The Cathedral Church of Our Lady and St Philip Howard is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much larg ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Dedicated in 1873 as the Catholic

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

of Arundel, it became a cathedral at the foundation of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton in 1965. It now serves as the seat of the

Bishop of Arundel and Brighton The Bishop of Arundel and Brighton is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton in the Province of Southwark, England. The bishop's official residence is Bishop's House, The Upper Drive, Hove, East Sussex. The most rec ...

History

The cathedral's location, construction, design, and dedication owe much to the

Howard family The House of Howard is an English noble house founded by John Howard, who was created Duke of Norfolk (third creation) by King Richard III of England in 1483. However, John was also the eldest grandson (although maternal) of the 1st Duke of the ...

, who, as

Dukes of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the county of Norfolk. The current duke is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk. The dukes ...

and

Earls of Arundel Earl of Arundel is a title of nobility in England, and one of the oldest extant in the English peerage. It is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk, and is used (along with the Earl of Surrey) by his heir apparent as a courtesy title. The ...

are the most prominent English Catholic family, and rank first (below the royal family) in the Peerage of England. Since 1102 the seat of the Howards' ancestors has been Arundel Castle. In 1664, Roman Catholic worship was suppressed in England by the Conventicle Act, and all churches and cathedrals in England were transferred to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

. With the

Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 The Catholic Relief Act 1829, also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1829. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic emancipation throughout the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, the foundation of Roman Catholic parishes became lawful once again. In 1868,

Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk, (27 December 184711 February 1917), styled Lord Maltravers until 1856 and Earl of Arundel and Surrey between 1856 and 1860, was a British Unionist politician and philanthropist. He served as Postmas ...

, commissioned the architect

Joseph Hansom Joseph Aloysius Hansom (26 October 1803 – 29 June 1882) was a British architect working principally in the Gothic Revival style. He invented the Hansom cab and founded the eminent architectural journal, '' The Builder'', in 1843. Career ...

to design a new Roman Catholic sanctuary as a suitable counterpart to Arundel Castle. The architectural style of the cathedral is French

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

, a style that would have been popular between 1300 and 1400—the period in which the Howards rose to national prominence in England. The building is Grade I listed and is regarded as one of the finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture in the French Gothic style in the country. The church was originally dedicated to Our Lady and St Philip Neri, but in 1971, following the

canonisation Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...

Philip Howard, 1st Earl of Arundel Philip Howard, 13th Earl of Arundel (28 June 155719 October 1595) was an English nobleman. He was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970, as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. He is variously numbered as 1st, 20th or 13th Earl of Arunde ...

, and the reburial of his relics in the cathedral, the dedication was changed to Our Lady and St Philip Howard. File:Arundel Cathedral Nave 1, West Sussex, UK - Diliff.jpg, The nave. File:Arundel Cathedral Sanctuary, West Sussex, UK - Diliff.jpg, The sanctuary.

Organist

In 2002, Elizabeth Stratford was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers of the cathedral, becoming the first woman to hold the post of Director of Music in an English cathedral. Stratford was educated at

St. Joseph's Catholic College, Bradford St Joseph's Catholic College was a Roman Catholic Girls' school situated in Manningham, Bradford, Manningham, close to Bradford city centre in West Yorkshire, England. The school merged with St. Bede's Grammar School in September 2014 to form St B ...

and then at the

University of Huddersfield , mottoeng = Thus not for you alone , established = 1825 – Huddersfield Science and Mechanics' Institute1992 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £2.47 million (2015) , chancellor = George W. Buckley , vice_chancell ...

winning scholarships for voice, composition and organ from the RCO and other trusts. She studied at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

with Gordon Stewart (organ),

Simon Lindley Simon Lindley (born 10 October 1948) is an English organist, choirmaster, conductor and composer. He was Leeds City Organist from 1976 to 2017 (named City Organist Emeritus in Summer 2017) and is Organist Emeritus of Leeds Minster, having been o ...

(choir training) and

Philip Wilby Philip Wilby (born Pontefract, 1949) is a British composer, organist and choir director. Education Educated at Leeds Grammar School and Keble College, Oxford, he joined the staff at the University of Leeds as a Lecturer in the Department of Musi ...

(composition). She succeeded Alistair Warwick as the Organist and Director of Music of the cathedral, and she also teaches piano at

Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...

Events

The Cathedral was the location of a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

Libera Libera may refer to: * Libera (mythology), a Roman goddess of fertility * Libera (choir), a boy vocal group from London * ''Libera'' (film), a 1993 comedy film * "Libera" (song), a song by Italian artist Mia Martini * ''Libera'' (gastropod), a ...

''O Sanctissima''
(solo: Ben Philipp) - Libera Official, 2011 (YouTube). and also of some of its concerts (2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2019).

Gallery

File:Arundel Cathedral Nave 2, West Sussex, UK - Diliff.jpg, Nave looking west towards the entrance File:Arundel Cathedral Sanctuary 2, West Sussex, UK - Diliff.jpg, Sanctuary from an oblique angle File:Arundel Cathedral - 28411417327.jpg, West front File:Arundel Cathedral -West Sussex, England-21Sept2012.jpg, File:Arundelcatherdralinterior.jpg, Interior File:Arundle cathedral 2012.jpg, Arundel Cathedral 2012 File:Saint philip howard.jpg, Saint Philip Howard's shrine

References

External links

Arundel Cathedral Website

360° panorama of Cathedral interiors
{{Authority control Roman Catholic churches completed in 1873 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Arundel and Brighton Arundel and Brighton Tourist attractions in West Sussex Arun District Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton Grade I listed churches in West Sussex Grade I listed Roman Catholic churches in England Buildings by Joseph Hansom