Looking through the lens at cathedrals, at Worcester Cathedral

CATHEDRALS are the subject of a touring photographic exhibition, pulling up next at Worcester Cathedral.

The English Cathedral features the work of late Magnum photographer Peter Marlow chronicling all 42 naves of English Anglican cathdrals.

The work will be on show until November 17 in the Chapter House during cathedral opening times.

Organised by the Peter Marlow Foundation, the charity set up to continue Peter’s legacy, the aim is that this collection of images will exhibit at each of the 42 cathedrals he visited on his photographic pilgrimage across England.

Worcester Cathedral is the 23rd of the 42 cathedrals to host the exhibition so far.

Peter’s photographic portrait of Worcester Cathedral transports the viewer back over a decade to the well-known and much loved view of the nave looking towards the famous west window.

Founded in 680, Worcester Cathedral has been a place of Christian worship and prayer for fourteen centuries. Saint Oswald then built another cathedral in 983, and established a monastery attached to it.

Saint Wulfstan began the present building, which is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, in 1084 replacing the earlier cathedrals. The cathedral was heavily restored between 1857 and 1874 by W A Perkins and Sir George Gilbert Scott, the prolific English Gothic Revival architect, known for the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals. Most of the current fittings and the stained glass date from this time.

Peter was commissioned in 2008 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.

So taken was he by these initial magnificent interiors that Peter set out to photograph all 42, guided over the next three years by a copy of English Cathedrals by Edwin Smith and Olive Cook and a pack of Anglican Cathedrals of England Top Trumps Cards.

The Very Reverend Canon Dr Stephen Edwards, Dean of Worcester, said; “It is an absolute honour for us to host Peter Marlow’s stunning exhibition here in Worcester. I often walk through the cathedral early in the morning and marvel at its beauty in the natural light. For Peter to have observed this and taken the time to travel around all of the English cathedrals and capture these serene and beautiful moments to share with us all is truly remarkable.”