Blackburn Cathedral centenary celebrations launch tonight - here's how you can get involved
Blackburn Cathedral’s 100th anniversary events are officially kicking off tonight.
A special launch event for a year of celebrations is being held between 7-8pm at the venue in Cathedral Close, when events will be unveiled.
Timed to coincide with the Feast of Epiphany, the congregation with will gather outside in darkness, before the Cathedral gradually comes alive with light and music. Inside, all are welcome to celebrate the start of a new chapter in the life of the Cathedral “with great joy, warmth and anticipation for the year ahead.”
Get involved in a year of events
Although God has been worshipped at the site for 1,500 years - making it one of the country’s oldest places of Christian worship - it is one of England’s newest Cathedrals. With the creation of the Diocese of Blackburn in 1926 (taken from the Diocese of Manchester), the parish church of St Mary the Virgin was raised to cathedral status.
To mark the occasion, a year of events are being planned, with community engagement at the heart. A spokesman for the Diocese said: “We intend to look back on the past one hundred years and also work towards ensuring a legacy that lasts for the next century too.”
They also want to hear the memories and stories that reflect what the Cathedral has meant to those connected with it over the past hundred years. Whether you have interesting memories, artefacts, memorabilia or personal anecdotes, staff are calling on people to get in touch by sending an email to the Centenery Team at: [email protected]
Church history
The church, which was built in 1826 and designed by architect John Palmer, now forms the cathedral's nave. It replaced the parish church that was demolished in 1819–1820.
In the early 1930s, fundraising began to enlarge the cathedral so that the building complemented its newfound importance. By 1938, enough money had been raised and work began on enlarging the new cathedral. Although work was interrupted by the war, it was resumed afterwards and continued through the 1950s and into the early 1960s. After the death of architect W.A. Forsyth in 1950, architect Laurence King joined the project and designed the distinctive lantern tower. The lantern tower, which consists of 56 different panes of coloured glass, with a modernist slender aluminium spire, was completed in 1967. The cathedral was finally completed in 1977.