Gloucester Cathedral

Gloucester Cathedral might not have the same instant name recognition as some of England’s other great ecclesiastical buildings, such as Westminster Abbey, York Minster and Canterbury Cathedral, but it should – as it’s one of the country’s most magnificent cathedrals.

Dating back almost 1,000 years, it’s a huge structure with lots of elements to explore, including spectacular cloisters, a tranquil garden and some of the finest stained glass in England.

The present cathedral was built between 1089 and 1100 on the site of an old Anglo-Saxon religious house. Originally known as St Peter’s Abbey, it became a cathedral following the dissolution of the monasteries in 1541.

Gloucester Cathedral also holds the distinction of being one of only a handful of cathedrals in England where a monarch was laid to rest (the others being Winchester, Worcester and Canterbury).

Edward II was buried here in a beautifully carved tomb (above) following his murder at nearby Berkeley Castle in 1327. William I’s eldest son and rightful heir, Robert of Normandy, is also buried in the cathedral, in a gloriously ornate and colourful tomb.

The architecture and craftsmanship throughout the cathedral are superb with high-vaulted and fan-vaulted ceilings, delicate and intricate stone masonry, and countless stained glass windows.

There are numerous chapels within the cathedral, too, including the elegant Lady Chapel (above, left), the South Ambulatory Chapel, with its striking, blue stained glass windows installed in 2013 (above, right), and the St Andrew’s Chapel, with its colourful painted ceiling.

One of the most impressive parts of the cathedral is the quire, the area surrounding the high altar (above).

The church within a church boasts a superb fan-vaulted ceiling, some lovely old wooden choir stalls and an enormous stained glass window (the largest in a medieval cathedral in Britain), known as the great east window.

The great east window (above) was commissioned by Edward III in the 1350s to commemorate his father Edward II and it’s an impressive sight, providing an exquisite backdrop to the wonderful stonework surrounding it.

Around three-quarters of the original glass remains and the cathedral has gone to great lengths to preserve it.

During the Second World War, the glass panes were removed and stored in the cathedral’s crypt to protect them from potential bombing raids. It was then carefully pieced back together, using a photo as a guide, once the war was over.

While the main body of the cathedral is a non-stop barrage of beautiful medieval architecture, my favourite part was the cloisters.

The cloisters boast the world’s first fan-vaulted ceiling, intricate carvings all over the walls and rows of stained glass windows.

The cloisters have a magical quality and it’s hardly surprising they were used as a filming location for the first two Harry Potter films. They’re truly spectacular and some of the most beautiful cloisters I’ve seen.

There’s also a small, pretty garden, known as the secret garden, in the middle of the cloisters (above). The garden was quiet and peaceful when I visited, the perfect place to curl up on a hot, sunny day with a book.

The cathedral is also home to a café, the Monks’ Kitchen, which leads off from the cloisters, and it’s where I stopped for lunch.

The café sells home-made fare such as sandwiches, quiches, soups and jacket potatoes, as well as a selection of cakes and tray bakes. I had a toastie, made using fresh, good quality ingredients, which, at £4.95, was a bargain as the portion was enormous and it also came with side-helpings of salad, coleslaw and crisps.

The cathedral offers guided tours of the crypt and the tower, and during my visit I joined a tour of the crypt. The tour lasted some 20 to 30 minutes and was led by a helpful and informative volunteer named Keith.

He took us down into the crypt and showed us around, explaining how the crypt was used in centuries past and how it was built (the cathedral’s foundations are only 2m deep and it’s had to be reinforced over the years to hold the weight of the subsequent building work).

Keith explained that during the Second World War, the coronation chair was brought down from Westminster Abbey and locked in the crypt for safekeeping, along with other valuable objects such as the great east window and Robert of Normandy’s tomb.

The crypt is cold and empty these days – there are no bodies buried in this crypt, although it did briefly house Edward II’s body before he was entombed.

The only object of note is a very heavy-looking granite font (goodness knows how they got it into the crypt) designed by George Gilbert Scott, the architect behind London’s St Pancras Station, which sits in one of the crypt’s chapels.

I really enjoyed my visit to Gloucester Cathedral, it’s a magnificent building and one of the finest ecclesiastical buildings in the UK.

I especially enjoyed ambling around the ethereal cloisters and my informative tour of the crypt, while the café was a great place to recharge my batteries. If you like medieval architecture and/or Harry Potter, it’s well worth a visit.