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Cathedrals and Minsters

Cathedrals have always been in the business of getting people to visit them. Back in the Middle Ages, saints' relics were a big draw, as was having the very latest in pointy Gothic architecture. These days, they host concerts, invite you to experience the sun or moon, and have cafes in the cloisters.

moon at Lichfield Cathedral

One of the latest wheezes from the Association of English Cathedrals is the Pilgrim Passport. This neat blue booklet enables you to collect stamps from each cathedral you visit. Sucked in by the idea of pilgrimage and the prospect of yet another tick-list to complete, I purchased a passport and set out.


My first job was to review the list. There are 42 English cathedrals, not including Westminster Abbey (which is a Royal Peculiar) and Peel Cathedral on the Isle of Man. Wales has six, and Scotland technically has none, as its church has no bishops. 

For some reason I was also interested in minsters, which is a more nebulous category. Originally the word meant a monastery church. Some minsters were, or became, cathedrals, including York, Southwell and Ripon. Some are particularly important urban parish churches; some are in tiny hamlets. Many current minsters were given their title in the 21st century. These include Leeds, Plymouth, Cheltenham and Sunderland. I copied down the list from Wikipedia as a starting point.

It took a road atlas and a couple of hours to work out where all these places are. I compiled a geographical list of cathedrals and minsters, highlighting those which are close together. Minsters are in italics. Yellow = fairly close, orange = very close.



The combined list came to a total of 72 in England, plus six cathedrals and Swansea Minster in Wales, taking it to 79. Visiting all of those would be a lifetime project! I'd been to some of them already - but how many?

I spent a happy Sunday afternoon combing through blog entries and diaries, trying to work out which cathedrals I have actually been to. Some took more detective power than others.

York: easy. We went there for my birthday a few years ago, in 2023.

Durham: I was sure we'd stopped there on a trip up the east coast. Was it that visit to Newcastle when Theo was a baby? No, it turned out to be the time we went to Northumberland in 2018. That was a great holiday, including a day out in Edinburgh, a boat trip to the Farne Islands to see puffins, and a mass of rhododendrons in Coldstream. Unfortunately I never got around to blogging about it.

Lego model


Talking of Newcastle, I guess we'd not put a cathedral on our list of entertainment for very small boys. Newcastle cathedral doesn't get a tick yet.

Lincoln: we have been to Lincoln twice. Both memorable trips. The first, in 2016, was particularly good; the second visit almost finished before it started, with tears on the journey, high winds, and a rain-soaked search for a cafe that wasn't full. We ended up at a vegan place. The boys were not keen.

I am pretty sure we went in the cathedral both times, but I've put down the 2016 visit.

Ely: gets almost a whole blog post, not just a passing mention. I was impressed by Ely Cathedral! How was that way back in 2013, though?

Norwich: another unblogged holiday was our impromptu Easter 2024 excursion to stay in a shed in a field in Norfolk. That's become the family joke. In fact it was a converted horse trailer, and it was gorgeous, but a very tight squeeze for four people. Highlights included a dark clear night with more stars than Toby had ever seen; seals at Blakeney Point, and of course, a visit to Norwich Cathedral.

St Paul's: apparently my memory of the Whispering Gallery dates back to before the birth of my first child. Graham and I went there with my parents on Boxing Day 2009, and only because the London Eye was closed for maintenance.

Wells: our summer holiday in Somerset was briefly covered in my review post of 2021. We stayed in a holiday home which was slightly larger than the Norfolk "shed", and we went to Evensong at Wells Cathedral followed by an enjoyable dinner at the Fosso Lounge. Only it wasn't a sung service because it was covid season. The choir was on its summer holiday and none of the usual visiting choirs had been able to come.

We also visited Taunton, but I don't think we went inside Taunton Minster.

Lichfield: this is one of our local cathedrals; we must have been there dozens of times, most notably for the Cathedral Illuminated events every Christmas. I decided to add the date that I walked there on St Editha's Way, at the beginning of October 2025.

Lichfield Cathedral illuminated

Worcester: I have just told you all about Worcester Cathedral, that haven of coolness and extensive decoration.

Derby: even more local than Lichfield, the cathedral was the end point for the Bonnie Prince Charlie Walk. I have just walked there again as a mini-pilgrimage, which I will write up soon. So out of many possible dates, Derby gets June 2026.

There are a few more that I've definitely been to, but so long ago that I'm not sure of the date. I have left Bristol, Guildford, and Salisbury unticked for now.

And there are yet more where I have been to the city, and possibly even seen the cathedral from the outside, but I don't think I went in. These include Chester, Oxford, Winchester, Exeter, and St Asaph.

Since acquiring my passport, I have managed a few more visits, taking my current total to fourteen. There are about a dozen more within a two-hour drive or train journey of my home. Those are next on my list, and then... we'll see...

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