XXIV TRURO CATHEDRAL TRURO is in Cornwall, at the southwest of England. Truro was anciently called Treura. Cornwall was originally Corner Wales. The cathedral is dedicated to St. Mary. Length, 303 feet; width at transept, 157 feet; height of tower, 217 feet. The old south aisle is ingeniously incorporated in the modern structure, which is built in the early English style. King Edward VII. (then Prince of Wales) laid the corner-stone, and was also present at the consecration of the cathedral. As the cathedral is a Victorian New Foundation, there were no bishops before 1877. XXV ST. ALBAN'S CATHEDRAL ST. ALBAN'S is in Hertford, twenty-four miles northwest of London. St. Alban's is named in honour of the martyr; Hertford means an army ford, or perhaps a ford for deer, either Heer (host) or hart (deer). The cathedral is dedicated to St. Alban. It is a Victorian New Foundation, and there were no bishops prior to 1874. A church was built here soon after the execution of the martyr in the third century. Between four and five hundred years after his death, Offa, king of the Mercians, built a large and stately monastery to his memory. A new church was consecrated in 1115, having been built by Paul of Caen, and the main outlines still remain. Before the Reformation it was a Benedictine abbey, afterward a parish church. Its dimensions are: length, 550 feet; |