An earlier cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1067, shortly after the Norman Conquest and rebuilding began under the first Norman archbishop, Lanfranc, whose elaborate plans goaded the archbishop of York into a frenzy of building. Lanfranc had claimed primacy for his cathedral over York. York wasn’t having it and built its own cathedral, York Minster, on a scale to rival Canterbury. Read more about York Minster here.
Treasures to see on your visit
For such a big story, it’s surprising that today only a small altar marks the site of Thomas Becket’s murder in the cathedral. It was erected after the visit of Pope John Paul II to the cathedral. He commented that he had visited memorials to St Thomas Becket all over the world, but here in his own cathedral there was nothing to remember him by.
Becket’s body was taken to the crypt after his murder, today in that crypt you’ll find an evocative sculpture by the artist Antony Gormley, most famous for his Angel of the North artwork. Made from old iron nails taken from the repaired roof of the cathedral, it outlines the shape of a floating body and is suspended above the site of the first tomb of the archbishop.
Check out the medieval wall art in St Gabriel’s chapel – left intact throughout the Reformation as the chapel was walled up; the Great South Window, featuring some of the oldest stained glass in the world, dating from 1175, and considered to be one of the most famous works of English medieval painting; and the ship’s bell from HMS Canterbury, which is rang every day at 11am.
The Canterbury monks’ medieval priory is now the cathedral chapter house, with its own separate entrance through the cloisters outside. Monks often worked on transcribing manuscripts in the cloisters, where the light was better for doing such delicately detailed work. The priory dates from the Norman period with later Gothic additions. The timber ceiling is a rare example of a surviving 600-year-old design – most were destroyed by fire. The glass in the windows is Victorian, though the masonry surrounding them is medieval.
Important tombs include the grave of King Henry IV and the tomb of the Black Prince, Edward of Woodstock, the oldest son of Edward III, who died before he could inherit the throne.
Canterbury: cathedral city
Canterbury is surely one of the most atmospheric and attractive cities in England, with its medieval winding streets, river location and ancient city walls. It has been one of the country’s biggest attractions for centuries, from the pilgrims who came to pay homage to the shrine of Thomas Becket in the cathedral to the countless numbers of tourists who flock there every year.
Where to stay: Take up residence in the cathedral grounds – Canterbury Cathedral Lodge is a comfortable modern hotel and conference centre that offers you the chance to wake up to stunning cathedral views. Not only that, you get free admission to the cathedral and can go in and out as many times as you like.
What to do: The Canterbury Heritage Museum showcases everything from the city’s Roman history to the assassination of Thomas Becket, and the museum also houses the Rupert Bear Museum. Mary Tourtel, who created Rupert, was a Canterbury local.
For more history and a deeper look into Canterbury’s Roman past, there’s the Roman Museum or you can get cultural at the Beaney House of Art & Knowledge, with its museum and art gallery. The Eastbridge Hospital, set up for pilgrims, soldiers and the elderly in 1180, is also well worth a visit for its Romanesque undercroft, chapel and 16th century almshouses, all sitting across Britain’s most ancient road bridge, which is over 800 years old.
Nearby, St Martin’s Church is the oldest parish church in England in continuous use and you can also visit the ruins of Augustine’s Abbey, which is part of Canterbury’s World Heritage Site and dates from 597. A small museum on the site tells the story of the re-establishment of Christianity in all of England from here.
Cathedrals of Britain: London and the South East by Bernadette Fallon is published by Pen and Sword and on sale for £12.99
]]>Known as the ‘Ship of the Fens’, Ely Cathedral rises majestically from the surrounding landscape. Once it stood on an island, surrounded on all sides by water, but the draining of the Fens marshland several centuries ago reunited the land around the cathedral with the rest of the countryside. It still retains some of that other-worldly allure however and today rises magically from the early morning mists. The first church on this site was founded by a woman, Ethelreda, a 7th century Anglo-Saxon princess, although buiding on the present cathedral didn’t start until 1081.
Lincoln
On top of one of the steepest hills in Britain, Lincoln cathedral can be seen from most parts of the county and was described by the Victorian critic John Ruskin as ‘the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles’. For a time in the Middle Ages, it was the tallest building in the world and is one of the few English cathedrals standing on the rock it is built from. Founded in 1072 by William the Conqueror’s travelling companion and supporter, the Benedictine monk Remigius, today its great west front is all that remains of the original Norman building.
Norwich
Built by the Normans soon after their victory at Hastings in 1066, Norwich Cathedral and nearby Norwich Castle were clear demonstrations of the invaders’ power and influence in what was then England’s second biggest city. As much a political statement as a religious one, the cathedral’s narrow nave with its soaring height and dramatic vaulting was deliberately sized to create the impression of power and grandeur. Its foundation stone was laid at the east end of the building in 1096.
Lichfield
Founded in the 8th century and filled with delicate angels, Lichfield Cathedral has come close to destruction several times over the centuries. The three spires of the cathedral are known locally as ‘the ladies of the vale’ and can be seen from all directions – but by the time they were completed there had already been a cathedral on the site for 600 years. The first church was built in 700, then demolished and rebuilt by the Normans in the 11 century, while today’s cathedral dates mainly from the 1400s.
Peterborough
While considerably less revered than its famous neighbours in Ely, Norwich and Lincoln, Peterborough cathedral has great historical significance and holds many treasures. It is one of the finest Norman buildings in the country and one of the few medieval cathedrals whose core structure remains essentially the same as it was on completion. Its 13th century wooden ceiling is the only one of its type in the UK and one of only four from this period surviving in all of Europe. It’s the final resting place for one of the nation’s most famous queens and maybe just have inspired part of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
St Edmundsbury
A modestly sized and recently conferred cathedral, St Edmundsbury received its status in 1914 when the former parish church of St James became the cathedral for the newly created diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. But it has a huge and unique heritage, sharing its site with a spectacular ruined abbey laid out over several acres that marks it as a place of religious worship for over 1,000 years. And its other unique aspect is a more contemporary one. It boasts the country’s newest cathedral tower, a mere infant in the grand scheme of cathedral histories, completed in 2005.
Oxford
England’s smallest cathedral, Christ Church Oxford survives today due to a series of fortunate coincidences. One of the oldest buildings in Oxford, it dates from the 12th century and as well as a cathedral, it’s the chapel for Christ Church College, one of the largest and wealthiest colleges in the university. It has strong links with several monarchs and famous literary figures and, unusually, its patron saint, Frideswide, is a woman. But it hasn’t been without controversy, particularly in more recent times.
Cathedrals of Britain: East and Central by Bernadette Fallon is published by Pen and Sword books, £12.99, buy online here
Read more
Around the UK in 30 cathedrals
Cathedrals of Britain: London and the South East – Canterbury, St Paul’s, Westminster Abbey, Southwark, Westminster Cathedral, Rochester, Chichester
Cathedrals of Britain: West, South West and Wales – Winchester, Salisbury, Wells, Gloucester, Exeter, St Davids, St Asaph’s
Cathedrals of Britain: North of England and Scotland – York, Durham, Ripon, Wakefield, Sheffield, Bradfield, Edinburgh, Aberdeen
Image credit: Lichfield Cathedral, Bernadette Fallon
]]>The Old Deanery, Ripon
Located across the road from Ripon Cathedral, with fine views of its soaring façade, this beautiful stone building is the former home of the cathedral deans. Dating back to 1625 and blessed with character and period detail, it still has its impressive original oak staircase and is full of individual quirks, like the gently sloping floorboards and thick-walled window seats. There are just eleven rooms altogether, each one totally individual. Live the life of a cathedral dean for a day. (Theolddeanery.co.uk; from £100)
Grays Court, York
Just a short cobbled-street’s walk from York Minister, this wonderful hotel was the first official residence for the treasurers of the minster, commissioned by the first Norman Archbishop of York, Ealdred. With part of it dating back to 1080, it’s possibly the oldest continuously occupied house in the UK and has the only private access to York’s city walls, which surround the edge of its lovely gardens. Inside it’s all luxury boutique hotel and beautiful design, just what you’d expect from a building that was owned by royalty when the treasurers moved out in the 16th century. It was given as a gift by King Edward VI to the Duke of Somerset and has been voted Visit York Hotel of the Year for the last three years. (Grayscourtyork.com; from £200)
Littlecote House, Berkshire
Famously associated with royalty and political intrigue, it was here that Henry VIII wooed Jane Seymour, in the house that her grandmother lived in. A 16th century Tudor manor, it has also hosted the likes of Elizabeth I, James I, Charles II and William of Orange. The D-Day landings were planned within these very walls, which also hide a secret passage behind the library bookcases. There’s a Roman villa in the grounds, which also offer a putting green, tennis and bowling courts. And, like any self-respecting 16th century building, several rooms are said to be haunted with the ghosts of former residents. You can even bring some history home with you; nearby Hungerford is famous for its antique shops. (Warnerleisurehotels.co.uk)
Tulloch Castle, Dingwall Ross-Shire
Wake up in a four-poster bed in a 12th century highland castle. Overlooking Cromarty Firth and the Black Isle, close to the ancient town of Dingwall, the former home of the Bains and Davidsons has been beautifully restored as a 22-bedroom hotel. Wander through the 250-year-old panelled Great Hall, admire original period fireplaces and ceilings, eat in The Turrets Restaurant and after you’ve finished being Laird of the Castle, explore the nearby Cairngorms National Park. There’s easy access to Inverness and the coast is just a six-minute drive away. (Part of the Bespoke Hotel Group, Bespokehotels.com/tullochcastlehotel; from £127)
Billesley Manor, Stratford upon Avon
The manor house of Billesley can be traced back to 705AD and was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086. It’s said that William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in the 8th century church in the grounds in 1582, and that his granddaughter also was married here. The charming hotel is a warren of twisting corridors and winding staircases, there’s a priest hole, grand stone fireplaces and an imposing Great Hall which hosts the morning breakfast buffet, a drawing room to take morning coffee and a library that Shakespeare purportedly visited. After its 17th-century heyday, the manor fell into disrepair, was refurbished in the early 20th century and has been a hotel for the last 50 years. (Billesleymanor.com)
Stonefield Castle, Mull of Kintyre
The 19th-century baronial home of the Campbell family (pictured top of the page) is set in 60 acres of woodland gardens and boasts a famous collection of Himalayan rhododendrons. From the wall-mounted stag’s head in the entrance hallway, enjoy one finely proportioned room after another, from drawing room to library and bar, into a long lounge with crackling open fire. Deep window seats look out to front and back gardens leading down to the broad expanse of Loch Fyne. It’s just two miles from the idyllic fishing village of Tarbert, one of the most attractive villages on the Mull of Kintyre peninsula. (Part of the Bespoke Hotel Group, Bespokehotels.com/stonefieldcastle; from £130)
The Midland Hotel, Bradford
Love the glamour of the old railways, with their puffing steam trains and waving white hankies on the platform? You’ll love The Midland Hotel in Bradford, a throw-back to the heyday of railway hotels and dating from 1885. It still has many of its attractive Victorian features, including grand foyer, glittering chandeliers and old-world appeal – and obviously it’s conveniently placed for transport, right beside the train station. It’s hosted the great and the good over the years, among them Laurel and Hardy, The Beatles and George Formby. It also attracted quite a lot of publicity when the Shakespearean actor Sir Henry Irving died on the main staircase, following a performance at the nearby Theatre Royal. He was attended to by his manager, no less famous a personage, Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula. (Peelhotels.co.uk/Midland-Hotel; from £70)
Oatlands Park, Surrey
Overlooking Weybridge’s Broadwater Lake, this was once the site of Henry VIII’s grand Tudor palace which he had redesigned for Anne of Cleeves – Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I also spent time here. Rebuilt as a Gothic mansion in the 18th century, it has been a hotel since 1856, and has welcomed several notable guests over the years including the poet Edward Lear and writer Emile Zola. On 10 acres of gardens and wooded parkland, the hotel has 144 rooms and still sits close to royalty – Windsor Castle is just down the road. (Oatlands-Park-Hotel; from £72)
Buxton Crescent, Peak District
The 5th Duke of Devonshire’s fashionable 18th century Georgian crescent is home to the newest ‘old’ hotel on our list, opening later this year for the first time. The 81-room, five-star hotel, with renovated Assembly Rooms and rooftop pool, has a thermal spa built on the site of the original Roman Baths, situated over the main mineral water spring. A medieval place of pilgrimage and fashionable spa town in the 1700s, Buxton has one of only two sets of warm springs developed by the Romans in the UK – the other is at Bath. (Buxtoncrescent.com; from £155)
Mandarin Oriental, London
Once the 19th century Hyde Park Court and Club, these days the 138 former bachelor flats, (along with the bachelors’ drawing, dining, billiard and smoking rooms) have been transformed into a very swish five-star hotel. Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor and Gandhi have all stayed here, royalty has its own entrance opposite Hyde Park and Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret had dance lessons here as young girls. The Sultan of Zanzibar brought 12 goats to stay with him on his visit in 1929 and Rudolph Valentino stopped traffic when he stepped out on to the balcony to wave to several thousand screaming women on the footpath outside. Winston Churchill took refuge here during the Second World War and soldiers on leave from the trenches in World War 1 were given beds in ballroom if they had nowhere else to go. (MandarinOriental.com/London; from £740)
A version of this article was published in The Scotsman in summer 2020
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]]>Maybe I’ll become a dancer…
I wasn’t the most obvious candidate to join a dance troupe – at the age of, er, well let’s just say I’ll never see 40 again. I have arthritis and scoliosis and spent half of the last decade on crutches. Sometimes I groan out loud when I stand up.
But I was joining the dance group for just a few weeks. It was a love affair, not a commitment. We were going to perform a dance choreographed by one of the world’s leading dancers, a man who provokes hushed silences in those-who-know-about-dance when you mention his name.
Akram Khan. (Look around, anyone nearby frozen into silence? Dancer!)
Want to impress a dancer? Tell them you’re dancing an Akram Khan piece.
Khan devised a dance routine for Big Dance Festival, which ran across the UK from May 20 to September 10 that year and learning this dance was open to all – from community groups to professional dance troupes. (You can probably guess which one I was part of). It was devised for people of all abilities and suitable even for those with limited movement as you could perform the dance standing up or sitting down. I did manage to stand up while taking part, that being a crutch-free year.
We performed it on the Big Dance stage at the Addiscombe festival in Ashburton Park in May that year, at the Park Hill Park Family Fest in June and in London’s Trafalgar Square in July.
But the most exciting performance of all was dancing with over 30 others outside London’s City Hall for the then newly elected Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and for the main man himself – yes, I got to dance Akram Khan’s dance for AKRAM KHAN!
We danced in the sunshine in view of Tower Bridge, press photographers clicking furiously, TV cameras filming – we were on the BBC London news that night. And for that morning, we were all dancers, no matter what the state of our hips or our knees or our ankles. Okay so a few of us were slightly OLDER than the majority of the young whippersnappers bending gracefully – but who cares, we could do the dance and we did it, over and over again to the beautiful music composed by Nitin Sawhney.
Akram Khan’s beautiful dance explores the themes of identity, connection and hope. It was a dance that was conceived to unite people and embrace diversity. And there is a wonderful energy created by a random group of strangers coming together for a short time, to work in harmony and dance together. As Akram Khan said, ‘people from all walks of life connect here to communicate the joy and celebration of their body’. And, joints creaking, we celebrated joyfully.
Four years on, I look back on my time as a dancer fondly, particularly now, when we’re all apart, desperately needing that connection and hope. Once all this is over, and we can unite again, maybe l’ll dust off my dancing shoes. Akram will be delighted.
]]>So nobody’s going anywhere for the foreseeable future – except now, perhaps into somebody’s back garden – but luckily, lots of kind people have taken it on themselves to make sure that we can still get a (24-hour-a-day-if-required) fix of art, culture, music and books. Here’s a round-up of some of the best.
THEATRE, OPERA, BALLET
The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden is beaming opera and ballet around the world, with a schedule of free broadcasts and live content. Check out the Royal Ballet’s Peter and the Wolf and The Metamorphosis, as well as the Royal Opera’s Così fan tutte and much more on the ROH Facebook and YouTube channels.
Ditto for the New York’s Met Opera – catch their productions here – string of pearls optional.
The Bolshoi Ballet is streaming previous productions including The Nutcracker and Spartacus on its YouTube channel with more to come – pull the curtains and pretend it’s Christmas. Staying with Christmas, you can watch the English National Ballet’s Swan Lake here.
The Irish National Opera has also put several of its productions online, including Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice – full listing here. And catch Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro from Glyndebourne here.
Slava’s Snowshow is one of the most beautiful pieces of theatre I’ve ever seen (twice). You can’t recreate the magic of turning a theatre into a giant snowstorm/playground for giant floating balloons in an online screening, but you can enjoy the gentle humour and magic of the show. Try this as a taster and when we’re all released from house arrest again, check out a live performance somewhere in the world.
The Guardian has put together a great list of ‘Quarantine soirées’ – classical music and opera to stream at home from around the world, updated regularly.
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre has over 130 filmed productions on its Globe Player video-on-demand service, including Twelfth Night with Mark Rylance (love Mark Rylance), Jonathan Pryce in the Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Michelle Terry.
The Globe is showing past productions for free on its YouTube channel, releasing a new show every week at 7pm. Each will be available from the date of release for 14 days. The productions are:
Hamlet (2018), Romeo and Juliet (2009), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2013), The Two Noble Kinsmen (2018), The Winter’s Tale (2018) and The Merry Wives of Windsor (2019) – plus, in a late addition, Macbeth (2020) has just gone live now.
You can also watch all of the Complete Walk series on its video-on-demand service. These are 37 short 10-minute films recorded with an all-star cast and shot on location, commissioned for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.
Latest shows just announced for the National Theatre’s YouTube channel in May and June include A Streetcar Named Desire, Coriolanus and This House. Get full details here.
Here’s a list of free musicals and plays from FilmedOnStage that you can currently stream – updated daily.
And What’s On Stage has also done a very useful round-up of stage shows, musicals and opera you can watch online for free.
Ireland’s Rough Magic Theatre has just put How to Keep an Alien, by Sonya Kelly, online, filmed at the Dublin Fringe Festival. And you can watch Druid Theatre’s award-winning production of The Playboy of the Western World here.
The Abbey Theatre and Royal Court Theatre’s co-production of Cyprus Avenue by David Ireland, starring Stephen Rea, is now available to watch online here.
Staying in the country, Dear Ireland is a series of 50 monologues created in self-isolation by 50 writers and 50 actors, exploring life during the Covid-19 crisis, commissioned by the Abbey Theatre. Streamed on YouTube over four nights and online for the next six months, it features actors and writers including Brendan Gleeson, Edna O’Brien, Cathy Belton and Joseph O’Connor and asks the question, what should Ireland write on a postcard to itself?
MUSEUMS
Why not pop over into an Irish museum while you’re at it. A whole load of them have just put themselves online for virtual tours here – top tip, the Chester Beatty Museum is a beaut.
Have a browse around behind closed doors in the BBC series Museums in Quarantine, featuring Tate Britain, the British Museum, Warhol at Tate Modern and Young Rembrant at The Ashmolean in Oxford.
Somerset House has released a brand-new virtual tour of its exhibition Mushrooms: The Art, Design and Future of Fungi. It’s the first time that the public will be able to see inside this original show from home, exploring the colourful cultural legacy of mushrooms and their powerful potential in the planet’s survival, featuring works from the likes of Beatrix Potter, Carsten Höller and Tom Dixon.
FILM
This could be a good time to consider a subscription to the British Film Institute – free 14-day trial and then £4.99 a month for lots of free films, plus others to rent for just £2.50. New films are being added all the time, plus there’s a substantial archive list. They have the Buena Vista Social Club – what more do you want?
The Regent Stree Cinema is also offering free membership for three months and the chance to enjoy FILM ESSENTIALS, a selection of specially curated titles powered by online streaming service MUBI. Join to receive details on how to start watching films for free over the next three months.
MUSIC
NEW: Watch the London Mozart Players in action with regular recitals broadcast every week on the LMP website, YouTube and Facebook, as well as interviews with leading musical lights including pianist Howard Shelley and jazz singer Claire Martin.
NEW: There’s more classical music on demand here, courtesy of Bachtrack – and catch the Royal College of Music concerts here.
NEW: The Sligo County Fleadh has been cancelled of course but they’re streaming some live music sessions instead this coming weekend, from May 29.
Billy Bragg live streamed a concert from New York at the start of May, featuring Rosanne Cash, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Steve Earle, The Indigo Girls, KT Tunstall, Loudon Wainwrigh and many more. It was a paid-for event – but here he is playing New York’s Bowery Ballroom last September.
A treat for trad lovers. Irish language TV station TG4 is running a 6-week musical tour of the west coast of Ireland every Sunday at 9.30pm, with legendary traditional musicians, father and son, Breanndán and Cormac Ó Beaglaoich – Slí na mBeaglaoich (Journey of the Begleys). Travelling up the west coast from Kerry to Donegal in their 40-year-old camper van, they’ll team up with friends for tunes and explore the landscape, musical and physical. I’m so enjoying this every week and – of course – Sligo was the highlight.
NEW: For more great Irish music, catch Mary Coughlan gigging in her garden – wrapped in a blanket! – with her band, raising money for Bray Women’s Refuge. And Glen Hansard was recorded live in the National Library of Ireland – not sure if I enjoyed looking at Glen or the books more.
In April, Jack Lukeman launched what would have been the start of his tour with a live show from his sitting room – love this and great to see the comments pouring in from all over the world. (The start of this is particularly hilarious – you have to watch it!) The good news is that it went so well he’s now doing live shows (from his sitting room) every Saturday night at 8pm. He’s already done Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash tributes, an ’80s night, folk night and songs from the 27 club. He’s on a break now for a few weeks, back on June 20 with a Bowie night.
Back in the real world – if it still exists, anyone looked recently? – Jack and Mary Coughlan are doing a show in London on Saturday 26 September in Shoreditch Town Hall. I’ll be first in as soon as the door opens.
Jack did it, so Andrew Lloyd Webber thought he would too. He’s releasing a new musical every Friday on this YouTube channel, each one will be available for 48 hours and first up is Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.
Catch Andrea Bocelli singing from Duomo di Milano, Milan Cathedral, here. This solo performance was been created as a message of hope and healing to Italy and the world.
Over 200 musicians have come together to share their music, with concerts broadcast at 8pm on YouTube (brainchild of the artists’ agency Weltenklang, donate to the project here). With performers from Ireland, Scotland, Austria, Portugal, Canada, Louisiana, Makedonia, Iceland, Mali, Sweden, California, Romania and other exotic places taking part, you’ll join them in their homes for the session – because, these days, there’s nowhere like home.
Catch some singing – here’s a virtual performance of Cyndi Lauper’s True Colours, recorded by the Camden Voices choir from their individual homes. More videos on the way they say.
ART
NEW: Take a virtual art tour, courtesy of Art Fund; options include tours of the British Museum, the Courtauld, Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum and the National Galleries of Scotland.
NEW: Delve into the minds of the Impressionists at the Royal Academy of Arts, with its Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse exhibition, guided by expert curators, artists and garden enthusiasts.
NEW: You can also explore two of the Royal Academy’s recent Hockney exhibitons – A Bigger Picture in 2012 and 82 Portraits and One Still-Life in 2016. I ended up seeing A Bigger Picture shortly before midnight one Saturday as the gallery opened up all hours to meet the demand for tickets. One of the best late-night Saturdays I’ve had in London.
NEW: Speaking of late nights, Uniqlo Tate Lates have gone online now, starting from this weekend – a chance to listen to talks, poetry and music, create your own artworks and even do a bit of meditation.
NEW: Or just go to the Barbican.
You can browse beautiful paintings at the National Gallery – stare at Caravaggio to your heart’s content, I know I do. The gallery has also put together several curated collections to watch on video – take a look at paintings of people working from home, enjoy a tour of art history’s female protagonists or spend a day in the countryside.
Take a tour of the new Andy Warhol exhibition at Tate Modern with curators Gregor Muir and Fiontán Moran – the launch of this show was one of my last trips out to the real world. You can also tour the Aubrey Beardsley exhibition at Tate Britain – also excellent.
The Tate’s collection is here – both contemporary and historic. There are loads of great art projects for kids here – and everything from quizzes to crafts here.
While the BMW Tate Live Exhibition has been cancelled in real time, one of the artists programmed for this year’s event has created an online work instead, performed and filmed in the empty Tanks at Tate Modern after the gallery closed. Watch My Body, My Archive, a performance re-invented for this unquie situation, by Congolese choreographer and dance artist Faustin Linyekula.
And you don’t need to stay in the UK obvs; the Uffizi gallery in Florence holds nearly a third of the world’s art treasures and the biggest collection of Renaissance art on the planet – and you can look at it here.
Browse the works of Frida Kahlo here.
Or re-create your own art at home – this one is my favourite!
BOOKS & KID’S ACTIVITIES
A fantastic piece of news – The Hay Literary Festival has gone digital this year, with a programme that is running from now until May 31. There will be talks, readings, author Q&As and special events, including a reading of the works of Wordsworth by a celebrity line-up including Hilary Mantel, Stephen Fry, Benedict Cumberbatch, Margaret Atwoood and more. All of the events are free but you do have to register – and while there are thousands of places available, some of the more popular events – such as Hilary Mantel talking about her latest novel The Mirror and The Light – are filling up fast. All are available to view afterwards for a limited amount of time. See the full programme and catch up with previous events here.
Galway’s Cuirt International Festival of Literature also went online for the first time in its history this year, with some excellent readings and talks from, among others, Anne Enright, Sara Baume, Sinead Gleeson and Lisa McInerney – catch them all here.
You won’t be able to go to your local library any more for books, but you can borrow ebooks and audiobooks from thousands of libraries online using your library card with the Libby app or at Borrowbox. If you don’t have a library card you can still join online while they are closed – just sign up here.
More places for free books – try Project Gutenberg, a library of over 60,000 ebooks which you can download or read online. And for another 16 free book options, Lifewire has put together a list of the best websites here, with pros and cons for each.
Internet Archive has just put 1.4m new books online for free browsing, from study support and educational texts to the latest novels.
If you’re looking for kids’ books, David Walliams is releasing 30 free audio books for children. And here’s a list of children’s authors doing read-alouds and activities.
Also for kids, some very enterprising person on FB has just published a timed list of daily activities – quite fancy a few of them myself:
9am PE with Joe Wicks
10am Maths with Carol Vorderman
11am English with David Walliams
12pm Cooking with Jamie Oliver
1pm Music with Myleene Klass
1.30pm Dance with Darcey Bussell
2.00pm History with Dan Snow (free for 30-days)
4.00pm Home Economics with Theo Michaels (Mon/Wed/Fri)
Non-daily events include: Science with Professor Brian Cox and Geography with Steve Backshall
Of course, if you want to support independent booksellers during this incredibly difficult time, lots of them are now doing deliveries – some by skateboard – and they need your money more than Amazon.
GET CREATIVE OR ‘GO’ PLACES
NEW: Pop along to Ireland’s Bloom festival this weekend, Sunday May 31, with workshops on cooking and gardening as well as a craft beer and farmhouse cheese tasting, not quite sure how that’s going to work out…
NEW: If you’re living in Croydon, you might want to contribute to the Museum of Croydon’s Lockdown Stories, reflecting the lives of Croydon residents during the COVID-19 pandemic and providing a record for future generations. If you’re not living in Croydon, you might want to seriously re-consider your life choices.
Get creative yourself – there are literally thousands of courses being released for free at the moment, everything from cookery to cricket (well, I’m not sure really about cricket – but there’s bound to be one eventually). My favourite last week was a masterclass of guitar lessons with Carlos Santana, this week I like the look of these free online art courses, thoughtfully rounded up by this kind man on YouTube.
Once you’ve progressed from learning guitar with Carlos, you can find out how to compose a film score with Hans Zimmer (did music for Inception, The Lion King, The Dark Knight) – this one is a paid-for course.
Gresham College in London has put a whole archive of lectures online – everything from mysteries of the dark cosmos to equations that have changed the world. They’ve also put a fantastic collection of lectures specifically about London up – am most looking forward to ‘The City of London in Literature’. Went to a few of their lectures in the days I could roam freely – they are really excellent (I’d like to take this chance to recommend their Christmas series).
If you really have to ‘get out’ – you can virtually wander across 825 miles of Florida’s beaches, go to Austria or – just for fun – tour the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, once the world’s most famous and expensive prison, which housed Al Capone.
NEW: Visit the pandas at Edinburgh Zoo, wander around Buckingham Palace and Kew Gardens or make the most of this quiet time in the world’s busiest tourist spots and check out everywhere from the Spanish Steps and Colosseum to St Mark’s Square and Prague’s Old Town. Here’s what New York looks like empty. And here are some eerie photos of London before and after lockdown.
Visit Highclere Castle for a tour with the lady of the house every Friday evening at 7pm, courtesy of Viking TV. The home of Lord and Lady Carnarvon, it’s better known today as the ‘real Downton Abbey’.
If you want to go even further back in history, look at prehistoric cave paintings in the Dordogne, view medieval buildings and travel through beautiful countryside here.
Why would we ever want to leave the house again?
Bologna is the capital of the region and the main airport if you’re flying from the UK. And so, if you’re thinking food, you may be thinking ‘spaghetti bolognaise’. Don’t. It’s an aberration of Italian cooking and Italians have never heard of it.
What we know as ‘bolognaise’ is ragu in Italy; a simple tomato sauce, cooked with a mixture of pork and beef. It forms part of my first Italian lunch in a small village called Dozza, about three quarters of an hour’s drive from the airport, taken to break the journey to Ravenna, another half hour away.
At an atmospheric trattoria called La Locanda del Castello, in the shadow of a medieval castle, we eat home-made pasta with the ragu sauce, served alongside one of the regional specialities, capellitti pasta stuffed with three cheeses, served in a creamy Parmesan sauce.
In Emilia Romagna, tomato sauce contains nothing more than tomatoes and basil. It follows Pellegrino’s Artusi’s classic recipe from his La scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiare bene – The science of cooking and the art of eating well – first published in 1891 and revised by him into 15 subsequent edition to include regional delicacies and reader recipes from around the country. It was Italy’s first national cookbook, collecting together classic dishes from the diverse city-states of which Italy was previously formed. And still today, you will find a much-thumbed copy in every Italian kitchen.
How to make Artusi’s tomato sauce
Saute a few thick slices of onion in 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the onion has browned, remove it from the saucepan. Stir peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes into the pan, add fresh basil, salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for half an hour, by which point the sauce will have thickened.
We get a chance to experience Artusi’s culinary wisdom and put it into practice at the Casa Artusi institute in the town of Forlimpopoli. Northern Italy is famous for its pasta, the south for its pizza, so it’s fitting that we learn how to make several different types of pasta – from simple shapes and twists to the more elaborate filled capellata, similar to tortellini.
It’s surprisingly easy to do and definitely easy to recreate in a UK kitchen, without the need for complicated pasta-making machines. All that’s required is strong white flour, eggs, a rolling pin and strong arm muscles (don’t worry if you don’t have them before you start – they’ll have developed by the end!)
As well as the cookery school, the institute houses a library, museum, wine cellar, shop, event space and restaurant, founded in the name of this famous gastronomist, a living celebration of home cookery. For lunch we eat the pasta dishes we’ve just made and are delighted with our newfound skills – there’s talk of setting up a Facebook competition to compare our future efforts.
How to make pasta
Using the ratio 100g of strong flour to one egg; pour the required amount of flour onto a large wooden board, make a hole in the centre and break in the eggs. Using a spoon, mix the eggs into the flour and once blended, use your hands to knead the mixture vigorously for about 10 minutes. Then cover and allow the dough to rest for up to 15 minutes.
Once rested, roll the pasta into a large thin disk using a rolling pin – the trick is to keep turning the dough to get an even spread that won’t break; Italians also like to hang part of the dough over the edge of the table, to stretch it out, ready to roll. Finally cut your pasta into the required shapes and cook, or stuff with cheese/meat/vegetables to make tortellini.
Casa Artusi arranges bespoke cookery lessons for groups of up to 20 people. Email info@casartusi.it for information and prices or visit the website at www.casartusi.it.
Taking a wine tour
‘Regional’, ‘local’ and ‘food from just down the road’ has always been at the heart of Italian cooking and not just the buzzwords they’ve become for us in recent years. It’s all part of the ‘kilometre zero’ approach to cooking; and ensures menus change with the season. Here even the wine is likely to have been produced just a few minutes away from where you’re sitting.
So you should definitely make time for a tour of some of the region’s wineries, and sample the grape varieties of Aballa – for white wine – and Sa – for red. There are lots of local wineries in the area, where production takes place on a small-scale level and bottles are sold and drunk locally. If you’re looking for some unique ‘money-can’t-buy’ (at home) gift ideas, here’s where you’ll find them.
Fattoria Paradiso is a family-run vineyard close to the beautiful medieval city of Bertinoro. Today, three generations of the Pezzi family work to make wines from a variety of grapes, including the famous Sangiovese, which fast becomes our favourite tipple for the rest of the trip. I would suggest it’s almost worth a trip to this part of Italy to try it out the Sangiovese of Romagna.
If wine is your thing, it’s worth hiring a guide to take you around the local wineries – more information at www.vinotour.it
Sampling the local cuisine in Ravenna and Rimini
When you’re not hand-rolling your own pasta to eat, try the lovely Osteria del tempo Perso, a traditional trattoria with net curtains, dark wooden furniture and plenty of locals, in the historical centre of Ravenna.
Or opt for a traditional lunch of piadina in Rimini – Italian flatbread with meat or vegetarian fillings – at Nude Crude, close to the historic quarter.
And once on the coast in Rimini, make use of the great sea views at an upmarket restaurant like Club Nautico, with its views of yachts tied up on the marina outside. Rimini is a bit of a party town and a popular seaside holiday destination for Italians; the beach strip has plenty of buzzing restaurants and bars.
What else is there to do in the region?
In-between meals you mean? Well, there’s plenty to do, from marveling at the beautiful mosaics for which Ravenna is world famous, to touring the medieval castles of the Malatesta and Montefeltro lands nearby.
Visit Castello di Montebello to hear its chilling ghost story. On the summer solstice 1375, a little girl disappeared in the castle storeroom and was never seen again. But every five years on summer solstice, she can be heard crying within the castle. On a guided tour you will be played recordings of what sounds like the plaintive cries of a child, made on recent solstices – it’s extremely eerie and a bit unsettling.
Less spooky is the Fortress of San Leo where, on the day we visit, a medieval re-enactment of life in the castle is taking place, complete with a medieval baby playing in the kitchen as women prepare a banquet and men demonstrate weaponry.
It’s a steep hike up to the fortress, so you’ll be wanting dinner after that. La Sangiovesa, is located in the picturesque town of Santarcangelo, wonderfully inventive Italian cooking produced with local ingredients.
Ravenna has eight UNESCO world heritage sites, which are the churches showcasing the wonderful mosaics that date back to the early part of the first millennium. Talk to a local about the Renaissance and they’ll dismiss it as recent history; the early Christian churches here date back to the 5th century. Back then, Ravenna had over 200 churches, and many of those remaining are clustered close together amid winding streets and large gardens.
You’ll need a ticket to visit the churches, but they’re well worth a look – it’s hard to believe that the shimmering colours and arresting images on the soaring ceilings, walls and domes, were worked in mosaic over 1600 years ago.
Back on the modern city streets, visit a mosaic workshop and see contemporary craftsmen at work, creating mosaic panels to hang on walls. You can buy them to take home with you or sign up for a mosaic workshop to create your own mini works of art. Visit www.kokomosaico.com for more information.
The region is also a great base if you want to go further afield for a day trip; Florence is just 99km away, Rome an hour and a half on a fast train. It’s well worth hiring a guide to show you the sights – and the best places to eat! We used the services of three during our four-day trip; for more information contact them individually: Paola.Golinelli@ad-arte.com, Nadia Smanio: nadiasm@tin.it, barbarastolecka@msn.com
Where to stay
We stayed at the Bisanzio Hotel in Ravenna – B&B from €80; and at Hotel Lungomare in Rimini, from €120 in peak season, €70 low season
Getting there
There are regular flights to Bologna with easyJet and British Airways from London Gatwick, and Ryanair from Stansted, Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh and Dublin.
More information
For further information on Emilia Romagna, visit www.emiliaromagnaturismo.it/en – follow on Twitter @ERTourism
]]>The heart-breaking job of burying the dead was still underway in Sri Lanka this week when three cornered suicide bombers blew themselves up on Friday night during a security forces operation, killing 15 others, including six children.
Another devastating blow for the people of Sri Lanka who last week, on Easter Sunday, witnessed their country racked apart when suicide bombers took up position in three churches and three luxury hotels and detonated their terrible packages. A statement from Isis said that churches and hotels with foreign guests from “crusader” countries had been struck.
I was one of those “crusading guests” who visited Sri Lanka last September, staying at the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo, having breakfast in that same dining room that was last week ripped apart by two bomb blasts that killed entire families.
I chatted to the friendly staff, met many kind people who welcomed us to the hotel and Sri Lanka, delighted that after many years of civil war in their country, tourists were now returning and boosting the economy, providing jobs and income. (Twenty-six years of fighting between the government and the Tamils ended just ten years ago).
The driver who picked us up at the airport at 4.30am stopped his car as he drove through the dark city so he could buy us two fresh coconuts from the early morning stall-holders who were just setting up by the river. We drank coconut milk as the sun came up and the driver told us how happy he was we had come to his country. (He also told us how delighted he was to see my friend Rob’s dreadlocks – “the first time I have ever seen hair like this,” he said)
Later that day we zipped through the city streets in a tuk-tuk – presented with more fresh coconuts by our driver Rex as we climbed abroad.
We wound our way through the traffic as people waved from neighbouring scooters, children laughing as we overtook them, waving furiously with wide smiles as they overtook us.
We met groups of men in the Spice Market who wanted to come and shake our hands and have their photo taken by Rob. With wide smiles and thumbs up they posed madly. And later, one man who had stayed outside of the group shyly approached Rob to ask if he could have his picture taken too.
We learned the history of Sri Lanka’s proud past in the tea shops, ate lunch with locals in the market – the men sitting with us at the communal tables gesturing at the staff to bring me some cutlery, so that I wouldn’t have to look like a foreign idiot eating with my hand as they did.
We went down streets that have only been opened recently to the public following the years of fighting, the bullet holes still clearly visible in the walls. And everywhere we went we found friendliness and kindness – Rob is still in touch with many of the people we met on our visit.
Yesterday the British government issued a statement advising against travel to Sri Lanka, except in essential cases. The country will suffer loss of income from foreign travellers and no doubt many of the people we met will lose their jobs. Another heart-break.
But while the bombers have wrecked great destruction and tremendous horror on the country, they can’t take away its spirit – the spirit of kindness, friendliness and welcome. The welcome that the suicide bomber who entered the Protestant Zion church in Batticaloa received from the pastor’s teenage son – killed moments later – is unutterably poignant and heart-rending.
But kindness and love will win out over hatred and hostility. I believe this. I believe that the spirit of the Sri Lankan people will win. And people will return to the country again, to show solidarity and to show those that attempt to spread fear and hate, that you will not succeed.
Christian churches and western style hotels were targeted in the hate attacks. Only just over 7% of the country is Christian. 9% is Muslim, 12% is Hindu and the overwhelming majority, 70% of the 20m Sri Lankan population, are Theravada Buddhists. There are 6,000 Buddhist monasteries in Sri Lanka, over 15,000 Buddhist monks and thousands and thousands of temples.
Theravada is the most ancient form of Buddhism, a practice that teaches its followers to develop the qualities of awareness, kindness and wisdom to reach a state of complete freedom from any spiritual, emotional or mental restrictions or limitations. It teaches that nothing is fixed or permanent, actions have consequences and change is possible. And so I believe that hate doesn’t have to be permanent, that change is possible.
On our last day in Sri Lanka, having travelled to the south of the country, we visited one of the temples – Mulkirigala Rock Temple, where we climbed over 500 steps to visit seven caves on five terraces, with their ornate wall paintings and huge reclining Buddhas. We met a monk called Siriniwasa, who was wary at first when Rob, having asked our guide if it would be appropriate to ask for a photo, approached him.
And after posing for a few photos with his young Buddhist apprentices, he eventually whipped out a mobile phone from under his robes and asked if Rob could take a photo of them all with it. I was eventually persuaded into the group to take photos of Rob with the monks, all of them beaming furiously. By now fast friends, Siriniwasa asked Rob to help them plant a tree and he did, there at the top of Mulkirigala, everybody delighted with their new found friendship.
I’ll go back to Sri Lanka again. I’ll go back to see the people we met, to see how they’re coping and to see if Rob’s tree has grown. I very much look forward to it.
******
I first wrote about my trip to Sri Lanka for The Scotsman newspaper and it was published in December 2018 using Rob’s photos
There’s an elephant standing a few metres away from our jeep in Sri Lanka’s Udawalawe National Park, engaged in a very elaborate breakfast routine. Kicking the grass to loosen it, he tugs it free, then rolls it painstakingly with his trunk, constantly repeating the process over and over – kicking, tugging, rolling – an awful lot of hard work to make each small mouthful.
So far this morning we’ve seen elephants, spotted deer and water buffalo as well as a myriad of birds. But the most magical moment of all was on our way to the elephant transit centre, where abandoned baby elephants are cared for before being introduced back into the wild, when a – clearly selfie-conscious – large male elephant came to the edge of the road for a photo.
Standing the other side of a thin wire fence where a few other jeeps had also pulled up, he moved over to each new arrival, waiting patiently until they’d had their photo taken with him before moving on to the next group. “This is such kindness,” said our guide Palinder in wonder as we snapped away furiously.
Read the rest of the article published in The Scotsman…
All photos by Rob Wilson Jnr, Fluid4Sight
York
York Minster is one of the biggest Medieval Gothic cathedrals in northern Europe and holds half of all the Medieval stained-glass in England. As the Mother Church of the Northern Province, it’s one of Britain’s most important spiritual centres and the seat not only of a bishop but an archbishop. It costs £20,000 a day to run and employs a full-time staff of 200, including thirty permanent glaziers and stonemasons, as well as 500 volunteers. Read more
Durham
Durham Cathedral was founded in 1093 when the Byzantine empire was in its heyday, the Nubian kingdom was at the peak of its power and Vikings were still roaming Europe. Today the Byzantines are gone and Vikings confined to fancy dress parties, but Durham Cathedral still stands and its soaring architecture remains, in the words of Sir Walter Scott, ‘Half church of God, half castle ‘gainst the Scot’. Read more
Ripon
Ripon cathedral may hold the body of one of the greatest early saints of England and might just have provided the inspiration for one of the best-known books in the English language. But we do know this for sure. While this is not the oldest church building in the UK, the 7th-century crypt at Ripon dates from 672 and predates every existing cathedral in the country. Read more
Wakefield
The spire of Wakefield Cathedral is the tallest in Yorkshire. At 75 metres, it dominates the skyline for miles around. But the honour of marking the area as a place of Christian worship for 1,000 years goes to a much smaller and humbler monument. So humble, in fact, it was discovered being used as a lowly doorstep in a barber’s shop in Westgate back in the 1800s. Read more
Sheffield
Political intrigue and power struggles. Royal prisoners. England’s most famous cardinal on the run. A queen in bondage. Sheffield has seen it all and the cathedral has been central to much of the action. But if you view cathedrals as remote lofty spaces, standing apart from modern times and outside contemporary culture, a visit to Sheffield may cure you. Read more
Bradford
The entry for Bradford in the Domesday Book, 1086 merely records ‘Ilbert hath it. It is waste’. But from those inauspicious beginnings, Bradford has grown from a crossing place that became a market to an important industrial town and multi-cultural city. And the city’s cathedral, which received its status in 1919, reflects this history throughout the building with its memorials, shrines and stories. Read on
St Giles, Edinburgh
A place of worship for nearly 900 years, St Giles Cathedral has played a tumultuous part in Scottish history and has been a legendary scene of revolts and reconciliations. Today, as well as being Edinburgh’s chief seat of worship and a spiritual centre for the community, it holds a special place within its walls for royalty. And dogs. Read on
St Machar’s, Aberdeen
It had an auspicious beginning but has also been the site of much destruction and dispute, attacked by wars, the Reformation and the weather. It’s thought to be the final resting place for Scotland’s famous hero William Wallace. Well, part of him at least. It’s said that in 1305 the left quarter of his body was brought to Aberdeen after his grisly execution in London by Edward I and interred within the wall of the new cathedral. Read on
Cathedrals of Britain: North of England and Scotland by Bernadette Fallon is published by Pen and Sword books, £12.99, buy online here
Read more
Around the UK in 30 cathedrals
Cathedrals of Britain: London and the South East – Canterbury, St Paul’s, Westminster Abbey, Southwark, Westminster Cathedral, Rochester, Chichester
Cathedrals of Britain: West, South West and Wales – Winchester, Salisbury, Wells, Gloucester, Exeter, St Davids, St Asaph’s
Cathedrals of Britain: East and Central – Ely, Lichfield, Norwich, Lincoln, Peterborough, St Edmundsbury, Oxford
Image credit: York Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral is vast. It is the longest cathedral in Britain, stretching 169m from the west entrance to the east end, and one of the biggest medieval churches in the world. Its stone floor is cracked and uneven, worn by centuries of pilgrims, and part of it even slopes But whatever its physical state, its spiritual place is among the elite. The cathedral is in the one-time capital city of England and is one of the country’s most important. Winchester was established as England’s capital by the Saxon King Alfred, centuries before London laid claim to the title.
Salisbury Cathedral
It’s one of the most quintessentially English cathedrals and its spire is the tallest in the country. Set in lush meadows by a river, Constable painted about 300 different versions of it over his lifetime. It is unusual among its medieval counterparts in not evolving piecemeal, section by section, but was built as a single creation in the 13th century. And it’s actually the third establishment to hold the name of Salisbury Cathedral, but the first one to occupy this site.
Wells Cathedral
It was a Roman mausoleum in the 5th century and the Church of Aldhelm in the 8th. It was a cathedral in 909, though subsequently lost its status for nearly 200 years. The present building was started in the 12th century, and the magnificent west front, the first part of the cathedral that most people see, is decorated with one of the largest collections of medieval statues in Europe. Though the days when it was a beacon of colour, covered in bright reds, blues and greens and alive with song as the voices of choristers and the sounds of trumpets rang out between the statues, are long gone.
Gloucester Cathedral
It has crowned a king and buried a king and is one of only six former abbeys refounded as cathedrals after Henry VIII closed all the others during the Reformation. And it’s considered one of the finest examples of the Perpendicular Gothic style in all of Britain. But if Westminster Abbey claims to have crowned every monarch since William the Conqueror, who’s telling lies? All shall be revealed…
Exeter Cathedral
The site of Exeter Cathedral has been a Christian place of worship since the Roman period. In its time it has been an Anglo-Saxon monastery that educated the county’s most famous saint, a home for part of the true cross, and the site of a grisly murder. The cathedral that exists today was started by a nephew of William the Conqueror. Though not much of it has lasted. The most obvious remains of that mighty Norman building from the 1100s are the solid twin towers, best appreciated from the green lawns that surround the cathedral. By the 1270s the Romanesque cathedral was being demolished to make way for a bigger, grander and much brighter Gothic building with magnificent architectural features. Today the Gothic stone vaulted ceiling at Exeter is the longest in the world.
St Davids Cathedral
Walking down the gentle slope from the city of St Davids, the cathedral unfolds itself dramatically against the sky, stretched across a lush green valley and enjoying one of the most stunning settings of any cathedral in the country. It is built on the site of St Davids Monastery, the former priory that became a place of pilgrimage after David’s death in 589, eight years before St Augustine arrived in Kent to spread Christianity.
St Asaph’s Cathedral
In a tiny city, the second-smallest in Britain, you’ll find the nation’s smallest cathedral. St Asaph’s measures just 182 feet from the west door to the east end and is 68 feet wide. And this city close to the north coast of Wales has an interesting connection with Scotland, which is the reason the cathedral exists here today.
Cathedrals of Britain: West, South West and Wales by Bernadette Fallon is published by Pen and Sword books, £12.99, buy online here
Read more
Around the UK in 30 cathedrals
Cathedrals of Britain: London and the South East – Canterbury, St Paul’s, Westminster Abbey, Southwark, Westminster Cathedral, Rochester, Chichester
Cathedrals of Britain: East and Central – Ely, Lichfield, Norwich, Lincoln, Peterborough, St Edmundsbury, Oxford
Cathedrals of Britain: North of England and Scotland – York, Durham, Ripon, Wakefield, Sheffield, Bradfield, Edinburgh, Aberdeen
Image credit: Salisbury Cathedral by Ash Mills
Canterbury Cathedral
Murder in the cathedral. Pilgrims on procession. A saint’s shrine lost forever. The Mother Church, not only of all England but of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the seat of the most powerful archbishop in the country. Canterbury Cathedral has seen it all in 1,400 years of history and today is one of the most famous church buildings in Europe.
St Paul’s Cathedral
St Paul’s is one of the oldest religious sites in Britain, established at the foundation of English Christianity itself. With a few caveats.The Benedictine monk Augustine is usually credited with bringing Christianity to Britain, under the instruction of Pope Gregory in 597. He landed on the coast of Kent and founded Canterbury Cathedral, which accordingly became the Mother Church of all England. Seven years later, Augustine sent a party of monks to London where they founded the first St Paul’s.
But while St Paul’s is the oldest site of religious worship in the capital, the current building, completed in 1708, is one of its newest cathedrals. It also holds the rare distinction of being built solely for the Protestant faith. Unlike most of its English cathedral counterparts that were originally Catholic buildings converted for Protestant worship following the 16th-century Reformation, the current St Paul’s was built as a Protestant cathedral.
Westminster Abbey
When you walk through Westminster Abbey you are walking through 1,000 years of history, and on 3,500 bodies. That’s how many rest in the graves beneath your feet. Kings and queens. Prime ministers and statesmen. Writers and musicians. Scientists and inventors. Built for the glory of God and a place for royalty to worship, the abbey today is a fascinating record of the history of British rule and government, power, discovery and achievement.
It’s not in fact a cathedral, but a Royal Peculiar, granted this important and rather unusual status in 1534, when King Henry VIII relieved the pope of his duties as head of the church. And together with the Palace of Westminster and St Margaret’s Church, known as the parish church of the House of Commons, it forms a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Abbey has also been the site of every English coronation since the 11th century.
Southwark Cathedral
Southwark Cathedral is often overshadowed by its famous neighbour St Paul’s on the other side of the River Thames. Located on London’s south side, Southwark was historically associated with low-life and revelry, with theatres, bear-baiting and ladies of the night. While St Paul’s in the City of London was at the centre of trade, commerce and wealth. In the city, the bankers clinked their gold, across the river the bawdy clinked their ale mugs.
But don’t fall victim to the hype. Southwark Cathedral or, to give it its proper name, the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, is a gem on the south bank of the river. A walk around this beautiful building will reveal rich links with literature and theatre, with commerce and royalty, and with the fascinating colourful history of this part of London. And Southwark has one particularly precious possession that is the envy of St Paul’s. A resident cat called Doorkins Magnificat.
Westminster Cathedral
Before you explore the grand Westminster Cathedral, the largest and most important Catholic church in England and Wales, take some time to climb to the top of its mighty Byzantine tower that dominates the landscape around London Victoria. Looking over these streets that were once swampland, it’s a good place to reflect on the difficulties this church has overcome to exist. It’s still only half- finished in fact, 122 years after the first foundation stone was laid, as you will see when you go back downstairs.
Rochester Cathedral
Sharing a close birth date with its nearby neighbour Canterbury, Rochester Cathedral was founded by Augustine’s monks in 604, just seven years after they landed on the coast of Kent from Rome. Today, nothing exists above ground of this original building but the cathedral’s fascinating history, stunning architecture and beautiful Romanesque facade puts it firmly on the list of must-sees. It also has one of the oldest doors in England, which can be viewed by special appointment as befits an entrance of its extreme seniority.
Chichester Cathedral
Chichester is the only English cathedral that can be seen from the sea, making it an important site for sailors as well as Christians. It houses a notable collection of modern artworks – including a bespoke Chagall – has hosted the likes of Gustav Holst and Leonard Bernstein, and inspired one of the most famous love poems in the English language. By a rather unlikely ‘love poet’ – the former Poet Laureate Philip Larkin.
Cathedrals of Britain: London and the South East by Bernadette Fallon is published by Pen and Sword books, £12.99, buy online here
Read more
Around the UK in 30 cathedrals
Cathedrals of Britain: East and Central – Ely, Lichfield, Norwich, Lincoln, Peterborough, St Edmundsbury, Oxford
Cathedrals of Britain: North of England and Scotland – York, Durham, Ripon, Wakefield, Sheffield, Bradfield, Edinburgh, Aberdeen
Cathedrals of Britain: West, South West and Wales – Winchester, Salisbury, Wells, Gloucester, Exeter, St Davids, St Asaph’s
Image credit: Southwark Cathedral by Rob Wilson Jnr, Fluid4Sight