Portsmouth

Portsmouth is one of those places that I’ve visited many times over the years. I don’t remember my first visit as I was 2.5-3 years old and we were visiting as my brother had just completed his basic training for the Royal Navy at HMS Ganges.

Most of my visits to Portsmouth were when I was working for British Telecom and we were visiting the Portsmouth Computer Center. There were, of course, visits to Portsmouth to see my brother after he left the navy and made his home there.

Despite being a settlement since Roman Times and the home of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years, Portsmouth didn’t become a city until 1926. The city uses the Star and Cresent as its coat of arms since 1194 when Richard 1st granted Portsmouth its first charter.

Portsmouth is also home to the historic dockyards which is a great place to visit, on a good day, it houses HMS Victory, the Mary Rose (Henry VIII’s favourite ship) and other attractions. It’s also one of the few cities to house both an Anglican and Catholic cathedral.

Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral or the Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury started its life in 1180 as a chapel which became a parish church in the 14th century and a cathedral in the 20th. A lot has happened to St Thomas’ over the years including surviving a French raid that destroyed most of Portsmouth in 1337, It was closed in 1449 when Portsmouth was excommunicated due to Adam Moleyns, Bishop of Chichester being murdered by sailors. It was badly damaged during the English Civil War.

There were a number of building projects during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries to repair damage and to enlarge the church to support the growing congregation. When the diocese of Portsmouth was created in 1927, plans started to be made to redevelop the cathedral. World War II put a hold on them and after several post-war revisions to the design and fundraising, the cathedral was consecrated in 1991.

Here are some photos of the cathedral.

The building work for Portsmouth Catholic Cathedral aka The Cathedral Church of St. John the Evangelist was started in 1880 and was dedicated in 1882. It was built in a Gothic Revival style, which was common for the era. So, while it is a much new building than parts of the Anglican Cathedral, it is the older of Portsmouth’s two Cathedrals.

Heres are a few photos of St John’s.