England’s Cathedrals

CITY

CHURCH

BELLS

HISTORY

BIRMINGHAM C Church of St. Philip 12 Cathedral building started in 1709 and was consecrated in   1715.  It has stained glass windows designed by Burne Jones and made by William Morris
BLACKBURN C Church of St. Mary the Virgin 10 A church was first recorded on this   site in AD 596. The present day structure was built in 1826 and was the   Parish Church which was elevated to Cathedral when the Diocese of Blackburn   was created in 1926.
BRADFORD C Church of St. Peter 12 The first church fell into ruin during   the Norman Invasion of 1066.  The next   was destroyed by raiding Scots 300 years later.  The present building from the 13th century   became a Cathedral in 1919 on the formation of the Diocese of Bradford.
BRISTOL C Church of the Holy & Undivided Trinity 8 The foundations were an Augustianian   Abbey in 1140 and became a Cathedral in 1542. Its vaulting   is unique and described by Pevsner ” ….and   proves that English design surpasses that of all other countries” at   that date.
CANTERBURY C Church of Christ 14 The Cathedral is part of a World Heritage Site and is the office of The Archbishop of Canterbury leader of the Church of England. It was founded in 597 and has been rebuilt several times. Thomas Becket was martyred in 1170 by knights of King Henry II.
CARLISLE C Church of Holy & Undivided Trinity 13 Was originally an Augustianian Priory   and became a cathedral in 1133.  It is   the second smallest cathedral in England.
CHELMSFORD C Church of St. Mary the Virgin, SS Peter & Cedd 12 It became a Cathedral when Chelmsford   was created a Diocese in 1914. It has American connections due to the US   servicemen stationed nearby during the war.
CHESTER C Church of Christ & Blessed Virgin Mary 12 Was originally a Benedictine   Abbey  dedicated to St. Werburgh and   became a Cathedral in 1541. There are indications that Romans worshiped on   this site. A free-standing bell tower was added in 20th C.
CHICHESTER C Church of The Holy Trinity 8 The Cathedral was founded in 1075 with   Norman and Gothic architecture and moved Nikolaus Pevsner to describe it as   “…the most typical English Cathedral”.  Its spire can be seen   from the sea. It has a free-standing medieval bell tower.
COVENTRY C Church of St. Michael 12 St. Mary’s Priory was elevated to a   Cathedral between 1095 and 1102.  The   second Catheral was St. Michael’s built in the late 14th C and this was   bombed to ruins in WWII but  with the   spire remaining as the third highest in England.  Within the ruins the   third Cathedral was built and was consecrated as thus in 1962.  Many well known artists have contributed   and it is ecumenically connected to    Berlin’s Memorial Church.
DERBY C Church of All Saints 10 Records show that a church was built   on this site by King Edmund 1 about 943 but no traces remain. The present   building dates from around the 14thC and became a Cathedral in 1927.  It contains the oldest   ring of 10 bells in the UK.
DURHAM C Church of St. Cuthbert 10 The present Cathedral was founded in   AD 1093 as one of the finest examples of Norman architecture and is now a UNESCO site.  It houses the relics of St. Cuthbert of   Lindisfarne, St. Oswald of Northumbria and of the Venerable Bede.  The riches of the Library also include   three copies of the Magna Carter.    Durham Castle was built as the residence of the Bishop of Durham. The   Cathedral was used by Oliver Cromwell as a prison.
ELY C Church of St. Etheldreda NO BELLS The first church was founded by St.   Eheldreda daugher of the Anglo-Saxon King Anna. She founded a monastery in   673. After Dutch invasions a new monastery was built which later became a   cathedral in 1109. The distinctive octagonal ‘Lantern’   tower was built as a result of its predecessor   collapsing in 1322.
EXETER C Church of St. Peter 12 The present building is of the Gothic   style but originally of Norman architecture which  was started in 1107 by William Warelwast   nephew of William the Conqueror. It is supposed to have the longest uninterrupted vaulted ceiling in England. It also houses an astonomical clock   dating from the 14th C.
GLOUCESTER C Church of Holy & Undivided Trinity 12 The present Cathedral is dedicated to   St. Peter because it is built on the ruins of the St. Peter’s Abbey which was   dissolved under Henry VIII.  The   foundatons were laid around 1072 and it became the Cathedral of Gloucester in   1541.  The earliest   images of the sports of golf and football are contained within.
GUILDFORD C Church of The Holy Spirit 12 Guildford was made  a Diocese in 1927 but it did not have a   cathedral until the present building.    The foundation stone was laid in 1936 but WWII halted construction   until work resumed and it was consecrated in 1961. It was designed by Sir.   Edward Maufe and stands on Stag Hill overlooking the city.
HEREFORD C Church of St. Ethelbert & St. Mary the Virgin 10 The first building was dedicated to   St. Ethelbert the King who was beheaded by Offa, King of Mercia in 792. The present Cathedral dates from 1079 and   containes the 13th C treasure of the ‘Mappa Mundi’. The 10 bells are known as ‘The Grand Old Lady’ as they have a   unique ring.
LEICESTER C Church of St. Martin 12 The first recording of a church on the   site dedicated to St. Martin dates from 1086. The present building was   created a Cathedral in 1927.  There are   links with Richard III.  The St. George’s Chapel was the   centre for the Guild of St. George who kept an   effigy of the saint on horseback which was borne through the streets of the   city on April 23rd in a procession known as ‘riding the George’.
LICHFIELD C Church of St. Chad 10 It is the only medieval English   cathedral with three spires.  It   suffered greatly during the Civil War with the exception of the windows in   the Lady Chapel that contain some of the finest medieval Flemish painted glass.  In February 2003 a sculptured panel was   discovered and is known as ‘The Lichfield Angel’ thought to be part of a chest that contained the relics of St.   Chad.
LINCOLN C Church of St. Hugh 12 The foundation to the first Cathedral   were laid in 1088 by its first Bishop. The building was almost destroyed by   an earthquake in 1141. There are 13 bells the heaviest   known as ‘Great Tom’  The Cathedral contains remains of  Queen Eleanor of Castile.  It held an original copy of the Magna Carta   as Bishop Hugh of Wells was a singnatory but this has since been moved to   Lincoln Castle. Architecturally it is known for its two ‘Eyes’ ie: rose   windows at the north and south end.
LIVERPOOL C Church of Christ 13 The total external   length of the building is the 2nd longest Cathedral in the World and the 5th   largest in the World. Giles Gilbert Scott won the   competition for building the new Cathedral in 1903. The first part – The Lady   Chapel, was consecrated in 1910. There are 13   bells funded by Thomas Bartlett and known as the Bartlett Bells. They are the   highest and heaviest peal in the world. The heaviest – ‘Great George’   named after King George V, at 14 half tons   is the second heaviest  after ‘Great   Paul’ of St. Paul’s Catheral.
LONDON –  St. Paul’s St. Paul’s 12 Bede records the presence of a Saxon   cathedral in AD 604. The present building dates from the 17th c designed by   Sir Christopher Wren after the damage to the 4th building by the Great Fire   of London of 1666. Wren’s building  has   the highest dome in the world. It occupies a significant place in the   national identity of the English population. Grinling Gibbons was responsible   for the woodwork. The NW Tower contains 13 bells and the   SW 4 that inclludes ‘Great Paul’ weighing 16 half tons the largest bell cast   in 1881.
NEWCASTLE C Church of St. Nicholas 12 The original Parish Church was   destroyed by fire and was rebuilt  in   1359 becoming a Cathedral in 1882.  It is the most northerly Cathedral in England and named after St. Nicholas patron saint of sailors and   boats. It has 12 bells
NORWICH C Church of Holy & Undivided Trinity NO BELLS The Catheral is built of Caen   limestone from Normandy and building began in 1096 and completed in 1145. The Cathedral  has the   2nd tallest spire and the largest Close in England.  It has no bells   similar to Salisbury and Ely.
OXFORD Christ Church Cathedral 12 On the site of St.Frideswide buried in   8th C.  The Priory was taken over by   Cardinal Wolsey in 1522 who started to build a college.  It was    then repossessed by King Henry VIII in 1529 and   created a Cathedral.
PETERBOROUGH C Church of SSS Peter, Paul & Andrew 12 The origins of the Cathedral date from   a monastry founded by King Peada in 655AD.    Destroyed by Vikings and rebuilt as a Benedictine Abbey between   960-970. In its present  state it   became a Cathedral in 1541. Architecturally important in that its West Front built in Early English Gothic style has   three enormous arches.
PORTSMOUTH C Church of St. Thomas 12 Around 1180 a Norman merchant gave   land to Augustinian Canons to build a chapel in honour of St. Thomas of   Canterbury, Martyr.  In 1194 King   Richard I seized Portsmouth for the Crown. In 1591 Queen Elizabeth I worshipped   at this church which after several occasions of rebuild became a Cathedral in   in 1932.
RIPON &   LEEDS C Church of SS Peter & Wilfrid 13 The Church was founded by Saint   Wilfrid in AD 672 and the Crypt is one of the oldest in the country, The   building was originally a Minster but was created a Cathedral in 1836.  It has inspired such   artists as lewis Carroll and Wilfrid Owen.
ROCHESTER C Church of Christ & the Blessed Virgin Mary 10 The second oldest   English Cathedral having been founded by Bishop   Justus in 604AD.  In 1642 Cromwell’s   soldiers damaged the Cathedral. In 1872 George Gilbert Scott carried out   major restoration work.  2004 the 1400th   anniversery of the Cathedral and Diocese.
ST.ALBANS C Church & Abbey of St. Albans 12 St. Alban was a Roman/British citizen   of Verulamium became a Christian around 3rd C.  Was martyred by refusing to acknowledge the   Roman Gods.  St. Bede mentions a church   which later became a Benedictine monastry around 793. It   is the 2nd longest Catheral in England
ST.EDMUNDSBURY   & IPSWICH – C Church of St. James 12 + 2 The earliest church, an Abbey, was   built  for the remains of Edmund, King   of the East Angles who was killed by the Danes in 869.  St. James’s was built within the Abbey and   became a Cathedral in 1914.
SALISBURY C Church of Blessed Virgin Mary NO BELLS A Norman Cathedral was built in 1075   at Old Sarum. The best preserved version of The Magna   Carta, the result of King John’s meeting with the   Barons at Runnymede in 1214, is held within the Chapter House of the   Cathedral.  It has the tallest spire in the country.  The Cathedral   celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2008.
SHEFFIELD C Church of SS Peter and Paul 13 The building has Saxon beginnings with   a cross of Sheffield dating from this time now in the   British Museum. There are Norman parts dating from   11th – 12thC.  It became a Cathedral in   1914.
SOUTHWARK Collegiate C of St. Saviour & St Mary Overie 12 Possibly a religious centre as early   as 7th C.  It was mentioned as a   Minster in the Domesday Book of 1086.    It became an Augustinian Priory dedicated to St.   Mary ‘Over the River’ together with a hospital   thought to be the predecessor of St. Thomas’s in honour of St. Thomas a   Becket.  It became a Cathedral in 1905.
SOUTHWELL & NOTTINGHAM – Minster Church of Blessed Virgin Mary 13 The site has Roman origins with   preserved fragments. In 956 King Eadwig of Wessex grants land for a   Collegiate church.  In 1040 it became a   Minster. The two towers were completed in 1170.  It became a Cathedral in 1884.
TRURO C Church of St. Mary 14 A Bill was passed by Parliament in   1876 establishing Truro as the Diocese centre and the Parish Church of St.   Mary was rebuilt as the Cathedral which was completed in 1880.
WAKEFIELD C Church of All Saints 14 The cathedral is on the site of a   Saxon Church which was mentioned in the Domesday Book. It was rebuilt in the   early 15th C and later restored in the 18th by Sir George Gilbert Scott. Although it has a ring of 14 bells usualy no more than 12 are   rung.
WELLS C Church of St. Andrew 10 The place name Wells is because of the   wells and springs that have been there since Roman times.The Vicar’s Close   founded in 1348 is said to be the oldest medieval street in England. Made in   1390 The Clock is thought to be the second oldest clock mechanism in England.
WINCHESTER C Church of Holy Trinity & SSS Peter,Paul & Swithun 14 The Saxon ‘Old Minster’ in 1093 became a Cathedral and the Royal Church of the Saxon Kings. The resting place for King Alfred the Great, King Cnut, William   Rufus and St. Swithun. The latter was Bishop from 838 – 852AD. The Winchester   Bible is the largest and possibly the finest of all surviving 12thC English   bibles. It was written and illuminated 800 years ago.
WORCESTER C Church of Christ and Blessed Virgin Mary 12 St. Wulfstan was a Bishop and after   the Norman Conquest rebuilt the Cathedral.He died in 1095 and was buried  alongside St. Oswald.  King John too is buried at his own request   oin the Cathedral.  The whole Cathedral   and its treasures suffered terribly in the Civil War between 1642 and 1651.   The Battle of Worcester took place in 1651.
YORK Minster & Metropolitan Ch of St. Peter 14 The first Church on the site was in   627 BC to enable the Baptism of Edwin King of Northumbria. York   Minster is the 2nd largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe.It has suffered many repairs due to fires, Civil War damage and   The Reformation. It is reknowned for its glass windows notably the great Rose   Window.