Rachael our Volunteer Co-ordinator shares an update on the recent Cathedral Christmas Fair, thank you to all those who volunteered at or donated items to the Christmas Fair, which this year raised over £5,300 to support the ministry of the Cathedral.

Rachael our Volunteer Co-ordinator shares an update on the recent Cathedral Christmas Fair, thank you to all those who volunteered at or donated items to the Christmas Fair, which this year raised over £5,300 to support the ministry of the Cathedral.

January 27th marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. One of the Cathedral’s treasured objects is a sculpture by Naomi Blake, sculptor and Holocaust survivor, our heritage team explore her story.

Jonas Hanway was one of a kind ‘Citizen of the World’, starting his early life in Portsmouth, going on to explore far reaches of the world. Later in life founding the Marine Society, Hanway is also credited for popularising the umbrella for gentlemen.

We’re pleased to welcome visitors back through our doors with a daily program of free and paid guided tours. We invite you to take a deeper dive into our past, the people who worshipped here, and much more, alongside other digital experiences available at the Cathedral.

Why was July 1545 a particularly bad month for Henry VIII? Henry and his court were on Southsea Common watching the English Fleet sail out to attack the French when disaster struck.

Portsmouth has always been home to a wealth of creatives and artists, including an illustrator located very close to the Cathedral, Henry Pembroke Innes, who died on 27 May, in 1918.

In April 1538, Prior Noxton (sometimes mistakenly called Norton), together with 12 canons, signed the surrender of his Priory, Our Lady of Southwick, to King Henry VIII, together with its manors and rectories in Hampshire - including the church of St Thomas in Portsmouth. This was part of the process we call the Reformation.

Thirty years ago, on 9 April 1991, the trawler Wilhelmina J set out from Old Portsmouth to trawl for scallops in the English Channel. Shortly before 2am on 10 April, in thick fog off the Sussex coast, the boat was struck by the Zulfikar, a Cypriot cargo vessel.

Did you know on 5 April 1684, the evacuated Tangier Garrison landed in Portsmouth. How did this country come to have a garrison in North Africa?