Clifton Cathedral Church of Ss Peter and Paul

Introduction

Clifton Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Bristol is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton. The Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul was constructed during 1970-73 on a new site in Clifton Park; after 125 years the Pro-Cathedral handed on its title, and 1973 brought a cathedral into existence.

History

The first attempt, in 1830-31, to provide a larger church for the faithful in Bristol ended in disaster: work began in 1834 at Park Place, Clifton, above a steep quarry, and was given up in 1843 when the foundations gave way. The ruined church and its land passed to the bank, and the priest who held the mortgage left for the continent to escape his debtors. Bishop Ullathorne was appointed in 1846 as Vicar Apostolic of the Western District. Autumn 1848 saw the opening of the Church of the Holy Apostles.

In the 1870s Charles Hansom altered the church’s exterior into a North Italian Romanesque atrium, porch and pinnacled facade, and the planned tower remained unbuilt. The bishop who succeeded to the See of Clifton in 1949 decided in the 1960s to renovate and consecrate the Pro-Cathedral and to end its provisional status as mother church. An architect’s scheme of repairs, redecoration and liturgical rearrangement was judged very costly; the 1848 roof supports could not be assured of lasting stability, and engineers believed the foundations were still moving.

During the summer of 1965 the Clifton Diocesan Trust asked the partnership then called Sir Percy Thomas and Son to interview for a building project. After that interview Frederick Jennett returned to the Bristol office with news of the commission. In August 1965 the architects were commissioned to design and build a new cathedral on a new site in Clifton. From August to December 1965 a church committee of priests, lay people and architects met every two weeks with Frederick Jennett and Anton Poremba.

Architecture and furnishings

The design had to seat a congregation of 1000 closely around the High Altar and to locate the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and the Baptismal Font. Sanctuary, nave, Blessed Sacrament Chapel and font lie inside the enclosure of the main ring wall beam. The wall beams have no windows except the coloured-glass window to the narthex, and daylight enters through roof lights. The fabric was to be dense in mass, so as to limit low-frequency sound and to withstand hot and cold weather.

Withdrawable electric cables set 4.5 inches into the concrete floor supply the main heating, and the building takes three days to warm and two days to cool. Air enters at the rear wall of the nave through concrete gargoyles and is extracted at the front of the sanctuary steps. A module of 1 foot 6 inches, drawn from the main dimensions measured from the sanctuary, regulates the whole design. Formwork bolt ties were set at 1% times the module and left exposed so the module is expressed on the concrete.

The original cathedral guidebook calls the left window ‘Jubilation’, about awareness of God’s Spirit where earth, sky and sea meet. The original cathedral guidebook calls the right window ‘Pentecost’, depicting the coming of the Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles. The main doors, a gift of the Bristol Corporation, are timber-cored, finished in fibreglass and metallic fillers, and are the work of William Mitchell. Simon Verity made the font, which a low concrete wall containing the holy-water stoups encircles.

The finished font is inscribed with the words that those who once were no people are God’s people. William Mitchell designed and made the 14 stations in Faircrete, a concrete and fibreglass mix that stays plastic for about one hour and can be moulded by hand and tools. The finished tabernacle is a stainless-steel safe set inside a highly polished stainless-steel tubular cage. A votive candle stand was made as an icosahedron, a 20-sided figure of equilateral triangles sized to the building module, from 318 welded nickel-plated bars.

Music and liturgy

The Music Service works from Clifton Cathedral, furnishing music for the cathedral liturgies and also serving the Clifton Diocese. People in the diocese receive advice from the Music Service on situations, repertoire, resources, organs and sound systems through the year. Funding for the Music Service comes from the Cathedral and the Diocese, and it covers only diocesan liturgies. Volunteers support the cathedral liturgy each week and at the principal seasons.

The Cathedral Choir looks for volunteer singers and gives a particular welcome to sopranos and altos. Adults who wish to become Catholic enquire at Cathedral House about the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults through the Knowing the Faith programme. Professional musicians provide wedding music at Clifton Cathedral.

Mass from the cathedral can be watched live every day. The live stream is sometimes muted because of privacy or copyright.

Sacraments and pastoral care

Children aged 8 and in Year 4 prepare for Communion through the First Holy Communion and Reconciliation course, while adults prepare through the RCIA course. Any of the clergy may be approached after Sunday Mass to ask about a course of marriage preparation.

The live stream stays mostly on the Blessed Sacrament Chapel to support private devotion and prayer. The Blessed Sacrament Chapel also functions as a weekday chapel.