Cathedrals in United Kingdom
Cathedral of the Isles
The Cathedral of the Isles is the cathedral of the Scottish Episcopal Church in the town of Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae. George Boyle, 6th Earl of Glasgow, was benefactor of the cathedral and the associated theological college and commissioned William Butterfield to design the building. Butterfield was one of the great architects of the Gothic revival and also designed St Ninian"s Cathedral in Perth. Constructi ...Dromore Cathedral
The present Dromore Cathedral was originally constructed in 1661 by Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down and Connor and has been several times expanded to its present size. The first church on the site was a wattle and daub building constructed by St Colman circa 510. This was replaced by a medieval church which was destroyed in the late 16th century. The church was again rebuilt and in 1609 elevated to the 'Cathedral C ...St Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral
St. Patrick"s Cathedral in Armagh, Northern Ireland is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland. It was built in various phases between 1840 and 1904 to serve as the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Armagh. Although the decorative style of the cathedral was thus significantly changed in 1982, the building itself had not undergone any major structural works since the replace ...St Eugene's Cathedral
St Eugene"s Cathedral is the Roman Catholic cathedral located in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Fundraising for the building of the cathedral took place from 1840. Work began on the construction of the cathedral in 1849. Money was raised not just in Derry and Ireland, but also in America where around £4,000 was raised. The architect commissioned to design the cathedral was James Joseph McCarthy who had already buil ...St Ninian's Cathedral
The Scottish Episcopal Church was disestablished in 1689 and all the Scottish cathedrals became the property of the Presbyterian Church either falling into disuse or becoming adapted for the Presbyterian rite. In 1848 two young Scottish aristocrats at Oxford University conceived the idea of reviving cathedrals for the Episcopalians and the London architect, William Butterfield was chosen to design a cathedral for Perth. Â ...Christ Church Cathedral
The first church was built on the site of Christ Church Cathedral in Lisburn in the early 1600s by Sir Fulke Conway as a chapel of ease for his new castle at what was then called Lisnagarvey. It was consecrated in 1623 and dedicated to St Thomas, but was destroyed along with much of the town during the rebellion of 1641. The church was quickly rebuilt and in 1662 St Thomas"s was designated the cathedral church a ...Down Cathedral
Down Cathedral location is an ancient ecclesiastical site dedicated to the Holy Trinity recorded in the 12th century. In 1124 St Malachy became Bishop of Down, and set about repairing and enlarging the Cathedral. In 1177, Sir John de Courcy (Norman conqueror of Ulster) brought in Benedictine monks and expelled Augustinian monks settled there by St Malachy. De Courcy, who had enraged the king by his seizure of la ...Peel Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Saint German was built in 1879–84. The Patron of the Cathedral, St German of Man, was a Celtic missionary and holy man who lived from about 410 to 474. The original cathedral of St German was inside the walls of Peel Castle and was built sometime in the 12th century when St Patrick's Isle was in the possession of Norse kings. At that time the church followed the Sarum Rite, prevalent thro ...Fortrose Cathedral Ruins
Fortrose Cathedral was the episcopal seat of the medieval Scottish diocese of Ross. It is probable that the original site of the diocese was at Rosemarkie (as early as AD 700), but by the 13th century the canons had relocated a short distance to the south-west to the site known as Fortrose or Chanonry. The first recorded bishop, from around 1130, was Macbeth. According to Gervase of Canterbury, in the early 13th century t ...Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. Luke
Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. Luke was designed by James Sellars and built in 1877 as the Belhaven Church for the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The church was built in Norman Gothic style, inspired by Dunblane Cathedral. A prominent feature of the church is the stain glass windows designed by Stephen Adam which depict scenes from the Old and New Testament. Following the amalgamation of Behaven Church with a ...Newry Cathedral
The See of Dromore was founded in the sixth century by Colman of Dromore, and had its own independent jurisdiction ever since. The old cathedral of Dromore, which had been taken by the Protestants, was burnt down by the Irish insurgents in 1641, and rebuilt by Bishop Taylor twenty years later; the Catholic Church was erected later. In 1750 the seat of the cathedral was transferred to Newry the largest town of County Down ...Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Historic Site of the week
Broch of Gurness
The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.
The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick. The tower was likely inhabited by the principal family or clan of the area but also served as a last resort for the village in case of an attack.
The broch continued to be inhabited while it began to collapse and the original structures were altered. The cistern was filled in and the interior was repartitioned. The ruin visible today reflects this secondary phase of the broch's use.
The site is surrounded by three ditches cut out of the rock with stone ramparts, encircling an area of around 45 metres diameter. The remains of numerous small stone dwellings with small yards and sheds can be found between the inner ditch and the tower. These were built after the tower, but were a part of the settlement's initial conception. A 'main street' connects the outer entrance to the broch. The settlement is the best-preserved of all broch villages.
Pieces of a Roman amphora dating to before 60 AD were found here, lending weight to the record that a 'King of Orkney' submitted to Emperor Claudius at Colchester in 43 AD.
At some point after 100 AD the broch was abandoned and the ditches filled in. It is thought that settlement at the broch continued into the 5th century AD, the period known as Pictish times. By that time the broch was not used anymore and some of its stones were reused to build smaller dwellings on top of the earlier buildings. Until about the 8th century, the site was just a single farmstead.
In the 9th century, a Norse woman was buried at the site in a stone-lined grave with two bronze brooches and a sickle and knife made from iron. Other finds suggest that Norse men were buried here too.