Portsmouth Cathedral

The Cathedral in Portsmouth is very much like my home town Cathedral of Llandaff as it is also the Parish Church of the city and serves a duel purpose.

The Cathedral and Parish Church of St Thomas of Canterbury is situated near the Historic Dockyard area in Portsmouth. The area has been subject to a great deal of regeneration in the past ten years and is a pleasant area to visit.

A Little Bit Of History

Around the year 1180 Jean de Gisors, a wealthy Norman merchant and Lord of the Manor of Titchfield, gave land in his new town of Portsmouth to the Augustinian canons of Southwick Priory so that they could build a chapel "to the glorious honour of the martyr Thomas of Canterbury, one time Archbishop, on (my) land which is called Sudewede, the island of Portsea". This chapel was to become in turn a parish church in the 14th century and then a cathedral in the 20th century. Of this original building, the chancel and transepts remain.The church survived a French raid in 1337 but in 1449 the Bishop of Chichester was murdered by local sailors. The town's inhabitants were excommunicated and the church was closed. In 1591 Elizabeth I worshipped in St Thomas's church. In 1642 during the English Civil War the church was bombarded by Parliamentarian forces. In 1683-93 the old tower and nave were taken down and replaced by a new nave, aisles, and west tower.Between 1902 and 1904 the church was closed for restoration work to be carried out. In 1927 the Diocese of Portsmouth was created. In 1932 Sir Charles Nicholson published plans to enlarge St Thomas's. In 1939 due to the outbreak of World War II work on the extension scheme stopped, and was not recommenced until 1990. Whilst incomplete a blank brick wall ended the west end of the nave. However, as the building had been used for many years without extension it was quite usable, and there was no urgency to finish the work. In the mid 1980s, however, the temporary brick wall was found to have become unstable and in danger of collapse which made the completion work more urgent. Originally the nave was intended to be longer, in the traditional style of an English cathedral, but the changing needs of the diocese meant that the building was finally built with a foreshortened nave, the final west wall being located close to where the temporary structure had been. In 1991 the completed building, much smaller than the original plans envisaged, was consecrated in the presence of HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.The nave is spacious with it's Romanesque pillars allowing a good view of the organ case. The quire is another wide, spacious area. The choir stalls are moveable and situated in the central area. The organ case is situated on a wide sweeping balcony above the central arch.

You can view some more of my Portsmouth Cathedral images on my Picasa site.

Try this link to view a link to a BBC South article when a new urban sport was performed with organ music at Portsmouth Cathedral as part of a nine-day celebration of arts across the city.