Introduction

The Website Project

In 1986 I toured Britain and became fascinated with the British Cathedrals. This fascination has never left me. These days I have come to enjoy photography and also the creation of websites, so a project to photograph and create websites for all the English Cathedrals was probably inevitable. So here are 42 Anglican cathedrals, and 18 Roman Catholic cathedrals.

I have tried to capture something of the inspiration and beauty of each cathedral. The idea is that on the site you might join me in walking around the Cathedral, and then going inside to explore, enjoy, wonder, be inspired ... and even meet with God! These cathedrals are certainly worth visiting.

Over the years 2014 – 2020 of the project, there have been many changes, particularly the growth in the use of mobile phones. All these pages have now been reformatted to use a ‘blog’ format: simple to navigate, and able to be used on screens of any size. I hope this site will encourage viewers to explore and discover the many secrets of our cathedrals. Most are worthy of several visits – quite apart from worship. What an inspiration they are!

I would be glad to hear from anyone suggesting a correction or wishing to make a comment on this site. I can be reached at mail@paulscott.info

 

Liturgical Directions

There is a tradition for orientating cathedrals which we shall follow here. I initially rebelled against this (my Baptist upbringing!), but quickly came to realize its usefulness. Early Christians felt it was good to pray towards the rising sun. Therefore they placed the chancel and altar towards the East, and correspondingly the towers and church entry to the West. Correspondingly, there was a North transept and a South transept. This convention for labelling the walls of a cathedral has continued – all quite independently of the actual orientation of the cathedral. It may seem a little strange, but it means that all cathedrals can have a common labelling. We shall use these ‘liturgical directions’, denoting them by capital initial letters. We shall also try to avoid using the word ‘front’, as front seems to have opposite meanings depending on whether it refers to the exterior or interior of a cathedral.

 

Use of Photograohs

You are welcome to use any of my photographs which appear here, but a link to this site would be appreciated. Photo sets with greater resolution can be found on Flickr at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulscottinfo/albums/

 

The Book

Now it is 2023, and a book on the English Cathedrals has been published. For years I resisted this suggestion: how could these thousands of photos be incorporated into a book? Then I came to see that book and websites need not be alternatives, but rather might complement each other. Information on the book can be found here.

 

You are now invited to enjoy your favourite cathedral!

 

Paul Scott

6 / 2023