St Philip's Cathedral

St Philip’s Cathedral stands on Colmore Row in central Birmingham, a Baroque church built between 1711 and 1715 by Thomas Archer. It occupies one of the highest points in the area, at the same level as the cross on St Paul’s Cathedral in London. The building began as a parish church and became Birmingham’s cathedral in 1905 after the city grew and the Diocese of Birmingham was formed. Robert Philips donated the land, originally called Barley Close, and the church was named in his honour. The interior features fluted Tuscan pillars, wooden galleries and a richly decorated chancel added in the 1880s by J. A. Chatwin. The tower, completed in 1725, rises in stages to a lead-covered dome and lantern. The cathedral survived the 1940 Birmingham Blitz when its interior was gutted but its Burne-Jones windows had been removed for safety. Restored by 1948, it still holds six listed monuments, including one to victims of the 1974 pub bombings and a statue of the first bishop, Charles Gore. The organ dates partly from 1715, enlarged and modernised several times, most recently in 1993. A ring of twelve bells, cast and recast over centuries, was last restored in 2004 with a viewing gallery added. Edward Burne-Jones, baptised here, donated windows, three of which face the east end. Outside, the grounds known as ‘Pigeon Park’ hold a Portland stone obelisk to the explorer Frederick Burnaby and a red marble memorial to Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Unett. The cathedral’s stone came from Archer’s Umberslade estate, and the soft original was replaced in the 19th century. Inside, Corinthian columns frame marbled surfaces and gilded details beneath a coffered ceiling. The west window, by Burne-Jones, was dedicated in 1897 to Henry Bowlby. From the tower’s base to the chancel’s gilding, the building tells the story of Birmingham’s growth and faith.