Nottingham Cathedral
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Cathedral Church of St. Barnabas in the city of Nottingham, England, is a cathedral of the Roman Catholic church.
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[edit] Location
It is located on the corner of Derby Road and North Circus Street, on the opposite side of which are the Nottingham Albert Hall and the Nottingham Playhouse (Wellington Circus).
[edit] History
It was built between 1841 and 1844, costing £15,000 and was first consecrated in 1844, fifteen years after the Catholic Relief Act ended most restrictions on Catholicism in the United Kingdom. A substantial amount of the cost was paid by the important Catholic Lord Shrewsbury. The architect was Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin who also designed the interior of The Houses of Parliament. It was built in the Early English Plain Gothic style, although in contrast, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel was richly decorated and Pugin’s later churches were built in that Decorated Gothic style throughout. Pugin was retained as architect by Rev Robert William Willson, then priest in charge of Nottingham. In 1842 he was named as Bishop-Elect of Hobart, Tasmania, and had to leave the work in Nottingham before completion.
With the establishment of a new Catholic hierarchy in the United Kingdom in 1850 by the decree of Pope Pius IX, it was raised to cathedral status. It is the seat of the Bishop of Nottingham.
The cathedral is a Grade II* listed building [1] of the lancet style of architecture, and is considered to be one of the best specimens of the work of Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin.
The clergy of the Cathedral also serve the churches of Our Lady and St. Patrick in The Meadows and St. Augustine on Woodborough Road.
[edit] Cathedral music
There are two choirs at the Cathedral under the direction of the Director of Music, Mr. Neil Page BA LRAM ARCO: the Full choir which consists of thirty-two adults including twelve choral scholars in addition to one organ scholar, and Schola Cantorum, which is the Cathedral's Chamber Choir. The Full Choir's repertoire ranges from Gregorian Chant to Górecki. In addition to the obvious commitment of singing at the Cathedral's Choral Masses, both choirs sing at additional special occasions and put on concerts throughout the year.
The Cathedral's choral scholarships are available to students above or of eighteen years of age who are in full-time tertiary education in the Nottingham area.
There is also a youth choir which was set up by the current conductor, Sarah Smith (a former Cathedral choral scholar) in 2003 and is open to children between the ages of eight and fourteen. This is a great opportunity for children to gain vocal training and the intention of this choir is to provide music at some of the Cathedral's 10.00am Masses as well as to occasionally support the Cathedral Choir during the hectic periods of Lent and Advent.
In addition to these three choirs, the Cathedral also has a music group which serves the first and third 6.00pm Sunday Masses of each month. The group's members lead the congregational singing, accompanied by guitars and flutes.
[edit] External links
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