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Westminster Cathedral

Art & Architecture

Cathedral Mosaics

thumbnail imageWhen the Cathedral architect, John Bentley, died in early March 1902, he left no finished mosaics in the Cathedral and very little in the way of Mosaic drawings and designs. It was thus left to future architects, donors and designers supervised, from 1936, by the Cathedral Art Committee, to decide on the mosaics.  more >>

Cathedral Marbles

thumbnail imageOver a hundred different varieties of marble decorate Westminster Cathedral (126 at the last count), almost certainly more than in any other building in England. They come from twenty-four countries on five continents and many of them were used in ancient Greece and Rome. more >>

Stations of the Cross

thumbnail imageQuite a number of visitors to the Cathedral know that the Stations of the Cross here were produced by Eric Gill. Some also know that he carved the altarpiece in St George's Chapel. But very few indeed know of the other work he did for the Cathedral. more >>

John Francis Bentley: Cathedral Architect

thumbnail imageIn June 1900 the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) held an Architectural Congress, and its first visit was to the incomplete Westminster Cathedral. It was a great success, and at the annual dinner Sir William Blake Richmond, RA (best known as designer of the mosaics of St Paul's, and later to advise Bentley on mosaic decoration), declared that "he had very rarely been so impressed as when first entering that original and manly structure" two days previously. more >>

William Brindley: Sculptor, Marble Merchant, Explorer

thumbnail imageWestminster Cathedral is not a conventional late-Victorian building but is modelled on a Byzantine basilica - built of brick with the interior decorated with marble and mosaics. The Cathedral authorities were unusually fortunate in having, just across the river, a marble merchant not only well-versed in Byzantine architecture but who knew where Byzantine materials could be obtained. His name was William Brindley. more >>