Norwich’s ‘other cathedral’ flings its doors open
Milo Andreas Wagner discovers that an ambitious plan to enhance the city’s Catholic cathedral is in ‘the final furlong’
22 February 2008

Norwich is, in the words of the 19th-century writer George Borrow, a “fine city”. It is justly celebrated for its many beautiful churches, castle, university and world-famous cathedral. But what you may not know about Norwich is that, like only a handful of other places in England, it is a city of two cathedrals.

On the other side of the city from the famous Norwich Cathedral sits the elegant Catholic Cathedral of St John the Baptist. Completed in 1910, St John’s is the largest provincial Catholic church in the country, home to some of the most magnificent Victorian stained glass windows in northern Europe and the focus of a thriving parish. It has only been a cathedral for 30 years, but it is already making great leaps toward becoming a spiritual home to every Catholic in the Diocese of East Anglia, a district only established in 1976.

In a city that has much competition, with dozens of superb medieval churches in every direction, St John’s is the quiet star of the show: an architectural gem on the edges of the city that deserves, and rewards, a closer look.

St John’s is undergoing great change at present, adapting to its new role as mother church to East Anglia. “In becoming a cathedral, St John’s has had to look beyond its immediate parish to the whole diocese,” the Dean, Fr James Walsh, told me. “The cathedral, while extending its reach, is also learning to be more welcoming.”

This path of discovery – finding out what a cathedral does, and what it can offer – has raised a problem: St John’s facilities are, at present, inadequate to accommodate the new influx, not to mention the ever-increasing size of the parish itself. Many of the newcomers are immigrant Catholics from all over the world, including the Philippines, and, more recently, eastern Europe (there is even a weekly Mass here in Polish, attended by up to 200 people).

In 2004 an appeal was launched to raise funds for an ambitious programme of restoration and development. An entirely new building, called the Narthex, will provide desperately needed resources, such as disabled access to the cathedral, a new education centre, a shop and other essential visitors facilities, opening up the western end of the cathedral for restoration. It will also house displays about the history of St John’s and provide a link to a fully renovated community hall.

The cost of the whole project is some £2.8million. But with the recent news that the Heritage Lottery Fund is to provide £995,000 of that total, plus the support of generous members of the Catholic community to date, only a third of the target remains to be collected: hence the appeal’s current motto, “the final furlong”. Building work, it is hoped, will begin later this year. Much careful planning has gone into the proposed refurbishment of the cathedral itself. Designs for a fine stone font have been drawn up, corresponding closely in style to a recently installed high altar. The new altar is one element in the reordering of the sanctuary, a part of the cathedral that was never completed as its architect originally intended. Under the watchful eye of Fr James, every aspect of the design is being meticulously and lovingly considered.

St John’s boasts a wealth of beautiful stonework, including mouldings, flying buttresses, pinnacles and gargoyles. The nave, over 160ft long and 60ft wide, is decorated with Frosterley marble from Durham. Upon careful inspection, thousands of fossilised creatures can be seen embedded in the stone.

“Fairly uniquely,” Fr James explains, “the architecture of St John’s is all of the same style. Many medieval cathedrals have had additions made to them over the years – as Norwich Cathedral has – but St John’s was conceived and executed as a lavish homage to the Early English style by the 15th Duke of Norfolk, Henry Fitzalan Howard. The Duke spent 20 years and a small fortune building the church, and it shows: fixtures and fittings are of the very highest quality throughout. Moreover, St John’s has not been vandalised like so many of its unfortunate siblings by ‘trendy’ renovations.”

There is more to the cathedral than just its exquisite stonework, expensive ironmongery and spectacular windows, impressive as they are. Unlike so many “superstar” cathedrals that have lost the feeling of serenity they once possessed (becoming little more than tourist attractions in the process), St John’s is a place people come primarily to pray: a serene retreat from the active life of the city.

It is in fact the Catholic, and not the Anglican, cathedral that dominates the city’s skyline, yet St John’s is often unfairly overshadowed by its elder sister’s reputation; the majority of people who live in Norwich have never even visited it. That is something Fr James is seeking to address with a packed calendar of religious and cultural events. A recent flower festival, in collaboration with Norwich Cathedral, saw a floral walkway laid between the two. It brought many first-time visitors.

Recent health and safety improvements to walkways in the roof space have enabled the cathedral tower to be opened once more to the public. A fantastic view of the city and of much of Norfolk awaits those strong enough to climb the 270-odd spiralling stairs to reach the top. This is proving a highly popular attraction.

St John’s is no stranger to culture, either: it is a burgeoning musical centre, with a choir directed by a former clerk of the Anglican cathedral. Comfortable in both English and Latin, the choir regularly punches above its weight with polished performances of Gregorian plainsong as well as traditional polyphony.

While its much-vaunted and larger Anglican counterpart is an impressive spectacle, it is not my favourite of the two cathedrals. It’s immense, certainly, but lacks the poise of Canterbury or the grace of Notre Dame.

Architectural considerations aside, there are some important differences between this cathedral and its Anglican neighbour. As with all Catholic cathedrals, St John’s has a parish community, rather than a gathered congregation. The parish funds most of the required maintenance, since a Catholic cathedral gets little or nothing toward its upkeep from the diocese.

The Narthex project will help the cathedral to move into the 21st century in a number of crucial ways. The new facilities will allow St John’s to expand its education programme, attracting and educating the young (and the not-so-young) to the cathedral and the Church in general. It will provide a means of establishing and nurturing a cohesive local community, by welcoming and providing a focus and meeting place for the many newcomers to the city; at the same time it will protect and preserve the extraordinary heritage of the cathedral; and, last, but by no means least, it will make an important contribution to East Anglian life and culture by encouraging many more people to visit the cathedral and discover this hitherto little-known jewel.

For more information about the Narthex project, or to contribute to the appeal, please contact Naomi Perowne, Cathedral Development Officer, on 01603 728 936 or at development @stjohncathedral.co.uk