The story of Chester Cathedral

Walk through this cathedral and you walk through the whole story of English medieval architecture: every major style, from Norman to Perpendicular Gothic, can be found in the present building. That is because it was built and rebuilt over a very long time, from the 10th century to the early 16th, and the site may have been used for Christian worship since Roman times. It began as the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to St Werburgh.

In 1541, after the monastery was closed, it became the cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of Chester, dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Unusually, many of the old monastery buildings still stand on its north side. In the 19th century the cathedral and monastic buildings were heavily restored, not without controversy, and in the 20th century a free-standing bell tower was added nearby.

Explore the former monastic rooms as well as the church, to get a sense of the monks' daily life.