Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Norwich)
The Cathedral of St John the Baptist ( Cathedral Church of St John the Baptist ) in the eastern English city of Norwich is the episcopal church of the Roman Catholic diocese of East Anglia . Designed by George Gilbert Scott Junior in 1882, the neo-Gothic basilica was completed in 1910. It is the second largest Catholic cathedral in England after Westminster Cathedral and has been listed as a Grade I structure since 1954 . The Duke of Norfolk Henry Fitzalan-Howard donated a large part of the construction costs .
history
Around the middle of the 18th century there were in Norwich a Jesuit mission and a modest backyard chapel with the patron saint John the Baptist in the Maddermarket Street . In the course of the emancipation of the Catholics , the classicist Apostle Chapel was built in Willow Lane in the 1820s and is now a law firm. The community grew through conversions and Irish immigrants. A second Catholic church was built on Fisher Lane around 1870 .
In 1877 Henry married Fitzalan-Howard, head of the only Catholic family of the English aristocracy and founder of the cathedrals of Southwark , Arundel and Sheffield . As a thank you to God, he decided to have a new representative church built in Norwich, the capital of his eponymous county, Norfolk , and chose the architect himself. At that time, the old city prison was demolished and a building site near the center was vacated. The foundation stone was laid on July 17, 1884.
In 1892, when the large church was halfway finished, work was interrupted because the construction was not fully approved. Fitzalan-Howard got the building going with a very personal letter to the city officials. In 1894, the nave was completed to the point that parish services could be celebrated in the new church. After completing all the work, the Bishop of Northampton Frederick William Keating consecrated the church on December 8, 1910 .
The Catholic population in the region continued to grow, and in 1976 the eastern part of the diocese of Northampton was formed into the new diocese of East Anglia, based in Norwich. The cathedral-like parish church thus also became a cathedral under canon law.
Architecture and equipment
St. John's Cathedral is considered to be one of the most important examples of English neo-Gothic. At the same time, it is closer to the continental European early Gothic than comparable buildings of their time in England. The total length is 84 meters. The three-aisled nave consists of a narthex and nine bays with triforias , upper aisles and groin vaults . The transept comprises two three-bay arms and the square crossing , above which a mighty, crenellated crossing tower stands. The three-bay choir closes flat. All four facades are richly decorated with windows, gables and flank towers.
The huge room is furnished with restraint and is particularly effective thanks to the architectural decorations. In the chancel arch stands a triumphal cross . The narrow, immaculate windows are glazed with multicolored images of the Bible and saints.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pictures and description
- ↑ partly cited in norfolkchurches
Web links
- Network presence of the Cathedral (English)
- History, description and pictures (norfolkchurches.co.uk)
- Entry to British Listed Buildings (English)
Coordinates: 52 ° 37 '44.9 " N , 1 ° 17' 2.2" E