Attendance is Up – But which are the finest?

There are over 40 Anglican English cathedrals and following the news that attendance at them has risen by 14% in the last decade the Guardian has posed the question ‘which are the finest?‘.

And then ‘answered’ it with the following Top 10 English Cathedrals. Helped by Simon Jenkins’s, England’s Cathedrals.

(Just note, it’s their opinion, not ours).

England’s Finest Cathedral’s: The Top 10*

10. Norwich “in-your-face tower and nave so grandly Romanesque”
9. Salisbury “the view of the steeple is incomparable, a defining image of Englishness”
8. Winchester “crypt is full of water, a naked Gormley statue stands up to his shins, gazing at his cupped hands.”
7. Westminster “a fascinating junk shop of memorials of the great and no longer great”
6. York “A thumping Perpendicular palace, awesome from around the city walls.”
5. Canterbury “Silvery limestone towers beckon pilgrims across the Kent landscape”
4. Durham “the most superbly sited of all cathedrals”
3. Lincoln “A mysterious warren of a cathedral .. its ‘crazy’ vault mystifies all who try to read it.”
2. Ely “The swirling upward view inside the central lantern is near psychedelic – the gallery no less so.”

and ..

1. Wells “Glowing ‘incomparably in the sunset’. An encyclopedia of medieval life with the most serene chapter house anywhere”

Wow! There you have it. Or do you ….

Read the full article here.

*According to Simon Jenkins, the Guardian.