St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham

The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Chad is the seat of the Roman Catholic Province of Birmingham, England, a province of the Catholic Church in Great Britain. It is dedicated to Saint Chad of Mercia. It was the first Roman Catholic cathedral to be built after the English Reformation and is one of only three minor basilicas in England (the others being Downside Abbey and Corpus Christi Priory). It is a Grade II* listed building.

History

St Chad's was the first Catholic cathedral erected in England after the English Reformation initiated in 1534 by King Henry VIII. St Chad's Cathedral was built at the behest of Bishop Thomas Walsh, the local apostolic vicar. It was consecrated as a church on 21 June 1841, named a cathedral in 1850 by Pope Pius IX, and declared a minor basilica in 1941 by Pope Pius XII. The first Bishop of Birmingham was William Bernard Ullathorne OSB, whose remains are entombed beneath St Chad's.

The Cathedral was bombed in November 1940 during the Second World War. The bomb fell through the roof and bounced from the floor into some central heating pipes, when it then exploded. The water from the damaged central heating pipes then extinguished the fire.

The current Archbishop is His Grace, Archbishop Vincent Nichols.

Location

The cathedral is near Birmingham Snow Hill station and is located on what is now called St Chad's Queenway after the cathedral, at the junction with Snow Hill Queensway and Old Snow Hill (becomes Constitution Hill), part of the Birmingham Inner Ring Road constructed in 1970s. St Chad's is on the northern side of the road, which divides the cathedral from the city centre.

The nearest bus stops are on Snow Hill Queensway opposite, Old Snow Hill and under the nearby Snow Hill station railway bridge to the east on Great Charles Street Queensway. Metered car parking is available outside the cathedral and on the opposite side of St Chads Queensway, where there is also an NCP car park next the the Thistle hotel.

Between the 1970s and 2007 there was a roundabout with a tunnel for ring road through traffic and pedestrian subways (with a mosaic) between the cathedral and the city centre. The roundabout (but not the tunnel) was removed and replaced with traffic lights and pedestrian crossings, causing traffic disruption during the work. There is now a green public space with benches to the front of the cathedral.

Design

The Cathedral has a neo-gothic design by Augustus Pugin. It is located on a hillside that was once the edge of the old industrial area in Birmingham and now sits on the 1960s St Chad's Queensway, which was built around it. It was constructed of red brick and reddish-grey stone. Narrow floor dimensions are compensated by a soaring roof and ceiling with curving trusses painted blue and sanctuary pillars painted gold. The relics above the high altar at St Chad's were originally enshrined at, and rescued from, Lichfield Cathedral, before its despoliation during the Reformation. The altar is built of limestone, oak, and pine. The 16th century Flemish pulpit was donated by a Catholic church in Germany and the stalls were given by a number of Catholic congregations in Belgium. In 1932, St Chad's was extended by the addition of St Edward's Chapel, which was built in memory of Archbishop Edward Ilsley and his patron St Edward the Confessor. The chapel windows depict the history of St Chad's, its relics, and those who have served the church there. The current church organ was built by J. W. Walker in 1993 and is considered to be one of the finest organs of any church in Britain.Fact|date=March 2007

ee also

*Catholic Church in Great Britain
*St Philip's (Church of England)
*Dormition of the Mother of God and St Andrew (Greek Orthodox)

External links

* [http://www.stchadscathedral.org.uk/history.php History of the Cathedral]
* [http://birminghamdiocese.org.uk/ The Archdiocese of Birmingham]
* [http://npor.emma.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D02905 Description of the organ in the National Pipe Organ Register]
* [http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/expats/pastpres/tm_objectid%3D12093025%26method%3Dfull%26siteid%3D50003%26headline%3Dshedding-light-on-pugin-s-gem-name_page.html Local newspaper article about plans for the Cathedral's setting]