Awe-inspiring photography at Chelmsford Cathedral

CHELMSFORD Cathedral will host Peter Marlow: The English Cathedral, the next stage of an

ambitious tour of works by the late Magnum photographer, Peter Marlow. This free photographic

exhibition chronicling all 42 naves of England’s Anglican cathedrals, will be on show from 10 January –

19 February 2025 in the South Aisle during normal cathedral opening hours.

Organised by the Peter Marlow Foundation, the charity set up to continue Peter’s legacy, the aim is

that this ethereal collection of images will exhibit at each of the 42 cathedrals he visited on his

photographic pilgrimage across England. Chelmsford Cathedral is the 24th of the 42 cathedrals to

host the exhibition so far and marks the first of 2025, which is in the 10th year of the exhibition’s

ongoing tour. Peter’s photographic portrait of Chelmsford Cathedral transports the viewer back over a

decade taking in the vibrant painted ceilings and modern artworks so distinctive to the Cathedral.

Chelmsford Cathedral, nestled in the heart of Essex, is a remarkable building. The interior, with its

grand arches and distinctive gilded ceiling which was coloured in 1961, is unexpectedly light and

bright. Thoughtfully reordered in the 1980s, the original interior was creatively reimagined; a beautiful

limestone floor was laid, a new organ built under the West Tower and a Westmorland slate altar, designed

by Robert Potter, architect to the re-ordering, was added. The Cathedral also boasts an impressive

collection of modern art, providing a dynamic space where tradition meets contemporary creativity.

Highlights include The Tree of Life mural by Mark Cazalet, decorative pieces by sculptor Peter Eugene

Ball – a sculpture of Christ in Glory can be viewed in Peter’s image – and exquisite embroidery by Beryl

Dean, a leading exponent of modernist design in ecclesiastical embroidery, including the colourful silk

tapestry consisting of 1,520 pieces hanging beneath the East Window also seen in Peter’s photograph.

The exhibition, Peter Marlow: The English Cathedral, invites visitors to embark on a visual journey

through the lens of Peter Marlow, capturing the essence of the Cathedral in a play of natural light with

all modern artificial lighting turned off. Peter’s portrayal of the cathedral evocatively transports the

viewer back to the site’s historic roots by inviting contemplation of its dramatic interior.

Revd Canon Sebastian Harries, Precentor at Chelmsford Cathedral, says of the exhibition;

“I’m thrilled that we’ll be having the exhibition here in Chelmsford at the start of the new year, and it is

especially poignant that is coincides with the arrival of our new dean. The exhibition helps foster a

sense of community and unity among our cathedrals, showing each cathedral as being unique and

reflecting a particular place and community, but also revealing that all cathedrals have the common

purpose of offering a space where God’s people can gather, and enabling the human body, heart, and

mind the encounter divine through the beauty of art, architecture, liturgy, and music.”

PRESS CONTACT: Sam Trenerry, samtrenerry@yahoo.com +44 (0)7780 991 811PETER MARLOW ‘THE ENGLISH CATHEDRAL’

Peter Marlow (b. UK, 1952 – 2016) 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 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.

“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.” Peter Marlow, The English Cathedral.

The images appear deceptively simple in their composition and technical set-up. It was after much

experimentation that Peter developed the perfect strategy to document these huge interior spaces and

to highlight the many varied architectural nuances between the buildings. Shooting on large format film

using only natural light, he set up in the same position at nearly all of the cathedrals – looking east

towards the nave and altar as the dawn light streamed through the main window. By ensuring all

artificial lighting was turned off, a rarity in many of these buildings whose lights remain on constantly,

he captured the cathedrals emerging from the darkness as if suspended in time and removed from the

modern age. This end result can be regarded as a contemporary update to the long tradition of church

photography in England, namely Frederik Evans’ late 19th century imagery and Edwin Smith’s mid-

20th century work.

Peter’s remarkable photographs bring into sharp relief the full splendour of the interiors of some of

England’s most magnificent buildings, great symbols of spiritual and architectural power.

“When immersed in Peter’s photographs we are metaphorically in some kind of contemplative

enclosure, if not a sanctuary: one that confronts us with our own sense of being. The forms captured

here are simultaneously concrete and abstract: containers of history, light and, above all, space.

Despite of, and in parallel with, the undeniable structure of the architectural edifice, Peter captures the

intangible essence of all form that is generated by creative force: the enduring mystery of space within

space.” Martin Barnes, The English Cathedral.