Bristol cathedral has been a place of workshop since 1140 meaning over 900 years of history. Bristol Cathedral has been, and continues to be, a place of praise and prayer where Christians gather every day to worship God and it has a massive history within the city.
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00:00Welcome to Bristol Cathedral. I'm Ellie. Come and have a look inside.
00:08So I am here stood right in the heart of Bristol Cathedral, a monument that has withstood the
00:13test of time being in the city for almost 900 years. But why has it become so iconic?
00:19It has a sort of formal civic role. So major civic services and so on will be held here.
00:26I'm very proud of the fact that the cathedral increasingly is trying to help the city around it.
00:34Outreach for the homeless, for example, opening its doors to people of all faiths and none,
00:39just trying to be useful to the people of Bristol everywhere.
00:42Life is very unstable. You know, things are changing all the time. One thing that hasn't
00:49changed in almost 900 years is Bristol Cathedral. Yeah. Why do you think it's become kind of a pillar of Bristol?
00:58I think that people find a lot of peace here in the building, in being with other people.
01:06I think it's just a peaceful, calming place to be.
01:10When people come in as visitors, it depends very much, particularly in interest.
01:15That's what I like to tell them. Some people are very interested in the stone snail,
01:21which you can find on the leaves in the entrance to the Berkeley Chapel, for example.
01:25Got a snail about so long, which is effectively a sort of individual signing off by some medieval mason.
01:31I've been trying to take a photo of the window and I can't quite get it lined up. It's a bit wonky.
01:38Could you tell me a little bit why?
01:40Yeah, of course. You'll find that the top of the east window doesn't line up with the centre of the choir screen there,
01:47which is what I imagine you've been trying to line up.
01:50And I had a debate with a visitor here once who is insistent that the Victorian workmen who built this part had had a liquid lunch
01:59and turned up and got the string in the wrong place. And that's why the church isn't quite straight.
02:07This isn't true. We know that the Victorian architect knew that the building was dog-legged on the original medieval plan.
02:14And it's not unusual. There are churches elsewhere in Europe with the same kink in it.
02:19Bristol Cathedral still has regular church services every day and regular events.
02:24Bristol Cathedral is very busy. You've got services all the time. You have lots of events. Tell me about them.
02:31So we try and offer events for all different kinds of people.
02:35We have a lot of things going on for families. So we do a lot of like history trails where kids can get involved.
02:41There's a music trail around cathedral music and the organ restoration.
02:47We have crafty cathedral events which are free and accessible for everyone.
02:54The human race survives. It's going to need buildings like this and it's going to need communities like this.