We Are Gathered Here – Gloucester Cathedral

Gloucester Cathedral is celebrating its city’s rich heritage and the people who shaped it this week with a special service marking the culmination of a unique community art display.

Paying homage to those who helped shape a city – We Are Gathered Here

The We Are Gathered Here exhibition opened earlier this month, a community installation that filled the pews of the cathedral’s Lady Chapel with silhouettes of past residents and employees of Gloucester’s Westgate Street. 

And this Friday their names will be called out during the service in recognition of their contribution, and prayers will also be given for those living and working in Westgate Street today. 

The service will be led by the Rector of the City Centre, Reverend Canon Nikki Arthy who said,

“To recognise and celebrate our history and heritage, we will honour all those people who once lived, worked, visited or supported Westgate Street in the past on Friday 26 April. 

“The service will be an opportunity to give thanks to God for their lives, to pray for them and for their families, friends and neighbours. We will pray too for the people of Westgate Street today.”

The ‘We Are Gathered Here’ artwork brings past residents of Gloucester to life, by depicting a congregation in silhouette. It pays homage to the people who have contributed to Westgate Street’s heritage over time. They once lived, worked, visited or supported Westgate Street at various times in the past.

The figures, which were created by art students at Gloucestershire College, demonstrate the long history of Gloucester’s Westgate Street and its importance as a place of trade throughout the ages – a celebration of the people who have shaped, influenced and worked to make Gloucester the place it is today.

Find out more here.

This exhibition is a partnership between the Cathedral Quarter High Street heritage Action Zone (Gloucester City Council and Historic England), Gloucestershire Family History Society, Gloucester Civic Trust, Gloucestershire College and the Churches Conservation Trust, and supported by Voices Gloucester and Nicks Timber.