So what is your favourite cathedral?

[Guest]

Just a bit of late bank holiday fun....

I am very fond of Chichester because it is so intimate and various....but Ely does it for me, especially on a cold Fenland winter's night at evensong......

[Lizzie]

Just a bit of late bank holiday fun....

I am very fond of Chichester because it is so intimate and various....but Ely does it for me, especially on a cold Fenland winter's night at evensong......

Obviously Winchester because it's where I go and then Liverpool Anglican because I have friends there but, of all the other English and Welsh ones (I've been to all except St David's, Brecon and Leicester), Durham is my favourite. I love its position, the association with St Cuthbert and Bede, and although the Choir was on hols when I visited, the sound was lovely. The Norman architecture appeals to me and I adore the Frosterly marble pillars. So there! Liz

[Anna]

For me, it has to be Durham, because of the architecture and, sounds silly, those wonderful chevrons although I must admit it may not be the most spiritual Cathedrals because the architecture over powers everything.. I also have a great fondness for Worcester, which is a bit of a shambles. The last time I went to Chichester I thought it smelt awfully damp.

[Triforium]

Durham followed by Lincoln as far as Cathedrals go. If you broaden the category a bit, Beverly Minster is one of my favourite buildings.

[Lizzie]

Durham ahead by a couple of lengths so far then!?

[prokkyshosty]

Wells, due to the creepy but wonderful Owl of God. :)

[Anna]

Wells, due to the creepy but wonderful Owl of God. :)

Wells, better outside than inside I think.

And does anyone know that awful Epstein monstrosity suspended in Llandaff? St. Davids is lovely I think.

[Magnificat]

Architecturally, Lincoln is easily the most impressive building in this country.

King's College Chapel is, without doubt, one of finest ecclesiastical buildings in Europe.

VCC

[gurnemanz]

Durham. Not just the cathedral but the whole fantastic setting. I lived on The Bailey right next to it as a student for a couple of years in the late sixties. Choral Evensong was daily taken for granted and I used its cloisters and nave as a shortcut to Palace Green.

[Lizzie]

Wells, better outside than inside I think.

And does anyone know that awful Epstein monstrosity suspended in Llandaff? St. Davids is lovely I think.

Apart from the lovely staircase... Llandaff's setting in the hollow is lovely though, especially when the roses are out!

[Panjandrum]

Chartres is the daddy of them all.

[salymap]

50/50 between Worcester with the position in my [almost] favourite county and memories of the music I have heard there and Canterbury.
I haven't been to either of them for some years but used to attend CE at Canterbury fairly often and the history of the place is overwhelming. I wonder whether they still keep bits of Reculver down in the Crypt.

And I used to know a lot more about the architecture and windows than I do now as memory is going fast.

[antongould]

50/50 between Worcester with the position in my [almost] favourite county and memories of the music I have heard there and Canterbury.
I haven't been to either of them for some years but used to attend CE at Canterbury fairly often and the history of the place is overwhelming. I wonder whether they still keep bits of Reculver down in the Crypt.

And I used to know a lot more about the architecture and windows than I do now as memory is going fast.

But have you ever been to Durham?
It is quite wonderful and right amidst the coalfields!

[Anna]

Not sure if anyone knows Gloucester, the Cloisters there are wonderful, as is the stained glass.

[doversoul1]

Salymap
Yes, Canterbury. The sense of the time when things were not quite so … organised and established? is immediate. I used to enjoy walking around and just breathing the air in the dark corners but not since they started charging for entrance (£9.00 now!) some 15 years ago. The town itself is going downhill fast since they built a monstrous shopping centre. Very sad.