Westminster Cathedral
| Westminster Cathedral | |
|---|---|
| Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood |
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Cathedral from Victoria Street
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 Westminster Cathedral
Shown within Central London
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| Coordinates: 51°29′46″N 0°08′23″W / 51.4961°N 0.1397°W | |
| OS grid reference | TQ2924879074 |
| Location | Francis Street, Westminster London, SW1 |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | westminstercathedral.org.uk |
| History | |
| Consecrated | 1910 |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Active |
| Functional status | Cathedral |
| Architect(s) | John Francis Bentley |
| Style | Neo-Byzantine |
| Years built | 1895–1903 |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 110m (360ft) |
| Width | 47m (156ft) |
| Number of towers | 1 |
| Tower height | 87m (284ft, including the cross) |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Westminster (since 1884) |
| Province | Westminster |
| Clergy | |
| Archbishop | Vincent Nichols |
| Canon(s) | Christopher Tuckwell |
| Laity | |
| Director of music | Martin Baker |
| Organist(s) | Peter Stevens |
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Listed Building – Grade I
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| Designated | 01-Dec-1987 Amended 15-Feb-1994 |
| Reference no. | 1066500 |
Westminster Cathedral, or the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in London is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
The site on which the cathedral stands in the City of Westminster was purchased by the Archdiocese of Westminster in 1885. Westminster Cathedral is the largest Catholic church in England and Wales and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster.
John Betjeman called it "a masterpiece in striped brick and stone in an intricate pattern of bonding, the domes being all-brick in order to prove that the good craftsman has no need of steel or concrete."
In the late 19th century, the Catholic Church's hierarchy had only recently been restored in England and Wales, and it was in memory of Cardinal Wiseman (who died in 1865, and was the first Archbishop of Westminster from 1850) that the first substantial sum of money was raised for the new cathedral. The land was acquired in 1884 by Wiseman's successor, Cardinal Manning, having previously been occupied by the second Tothill Fields Bridewell prison.
After two false starts in 1867 (under architect Henry Clutton) and 1892 (architect Baron von Herstel), construction started in 1895 under Manning's successor, the third archbishop, Cardinal Vaughan, with John Francis Bentley as architect, and built in a style heavily influenced by Byzantine architecture.
The cathedral opened in 1903, a year after Bentley's death. One of the first public services in the cathedral was Cardinal Vaughan's requiem; the cardinal died on 19 June 1903. For reasons of economy, the decoration of the interior had hardly been started and still much remained to be completed. Under the laws of the Catholic Church at the time, no place of worship could be consecrated unless free from debt and having its fabric completed. The consecration ceremony took place on 28 June 1910, although the interior was never finished.
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Wikipedia