Tag: church

St Paul’s Cathedral, London

I spent Wednesday 16 February in London photographing St Paul’s Cathedral.  A selection of images from my visit can be seen on the Season Images gallery – follow this link.

St Paul’s is an amazing and inspiring building with a history tied closely to London and the life of the Anglican Church in the United Kingdom.  St Paul’s is not an easy place to photograph.  Ordinary visitors are not permitted to take photographs.  A special permit needs to be pre-arranged and costs £300 per hour – I was very kindly given a special rate of £120/hr.  A member of the Cathedral staff is required to accompany you.  Given the hundreds of tourists and dozens of groups of children moving about on most days, this is no doubt a good thing. Many thanks to Hannah Talbot, the Cathedral Press and Communications Officer who was very helpful.

I joined the 12:30 Eucharist service which was great although a little lost in the cavernous vastness of the Cathedral.  The West end of the Nave is striking in its simplicity whereas the East end with the High Alter is breathtakingly ornate.

A particular highlight for me was William Holman Hunt’s painting “The Light of the World” of Christ knocking on the door.

Featuring Cathedrals 2: Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, England is the Mother Church of the world-wide Anglican Communion and seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Cathedral, dating back to 597, is both a holy place and part of a World Heritage Site. It is the home of a community of people who seek to make the Cathedral a place of welcome, beauty and holiness.  Visit the Cathedral web site for further information on the history and current activities of the Cathedral. Continue reading “Featuring Cathedrals 2: Canterbury Cathedral”

Featuring Cathedrals 1: Wells Cathedral

This post is the first in a series on Cathedrals and churches in the United Kingdom.  In cities, towns and villages all over Britain you will find beautiful old buildings which are often somewhat sad and sombre relics of a vanished era of faith, power and excess.  They are largely forgotten now, in many instances surrounded by the gravestones of a larger departed congregation than the living faithful and yet they represent a vast heritage of art, architecture and history which is there to be explored and perhaps rediscovered.  I have begun a personal exercise of photographing churches and cathedrals in the United Kingdom and have been struck by their wealth.  Most have been built over centuries and all are full of drama.  Most hold their ages within them and speak of bygone eras but some seem very modern even though they were constructed centuries ago. Continue reading “Featuring Cathedrals 1: Wells Cathedral”