• Art & Architecture
  • Cathedral Mosaics
  • Cathedral Marbles
  • Stations of the Cross
  • John Francis Bentley: Cathedral Architect
  • William Brindley: Sculptor, Marble Merchant, Explorer
• History of the Cathedral
  • Before the Cathedral
  • Significant Dates
  • Dedication of the Cathedral
• Virtual Tour
  • The Lady Chapel
  • The Nave
  • The Baptistry
  • The Chapel of St Gregory and St Augustine
  • Chapel of St Patrick and the Saints of Ireland
  • Chapel of St Andrew and the Saints of Scotland
  • Chapel of St Paul
  • The Sanctuary
  • The Crypt Chapel of St Peter
  • The Sacristy
  • Blessed Sacrament Chapel
  • Shrine of the Sacred Heart and St Michael
  • The Vaughan Chantry (Chapel of St Thomas of Canterbury)
  • Chapel of St Joseph
  • The Chapel of St George and the English Martyrs
  • Holy Souls Chapel
  • The Cathedral Clock
  • The Tower and St Edward's Bell
• The Tower Viewing Gallery
• Treasures of Westminster Cathedral

The Baptistry

The first of the seven sacraments of the Christian Church, Baptism is frequently called ‘the door of the sacraments and the door of the Church’.

In commissioning the Cathedral Cardinal Vaughan asked that the Chapels should physically portray the Christian journey from life to death starting with the Baptistry and ending with the Chapel of the Holy Souls showing the progression from birth to death, the joy of Christmas to the agony and Resurrection of Christ.

The Baptistry of the Cathedral is an excellent place to start a tour of the interior because the space itself signifies a beginning. In accordance within Roman practice it is railed off and has a gate fastened by a lock. The Baptistry is entered through a broad and deep archway at the south side of the narthex. On the marble alongside the gates there stands a small, finely carved wooden statue of St Christopher.