View source for Nottingham Cathedral

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2012}}
{{Infobox church
| denomination = [[Roman Catholic]]
| name = Nottingham Cathedral
| fullname = Saint Barnabas' Cathedral, Nottingham
| image = Nottingham Roman Catholic Cathedral.jpg
| landscape = 
| imagesize = 228
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| pushpin map = United Kingdom Nottingham Central
| coordinates = {{coord|52.9547|-1.1571|region:GB|format=dms|display=title}}
| pushpin mapsize = 
| map caption = Shown in Nottingham
| country = [[England]]
| osgridref = <!-- {{gbmappingsmall|TEXT}} -->
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| location = [[Nottingham]], [[Nottinghamshire]]
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| website = [http://www.stbarnabascathedral.org.uk stbarnabascathedral.org.uk]
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| architect = [[Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin]]
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| style = [[Neo-Gothic]]
| years built = 1841–1844
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| diocese = [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham|Nottingham]]
| province = [[Province of Westminster|Westminster]]
| diocese start = 1850
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| bishop = [[Patrick McKinney]]
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| dean = Malachy Brett
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| director = Peter Siepmann
| organist = vacant
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The '''Cathedral Church of St. Barnabas''' is a [[cathedral]] of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] in the city of [[Nottingham]] in [[Nottinghamshire]], England. It is the [[mother church]] of the [[Diocese of Nottingham]] and seat of the [[Bishop of Nottingham (Roman Catholic)|Bishop of Nottingham]]. The cathedral is a grade-II* listed building.

==Location==
It is located on the corner of Derby Road and North Circus Street, on the opposite side of which are the [[Albert Hall, Nottingham|Albert Hall]] and the [[Nottingham Playhouse]] (Wellington Circus).

==History==
[[File:Nottingham Cathedral Nave 1, Nottinghamshire, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|left|The nave looking east]]
[[File:Nottingham Cathedral Nave 2, Nottinghamshire, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|left|The nave looking west]]
[[File:Nottingham Cathedral The Blessed Sacrament Chapel.jpg|thumb|right|The Blessed Sacrament Chapel]]

It was built between 1841 and 1844, costing £15,000 (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|15000|1844|{{Inflation-year|UK}}|r=-4}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}),{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}} and was first consecrated in 1844, fifteen years after the [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829]] 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 [[Palace of Westminster|Houses of Parliament]]. It was built in the Early English Plain [[Gothic architecture|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.

Upon completion, the cathedral was the largest Catholic church built in England since the Reformation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nottingham Cathedral |url=https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/church/nottingham-cathedral-nottingham |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=National Churches Trust |language=en}}</ref> Bishop Wiseman brought relics of St Barnabas from Rome to be included in the altar stone of the high altar.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=+Nottingham - Cathedral Church of St Barnabas |url=https://taking-stock.org.uk/building/nottingham-cathedral-church-of-st-barnabas/ |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=Taking Stock |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Following the establishment of a new Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850 by the decree of [[Pope Pius IX]], it was raised to [[cathedral]] status in 1852, becoming one of the first four Catholic cathedrals in England and Wales since the [[English Reformation]].<ref>Decree of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, 21 April 1852. The other churches raised to cathedrals by this decree were [[St George's Cathedral, Southwark|St George's, Southwark]], [[St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham|St Chad's, Birmingham]] and [[Salford Cathedral|St John's, Salford]]: ''Decreta Quatuor Conciliorum Provincialium Westmonasteriensium'', (2nd Edn, London: Burns & Oates), p. 56; translation in: Robert Guy OSB, ''The Synods in English'' (Stratford-on-Avon: St Gregory Press, 1886) p. 101.</ref> It is the seat of the [[Bishop of Nottingham (Roman Catholic)|Bishop of Nottingham]].

The cathedral is a [[Grade II* listed]] building<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1247533|desc=Cathedral Church of St Barnabas and Attached Boundary Wall|access-date=29 March 2020|grade=II*}}</ref> of the lancet style of architecture{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} Most of Pugin's decorative scheme was destroyed in the upheaval that surrounded the [[Second Vatican Council]], when the old high altar was discarded, and most of the painted decoration smothered and painted plain. Other fittings removed at this time include the old cathedra, as well as the figures of St Mary and St John from the rood screen (the figures were reinstated in 1993). Buildings of England wrote:{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} 'The whole effect could hardly be further from the richness of decoration and atmosphere that Pugin intended'. A fragment of the scheme is preserved in the Blessed Sacrament chapel, and is the highlight of the interior. The replacement high altar from the 1960s was replaced again in 1993 with one in a more sympathetic style. Fragments of Pugin's decoration, such as the roundels in the nave, were uncovered and restored, but most remains lost.

Another prominent feature of the cathedral is the tomb of [[Mary Potter (nun)|Venerable Mary Potter]], who founded the [[Little Company of Mary]] in Nottingham. The tomb was designed by Smith & Roper.<ref name=":0" />

In September 2022, it was announced that the cathedral was embarking on a project to restore some of the original planned designs by A W N Pugin.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Restoring Pugin |url=https://www.stbarnabascathedral.org.uk/heritage/restoring-pugin/ |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=www.stbarnabascathedral.org.uk |language=en}}</ref> This will involve uncovering the whitewash which covers the original decoration of the Lady Chapel. The project is a joint enterprise between Nottingham Cathedral, [[Nottingham Trent University]], and Culture Syndicates. It is being supported by a grant from the [[National Lottery Heritage Fund]].<ref name=":1" />

The [[clergy]] of the cathedral also serve the [[church (building)|church]] of [[St. Augustine of Canterbury|St. Augustine]] on Woodborough Road.

== Cathedral music ==
[[File:The organ in St. Barnabas Cathedral, Nottingham.jpg|thumb|left|The organ]]
[[File:Nottingham Cathedral, Nottinghamshire, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|right|The Chapel of Our Lady]]

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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nottinghamcathedralmusic.com/choirs.html|title=Choirs|website=Nottingham Cathedral Music|access-date=2016-11-02}}</ref>

===List of Directors of Music===
*[[Edmund Hart Turpin]] 1850 – 1865
*[[James Turpin (organist)|James Turpin]] 1866 – 1873<ref>Nottinghamshire Guardian – Friday 1 August 1873</ref> (afterwards organist of Londonderry Cathedral)
*William George Taylor 1874 – 1885<ref>History, Gazetteer & Directory of Nottinghamshire, 1885, p. 445</ref> – 1898<ref>Wright's Directory of Nottingham, 1898–99, p. 466</ref> – 1905
*William Francis Taylor 1905 – 1963<ref>Nottingham Cathedral Yesterday and Today, Edward Cocking et al. 2007 p. 36</ref>
*Peter Smedley 1964 – 2003
*Neil Page 2003 – 2014
*Alex Patterson 2014 – 2020
*Gregory Treloar 2020 - 2025<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nottinghamcathedralmusic.com/history.html|title=History|website=Nottingham Cathedral Music|access-date=2020-08-04}}</ref>
*Peter Siepmann 2025- 

===Assistant Directors of Music / Organists ===
*Peter Smedley 1954 – 1964
*Christopher Burton 2008 – 2010
*Paul Hayward 2011 – 2012
*Alex Patterson 2012 – 2014
*Eden Lavelle 2016 – 2017
*Eleanor Martin 2019 – 2020
*Neil Page 2020 - 2025

==See also==
*[[Grade II* listed buildings in Nottinghamshire]]
*[[Listed buildings in Nottingham (Radford and Park ward)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
*[http://www.stbarnabascathedral.org.uk St. Barnabas' Cathedral Official Website]
*[http://www.nottinghamcathedralmusic.com/ Nottingham Cathedral Music Website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081218081056/http://www.nottingham-diocese.org.uk/ Diocese of Nottingham Official Website]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/nottingham/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_8382000/8382283.stm  Audio slideshow tour of St. Barnabas' from the BBC]

{{Nottingham Places of Interest |state=autocollapse}}
{{Diocese of Nottingham}}
{{Roman Catholic Cathedrals in the United Kingdom}}

[[Category:Roman Catholic cathedrals in England|Nottingham]]
[[Category:Churches in Nottingham|Nottingham]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Nottinghamshire]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Nottinghamshire]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed churches in Nottinghamshire]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed cathedrals]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic churches completed in 1844]]
[[Category:19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Diocese of Nottingham]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed Roman Catholic church buildings in England]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic church buildings in Nottinghamshire]]
[[Category:Augustus Pugin buildings]]