Cathedral is at our heart
SO what does a cathedral do? Well, a new piece of research has shown that in 2019, England’s 42 Anglican cathedrals contributed £235m to their local economies.
They provided 6,065 jobs, and volunteering posts for 15,400 people, who gave 906,000 hours of their time. And they welcomed 14.6m visits, including 308,000 from schoolchildren.
Then there’s the arts, culture, and heritage – 9,580 events in 2019. And the work the cathedrals do in caring for their local communities, supporting environmental projects, educating adults and young people, and providing services and opportunities for prayer. Here at Portsmouth Cathedral we are privileged to be part of this fantastic network.
Now is a great time to come and explore your Cathedral, a place of inspiration for the city and beyond for over 800 years.
If you like history, you’ll love to take a tour round our beautiful building, either using our self-guided app, or with one of our friendly and knowledgeable guides – our free Highlights Tour takes place at 2pm from Monday to Saturday. Or for a deeper dive, try our full Cathedral Tour, at midday every Saturday.
Our art exhibitions are beautiful and thought-provoking: why not call in now to see our Black Lives Matter exhibition – photographs of local black women and girls by Charlotte Griffiths.
From September 21 until October 7, we’ll have an exhibition of community weaves created in collaboration with the artists of the Hotwalls Studios in Old Portsmouth.
And from October 14 to November 3, in collaboration with the Journeys Festival and the charity Gulan, we’ll be the proud hosts of the exhibition Halabja in the Golden Days – beautiful art and textiles from Kurdish artists, including a brand new commission which will be installed in the Cathedral’s nave.
All this is in addition to our heartbeat at the Cathedral: regular worship, including sublime choral services, and prayer. This is your place, where you can come as you are and know the love of God surrounding you. All welcome – details at portsmouthcathedral.org.uk