Manchester Cathedral

It’s worth a visit if you’re in the area but no need to make a special trip. It lacks the pulchritude of Winchester or Wells cathedrals or York Minster. At the moment there’s lots of scaffolding in parts of the cathedral and not as easy to look around. It does have some having its charm with the exterior.

I’ve lived in Manchester for nearly 12 years and have never been to the Cathedral. Until last night, when I went to a CityCo organised event on the food and drink scene in Manchester (which was very interesting).
I made a complete and utter fool of myself in front of Simon Rogan. I won’t repeat the story here, though shall no doubt bore some poor Unilocalers in the not too distant future.
After recovering from embarrassing myself in front of one of our nation’ stop chefs, I was taken aback by the beauty of the architecture of the Cathedral. Although I’m not religious, I love how much care and attention has gone into creating beautiful churches and cathedrals so enjoy visiting them for that reason. This has to be one of my favourites and is a stunning venue for this event. Acoustically it worked really well. I would love to come here for a concert sometime as I imagine it must sound amazing in this space.
Definite recommend visiting and don’t take 12 years to do it!

We visited the cathedral yesterday — and although this might be unfair, I must compare it to the extraordinary Lincoln Cathedral & York Minster. The Manchester Cathedral does have a few gorgeous stained glass windows and it has a few lovely statues, but otherwise we didn’t feel it’s worth a lot of time.

Now, I might be a little bit biased because I am currently volunteering at the cathedral, BUT it has really opened my eyes to another side of Manchester.
I have always been interested in history and, due to my non-​religious tendencies, I was worried at first that I wouldn’t be able to appreciate the real meaning behind the cathedral, but was pleasantly suprised that the building really holds it own, sans-​religion, and can tell you a lot about Manchester that you simply wouldn’t be able to discover elsewhere.
The architecture is simply beautiful — the hand carved, original, dark oak quire area is a personal favourite, and can really take your breath away. However, it is not just ‘old’ things (excuse the term) in the cathedral. One of the more modern additions are the windows along the west wall, which are full of colour as well as story. Again, you do not have to be religious to truly appreciate these works of art; yes, they tell the story of genesis and revelations, but you can find your own story within them without the need to apply other meanings.
Even if you just have five minutes to look around, it is worth it. Tucked away behind Sinclair’s Oyster Bar, the cathedral can suddenly loom large, and contrasts quite readily with the Urbis, also nearby.
The café across the way is also worth a pop in — very tasty cake, for those who might not be so interested in history/​architecture/​anything other than food!

Being an atheist I can’t really review in Manchester Cathedral in a sense of how good it is religiously. I mean, I’m sure it’s good.
Then I’m not an architect either, so I can’t really accurately comment on it’s architectural splendour. It looks really great, by the way.
All that I can comment on is that I’m someone who likes having a good look around a church or cathedral whenever I get the opportunity. This place isn’t spectacular by any means, but the stain glass windows are absolutely beautiful and at certain times of the day, when the light is just right, the effects can be incredible.
Manchester Cathedral is trying to replace a lot of its worn out roofing at the moment and needs as many donations as possible to complete the work. Why not go and have a look around, take it all in, and then make a donation to help them with their work.

I’d been to this cathedral for a carol service and for a look around, but as an atheist, had never really paid much attention to which religion it was. I mean, I knew it was Catholic or C of E, but it made no difference to me as I just came to sing Silent Night and admire the architecture.
So when my boyfriend’s Grandma came up to Manchester for his graduation we took her for a look around the cathedral. There was something about the decoration of the cathedral that assured my boyfriend and his Grandma that this was a Catholic cathedral, so as a staunch Catholic she popped a generous donation in the box and proceeded to talk to one of the ladies there about the good work the cathedral does etc. It wasn’t until we were leaving that she noticed on the sign that it was a C of E cathedral. Luckily we managed to persuade her not to ask for her money back!
I think I’ve been kind of spoilt for cathedrals in my life having climbed Cologne’s impressive gothic cathedral and St Peter’s in Rome. Sadly, there is nothing you can climb at this cathedral, which is a shame. I would still recommend a visit to the cathedral, but if you’re not religious you could probably only spend 10 – 15 minutes in here.
For Catholics there is a Catholic cathedral in Salford.

Staying on the subject of worship, I once went to see an all day music event at Manchester Cathedral.
A stunning church on the edge of Deansgate, it’s an incredible piece of architecture inside and out. There’s painstakingly carved elements around the whole building, lots of impressive stained glass windows and original sculptures. Whilst it’s mainly used as a church, there are regular art exhibitions here and occasional multi-​media events like the festival I went to where a group of electronic musicians matched the vision of the building with extraordinary sounscapes. One used so much bass it felt like the pews shook!
For those wanting to worship over the festive season, there’s a service and communion at 11.30pm Christmas Eve and a Christmas Day Euchachrist at 10.30am.

This is an absolutely amazing building — the architecture and design is breathtaking. It is smack bang in the middle of the town centre and thus in a very easy to find area. I have stood in front of the cathedral in awe many a time. The architecture (both inside and out) absolutely floors me every time, Inside there are some very lovely pieces of artwork be it sculptures to paintings and they are absolutely breathtaking. The interior is also steeped in lots of history and is still with the original carvings inside which are lovely. It is amazing to see the hard work and all the details that has gone into this work.

This has been open a couple of years now and was the first stabs at regenerating the area around the Cathedral next to Deansgate. It’s a rather small affair but most definitely worth an hour of your time even if it’s merely to grab a coffee and take a peek at the ‘Hanging Bridge’: this was built back in 1421 and one of the few remaining artefacts/​buildings representing mediaeval Manchester (Manchester being really defined in the Victorian age). It was excavated a few years back and it can be seen from inside this visitor centre — strange to think that once this was a major feature in Manchester (built over ‘hanging ditch’) but was hidden away from view for over ine hundred years.
The sculptured stream that cuts in front of the Triangle is a homage to the original, natural ditch — shame we couldn’t still have the original.
Also inside the centre is a gift shop and a collection of archives from the Cathedral next door.
As of writing a new wine store has opened next door, fronting onto Deansgate — within a couple of years this area will be changed forever: with this I hope this visitor centre will attract more punters because it’s a nice slice of Manchester history.