Guildford Cathedral

One-day pilgrim routes to Guildford’s cathedral have been established from Shere and Gomshall, and it also lies just north of the main Pilgrims Way

Highlights

• Elegant modernist building
• Children’s Chapel
• Hilltop setting

A prominent hill on the west side of Guildford is precisely the sort of landmark setting that has been used for places of worship since prehistoric times. Yet the town’s cathedral only appeared here in the 20th century, on a piece of land noted previously for its use by royal hunting parties.

The coolly elegant building that graces the summit of Stag Hill is as timeless as any house of God and feels very much a part of an ancient devotional landscape. Its pilgrim credentials are much embellished by the presence of the Pilgrims Way footpath, which runs along the southern outskirts of the town, a detour of about a mile from the route to pay homage to this modernist masterpiece.

The cathedral itself was designed by the architect Edward Maufe; its construction from 1936 to 1961 was hampered by the Second World War and the closure of the brick factory at the foot of the hill. Quite how the factory went out of business alongside one of the biggest brick construction projects in British history is a point to ponder as you take in the sheer scale of this lofty building. For all its pleasingly familiar arches, aisles, and an interior of limestone and marble, this is undoubtedly a modernist design too, embellished by several sculptures and stained glass windows from 20th-century artists including Eric Gill and Mary Spencer Watson.

This is the only English cathedral dedicated to the Holy Spirit, an honour that it happily celebrates throughout the building with images of doves and flames particularly prominent in the round window and etched glass. It should come as no surprise that one of the glass artists working at Guildford Cathedral, John Hutton, is also represented at Coventry Cathedral. These two giants of 20th-century religious architecture are comparable in more ways than one, even though it is the more northern cathedral that tends to attract the most attention.

Guildford is also graced by an unusual Children’s Chapel, a gentle reminder that churches are far more than art and architecture, a contemplative and commemorative space on the south side of the cathedral dedicated to parents who have lost a child.

Guildford’s cathedral sits in a landscape that seems to revel in hilltop devotions. Directly to the south of town on the Pilgrims Way itself lies a ruined chapel on top of St Catherine’s Hill, which caught the eye of the artist J.M.W. Turner and still looks much as it was when he engraved it. A couple of miles to the east along the same Pilgrims Way stands the church of St Martha on the Hill, a splendidly isolated medieval building that commands fine views over the downland countryside. Both these buildings no doubt attracted devout passers-by in their various ways, a task now elegantly complemented by their hilltop counterpart in Guildford itself.

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Directions

The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Stag Hill,Guildford GU27UP

www.guildford-cathedral.org

W3W: settle.icons.skip

GPS: 51.2411N 0.5908W

Guildford railway station 900m

The cathedral is open weekdays 8am–6:15pm, Saturdays 8:40am–5:30pm and Sundays 8am–7pm. It is a short walk up the hill to reach the cathedral if travelling by any form of public transport, with a large car park to the north of the cathedral.

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