Launch of new book on Gloucester Cathedral
A new book, Gloucester Cathedral - Faith, Art and Architecture: 1000 years will be launched on Saturday 23 April at 12 noon.
Visitors to the Cathedral can meet the authors and between 12 noon and 4pm enjoy a 10% discount on the book. To celebrate the launch, the Cathedral is offering a limited number of free tours of the Cathedral Tower.
The 128 page book covers the history of the Cathedral from its foundations to the present day. It is written by six local authors with close connections to the Cathedral. It is beautifully illustrated with over one hundred specially commissioned photographs of the cathedral’s architecture and treasures.
The book has been partly funded by the Friends of Gloucester Cathedral to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the organisation in 2011. The Chairman of the Friends, Lady Mavis Dunrossil, will officially launch the book.
Canon Celia Thomson, who oversees the Welcome ministry at the Cathedral, co-ordinated the production of the book and contributed one of the chapters. She said: “It is thrilling to have this beautiful book which celebrates our wonderful Cathedral. After 18 months hard work, it is everything I had hoped for.”
The book is published by Scala Publications - worldwide specialists dedicated to publishing high-quality books on museums, art galleries, cathedrals, historic monuments and religious and heritage sites.
The book retails at £14.99 and is available from the Cathedral Gift Shop and online at www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk/.
More information for editors
Gloucester Cathedral has been a place of Christian worship for over a thousand years, growing from a small Saxon abbey to one of the greatest medieval monasteries in England. During the 14th and 15th centuries, Abbot Serlo’s Norman church was remodelled with dazzlingly experimental architecture. The abbey became a cathedral in 1540 and no new building work has been undertaken since. There have been many alterations to the interior, such as George Gilbert Scott’s transformation of the quire, and some wonderful stained glass from the 19th century to the present day, including superb examples by the Arts and Crafts artist Christopher Whall. The cathedral’s history reflects that of the Christian church and of the nation. This book uncovers its many glories.
The authors
Carolyn Heighway FSA directed archaeological excavations in Winchester, York and Belize in the 1970s and was head of excavations for Gloucester Museum from 1973 until 1981. She was archaeological consultant to Gloucester Cathedral from 1981 to 2008 and is now an independent consultant specializing in the archaeology of churches. She has published numerous articles on Gloucester, its archaeology and its Cathedral.
Susan Hamilton has a background in medieval English literature, and her professional expertise is in the interpretation of data and in communications. These interests came together in 1997, when she qualified as a cathedral guide. She was co-ordinator of visitor services at Gloucester Cathedral from 2000 until 2010 and remains responsible for the training of cathedral guides.
David Hoyle is a Lancastrian, educated in Hertfordshire and at Cambridge. He completed a doctoral thesis on the arguments that divided the Church of England just before the Civil War. His book Reformation and Religious Identity in Cambridge, 1590-1644 was published in 2007. A residentiary canon of Gloucester Cathedral and Director of ministry for the diocese from 2002 until 2010, he is now the Dean of Bristol.
Frances Kay moved to Gloucestershire in 2000 and now lives in the Cathedral Close. A professional writer, she has over twenty five published books on business topics and is a business mentor to entrepreneurs in Gloucestershire. A keen student of history, Frances is a qualified cathedral guide with particular interest in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Robin Lunn read history at Cambridge. After a career as a teacher and teacher-trainer he trained as a cathedral guide, taking a special interest in stained glass. He is a member of the cathedral chapter and chairs the fabric committee.
Celia Thomson read history at Oxford and later studied for MA degrees in Renaissance Studies and Religious Studies (Christian Ethics) at London University. In 1994 she was one of the first women to be ordained priest in the Church of England. She has been a residentiary canon at Gloucester Cathedral since 2003.
