News

Prayer Vigil for Manchester Victims

24 May 2017

Wakefield Cathedral will hold a prayer vigil on Sunday afternoon for people of the city and the region to come together. Prayers for Manchester have been offered up in the Cathedral at every Morning Prayer and Evensong this week. A prayer station has been set up inside for people to reflect or light a candle.

Circle of hands round Wakefield Cathedral for Dementia Week

5 May 2017

The Bishop of Wakefield is urging people to join hands around Wakefield Cathedral to show they are “United against Dementia”

The action is part of the Bishop of Wakefield’s on-going campaign to tackle the stigma and lack of understanding around dementia by promoting Dementia Friends across all the churches in the towns of Pontefract, Barnsley and the city of Wakefield.

The Stained Glass Windows - a note from the Dean.

2 May 2017

I am sure you have noticed the scaffolding which has been erected on the south side of the nave.This is the start of our project to conserve and protect the stained glass windows at this end of the cathedral. The funding for this project has come from the World War I Fund set up for cathedrals by George Osborne, when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the work being undertaken by Barley Studios will continue until after Christmas.

Wakefield Cathedral to mark the First World War Centenary with a National Lottery grant

28 April 2017

Wakefield Cathedral has received a grant of £9,200 thanks to National Lottery players for a special project called ‘Then and Now, There and Here: The Imprint of the First World War in Wakefield’. Awarded through The Heritage Lottery Fund’s (HLF) First World War: Then and Now programme the project will ask local people to help uncover the lesser known stories of Wakefield’s experience of The Great War.

Wakefield Chorister Phoebe Muir sings on new 500 years of Cathedral Music CD

9 March 2017

Classic FM’s Aled Jones said “What an amazing place to record an album! I’ve never seen so many choristers from cathedrals all around the country. When I first heard them sing all together, it was phenomenal – there were tears in people’s eyes, it was just so moving. It is wonderful to capture that on an album,and for me to sing with the choir as well was just fantastic.”

Relaunched Friends of Wakefield Cathedral gets new head.

19 January 2017

Former head of Wakefield Girls High School has taken on a new role – to head up the relaunched Friends of Wakefield Cathedral.

Pat Langham, CBE, has agreed to take on the renewed Friends – an initiative to bring as many people from the city and beyond together to support the work, the life and the fabric of this iconic Grade 1 listed building and safeguard its future.

Magic Lantern Show of rare images

14 November 2016

A rare find in Wakefield Cathedral offers a chance to step back in time for a special event on Nov 24. A series of previously unseen slides made during the repairing and replacing of the Cathedral’s roof back in the 1930s have been found hidden away in a cupboard in the vestry.

Cathedral Statistics 2015 show continued growth

23 September 2016

Attendance at cathedral worship continues to increase with mid-week attendance rising and Sunday attendance stable in 2015, according to the latest Cathedral Statistics, published today. The figures confirm the trend of gradual growth in cathedral attendance noted in the report From Anecdote to Evidence published in 2014.

The Wakefield Mysteries

12 August 2016

The Wakefield Mystery Plays opened in Wakefield Cathedral last night to rapturous applause.

The series of plays originally written by the City’s Guilds in the Middle Ages to tell the story of the Bible, have been rewritten for a modern audience by writer Nick Lane who has created two new plays for this production – The Fall & Rise and The Price of Love.

Our New Cathedral Revealed

5 May 2016

Wakefield Cathedral is poised to open its doors after a five-year makeover

The Dean of Wakefield, the Very Revd Jonathan Greener, said: “From top to bottom, east to west; this is one of the most dramatic refurbishment of any Cathedral in this country for a long time.