A Cathedral stood on the site since 1848, and at the time the Cathedral was the largest (Roman Catholic) in Britain, and hence the centre of Catholic life until the magnificent Westminster Cathedral was built.
The original Cathedral did not look have the same dismal, uninteresting look as the current Cathedral. It had a gargantuan tower, and was builtin the gothic style. (see photo below)
The old Cathedral was bombed on 16th Aptil 1941, and hence had to be rebuilt. The New Cathedral began construction in 1953 and was opened in 1966. The new Cathedral was designed by Romilly Bertrand Craze designed the new cathedral and attempted to mix the remnants of the old Cathedral with his own Arts and Crafts/ Gothic Revival architecture.
However, funds ran out and the new Cathedral was built without a tower and spire... which is why it's not very well known, and not remotely interesting to look at. (anyone fancy raising funds to make this cathedral look like a Cathedral? rather than a semi-demolished Parish Church?)
Internally, it's quite elegant. Many different types of Gothic architecture feature on the inside of the Cathedral. The sanctuary, however got immensely buggered by the Second Vatican Council (as did the Sanctuaries of many churches) There is no High Altar, only an uinmpressive main alar made of what seems to be granite. However, the stained glass windows are superb, not to mention the statues!
The Cathedral also features LCD screens about every 10 metres down the nave (mounted on the pillars), which, could have been better spent on building a bell tower!
Enough talk. Time for some photos:
"West Face" of the Cathedral
Cathedral from the "North-West"
The Spectacular East Window depicting the Crucfixion.
Nave, looking East
Sanctuary (the pieces of cloth belong to the cleaners)
The ceiling, above the Nave.
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