Clifton Cathedral

On my visit to Bristol to see its cathedrals, I made a mistake when visiting Clifton Cathedral. Instead of visiting it, I saw and photographed Christ Church Clifton. While it is a lovely church, it is not Clifton Cathedral.

Clifton Cathedral or the Cathedral Church of Saints Peter & Paul, is also the first cathedral built under new guidelines from the Second Vatican Council.. Construction began in May 1970 and, after some issues, was completed in May 1973. It has been a Grade II Listed Building since 2000; it’s to be the only Catholic church built in the 1970s to have been listed.

The history of catholicism in Bristol didn’t start in 1970. Prior to the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1791, Roman Catholics in Britain were banned from having public places of worship, and simply being a Catholic priest or running a Catholic school was liable to punishment with life imprisonment. By the time of Catholic Emancipation, and the passing of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829, Roman Catholics in Bristol had established a number of local places of worship, some of them in private houses,, and in Clifton by the discreet purchase, through a third party, of a plot of land known as 'Stoney Fields' in what is now Park Place, Clifton

In 1834, work began on building a church at Stoney Fields. It was plagued with issues and work stopped in 1835 and began again and stopped in 1843. In 1848, a roof was placed on the half finished building so it could be used as a church.  In 1850,, Clifton was made an episcopal see and the church became the Pro-Cathedral of the Holy Apostles (1850–1973), intended to act in this capacity until a more fitting cathedral church could be constructed.

From 1962 to 1965 the Second Vatican Council met in Rome, discussing the renewal of the Church in its relationship to the world. The council's decree on liturgical worship focused on the role of the people, with the bishop and their priests in the celebration of the Eucharist.. This was to be a strong influence in the design of the new Cathedral and, when built, the cathedral would be the first worldwide to be designed following the new guidelines.[

In 1965, architects were commissioned by the Bishop of Clifton, Rt Rev Joseph Rudderham to undertake the design of a new Cathedral on a different site in Clifton. The design was primarily by Ronald J. Weeks, working with Frederick S. Jennett and Antoni Poremba of the Percy Thomas Partnership.

Here are some photos of the cathedral.