Autumn Art Lectures Bristol Cathedral: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Bristol Cathedral was described by the famous architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner as ‘superior to anything else built in England and indeed in Europe at the same time’. It contains sculpture, stained glass, wood carvings, and other glorious architectural features that are astonishing, puzzling, and unique. And yet Bristol Cathedral is a bit of a ‘hidden gem’, less well known than many other English Cathedrals.

This lecture will reveal some of the intriguing features of Bristol Cathedral, and will look at its history throughout the 650 years of Bristol’s independent county status. It will look at how the Cathedral took its place through Bristol’s changing identity as a town, county, and city, and will present the Cathedral as a key institution in Bristol then, now, and in the future.

This lecture is dedicated to the memory of Jon Cannon (d. 2023) a much-valued colleague of the History of Art Department and the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Bristol, and formerly a Canon of Bristol Cathedral, its Keeper of the Fabric, and its Cathedral Historian. No one knew Bristol Cathedral and its history better than Jon. His research makes this lecture possible.

Autumn Art Lectures

Art and the City: Bristol at 650, October-November 2023

This year’s lecture series will be an opportunity not just to talk about Bristol and its (in)visible histories, but also to step into the city itself. Events will be hosted in venues that span Bristol – from the Cathedral at its heart on College Green, to Spike Island in the midst of the river that defines the city’s cosmopolitan past and present. Our speakers include curators, artists, and academics, who together will take us on a journey through both familiar and unfamiliar aspects of the city’s history, including its place in the wider world.

Check out the events in the Autumn Art Lecture series: https://bit.ly/3ERzIdf.