The west front of bath Abbey is famed for its awesome relief decoration known as Ladder of Angels. The inspiration came in a dream of then-Bishop, Oliver King. He was so inspired by his drem that he ordered that a new Abbey Church be built, incorporating the imagery frm his dream on the front.
From the Bath Abbey website:http://www.bathabbey.org/history
". . . The first sight most visitors have of Bath Abbey is the West front, with its unique ladders of Angels. The story behind this is that the Bishop of Bath, Oliver King, is said to have had a dream of angels ascending and descending into heaven which inspired the design and which also inspired him to build a new Abbey church – the last great medieval cathedral to have been built in England.
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The present Abbey church as we know it was started around 1499, but was not complete by the time King Henry VIII initiated the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. At this time, the monastery was still occupied and the church which Bishop King had begun was being used daily for prayer and worship. But the monks knew their days were numbered; and on January 27th, 1539, the site was surrendered to the crown.
The Church Commissioners offered the church to the city for 500 marks (roughly the equivalent of £160,000 today), but amazingly this was turned down, showing how far the Abbey’s standing had fallen. Similar to the fates suffered by many other great priories and churches during this time, all the valuable parts of the building were taken away, for example the beautiful stained glass windows were ripped out and the roof was stripped for the lead. In 1542 the empty shell was sold, along with the monastery, to Humphrey Colles, who sold it on to Matthew Colthurst.
In 1535 John Leyland, traveller and antiquarian visited Bath. He reported that
“Oliver King, Bishop of Bath, began of late days a right goodly new church at the west part of the old church of St Peter and finished a great piece of it. The residue of it was since made by the priors of Bath and especially by Gibbes, the last prior there, that spent a great sum of money on that fabric.”
The first sight most visitors have of Bath Abbey is the West front, with its unique ladders of Angels. The story behind this is that Bishop Oliver King is said to have had a dream of ascending and descending angels which inspired the design of the facade thousands of people gaze up at and admire today. Whatever the truth of this story, it was Bishop King who was the driving force behind plans to tear down the decaying Norman cathedral and replace it with a new building – one of the last great medieval cathedrals to be built in England."
From Britain Express: (
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"Bath Abbey
History, tourist information, and nearby accommodation
BY DAVID ROSS
The Bishop's Dream
Sometime around 1499 Oliver King, the powerful Bishop of Bath and Wells, had a dream. King, who also served as Henry VII's Secretary, saw a vision of angels climbing a ladder to heaven, and heard a voice saying 'Let a King restore the church'. The Bishop took this as a heavenly message that he should rebuild the Norman church of Bath Abbey as a great new cathedral. He had the old church destroyed and a grand new edifice begun in Perpendicular style. Only the chancel and aisles had been finished by the time the abbey was dissolved during the English Reformation, but the crossing tower was finished during Elizabeth I's reign. It took another 300 years for the nave to be complete, but the core of Bath Abbey is among the best examples of late medieval architecture in England, and the Perpendicular Gothic fan vaulting is awe-inspiring."