006. She was
assisted by tutor Josephine Turney. Tracy
A Franklin, a freelance specialist traditional embroiderer based in Durham City and trained at the Royal School of Needlework, succeeded her in January 2007.
The first item
made was a throw for the high Altar on Maundy Thursday made to a design by Joan
Freeman, an artist who designed for York Minster Broderers. Several
Apparels were done next, which were
designed by members of the Group. Once
more items started to be produced, specific designs were used, designed by the
Group leaders/tutors - Phyllis Richardson,
Joan Freeman, Joan Finlinson, Dorothy Watson and Tracy A Franklin, and external
specialist or external designers, the late Leonard Childs, and Malcolm Lochhead
(of Glasgow Caledonian University). The
Dean and Chapter and the Fabric committee approve all new designs and
projects. This can take some time due to
the timing of Committee meetings. When
complete, new work is dedicated during a Cathedral service. The materials for most of the work the
Broderers do is paid for by the Friends of Durham Cathedral.
As well as
carrying out new work, the Broderers also currently repair existing items when
necessary, including garments worn for services. There are currently (2013) 15 volunteer
members who meet approximately once per fortnight during School terms. The Friends of the Cathedral equipped their
workroom above the Chapter Offices at the Cathedral in 1989. Before that, the Group met in various venues,
including members’ homes. From time to
time, members of the Group have carried out their current work at home between
the formal meetings.
Cathedral
Embroideries
Gallilee chapel
The
St Bede’s Kneeler was designed by Phyllis Richardson and Lesley Nott from a
design Joan Freeman did for the St Cuthbert kneeler in the Feretory based on
the title page of the Lindisfarne Gospels.
It was completed by Lesley Nott in 1985. (The St Cuthbert kneeler in the
Feretory is no longer in use due to damage.)
In 1994, kneelers for the specially made altar rail were worked. They were designed by Leonard Childs inspired
by and echoing the colours and shapes of the remaining mediaeval frescos in the
soffit of the arch above the Altar. The
curved shapes were a challenge for the group, some of whom at the time were
relatively inexperienced. A number of
different stitches were used, chosen by the Tutors. Additional bench pew kneelers were completed in 2006. The designs by Dorothy Watson were approved
at the same time as the main altar rail kneelers. They use the same colours and incorporate
some of the shapes of the Altar Kneelers.
Choir and Nave
A frontal for the Nave Altar was made in
Lenten colour and design some time before 1998.
The long Nave Altar kneelers (1998) and the four single
ones were designed and charted by Dorothy Watson. The design and colour was inspired by Gilbert
Scott’s design for the marble pulpit and choir pavement, reflecting the Italian
influence he loved so much. The sample
pieces for this work were made into a cushion
for the Bishop’s chair.
Two wedding
kneelers were made in gold and cream (not white), designed by Dorothy
Watson in a Florentine type of pattern.
Leonard Childs
designed the Choir Pulpit Fall in
1999 taking inspiration from the Lindisfarne Gospels. This piece was the Broderers Millennium Gift
to the Cathedral in memory of Joyce Hawkings and Joan Finlinson (tutor from
1981 to 1995). The design is the four
Evangelist symbols as portrayed in the Lindisfarne Gospels and divided by a
Cross and Chi Rhio in the centre of the Fall.
The Evangelists are worked in silk black threads couched directly onto
Cloth of Gold and the centre is in gold work including sewn down bright check
pieces. The inscription on the back is
worked in split stitch.
Sanctuary
Phyllis Richardson designed individual
kneelers for the Sanctuary using the colours and pattern in the marble choir pavement
for inspiration.
Feretory
A St Cuthbert kneeler was made in 1985/6
for the Feretory to a design taken from a painting by Joan Freeman. Lesley Nott completed this work. Unfortunately most of the gold thread was
destroyed in cleaning some years later and the kneeler was withdrawn from use.
Gregory chapel
Items here worked around 1991 included the
large dossal curtain which was made
to be reversible. One side was a rich
Italian black and gold damask fabric and the other a natural heavy linen
suitable for Lent. A gold Thai Silk
Laudian throw was made plus a Lenten throw followed by kneelers for the Altar Rail, Prie-Dieu,
Chair and 32 individual ones. Dorothy
Watson chose a Florentine design for
these (in keeping with the Italian theme) and colours from the oriental carpet
and the dossal fabric.
Nine altars Chapel
This area, originally a passage way, is
now a chapel area and each altar is used at least once a week.
The
Sedilia
Leonard Childs designed the red and black kneelers and cushions for the
Sedilia. The designs depict the saints
of the Chapel with Celtic lettering from the 12th century Puiset
Bible.
This mediaeval Celtic language is a
puzzle to read. The three long kneelers
were worked in three lengths and then joined. The eleven cushions were single pieces.
The
Centre Altar dedicated to St Cuthbert and St Bede
The striking reredos panels and the altar
frontal were designed by Leonard Childs in 1994. The reredos wall panels celebrate the coming
of Christianity to Northumberland through the teaching of St Aidan (centre), St
Cuthbert (left) and St Bede (right) and their great love of the natural world
as seen at Lindisfarne. Their identities
are disclosed by the illustrations on the panels and the flora and fauna of
Lindisfarne. The middle panel depicts St Aidan’s mission of conversion via the torch
and the pair of sandals. The ball of
fire surrounded by angels represents Aidan’s soul being carried up to
heaven. A vision of this was said to
have led Cuthbert to enter a monastery at Melrose. Some pearls from the Queen’s wedding dress
were included in the working. The
pectoral cross and a chalice represents St Cuthbert’s status as a bishop. The special relationship which he, as a
hermit, had with animals on Lindisfarne, is represented by the puffins, an
eider or cuddy duck, a tern and the otter, which according to legend, swam
around St Cuthbert when he prayed in the sea.
There is also the Durham dun cow.
The otter has a fish in its mouth as it was realised that no fish had
been included! One of the Broderer’s
husbands drew the mole basing the design on a mole their cat caught!) The scrapers,
ink and quill and book on St Bede’s panel reflects his scholarly skills. The panels are mounted onto a wood frame and
secured to the inset window shapes.
The Altar
frontal uses the patchwork clamshell pattern. Each shell was originally meant to be 6” but
this was changed to 9” to make working easier. The frontal symbolises the
journey upwards from darkness into light.
The two “demon” faces at the front corners are a wolf with a flaming
mane (representing the paganism that existed as Christianity was spreading
through the country), and a lion (the symbol of St Mark – or Christianity,
which was also used for the Sanctuary Knocker).
The panels and frontal took the Broderers nearly 4 years to complete. Leonard Childs himself completed the dog and
the duckling. All the fabric and threads
were supplied through Leonard Childs with the Broderers’ tutors interpreting
the designs for the Broderers to work.
The cloth needed laundering after serious flooding in the Chapel area a
few years ago and unfortunately this has resulted in the cloth puckering badly.
The
St Margaret and St Hilds Altars
The St Hilds Altar has been furnished with
three 15 feet long Kneelers depicting
St Hild’s journey along the north east coast from South Shields to Whitby commemorating
the places where it is believed she founded abbeys. These were designed by Malcolm Lochhead of
Glasgow Caledonian University. The
Broderers were given a free hand in working the green grass areas. The sand on the beach includes gold
thread. The designs also incorporate a
symbolic representation of Runic lettering.
The St
Hild Altar frontal is also rich
in symbolism. Malcom Lochhead wanted to
use Durham Quilting in the work. The
fabric is hand made Thai silk. The white
tucked areas are goose Feather patchwork to represent feathers on goose wings reflecting
the legend that geese used to fly down in front of St Hild and flap their wings
when she was returning to the Abbey at night.
There is an ammonite in the centre, which legend has it, is a serpent
killed and turned to stone, and a piece of black jet from Whitby.
Margaret was Queen of Scotland but came
from Germany. The St Margaret Altar frontal was also designed by Malcolm Lochhead and
represents a book opening. The cross is
made from ebony and represents St Margaret’s simple life. More of the Queen’s pearls are used. The velvet fabric is unusual and was
specially dyed to produce a graduated colour tone. The original design was for patchwork but the
velvet fabric was not suitable for this. The black dust cloth on top of the Altar was
Malcolm Lochhead’s idea – he wanted something restrained. The St
Margaret kneelers are associated with the 3 rivers in Margaret’s life – the
Forth, Danube and Wear. The kneelers are
worked in brick stitch apart from the cross stitch silver thread “river” in the
centre.
Under Tracy A Franklin, 20 extra individual kneelers for the St Margaret and St
Hild’s Chapels were completed in 2010 using the same overall layout for the
design and colourways but not the lettering of the large kneelers. Broderers working the kneelers were able to
choose their own stitch patterns for the field areas from the range originally
specified.
Cathedral Vestments
Four sets of
apparels designed by members of the Broderers had been produced by 1989. The red, green and blue ones were worked in
canvas work and metal threads. The
Festal one was more ornate and included some of the “Queens Pearls”. (Note that Durham has chosen to wear blue not
purple for Lent and funerals.) In the late
1990s, four sets of vestments each consisting of 1 Chasuble, 3 broad stoles, 1
narrow stole, 1 Orphey, 1 cushion, 1 burse, 1 veil were worked. The symbolism was designed by Joan Freeman
and worked in gold and silver threads, fine padded kid and silk threads. The blue set with the alpha and omega and vine
leaves design is for funerals, Advent and Lent as Durham has chosen to use blue
not the usual purple. The design of the
red robes used for saints days include flames for the annunciation and the Holy
Spirit. The green vestments are worn on normal days.
The Malinsky
copes were designed by Renata Malinksy in the 1970’s. She used various designs from the Cathedral
eg the chevrons on the pillars. The
copes were machine embroidered. They are
not currently used as cleaning has removed much of the gold from the gold kid
leather used in the designs.
Current work by the Broderers
Altar frontals and vestments for Lent
Tracy A Franklin
has designed altar frontals for the High and Nave Altars, with a set of vestments including broad
and narrow stoles. The
Broderers are aiming to finish this project for Lent in 2013 stitching and
embroidering everything by hand following traditional ecclesiastical
methods.
The material for
the frontals and vestments is an unbleached natural linen fabric resembling sack cloth. The high Altar frontal is decorated with desert grasses of silk fabric fixed using Bondaweb and then sewn using an invented stitch - single running stitches running parallel to
the edge of the blade held in place at either end of each stitch by a small stab stitch placed at 90° to the original stitch now named 'Durham stitch'. The grasses are paler in colour at the centre
of the cloth, moving to richer colours at either end representing new life. A crown of thorns sit centrally on the cloth at the centre of the frontal. The
various branches of the thorns have been worked in padded gold kid. The prongs of some of the thorns have been
worked using the or nué technique with the thread progressing from gold to
dense red towards the point to simulate Christ’s blood. Some thorns are free standing. All the branches of the crown of thorns are
outlined with pearl purl gold metal thread.
The Nave Altar frontal has a smaller but similar crown of thorns without grasses.
The chasuble, dalmatic and tunicle have a panel of coloured silk grasses on the front and back of the vestments with extra grasses on the sleeves of the
dalmatic as part of the set for the High Altar. These grasses are hand sewn
using long and short stitch on one side and herringbone stitch on the
other. One further chasuble will be part of the Nave Altar set, with both chasubles worked with a small Crown of
Thorns in pearl purl on the front.
Stoles in various widths have a small (4”) pearl purl crown of thorns
worked at the bottom of each edge and a St Cuthbert’s cross at the nape of the
neck.
As well as undertaking new embroideries, in addition to new
work, the Broderers also carry out repairs to vestments and existing kneelers
as required. They have also made a
number of fabric microphone holders in red, green, blue and gold silk. The neck cords were hand made from matching
stranded cotton.
Last updated January 2013
References: Various
notes from Durham Cathedral Guides and official Cathedral publications,
Wikipaedia
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Lenten Array - High altar, nave altar and vestments ready to be dedicated at Ash Wednesday Sung Eucharist for the beginning of Lent and the Imposition of Ashes at 19:30 hours on 13th February 2013.
