Worcester Cathedral

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A plan of Worcester Cathedral made in 1836.

Worcester Cathedral West Window

Worcester Cathedral is the cathedral in Worcester, England; situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. Its official name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Cathedral was founded in 680 with Bishop Bosel as its head. The first cathedral was built in this period but nothing now remains of it. The existing crypt of the cathedral dates from the 10th century and the time of St Oswald, bishop of Worcester. The current cathedral is 12th and 13th century. The Cathedral was a Benedictine Priory before the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and was then re-established as a cathedral of secular clergy. It was subject to major restoration work by Sir George Gilbert Scott and A E Perkins in the 1860s. Both men are buried at the cathedral.

The Cathedral has the distinction of having the tomb of King John in its chancel. Before his death in Newark in 1216,

Altar of Worcester Cathedral

John had requested to be buried at Worcester. He is buried between the shrines St Wulstan and St Oswald (now destroyed).

The cathedral has a memorial, Prince Arthur's Chantry, to the young prince Arthur Tudor, who is buried here. Arthur's younger brother and next in line for the throne was Henry VIII. Worcester Cathedral was doubtlessly spared destruction by Henry VIII during the English Reformation because of his brother's Chantry in the cathedral. An image of the cathedral's west face is currently featured on the reverse of the Bank of England £20 note. It accompanies a portrait of the composer Edward Elgar who spent the majority of his life in Worcester. The first performance of his Enigma Variations took place at the cathedral during the 1899 Three Choirs Festival.