From the bottom to the top...

Some very interesting theological discussions today, on Discipline and Freedom, and on creativity in ministry -- and in life. Much to digest. We also got a first look at some of the aspects of the Cathedral that most interest me (The Archive, the Bell Harry Tower, and the Crypt.

Here are some of the shots:

This is the view from Bell Harry Tower, the tallest, central tower of the cathedral towards the West Front.

My hero, Elizabeth I, in a wood cut from a 16th century Book of Common Prayer, piously at her prayers.

A piece of pink marble thought to be from the shrine of St. Thomas Beckett which was destroyed during the Reformation on the orders of Henry VIII. It's believed that the smashed marble was just cast aside and, and in this case, later recut and used to repair the walkway in the Cloister.

The remnants of a ceiling decoration in the cathedral crypt. These decorations are believed to have been painted by the Huguenots, French Protestants many of whom fled to England in 1572 after the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. Elizabeth gave the Huguenots the liberty of the cathedral crypt where, to this day, a French Protestant congregation still worships. I find this decaying decoration intriguing; I've never seen these two emblems used together before. It's as if the Huguenots combined the Tudor Rose as a sign of their deliverance with the crown of thorns as a sign of their suffering.

A view from within the Bell Harry Tower -- of the altar, and the Compass Rose, the symbol of the Anglican Communion.