Traditionalists in the church have grumbled about English cathedrals' outlandish attempts to attract visitors
ON A rain-drenched summer morning Rochester Cathedral is an ideal place to take shelter, and then enter another world. It is perhaps the finest surviving example of the thrilling Norman architecture that took hold in England after William the Conqueror landed in 1066. Friendly volunteers point out medieval graffiti and the frescoed ceiling, half-destroyed by iconoclasts in the 1650s.
But there are limits to what you can do in an ancient place of prayer. Last year, Derby Cathedral drew a stormy reaction from the faithful when it hosted a series of films that included graphic sex scenes and paganism. The movies were not “showing God anything he hasn’t seen before,” insisted the building’s ruling dean in self-defence.
Even bishops have remarkably little say in the administration of a cathedral. Only as a last resort can the bishop instigate a draconian inspection known as a “visitation”. That is what happened at Peterborough Cathedral in 2016 when a dire financial crisis loomed.
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