Carlisle Cathedral, Carlisle

St Ninian’s Way starts here and runs for 250 miles to South Queensferry, part of which can be done as a one-day route from Gretna Green

Highlights

• Ancient Cathedral Building
• Panels Depicting the Life of St Cuthbert

Carlisle is an ancient cathedral, a treasure house of artworks that will give pilgrims both cultural and devotional plenty to ponder. It never received mass pilgrimage in medieval times, a quiet but unspoilt place of worship on England’s north-west coast that makes for an interesting contrast to the busy attractions on the opposite side in Northumberland.

Even so pilgrims are spoiled for choice by the large collection of artworks, bringing to life the saints of the region and further afield. On the back of the choir stalls are four painted panels dating from the late 15th century, just a few decades before such images fell out of favour. One depicts all 12 apostles, while the other three contain the life story of three saints, including on the north side none other than St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne who visited Carlisle twice near the end of his life. His panels are particularly battered but several are nearly identical to the illustrations in a 12th-century Life of St Cuthbert, which helps their interpretation.

In the south aisle a window depicts other saints active in Cumbria: St Kentigern and Lakeland favourite St Herbert, whose hermitage island sits in the middle of Derwentwater. Despite the respect shown to its local saintly heritage, the cathedral is not known to have housed any shrine of its own, although it would have made a suitable resting place for St Herbert, whose grave is unknown.

Stained glass is another of Carlisle’s memorable artefacts, particularly the extraordinary east window, a delicate construction in the flowing decorated Gothic style which still contains much of its original medieval glass. The Brougham triptych is a carving made in Antwerp in 1520 focusing on the crucifixion. The cathedral also has traditional icons both old and new, bringing devotion of the saints down to eye level.

The misericords, wooden seats in the choir area, include an array of animals both mythical and real. As so often these artworks include a role-reversal scene, in this instance a woman beating a man with a club, presumably considered funny at the time.

It was built in 1122 as a priory church and was elevated to cathedral status in 1233, and is dedicated to Mary. It is often described as one of the smallest cathedrals in England, and indeed it lost its nave during the English Civil War, but given the richness of the interior a visiting pilgrim will hardly leave wanting for more.

Directions

Carlisle Cathedral, 7 The Abbey, Carlisle CA3 8TZ

www.carlislecathedral.org.uk

W3W: ideal.lands.issues

GPS: 54.8946N 2.9388W

The cathedral is open Mon-Fri 7:30am-6:15pm, weekends 7:30am-5pm, entry free. The Welcome Centre is open 10am-4pm Mon-Sat.