Nottingham Cathedral - St. Barnabus

The Cathedral Church of St Barnabas is a Grade II* listed building in the heart of Nottingham City Centre.
Designed by the renowned architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, it was dedicated in 1844 and raised to the status of Cathedral in 1850. 

It is located on the corner of Derby Road and North Circus Street, on the opposite side of which are the Albert Hall and the Nottingham Playhouse (Wellington Circus).

It was built between 1841 and 1844, costing £15,000 (equivalent to £1,380,000 in 2016), and was first consecrated in 1844, fifteen years after the Catholic Relief Act ended most restrictions on Catholicism in the United Kingdom.

A substantial amount of the cost was paid by the important Catholic Lord Shrewsbury. The architect was Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin who also designed the interior of The Houses of Parliament.

It was built in the Early English Plain Gothic style, although in contrast, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel was richly decorated and Pugin’s later churches were built in that Decorated Gothic style throughout.

Pugin was retained as architect by Rev Robert William Willson, then priest in charge of Nottingham. In 1842 he was named as Bishop-Elect of Hobart, Tasmania, and had to leave the work in Nottingham before completion.

Following the establishment of a new Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850 by the decree of Pope Pius IX, it was raised to cathedral status in 1852, becoming one of the first four Catholic cathedrals in England and Wales since the English Reformation. It is the seat of the Bishop of Nottingham.

The cathedral is a Grade II* listed building of the lancet style of architecture, and is considered to be one of the best specimens of Pugin's work.

The clergy of the Cathedral also serve the church of St. Augustine on Woodborough Road.

The Cathedral's choral scholarships are available to students above or of eighteen years of age who are in full-time tertiary education in the Nottingham area.

The Cathedral is not only a thriving parish community but it is the seat of Bishop Patrick McKinney, 10th Bishop of Nottingham, making it the ‘Mother Church’ of the Catholic community across much of the East Midlands. 180 years after its foundation stone was laid, the Cathedral continues to welcome tens of thousands of people each year to experience its peaceful presence as a place of worship, to explore its fascinating architectural history and to enjoy its cultural and musical offerings.

Go to the Nottingham Cathedral website for more...