Guildford Cathedral
Encyclopedia
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford is the Anglican
cathedral at Guildford
, Surrey
, England
.
was made a diocese
in its own right in 1927, and work on its new cathedral, designed by Sir Edward Maufe
, began nine years later, with the foundation stone being laid by Dr Cosmo Gordon Lang
, Archbishop of Canterbury
in 1936. Its building was interrupted by the Second World War between 1939 and 1945, and the cathedral was not consecrated until 17 May 1961. In the intervening period Holy Trinity Church
served as pro-cathedral
.
beneath it. Its bricks are made from clay taken from the hill on which it stands.
limestone
pillars and white Italian
marble
floors.
Writing in 1932, Sir Edward Maufe said: ‘The ideal has been to produce a design, definitely of our own time, yet in the line of the great English Cathedrals; to build anew on tradition, to rely on proportion, mass, volume and line rather than on elaboration and ornament.' Pevsner
described the building as 'sweet-tempered, undramatic Curvilinear Gothic', and that the interior was 'noble and subtle.'
The Angel on the top of the tower was given in memory of Reginald Adgey-Edgar of the Intelligence Corps, who died on active service on 5 January 1944. The supporting pole for the Angel houses mobile phone antennas for T-Mobile and 3, at a height of 49m.
. It is a reconstruction of an organ dating from circa 1866, which was previously installed at the Rosse Street Baptist Church in Shipley
, West Yorkshire
.
See also the List of Organ Scholars at Guildford Cathedral.
visited Guildford Cathedral as part of the Maundy Thursday
celebrations before going for lunch with the Mayor of Guildford in the Guildhall.
The nearby University of Surrey
holds graduation ceremonies for its students at the Cathedral; its location makes this ideal as the students can walk from the campus to the Cathedral. During the graduation services the Cathedral is treated as a secular building.
In September 2007, the Cathedral was granted Fairtrade Church status by the Fairtrade Foundation.
The Cathedral participated in Earth Hour
2008 by switching off its floodlights.
Scenes from the classic horror film The Omen
were filmed at the Cathedral.
On Sunday 30 November 2008 an armed man, David Sycamore aged 39, was shot dead by police in the Cathedral grounds. The Cathedral had to postpone an Advent carol service planned for that day.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
cathedral at Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Construction
GuildfordDiocese of Guildford
The Diocese of Guildford is a Church of England diocese based in Guildford, covering most of Surrey and part of Hampshire. The cathedral is Guildford Cathedral and the bishop is the Bishop of Guildford. It is part of the Province of Canterbury....
was made a diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
in its own right in 1927, and work on its new cathedral, designed by Sir Edward Maufe
Edward Maufe
Sir Edward Brantwood Maufe KBE, R.A, F.R.I.B.A. was an English architect and designer, noted chiefly for his work on places of worship and remembrance memorials. He was a skilled interior designer and designed many pieces of furniture...
, began nine years later, with the foundation stone being laid by Dr Cosmo Gordon Lang
Cosmo Lang
William Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1st Baron Lang of Lambeth GCVO PC was an Anglican prelate who served as Archbishop of York and Archbishop of Canterbury . His rapid elevation to Archbishop of York, within 18 years of his ordination, is unprecedented in modern Church of England history...
, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
in 1936. Its building was interrupted by the Second World War between 1939 and 1945, and the cathedral was not consecrated until 17 May 1961. In the intervening period Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity Church, Guildford
Holy Trinity Church is an Anglican church in the centre of Guildford, England. A large, red brick building, it was built on the site of a mediaeval church which collapsed in the mid-18th century...
served as pro-cathedral
Pro-cathedral
A pro-cathedral is a parish church that is temporarily serving as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese.-Usage:In Ireland, the term is used to specifically refer to St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin since the Reformation, when Christ Church...
.
Location
It stands in a commanding spot on Stag Hill - so named because the Kings of England used to hunt here - and its solid red brick outline is visible for miles around; it immediately overlooks the University of SurreyUniversity of Surrey
The University of Surrey is a university located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East of England. It received its charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London. The institution was known as Battersea College of Technology...
beneath it. Its bricks are made from clay taken from the hill on which it stands.
Description
The tower is 160 feet (48.8 m) high, and contains twelve bells, ten of which were cast by Mears and Stainbank in 1965. The bells were augmented to 12 with two Whitechapel trebles in 1975. The largest bell weighs 30cwt (just over 1.5 tonnes) and is tuned to the key of D. At the top of the tower stands a 15 feet (4.6 m) gilded angel, which turns in the wind. Inside, the cathedral appears to be filled with light, with pale SomersetSomerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
pillars and white Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
floors.
Pevsner
Pevsner is a surname, and may refer to:* Antoine Pevsner , a Russian sculptor* Sir Nikolaus Pevsner , a German-born British scholar of the history of architecture;** ....
described the building as 'sweet-tempered, undramatic Curvilinear Gothic', and that the interior was 'noble and subtle.'
The Angel on the top of the tower was given in memory of Reginald Adgey-Edgar of the Intelligence Corps, who died on active service on 5 January 1944. The supporting pole for the Angel houses mobile phone antennas for T-Mobile and 3, at a height of 49m.
The organ
The cathedral organ was installed in 1961 by the Liverpool firm of Rushworth and DreaperRushworth and Dreaper
Rushworth and Dreaper was a firm of organ builders based in Liverpool, England Upon its bankruptcy, its archives were mostly destroyed, and the Victorian clock in the works tower was removed...
. It is a reconstruction of an organ dating from circa 1866, which was previously installed at the Rosse Street Baptist Church in Shipley
Shipley, West Yorkshire
Shipley is a town in West Yorkshire, England, by the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, north of Bradford and north-west of Leeds....
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
.
Organists
- 1961 Barry RoseBarry RoseBarry Michael Rose is a choir trainer and organist. He is best known for conducting the choir of St Paul's Cathedral at the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales at St Paul's Cathedral in London on 29 July 1981.-Biography:Born in Chingford, England, Rose grew up...
- 1974 Philip MoorePhilip Moore (organist)Philip Moore is an English composer and organist.-Career:After studying at the Royal College of Music, he became Assistant Organist at Canterbury Cathedral in 1968. He was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Guildford Cathedral in 1974...
- 1983 Andrew Millington (later Director of Music at Exeter CathedralExeter CathedralExeter Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter at Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon in South West England....
) - 1998 Stephen FarrStephen FarrStephen Farr is a British organist. He studied with Robert Munns and David Sanger in London and Cambridge. He also received tuition from Piet Kee in Haarlem and Hans Fagius in Copenhagen, and as a student was the recipient of grants from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the Worshipful...
(later Director of Chapel Music at Worcester College, OxfordWorcester College, OxfordWorcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
) - 2008 Katherine Dienes-WilliamsKatherine DienesKatherine Dienes is a New-Zealand-born organist, conductor and composer. She is currently Organist and Master of the Choristers at Guildford Cathedraland is the first woman to hold the most senior musical post in a Church of England cathedral...
Sub-Organists
- Walter William Lionel Baker 1927 - 1940
- Harry Taylor 1954 - ????
- Gavin Williams 1965(?) - 1970
- James Anthony Froggatt 1970 - 1977 (later Organist of Portsmouth CathedralPortsmouth CathedralThe Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Portsmouth, commonly known as Portsmouth Cathedral, is the Church of England cathedral of the City of Portsmouth, England and is located in the heart of Old Portsmouth...
) - Peter Wright 1977 - 1989 (later Organist of Southwark CathedralSouthwark CathedralSouthwark Cathedral or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge....
) - Geoffrey Morgan 1989 - 2002 (later Organist of Christchurch PrioryChristchurch PrioryChristchurch Priory is an ecclesiastical parish and former priory church in Christchurch in the English county of Dorset .-Early history:...
) - Louise Reid 2002 - 2003 (later Director of Ely CathedralEly CathedralEly Cathedral is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely, in Cambridgeshire, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon...
Girls' Choir) - David Davies 2003 - 2009 (later Assistant Director of Music at Exeter CathedralExeter CathedralExeter Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter at Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon in South West England....
) - Paul Provost 2009 -
See also the List of Organ Scholars at Guildford Cathedral.
Miscellaneous
On Thursday April 13, 2006, Queen Elizabeth IIElizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
visited Guildford Cathedral as part of the Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great & Holy Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles as described in the Canonical gospels...
celebrations before going for lunch with the Mayor of Guildford in the Guildhall.
The nearby University of Surrey
University of Surrey
The University of Surrey is a university located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East of England. It received its charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London. The institution was known as Battersea College of Technology...
holds graduation ceremonies for its students at the Cathedral; its location makes this ideal as the students can walk from the campus to the Cathedral. During the graduation services the Cathedral is treated as a secular building.
In September 2007, the Cathedral was granted Fairtrade Church status by the Fairtrade Foundation.
The Cathedral participated in Earth Hour
Earth Hour
Earth Hour is a global event organized by WWF and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change...
2008 by switching off its floodlights.
Scenes from the classic horror film The Omen
The Omen
An original score for the film, including the movie's theme song Ave Satani, was composed by Jerry Goldsmith, for which he received the only Oscar of his long career. The score features a strong choral segment, with a foreboding Latin chant...
were filmed at the Cathedral.
On Sunday 30 November 2008 an armed man, David Sycamore aged 39, was shot dead by police in the Cathedral grounds. The Cathedral had to postpone an Advent carol service planned for that day.
See also
- Exterior sculpture of Guildford CathedralExterior sculpture of Guildford CathedralWhilst it was first resolved to build a new Cathedral in 1928 and Edward Maufe was appointed as cathedral architect in 1932, work on building stopped during the Second World War and with both funds and building materials being in short supply at the end of that war, it was not until 1955 that a...
- List of cathedrals in the United Kingdom