St Edmundsbury Cathedral
The Crossing
The Facts
At the centre of the Cathedral is the crossing, where the old Nave, dating from 1503, meets the new chancel and chapels, dating from the 1960s. The architect of the modern work was Stephen Dykes Bower. He did much of the work in the 1960s and left £2 million in his will for the work to be completed, including the addition of the Tower, which was achieved in 2005. The vaulted ceiling was added in 2010.
Inside the Tower are the coats of arms of the dioceses of the Church of England. St Edmundsbury Cathedral is in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich which was created in 1914. To find out more, read here.
Dykes Bower also added the North gallery. On the stairs leading to the gallery you can see a series of painting which were part of an art installation called ‘A Cloud of Witnesses’ by Mark Cazalet.
Did you know…?
- There are 9244 stones and 600,000 bricks used in the construction of the Tower.
- The tower is designed to bring light into the building. Therefore it is hollow and the bells of the Cathedral remain the neighbouring Norman Tower.
- To book a Tower tour, go to www.stedscathedral.org
- One of the Diocesan coats of arms is blank. This is because at the time of construction, the Diocese of Sodor and Man did not have a coat of arms registered with the College of Heralds.
- The cloth on the altar changes with the church calendar. There are different seasons eg Purple for Lent and Advent, Red for Saints Days and Feast Days, Green for ‘ordinary’ time.Click here and have a go at this activity
If you’d like a more in-depth tour, Cathedral Tours are available! Please speak to a welcomer to find out more details.