Shrewsbury Cathedral Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Shrewsbury Cathedral
Cathedral Church of Our Lady Help of Christians and Saint Peter of Alcantara

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Location	Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Country	England
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	shrewsburycathedral.org
History
Status	Cathedral
Consecrated	1856
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	1953
Architect(s)	E. W. Pugin
Style	Gothic Revival
Groundbreaking	1852
Completed	1856
Administration
Diocese	Shrewsbury (since 1856)
Province	Birmingham

Shrewsbury Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in Shrewsbury, England. Its full name is the Cathedral Church of Our Lady Help of Christians and Saint Peter of Alcantara. It is the main church for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury, covering the areas of Shropshire and Cheshire.

This cathedral is special because it's the only cathedral in Shropshire. Most other English counties have a Church of England cathedral, but Shropshire does not.

History of the Cathedral
- Building the Cathedral
- Changes Over Time
Stained-Glass Windows
War Memorial
Location of the Cathedral
Gallery
See also

History of the Cathedral

The inside of Shrewsbury Cathedral.

Building the Cathedral

The idea for the cathedral came from John Talbot, 16th Earl of Shrewsbury. He wanted a famous architect named Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin to design it. Sadly, both men died in 1852 before building could even begin.

John Talbot's nephew, Bertram Talbot, then offered to pay for the cathedral. The new architect was Edward Pugin, Augustus's son. Edward first planned a much bigger cathedral with a very tall spire.

However, two years into the project, builders found a layer of sand under the ground. This meant the foundations were not strong enough for a huge building. So, they had to make the cathedral smaller and give up on building the tall spire.

The Earl of Shrewsbury agreed to pay for the smaller church, which cost £4,000. He passed away just three months before it was finished. In 1856, the cathedral was completed and officially opened by Cardinal Wiseman.

In 1956, a special church service was held to celebrate the cathedral's 100th birthday.

Changes Over Time

In 1984, the cathedral was updated to fit new church practices. A new altar was made from local stone and blessed in 1985.

In 2019, Bishop Mark Davies decided to bring the cathedral's inside look back to how it was originally. During this work, they found old paintings from the 1800s by Joseph Aloysius Pippet. These paintings had been hidden under two layers of paint from earlier updates in the 1970s and 1980s. People hope these beautiful old paintings can be restored.

The cathedral can seat about 300 people.

Stained-Glass Windows

The cathedral has many beautiful stained-glass windows. Most of the older windows were made by a company called Hardman & Co. from Birmingham.

There are also seven windows made in the early 1900s by an artist named Margaret Agnes Rope. She was the daughter of a local doctor. Margaret Rope later became a Carmelite nun. Her cousin, M. E. Aldrich Rope, was also a stained-glass artist.

War Memorial

Margaret Agnes Rope also designed the cathedral's war memorial. It is in the west porch and honors the 63 men from the church who died fighting in World War I.

The memorial shows a pieta (a statue of Mary holding Jesus). Below it is a wooden plaque with the badge of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry and the symbols of Shropshire and Shrewsbury. The names of the fallen soldiers are listed below the plaque. A separate plaque nearby marks 50 years since the end of World War II in 1995.

Location of the Cathedral

The cathedral is on a street called Town Walls. It is right next to the old town wall of Shrewsbury. The church is located within a bend of the River Severn in the center of the town. It is surrounded by homes.