The Metropolitan Cathedral Church and Basilica of Saint Chad is a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
cathedral in
Birmingham, England
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. It is the
mother church
Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral or a metro ...
of the
Archdiocese of Birmingham
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin-rite Catholic administrative divisions of England and Wales in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. The archdiocese covers an area of , encompassing Staffordshir ...
and is dedicated to
Saint Chad of Mercia.
Designed by
Augustus Welby Pugin
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...
and substantially complete by 1841, St Chad's is one of the first four Catholic churches constructed after the
English Reformation
The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
and was raised to cathedral status in 1852.
[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, Southwark, St Barnabas, Nottingham and 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.] It is one of only four minor
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
s in England (the others being
Downside Abbey
Downside Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in England and the senior community of the English Benedictine Congregation. Until 2019, the community had close links with Downside School, for the education of children aged eleven to eighteen. Both t ...
, the
National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham and
Corpus Christi Priory
Corpus Christi Priory was a Roman Catholic Premonstratensian priory in Manchester, England.
The Church
The Norbertine Canons Regular first came to Manchester in 1889 from the Belgian Abbey of Tongerlo and in the Miles Platting area of Manches ...
).
St Chad's is a
Grade II*
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. The cathedral is located in a public greenspace near St Chad's Queensway, in central Birmingham. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Birmingham, currently
Bernard Longley
Bernard Longley (born 5 April 1955) is an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was named the Archbishop of Birmingham on 1 October 2009, and installed on 8 December 2009.
Early life and ministry
Bernard Longley was born in Opensh ...
, and the dean is Monsignor Timothy Menezes.
History
St Chad's was one of the first Catholic cathedrals erected in England after the
English Reformation
The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
initiated in 1534 by
King Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...
. St Chad's Cathedral was built at the behest of Bishop Thomas Walsh, the local
apostolic vicar
Apostolic may refer to:
The Apostles
An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission:
*The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles
*Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...
(styled Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District). St Chad's Cathedral was designed by
Augustus Welby Pugin
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...
, the foundation stone was laid in October 1839 and the building consecrated as a church on 21 June 1841.
[ The project received generous donations from ]John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury
John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury, 16th Earl of Waterford (18 March 1791 – 9 November 1852) was a British peer and aristocrat. Sometimes known as "Good Earl John", he has been described as "the most prominent British Catholic of his day ...
, who was the last Catholic Earl of Shrewsbury. The church was raised to the status of cathedral in 1852 following the restoration of the Catholic Hierarchy in England by Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...
in 1850.[ The first bishop of Birmingham was ]William Bernard Ullathorne
William Bernard Ullathorne (7 May 180621 March 1889) was an English prelate who held high offices in the Roman Catholic Church during the nineteenth century.
Early life
Ullathorne was born in Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire, the eldest of ...
OSB, whose monument is the crypt of the cathedral. He was buried at St Dominic's Priory, Stone, a convent of Dominican sisters. In 1911 the diocese was elevated to an archdiocese.
The cathedral was situated in the Gunmakers Quarter of Birmingham, which endangered it during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was bombed on 22 November 1940. An incendiary bomb fell through the roof of the south aisle and bounced from the floor into some central heating pipes, which then burst. The water from the damaged central heating pipes thus extinguished the fire. A thanksgiving tablet appears in the diapered design of the transept ceiling, reading '' 22 Nov 1940'' ('Thanks be to God').
In 1941 St Chad's was declared a Minor Basilica
In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...
by Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...
as a church of important historical connections: only one of two such in England. On formal occasions, the ', a golden lattice bell tower and ', which is a small red and gold striped umbrella, are displayed at the altar steps as the official symbols of a basilica.[ The last archbishop was ]Vincent Nichols
Vincent Gerard Nichols (born 8 November 1945) is an English cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He previously served as Archbishop of Birm ...
, who served from 2000 to 2009, and then became Archbishop of Westminster. the Archdiocese of Birmingham
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin-rite Catholic administrative divisions of England and Wales in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. The archdiocese covers an area of , encompassing Staffordshir ...
was led by Bernard Longley, titular bishop of Zanda, who was named as the archbishop on 1 October 2009, and was installed in his cathedral by Bishop David McGough (Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham incharge of the North Staffordshire region of the Archdiocese), and presented with his crozier by his predecessor Archbishop Nichols on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, 8 December 2009.
St Chad's was the venue for Midnight Mass
In many Western Christian traditions Midnight Mass is the first liturgy of Christmastide that is celebrated on the night of Christmas Eve, traditionally beginning at midnight when Christmas Eve gives way to Christmas Day. This popular Christmas c ...
, broadcast by BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
at Christmas 2016 and 2021.
Patronal saint
The patron of the cathedral is St Chad, a 7th-century bishop of Mercia
la, Merciorum regnum
, conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia
, common_name=Mercia
, status=Kingdom
, status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex ()
, life_span=527–918
, era=Heptarchy
, event_start=
, date_start=
, ye ...
and pupil of St Aidan
Aidan of Lindisfarne ( ga, Naomh Aodhán; died 31 August 651) was an Irish monk and Christian missionary, missionary credited with converting the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity in Northumbria. He founded a monastic cathedral on the island of Lindis ...
of Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...
. The cathedral enshrines, in the canopy above the altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...
, the relic
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
s of some long bones of St Chad. These were originally enshrined at, and rescued from, Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medie ...
by Prebendary Arthur Dudley, before its despoliation during the Reformation, in about 1538.[ Fr Dudley passed the bones to his nieces, Bridget and Katherine Dudley of Russell's Hall, whence they were divided in parcels and passed down among their family. In 1651, Henry Hodgetts, a farmer, of Sedgley was dying and his wife summoned an itinerant priest, Fr Peter Turner, SJ to give him the last sacraments. When they recited the litany of the saints, Henry kept calling upon ''Saint Chad, pray for me''. On being asked why he called upon St Chad, he replied, "because his bones are in the head of my bed". He then instructed his wife to pass the box of relics to Fr Turner for safekeeping and he took them back to the Seminary of St Omer, in Northern France, where he was based.]["The Relics of St. Chad", St. Chad's Cathedral]
/ref>
In the 19th century, the relics found their way into the hands of Sir Thomas Fizherbert-Brockholes of Aston Hall, near Stafford. After Sir Thomas's death, his widow moved to Swynnerton Hall
Swynnerton Hall is an 18th-century country mansion house, the home of Lord Stafford, situated at Swynnerton near Stone, Staffordshire. It is a Grade I listed building.
History
The manor of Swynnerton was owned by the eponymous family for several ...
and their chaplain, Fr Benjamin Hulme found the dusty velvet-covered box of relics under the altar, when he cleared out the chapel. Fr Hulme presented the relics to Bishop Walsh. So it was that the relics of the saint who was the apostle of the Midlands in the 7th century were enshrined above the altar. These relics were subjected to carbon dating analysis by the archaeological laboratory of Oxford University in 1985, on the order of Archbishop Couve de Murville, which showed all but one of the bones to date from the 7th century, which concurs with the death of St Chad on 2 March 672 AD.[
]
Architecture and fittings
The architect chosen to design St Chad's, Augustus Welby Pugin
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...
(1812–52), later became one of England's most renowned Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
architects. Pugin had converted to Catholicism in 1835, and spent most of the remainder of his working life designing Catholic churches, their fittings and vestments. St Chad's was the first large church that he designed which was planned, from the outset in 1837, to become a cathedral.[ Pugin lavished much care on the building, and described, in his letters, not only the architecture, but its decoration, fittings and furnishings. The Clerk of Works and builder of St Chad's was George Myers.
St Chad's replaced a smaller church dedicated to St Austin, built on the same site in 1808, in the Gunmakers' Quarter of the town on steeply sloping land that fell away to the canal and wharf.][Tim Tatton-Brown and John Crook, ''The English Cathedral'' (p.108)] Because of the narrow site, and the necessity to build in brick rather than stone, Pugin was restricted in the style and proportions of the church that he could design. Because he wished to make the church as open and spacious as possible, he looked as a model to the style of churches that were built in Northern Germany
Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...
in the late Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
.[Phoebe Stanton, ''Pugin'' (pp 557–66)] St Chad's is built in the style of a brick
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
hall church
A hall church is a church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was invented in the mid-19th century by Wilhelm Lübke, a pioneering German art historian. In contrast to an archi ...
or "hallenkirke", similar to Munich Cathedral
, native_name =
, native_name_lang =
, image = Frauenkirche Munich - View from Peterskirche Tower2.jpg
, pushpin map =
, pushpin label position =
, pushpin map alt =
, pushpin mapsize ...
and has a westwerk
A westwork (german: Westwerk), forepart, avant-corps or avancorpo is the monumental, often west-facing entrance section of a Carolingian, Ottonian, or Romanesque church. The exterior consists of multiple stories between two towers. The interior ...
with narrow broached spires similar to those of Lübeck Cathedral
Lübeck Cathedral (german: Dom zu Lübeck, or colloquially ''Lübecker Dom'') is a large brick-built Lutheran cathedral in Lübeck, Germany and part of the Lübeck World Heritage Site. It was started in 1173 by Henry the Lion as a cathedral for ...
. Because of the steep slope of the site, Pugin built a large crypt beneath the building, to be used primarily as a burial place for family tombs,[ and former cathedral clergy, and is now rehearsal room for the choir. The geographical alignment is unusual in that the "east end" (the location of the altar) actually faces approximately north west.
The interior, the nave of which is almost twice as high as it is wide, has a very high arcade, like German hall churches, carried on clusters of thin shafts, those of the chancel being decorated in paint and gold leaf with a ]helical
Helical may refer to:
* Helix, the mathematical concept for the shape
* Helical engine, a proposed spacecraft propulsion drive
* Helical spring, a coilspring
* Helical plc, a British property company, once a maker of steel bar stock
* Helicoil
A t ...
pattern like a barber's pole
A barber's pole is a type of sign used by barbers to signify the place or shop where they perform their craft. The trade sign is, by a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages, a staff or pole with a helix of colored stripes (often red and whi ...
, bearing the legend ''Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth'' ('Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts'). The wooden ceiling, with curving blue truss
A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure.
In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...
es, is ornamented with monograms and floral patterns, inspired by the remnants of medieval decoration to be found on the ancient ceilings of Ely Ely or ELY may refer to:
Places Ireland
* Éile, a medieval kingdom commonly anglicised Ely
* Ely Place, Dublin, a street
United Kingdom
* Ely, Cambridgeshire, a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England
** Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral, formal ...
and Peterborough Cathedral
Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Church of England, Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Sain ...
s. Phoebe Stanton describes the ornate decoration of the ceiling as "brilliant" and so delicate that "it resembles fabric stretched over a lattice".[
Pugin designed many of the fittings including the high altar under an elaborate ]baldachin
A baldachin, or baldaquin (from it, baldacchino), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over h ...
, with riddel posts, and the choir screen. The Bishop's Chair, in oak upholstered in green velvet, backed with the diocesan shield of arms was also designed by Pugin. Other fittings, such the 16th century carved pulpit and the medieval canons' stalls were from churches in Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
and Germany respectively and were collected and donated by John Talbot, the 16th Earl of Shrewsbury
Earl of Shrewsbury () is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the Peerage of England. The second earldom dates to 1442. The holder of the Earldom of Shrewsbury also holds the title of Earl of Waterford (1446) in the Peerage of Ireland ...
. The sanctuary
A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...
windows are the work of William Warrington
William Warrington, (1796–1869), was an English maker of stained glass windows. His firm, operating from 1832 to 1875, was one of the earliest of the English Medieval revival and served clients such as Norwich and Peterborough Cathedrals. W ...
. Other windows, metalwork, fittings and vestments were provided by John Hardman of Birmingham, to the design or specifications of Pugin. Hardman was a parishioner of St Chad's, founding the Cathedral Choir in 1854. Four generations of his family are among those interred in the crypt.[St Chad's Cathedral Website]
/ref>
In 1932 St. Chad's was extended by the addition of St Edward's Chapel, designed by Pugin's grandson, Sebastian Pugin Powell, and built in memory of Archbishop Edward Ilsley
Archbishop Edward Ilsley was born in May 1838. He was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Birmingham from 1888 to 1911, and then the first Archbishop of Birmingham from 1911 to 1921 when his resignation was accepted by the Pope. He died in 1926.
Career ...
and his patron St. Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æth ...
. The chapel windows depict the history of the relics of St. Chad, and those who have served the church there, along with some magnificent ecclesiastical coats of arms.
In the 1960s a number of the fittings, including Pugin's screen, were removed and the interior repainted, to the detriment of the original design.[ The rood screen was rescued by an Anglican priest, who had it re-erected in the Anglican Holy Trinity Church, Reading. Other artefacts were removed to other churches, including the giant rood crucifix, which after its removal to the Church of the Sacred Heart & St Therese, in Coleshill, was reinstated in the cathedral within the Sanctuary on the instructions of Archbishop Maurice Couve de Murville. The cathedral as it appears today is a result of post-]Vatican II
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and 1 ...
renovations and re-orderings, with only some of Pugin's work surviving. The original chancel arrangement was altered, again much to the detriment of its design, destroying Pugin's intent. Its appearance today is a mere shadow of how it was originally conceived by Pugin, but its enduring beauty in the face of iconoclasm is testament to the skill of its original designers. St Barnabas Cathedral in Nottingham, also by Pugin, suffered similarly, with much of the original decoration smothered with whitewash, and fittings destroyed.
The former Bishop's House, which stood nearby and was also by Pugin, was demolished in 1959 due to Road widening.
Music
Organ
The cathedral has a three manual organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd, built in 1993. It is sited at the west end of the cathedral in a magnificent case designed by David Graebe. The consultant was Nicolas Kynaston and the instrument is considered to be one of the finest mechanical organs in the country.[ There is a regular programme of recitals throughout the year and the organ is also used as a teaching instrument for students and staff of Birmingham Conservatoire. The current organist and director of music is David Saint (former principal of Birmingham Conservatoire) and the assistant director of music is Nigel Morris.
]
Directors of Music
* 1848 – ? Meyer Lutz
* 1850s Johann Benz
* 1930-35 Henry Washington
* 1935-46 Basil Krauth
* 1958-65 Cyril Barlow
* 1965-68 Petroc Howell
* 1964–1972 Roger M. Hill (Organist)
* 1969–1972 Derek Stanley
* 1972–1978 Dr John Harper
* 1978–present David Saint
Organ Scholars
* (2017-2020) Dylan McCaig
Choir
The cathedral has had a properly constituted, surpliced choir since 1854, when it was first endowed with £1,000 by John Hardman. Hardman was for many years cantor of the choir, and is commemorated by a small white figure of him in the lower left-hand corner of a stained glass window of 1868 located in the north aisle and depicting the ''Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception.
It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...
'', with a line of plainchant along the bottom, being the Introit for the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Currently, the four-part, robed choir comprises around adult men and women who lead the worship at the Sunday Solemn Mass (at 11:00 am). They also lead the worship during Holy Week and Easter, when the archbishop presides. The choir specialises in the Latin polyphonic music of the renaissance, but sings a wide repertory of Masses and motets in English and Latin. The choir sings occasional concerts and has featured in television and radio broadcasts.
Bells
In 1840 St Chad's was presented with a single bell weighing approximately . In 1848 the metal from this bell was used in the casting of a ring of five bells, made by Mears of Whitechapel and hung in the north-west tower. They were augmented by three bells by Blews of Birmingham in 1877. The eight bells were first rung on Easter Sunday
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
of that year. In 1940 the bells were recast by Taylors of Loughborough. The eight bells form a diatonic
Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize Scale (music), scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, Interval (music), intervals, Chord (music), chords, Musical note, notes, musical sty ...
octave in the key of F Major, with the heaviest bell (the tenor) weighing . They are hung for full-circle ringing in the north-west tower, and are rung regularly on Sunday morning after High Mass, at about 12 noon, and at other major services by the St Chad's Cathedral Society of Change Ringers.[
]
Location
The cathedral is in a green public space near Birmingham Snow Hill railway station
Birmingham Snow Hill is a railway station in Birmingham City Centre, England. It is one of the three main city-centre stations in Birmingham, along with and .
Snow Hill was once the main station of the Great Western Railway in Birmingham and, ...
and is located on what is now called St Chad's Queensway after the cathedral, at the junction with Snow Hill Queensway and Old Snow Hill (becomes Constitution Hill), part of the Birmingham Inner Ring Road
Queensway is the name of a number of roads in central Birmingham, especially those that formed the A4400 Inner Ring Road. The name most often refers to the Great Charles Street Queensway tunnel, part of the A38.
The Queensways were built as dua ...
constructed in the 1970s. St Chad's is on the northern side of the road, which divides the cathedral from the city centre. In January 2017 the nearby West Midlands Metro
The West Midlands Metro (originally named Midland Metro) is a light-rail/tram system in the county of West Midlands, England. Opened on 30 May 1999, it currently consists of a single route, Line 1, which operates between the cities of Birmin ...
tram stop was named St Chads.
Burials
Chad of Mercia
Chad of Mercia (died 2 March 672) was a prominent 7th-century Anglo-Saxon Catholic monk who became abbot of several monasteries, Bishop of the Northumbrians and subsequently Bishop of the Mercians and Lindsey People. He was later canonised ...
, Bishop of the Northumbrians, later Bishop of the Mercians and Lindsey People, and Saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
(c. 634–672)
Thomas Walsh (vicar apostolic)
Bishop Thomas Walsh (3 October 1777 –18 February 1849) was a Roman Catholic clergyman and Vicar Apostolic who served the Midlands area of the United Kingdom.
Life
Thomas Walsh was born in London on 3 October 1777,
See also
* Catholic Church in Great Britain
* Dormition of the Mother of God and St Andrew (Greek Orthodox
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...
)
* St Philip's (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 Britain ...
)
References
Bibliography
*Tim Tatton-Brown and John Crook, ''The English Cathedral'', New Holland (2002),
*Phoebe Stanton, ''Pugin'', Thames and Hudson (1971),
External links
History of the Cathedral
The Archdiocese of Birmingham
Description of the organ in the National Pipe Organ Register
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham, Saint Chad
Roman Catholic cathedrals in England
Minor basilicas in the United Kingdom
Saint Chad
Chad of Mercia (died 2 March 672) was a prominent 7th-century Anglo-Saxon Catholic monk who became abbot of several monasteries, Bishop of the Northumbrians and subsequently Bishop of the Mercians and Lindsey People. He was later canonised ...
Saint Chad
Chad of Mercia (died 2 March 672) was a prominent 7th-century Anglo-Saxon Catholic monk who became abbot of several monasteries, Bishop of the Northumbrians and subsequently Bishop of the Mercians and Lindsey People. He was later canonised ...
Grade II* listed cathedrals
Augustus Pugin buildings
Grade II listed churches in Birmingham
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1841
19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom
Grade II* listed Roman Catholic churches in England