Lichfield Cathedral turns spotlight on unique photographic exhibition
Lichfield Cathedral is to turn the spotlight on a unique photographic exhibition highlighting more than 40 English cathedrals.
The Staffordshire cathedral, one of the oldest places of Christian worship dating back to the 7th century, will host Peter Marlow: The English Cathedral, the next stage of an ambitious tour of works by the late Magnum photographer, Peter Marlow. (b. UK, 1952 - 2016).
The exhibition, chronicling all 42 naves of England’s Anglican cathedrals, is especially significant to Lichfield as the city’s Cathedral is partly responsible for inspiring Peter to embark on his Anglican cathedral odyssey.
In 2008 Peter was commissioned by Royal Mail on the 300th year anniversary of the completion of St Paul’s Cathedral to photograph six Anglican Cathedrals that were issued as commemorative stamps – including Lichfield.
So taken was he by these initial magnificent interiors that he set out to photograph all 42, guided over the next three years by a copy of English Cathedrals (1989) by Edwin Smith and Olive Cook, and a pack of Anglican Cathedrals of England Top Trumps Cards.
The resulting works will be on show from 11 September - 2 November 2025 in the North Quire Aisle during normal cathedral opening hours (Monday-Saturday 10:00-17:00, Sunday 12:00-17:00) with entry by donation.
He writes: ““What I thought was going to be incredibly simple became intricate, complicated, and utterly absorbing. The journey was memorable and wonderfully hypnotic, a kind of reflective pilgrimage. My cathedral days involved hours of driving and thinking, with my reference Polaroids drying in the sun on the dashboard. England passed by.”
Organised by the Peter Marlow Foundation, the charity set up to continue Peter’s legacy, with the aim of exhibiting the ethereal collection of images at each of the 42 cathedrals he visited on his photographic pilgrimage across England.
Lichfield Cathedral is the 26th of the 42 cathedrals to host the exhibition so far. Peter’s photographic portrait of Lichfield Cathedral transports the viewer back over a decade taking in the dramatic high vaulted ceiling and gothic arches.
Lichfield is among the earliest centres of Christian worship in the UK. After the invasion of 1066 the Normans built a new cathedral (of which only few traces remain), and a century or so later that was rebuilt in the Gothic style, and completed by c.1340, resulting in it being the only English medieval cathedral to have three spires.
Following sustained and substantial damage during the Civil War, including the collapse of the Central Central Spire into the Nave, the Cathedral was ‘restored’ with funding from Bishop Hacket and King Charles II.
In the 19th century Sir George Gilbert Scott completed another restoration, visible today, its interior reflecting the artistry of the Victorian era.
Since the photograph was taken the structure of the Nave remains unchanged, but is a more decorative and colourful scene when the Cathedral is viewed from west to east down the Nave.
The Rt Revd Jan McFarlane, Dean of Lichfield, says of the exhibition; “One of the many joys of Lichfield Cathedral is the way the light plays through the stained glass, changing the mood and the atmosphere in sometimes dramatic ways. We gather in the Cathedral at 8am each day for Morning Prayer and the shifting light marks out for us the seasons of the year as we complete another journey around the sun. Each cathedral will play with the light in different ways.
“Each will be equally special, equally sacred. We may not be able to visit all 42 English cathedrals at dawn, but this exhibition encourages us to marvel at these very special places which offer us time to pause and reflect and wonder.”
