English Cathedral Saints Trivia Quiz

Answer: London

Known simply as "St Paul's", the present cathedral has been the burial place of many renowned Britons since it was consecrated in 1697. Famous as a symbol of British determination to survive, it was saved from destruction in the blitz of World War Two by the heroic efforts of civilian fire fighters. Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London, who performed the service at the 2019 Remembrance Ceremony at the Whitehall Cenotaph, is the first woman Bishop of London in a long list that includes Nicolas Ridley, who was burned at the stake for heresy on the orders of Mary Tudor in 1555.

Answer: Gloucester

Several English cathedrals have dedications that include the "Holy and Undivided Trinity":- Bristol, Carlisle, Chichester, Ely, Gloucester and Norwich. Belief in the Holy Trinity is basic to the Church of England, to which these cathedrals belong.

The other optional cathedrals are dedicated to single saints, St Philip for Birmingham, St Peter for Bradford and St Nicholas for Newcastle. Also none of them is in the west country.

Answer: Chester

Chester has almost complete Roman walls (which I have walked around twice, once in each direction). The walls' walk goes close to the cathedral. Probably about a quarter of all English churches have a dedication that refers to Mary, mother of Jesus, although the titles vary from the simple "St Mary", to "The Blessed Virgin Mary" and "St Mary The Virgin". In the case of Southwark Cathedral, the dedication includes "St Mary Overie", which derives from its being "over" the river Thames from the city of London.

Answer: St Alban

Not the trick question you might have thought it was. "The Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban" is the full title. Alban lived in England sometime in the 3rd or 4th century. He took pity on a Christian priest and sheltered him in his house in the town of Verulamium.

When Romans came to arrest the priest, Alban gave himself up in his place, and was subsequently beheaded. Alban is considered the first English martyr, and is venerated as a saint. The town is now known as St Alban's, and the cathedral was built on the supposed site of his execution.

Answer: Leicester

The church on this site dates from about 1086, and was built on the site of a Saxon church by the Normans and dedicated to the French saint Martin, who is the patron saint of vintners and alcoholics! The church was designated a cathedral when the diocese of Leicester was created in 1927. King Richard III (much denigrated by Shakespeare) was killed at the battle of Bosworth, near Leicester, and when his skeleton was discovered under a modern car park, his remains were re-interred in Leicester Cathedral in 2015.

Incidentally, a word on pronunciation. The suffix "-cester" is normally shortened to sound like "ster". Thus those places are pronounced lester, gloster and wuhster. The ending "-chester" is not shortened though, so you are correct in saying Winchester, Manchester etc as they are written. All these names derive from the Roman word for castle.

Answer: St Swithun

Swithun was a Bishop of Winchester who was buried in the Old Minster near the site of the present church which was consecrated on St Swithun's Day in 1093, and his remains were reburied in the new building. His shrine was a pilgrim site in the Middle Ages, and an interesting feature of the cathedral is the Holy Hole, a short tunnel which enabled pilgrims to get as close as possible to the saint's remains.

Winchester Cathedral was the site of many important historical events, including the burial of King William II (Rufus) in 1100, and the wedding of Queen Mary I to King Philip II of Spain in 1554.

Answer: St James

This is confusing isn't it? When the diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich was created in 1914, the church of St James in the town of Bury St Edmunds became the cathedral.

Edmund the Martyr was King of East Anglia and was killed by the invading Danes in 869. He was (probably) buried in the Abbey at Bury St Edmunds, which became a shrine to St Edmund in the Middle Ages. The dedication to St James incidentally is because Abbott Alselm failed to make his hoped-for pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, and he built a church to the Saint in the grounds of the abbey instead.

Answer: St Cuthbert

St Cuthbert is one of a group of monks who were associated with the monastery at Lindisfarne, on Holy Island in Northumberland. Others include St Chad, who is one of the dedicatees of Lichfield Cathedral, St Cedd, who belongs to Chelmsford Cathedral, and St Wilfrid, who belongs to Ripon Cathedral.

The historian known as "The Venerable Bede" who is also buried in Durham Cathedral was also a monk at Lindisfarne.

Answer: Ripon

The site was originally a monastery built by monks from Melrose in Scotland, and in 672, it was rebuilt as a Benedictine monastery by St Wilfred. That's why he gets his name in the dedication of the cathedral, now the fourth to be built on the site.

Answer: St Andrew

The town is Wells of course, and the cathedral is the mother church for the diocese of Bath and Wells. The Bishop's palace which is near the cathedral is famous for the swans in the moat that have been trained to ring a bell to be given food.

Answer: Birmingham

St Philip's Church dates from 1709, and became a cathedral in 1905. The origin of the term "brummie" is not known for sure, but some say it is a corruption of the word Birmingham spoken fast in the local accent.

Answer: Lincoln

When the towers of Lincoln Cathedral were completed in 1131, Lincoln Cathedral became the tallest building in the world, a title previously held for many centuries by the Great Pyramid of Giza. It relinquished the title in 1549 when St Mary's Church in Stralsund, Germany, was built.

Lincoln Cathedral is not only high in its own right, but is built high on a hill overlooking the River Witham.

The famous imp is an ugly sculpture set high on the wall of the nave, said to be a devil turned to stone by an angel.

The cathedral's copy of Magna Carta was once held in the church building itself, but is now safely kept in nearby Lincoln Castle.

Answer: Christ

This is not the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Liverpool which is nicknamed "The Mersey Funnel" (a play on the Mersey Tunnel which connects Liverpool with the Wirral district) on account of its curiously-shaped tower. No, it is the vast Anglican Cathedral started in 1904 and not completed until 1978.

It is also referred to as "The Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool", and "The Cathedral Church of the Risen Christ, Liverpool". The two cathedrals are half a mile apart, connected (or separated!) by Hope Street.

Answer: Portsmouth

"The Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury" used to be simply St Thomas's church, but when the diocese of Portsmouth was created in 1927, it became a cathedral. Many of England's naval heroes worshipped here before going off to death and/or glory.

Answer: Exeter

Of the four, Exeter is in Devon and has a cathedral. Plymouth is in Devon but has no cathedral. Truro is in Cornwall and Bristol is partly in Gloucester and partly in Somerset.

A guide once told us the story of the little room high in the cathedral occupied by the "dog-watcher". In the Middle Ages, the interior of the cathedral was used as a marketplace on weekdays, but dogs were not allowed in, so if the dog-watcher spotted a dog, an assistant was sent to remove it.