Truro Cathedral

Truro Cathedral stands in the heart of Cornwall’s only city, built between 1880 and 1910 to a Gothic Revival design by John Loughborough Pearson. It occupies the site of the former parish church of St Mary the Virgin, a 16th-century Perpendicular-style building with a 39-metre spire. The cathedral was the first Anglican cathedral built on a new site in England since the 13th century. Bishop Edward White Benson oversaw its early years, introducing the Christmas Eve service of Nine Lessons and Carols in 1880. Pearson’s son Frank completed the work after his father’s death in 1897. The cathedral’s architecture blends Early English and French Gothic styles, with a 76-metre central tower and spire and two 61-metre western towers. Four types of stone were used in its construction, including Mabe and St Stephen’s granite. Nathaniel Hitch carved the decorative sculpture, including the reredos. The original south aisle of St Mary’s survives as St Mary’s Aisle, still serving as the city’s parish church. Three 16th- and 17th-century brasses remain from the earlier building. Inside, visitors find a vaulted cathedral with a Father Willis organ installed in 1887, regarded as one of the finest in the country. The Jesus Chapel and Chapel of Unity and Peace offer quiet spaces for prayer. A chapter house was added in 1967. The Royal Maundy Service was held here in 1994, when Queen Elizabeth II presented Maundy money to 134 Cornish people. Restoration work has focused on the east end, west front and central tower, addressing damage from the maritime climate.