All News

January 27th marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. One of the Cathedral’s treasured objects is a sculpture by Naomi Blake, sculptor and Holocaust survivor, our heritage team explore her story.

Jonas Hanway was one of a kind ‘Citizen of the World’, starting his early life in Portsmouth, going on to explore far reaches of the world. Later in life founding the Marine Society, Hanway is also credited for popularising the umbrella for gentlemen.

Why was July 1545 a particularly bad month for Henry VIII? Henry and his court were on Southsea Common watching the English Fleet sail out to attack the French when disaster struck.

Portsmouth has always been home to a wealth of creatives and artists, including an illustrator located very close to the Cathedral, Henry Pembroke Innes, who died on 27 May, in 1918.

In April 1538, Prior Noxton (sometimes mistakenly called Norton), together with 12 canons, signed the surrender of his Priory, Our Lady of Southwick, to King Henry VIII, together with its manors and rectories in Hampshire - including the church of St Thomas in Portsmouth. This was part of the process we call the Reformation.

Thirty years ago, on 9 April 1991, the trawler Wilhelmina J set out from Old Portsmouth to trawl for scallops in the English Channel. Shortly before 2am on 10 April, in thick fog off the Sussex coast, the boat was struck by the Zulfikar, a Cypriot cargo vessel.

Did you know on 5 April 1684, the evacuated Tangier Garrison landed in Portsmouth. How did this country come to have a garrison in North Africa?

Did you know on 5 April 1684, the evacuated Tangier Garrison landed in Portsmouth. How did this country come to have a garrison in North Africa?

Last week’s Did You Know considered the way Becket’s assassins demonstrated their penitence (saying sorry and turning away from sin) after his murder. We continue the focus on penitence this week, as we look at the season of Lent.

Lent is a period extending from Ash Wednesday - the day after Pancake/Shrove Tuesday - to Holy Saturday - the day before Easter Sunday - observed as a time of penance and fasting in the Christian calendar.

In 1981 Ken Makins, the Surveyor of the Fabric, alerted the Cathedral Council that some bricks in the temporary west wall of the cathedral were failing. The utilitarian red brick wall had been hurriedly erected in 1939, when the start of the Second World War halted Sir Charles Nicholson’s extension. Remedial work was begun; but in June 1982 repairs were halted, while discussion proceeded on more substantial changes.

On 7 March 1927, Neville Lovett was appointed as joint Archdeacon of Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, and instituted Vicar of the Church of St Thomas.

Jane Stuart’s memorial stone in the Cathedral bears a most unusual date.

On 19 February 1991, a new memorial stone was unveiled in the Cathedral’s Garden of Remembrance. The stone is dedicated to a little-known and largely unrecognised group of servicemen – the British Nuclear Test Veterans, whose Association (BNTVA) was formed to campaign for the recognition and restitution of servicemen who participated in the British Nuclear Tests, effectively as human ‘guinea-pigs’.

How do we find out about our heritage? We have to search for and piece together clues or evidence that people leave behind. Head guide Margaret, explores the of the ‘Cartulary of Southwick Priory’ and its importance in providing us an insight into the Cathedrals fascinating past…

By Friday 10th January 1941, Portsmouth had already endured an autumn and winter of frequent night-time air raids. Then, on Saturday 11 January 1941, the cathedral’s Service Register reads: ‘During this night Portsmouth was heavily raided & much of the Parish was destroyed.’