St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham

St Chad's was one of the first Catholic cathedrals erected in England after the English Reformation initiated in 1534 by King Henry VIII. St Chad's Cathedral was built at the behest of Bishop Thomas Walsh, the local apostolic vicar (styled Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District). St Chad's Cathedral was designed by Augustus Welby Pugin (1812–52), the foundation stone was laid in October 1839 and the building consecrated as a church on 21 June 1841. The church was raised to the status of cathedral in 1852 following the restoration of the Catholic Hierarchy in England by Pope Pius IX in 1850. ==Patronal saint==

The patron of the cathedral is St Chad, a 7th-century bishop of Mercia and pupil of St Aidan of Lindisfarne. The cathedral enshrines, in the canopy above the altar, the relics of some long bones of St Chad. These were originally enshrined at, and rescued from, Lichfield Cathedral by Prebendary Arthur Dudley, before its despoliation during the Reformation, in about 1538. In the 19th century, the relics found their way into the hands of Sir Thomas Fitzherbert-Brockholes of Aston Hall, near Stafford. After Sir Thomas's death, his widow moved to Swynnerton Hall and their chaplain, Fr Benjamin Hulme found the dusty velvet-covered box of relics under the altar, when he cleared out the chapel at Aston. Fr Hulme presented the relics to Bishop Walsh. So it was that the relics of the saint who was the apostle of the Midlands in the 7th century were enshrined above the altar. These relics were subjected to radiocarbon dating analysis by the archaeological laboratory of Oxford University in 1985, on the order of Archbishop Couve de Murville, which showed all but one of the bones to date from the 7th century, which concurs with the death of St Chad on 2 March 672 AD. ==Architecture and fittings==

The architect chosen to design St Chad's, Augustus Welby Pugin, later became one of England's most renowned Gothic Revival architects. Pugin had converted to Catholicism in 1835, and spent most of the remainder of his working life designing Catholic churches, their fittings and vestments. St Chad's was the first large church that he designed which was planned, from the outset in 1837, to become a cathedral. Because of the narrow site, and the necessity to build in brick rather than stone, Pugin was restricted in the style and proportions of the church that he could design. Because he wished to make the church as open and spacious as possible, he looked as a model to the style of churches that were built in Northern Germany in the late Middle Ages. St Chad's is built in the style of a brick hall church or "Hallenkirche", similar to Munich Cathedral and has a westwerk with narrow broached spires similar to those of Lübeck Cathedral. Because of the steep slope of the site, Pugin built a large crypt beneath the building, to be used primarily as a burial place for family tombs, In 1932 St Chad's was extended by the addition of St Edward's Chapel, designed by Pugin's grandson, Sebastian Pugin Powell, and built in memory of Archbishop Edward Ilsley and his patron St Edward the Confessor. The chapel windows depict the history of the relics of St Chad, and those who have served the church there, along with some magnificent ecclesiastical coats of arms. In the 1960s a number of the fittings, including Pugin's screen, were removed and the interior repainted, to the detriment of the original design. Other artefacts were removed to other churches, including the giant rood crucifix, which after its removal to the Church of the Sacred Heart & St Therese, in Coleshill, was reinstated in the cathedral within the Sanctuary on the instructions of Archbishop Maurice Couve de Murville. The cathedral as it appears today is a result of post-Vatican II renovations and re-orderings, with only some of Pugin's work surviving. The original chancel arrangement was altered, again much to the detriment of its design, destroying Pugin's intent. Its appearance today is a mere shadow of how it was originally conceived by Pugin, but its enduring beauty in the face of iconoclasm is testament to the skill of its original designers. St Barnabas Cathedral in Nottingham, also by Pugin, suffered similarly, with much of the original decoration smothered with whitewash, and fittings destroyed. The former Bishop's House, which stood nearby and was also by Pugin, was demolished in 1959 due to Road widening. ==Music==

Organ The cathedral has a three manual organ by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd, built in 1993. It is sited at the west end of the cathedral in a magnificent case designed by David Graebe. The consultant was Nicolas Kynaston and the instrument is considered to be one of the finest mechanical organs in the country. There is a regular series of recitals, Thursday Live, on the first Thursday of every month. The organ is also used as a teaching instrument for students and staff of Birmingham Conservatoire. The current Organist and Director of Music is Professor David Saint, Organist and Associate Director of Music: Paul Carr, Associate Organists: Nigel Morris, John Pryer (Organiste Honoraire) Directors of Music • 1848 – ? Meyer Lutz • 1850s Johann Benz • 1930-35 Henry Washington • 1935-46 Basil Krauth • 1958-65 Cyril Barlow • 1965-68 Petroc Howell • 1964–1972 Roger M. Hill (Organist) • 1969–1972 Derek Stanley • 1972–1978 John Harper • 1978–present David Saint Choir The cathedral has had a properly constituted, surpliced choir since 1854, when it was first endowed with £1,000 by John Hardman. Hardman was for many years cantor of the choir, and is commemorated by a small white figure of him in the lower left-hand corner of a stained glass window of 1868 located in the north aisle and depicting the Immaculate Conception, with a line of plainchant along the bottom, being the Introit for the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Currently, the four-part, robed choir comprises around adult men and women who lead the worship at the Sunday Solemn Mass (at 11:00 am). They also lead the worship during Holy Week and Easter, when the archbishop presides. The choir specialises in the Latin polyphonic music of the renaissance, but sings a wide repertory of Masses and motets in English and Latin. The choir sings occasional concerts and has featured in television and radio broadcasts. Bells In 1840 St Chad's was presented with a single bell weighing approximately . In 1848 the metal from this bell was used in the casting of a ring of five bells, made by Mears of Whitechapel and hung in the north-west tower. They were augmented by three bells by Blews of Birmingham in 1877. The eight bells were first rung on Easter Sunday of that year. In 1940 the bells were recast by Taylors of Loughborough. The eight bells form a diatonic octave in the key of F Major, with the heaviest bell (the tenor) weighing . They are hung for full-circle ringing in the north-west tower, and are rung regularly on Sunday morning after High Mass, at about 12 noon, and at other major services by the St Chad's Cathedral Society of Change Ringers. ==Location==

The cathedral is in a green public space near Birmingham Snow Hill railway station and is located on what is now called St. Chad's Queensway after the cathedral, at the junction with Snow Hill Queensway and Old Snow Hill (becomes Constitution Hill), part of the Birmingham Inner Ring Road constructed in the 1970s. St. Chad's is on the northern side of the road, which divides the cathedral from the city centre. In January 2017 the nearby West Midlands Metro tram stop was named St. Chads. ==Burials==

• Chad of Mercia (c. 634–672)  • Thomas Walsh (1777–1849), buried in the crypt chapel of St Peter. A large Gothic-revival memorial to him with a recumbent effigy, designed by Pugin and carved by George Myers, was erected in the North aisle of the Cathedral in 1851, after being exhibited in the Mediaeval Court of the Great Exhibition in The Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, London. ==See also==