16 Facts About Chichester Cathedral

Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester.

Chichester Cathedral has fine architecture in both the Norman and the Gothic styles, and has been described by the architectural critic Ian Nairn as "the most typical English Cathedral".

Spire of Chichester Cathedral, rising above its green copper roof, can be seen for many miles across the flat meadows of West Sussex and is a landmark for sailors, Chichester being the only medieval English cathedral which is visible from the sea.

Chichester Cathedral was built to replace the cathedral founded in 681 by St Wilfrid for the South Saxons at Selsey.

Towers at Chichester have had a particularly unfortunate history because of subsidence, which explains the positioning of the 15th century bell tower at some distance from the cathedral.

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Typically for English cathedrals, Chichester has had a long and varied building history marked by a number of disasters.

Plan of Chichester Cathedral is in the shape of a cross, with an aisled nave and choir, crossed by a transept.

Chichester Cathedral has many treasures and artworks, the most precious being two carved reliefs dating from the 12th century which are of exceptional rarity among English sculpture.

Chichester Cathedral contains many modern works of art, including tapestries by John Piper and Ursula Benker-Schirmer, a window by Marc Chagall, a painting by Graham Sutherland, a sculpture and a font by John Skelton and a reredos for the St John the Baptist's Chapel by Patrick Procktor.

Chichester Cathedral was educated at the University of East Anglia and Westcott House and was formerly the Archdeacon of Dorset from 2010.

Robert Sherburne, the Bishop of Chichester Cathedral, founded four prebends known as the Wiccamical prebends in 1524.

Music at Chichester Cathedral is largely led by the organ and the cathedral choir, as there are services daily and on special days in the calendar.

Chichester Cathedral has been the subject of a number of depictions in art, literature, and television media.

Chichester Cathedral is referenced in s01e10 of Monty Python's Flying Circus: one of Ron Obvious's tasks to gain public fame involves eating the cathedral.

Chichester Cathedral is shown brushing his teeth, putting on a bib, and flexing his jaws, before biting into the corner of the cathedral and breaking his jaw.

Chichester Cathedral is a nesting site for peregrine falcons, which use a crenellated turret at the base of the spire.