alanhitchcock49
Looking towards the altar, St Chad's Cathedral
According to Wikipedia:-
'The Metropolitan Cathedral Church and Basilica of Saint Chad is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Birmingham and province of the Catholic Church in Great Britain and is dedicated to Saint Chad of Mercia. Built by Augustus Welby Pugin and substantially complete by 1841, St Chad's is one of the first four Catholic churches that were constructed after the English Reformation and raised to cathedral status in 1852 It is one of only four minor basilicas in England (the others being Downside Abbey, the National Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham and Corpus Christi Priory, this last now disused). St Chad's is a Grade II* listed building. The cathedral is located in a public greenspace near St Chad's Queensway, in central Birmingham.
The cathedral was situated in the Gunmakers Quarter of Birmingham, which endangered it during the Second World War. It was bombed on 22 November 1940. An incendiary bomb fell through the roof of the south aisle and bounced from the floor into some central heating pipes, which then burst. The water from the damaged central heating pipes thus extinguished the fire. A thanksgiving tablet appears in the diapered design of the transept ceiling, reading Deo Gratias 22 Nov 1940 ('Thanks be to God').
The architect chosen to design St Chad's, Augustus Welby Pugin (1812–52), later became one of England's most renowned Gothic Revival architects. Pugin had converted to Roman Catholicism in 1835, and spent most of the remainder of his working life designing Catholic churches, their fittings and vestments. St Chad's was the first large church that he designed which was planned, from the outset in 1837, to become a cathedral.
Pugin lavished much care on the building, and described, in his letters, not only the architecture, but its decoration, fittings and furnishings. The Clerk of Works and builder of St Chad's was George Myers.'
Looking towards the altar, St Chad's Cathedral
According to Wikipedia:-
'The Metropolitan Cathedral Church and Basilica of Saint Chad is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Birmingham and province of the Catholic Church in Great Britain and is dedicated to Saint Chad of Mercia. Built by Augustus Welby Pugin and substantially complete by 1841, St Chad's is one of the first four Catholic churches that were constructed after the English Reformation and raised to cathedral status in 1852 It is one of only four minor basilicas in England (the others being Downside Abbey, the National Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham and Corpus Christi Priory, this last now disused). St Chad's is a Grade II* listed building. The cathedral is located in a public greenspace near St Chad's Queensway, in central Birmingham.
The cathedral was situated in the Gunmakers Quarter of Birmingham, which endangered it during the Second World War. It was bombed on 22 November 1940. An incendiary bomb fell through the roof of the south aisle and bounced from the floor into some central heating pipes, which then burst. The water from the damaged central heating pipes thus extinguished the fire. A thanksgiving tablet appears in the diapered design of the transept ceiling, reading Deo Gratias 22 Nov 1940 ('Thanks be to God').
The architect chosen to design St Chad's, Augustus Welby Pugin (1812–52), later became one of England's most renowned Gothic Revival architects. Pugin had converted to Roman Catholicism in 1835, and spent most of the remainder of his working life designing Catholic churches, their fittings and vestments. St Chad's was the first large church that he designed which was planned, from the outset in 1837, to become a cathedral.
Pugin lavished much care on the building, and described, in his letters, not only the architecture, but its decoration, fittings and furnishings. The Clerk of Works and builder of St Chad's was George Myers.'