Leicester Cathedral is a Grade II*
listed building comprising a large nave and chancel with two chancel chapels, along with a 220-foot-tall spire which was added in 1862. The building has undergone various restoration projects over the centuries, including work by the Victorian architect
Raphael Brandon, and the building appears largely Gothic in style today. Inside the cathedral, the large wooden screen separating the nave from the chancel was designed by
Charles Nicholson and carved by Bowman of Stamford. In 2015 the screen was moved eastward to stand in front of the tomb of Richard III, as part of the reordering of the chancel by
van Heyningen and Haward Architects.
Vaughan Porch The Vaughan Porch which is situated at the south side of the church was designed by
J. L. Pearson, who was also the architect of
Truro Cathedral. It is named the Vaughan Porch because it was erected in memory of the Vaughans who served successively as vicars throughout a great part of the nineteenth century. The front of the porch depicts seven saintly figures set in sandstone niches, all of whom are listed below. •
Guthlac c 673–713 was a Christian saint from
Lincolnshire who lived when
Leicester was first made a diocese in the year 680 •
Hugh of Lincoln c 1135–1200 was a French monk who founded a Carthusian monastery and worked on the rebuilding of
Lincoln Cathedral after an earthquake destroyed it in 1185. In Norman times Leicester was situated within the Diocese of Lincoln. •
Robert Grosseteste c 1175–1253 was an English statesman, scholastic philosopher, theologian, scientist and
Bishop of Lincoln. He is also the most famous of the medieval Archdeacons of Leicester. •
John Wycliffe c 1329–1384 was an
Oxford scholar and rector of
St Mary's Church, Lutterworth, famous for encouraging two of his followers to translate the Bible into English. Foxe's famous "
Book of Martyrs" (which commemorates the Protestant heroes of the Reformation era) begins with John Wycliffe. •
Henry Hastings c 1535–1595 was the 3rd Earl of
Huntingdon. The
Leicester home of the Earls of Huntingdon was in Lord's Place off the High Street in Leicester, and
Mary, Queen of Scots stayed there as a prisoner on her journey to
Coventry. •
William Chillingworth 1602–1644 was an
Oxford theologian, a friend of
Jeremy Taylor and nephew of
Archbishop Laud. He was Master of Wyggeston Hospital and became a Chaplain to the Royalist army in the Civil War. •
William Connor Magee 1821–1891 was
Bishop of Peterborough and encouraged the building of many of Leicester's famous Victorian churches and a large number of parochial schools. He appointed the first suffragan
Bishop of Leicester, Francis Thichnesse, in 1888. Magee later became
Archbishop of York.
Chapels The cathedral contains four separate chapels, three of which are dedicated to a different saint.
St Katharine's and
St Dunstan's chapels act as side chapels and are used occasionally for smaller services and vigils.
St George's Chapel, which is located at the back (or west) of the cathedral commemorates the armed services, and contains memorials to those from Leicestershire who have been killed in past conflicts. The new Chapel of Christ the King adjoins the East Window.
St Katharine's Chapel is located on the north side of the cathedral to the left of the sanctuary. In the window above the altar is St Katharine, who was tied to a wheel and tortured (hence the firework named after her). Below this is a carved panel showing Jesus on the cross with Mary and John on either side of him.
St Francis of Assisi and the 17th-century poet
Robert Herrick are also pictured – indeed, the chapel is sometimes referred to as the "Herrick Chapel".
St Dunstan's Chapel, located on the other side of the chancel to
St Katharine's Chapel, is specially put aside for people to pray in. A candle burns in a hanging lamp to show that the sacrament of Christ's body and blood is kept here to take to those who are too ill to come to church. The walls of the chapel are covered with memorials to people who have prayed in the chapel.
St Dunstan was
Archbishop of Canterbury in the 10th century, and scenes from his life are depicted in the south-east window.
St George's Chapel was the chapel of the Guild of St George. The effigy of England's national saint, on a horse, was kept here and borne through the streets annually on 23 April in a procession known as "riding the George". The legend of George killing a dragon is shown in one of the chapel's windows. The chapel, enclosed by a carved wooden screen, was reconstructed in 1921 and contains memorials to the men of the
Royal Leicestershire Regiment. Here the battle honours of the Regiment and the names of those killed in the
Crimean,
South African and two World Wars are recorded and remembered. The new Chapel of Christ the King was created at the east end of the cathedral as part of the re-ordering work for the burial of Richard III. ==Services==