Britain has had an interesting relationship with religion throughout history, from the famous break away from the Catholic Church during the reign of Henry VIII to the country being home to some of the oldest synagogues in Western Europe, there are a diverse range of religious buildings to explore on a trip to the UK.
Britain prides itself on being a multi faith nation and you’ll find a wide range of religious sites, many with fascinating history.
Heritage Cathedrals
There are a wonderful range of cathedrals across the UK with everything from original Norman creations all the way to more modern buildings inspired by the ever changing attitudes to religion. You can find a host of more modern interpretations in cities such as Liverpool and Coventry, while in other places, there are cathedrals dating back to the 1100s!
Cathedrals have always been elaborate and brightly coloured, something that was destroyed during the reformation and the Civil War and hasn’t really come back to the same extent since. At that time, cathedrals were used as garrisons, prisons and in some instances, even to house animals!
Many of the cathedrals you can see these days were built after the Battle of Hastings, Salisbury Cathedral was one of the first twenty to be built in this style on the orders of William the Conqueror. Perhaps the most famous of our cathedrals is St Paul’s in London. Originally built in 604 before being burned down and then rebuilt in 1087. It was one of the victims of the Fire of London before being rebuilt again by Sir Christopher Wren. When it was rebuilt in the 1600s, it was one of the first to be built for the Anglican faith in Britain.
Even England’s smallest city, Wells has its own Cathedral, which was built in the Gothic style in the late 1100s.
Much like the country’s cathedrals, Britain is also home to a number of historic churches and abbeys. Some of the oldest churches in Britain date from before the Norman Conquest in 1066 and others are so old, that their exact date is unknown.
Britain’s oldest church is thought to be St Martin’s Church in Canterbury, which dates back to 597 and is within the Canterbury World Heritage Site which also includes the ruins of St Augustine’s and Canterbury Cathedrals. Other historic churches that have fascinating stories include Greensted Church which is the world’s oldest wooden church and some of the earliest stained glass windows can be seen at St Peter’s Church in County Durham.
Heritage Synagogues
Though you might think that Britain has always historically been predominantly Christian, it has long been a multi faith nation. In fact, there are a number of synagogues in Britain that predate the expulsion of the Jewish people from England.
A second set of historic synagogues post date the legal return of the Jewish population to England in the seventeenth century. Some were destroyed and then rebuilt on the same site, meaning that the buildings themselves seem relatively new in comparison. Even so, there are some synagogues that have been in continuous use for centuries.
The oldest synagogue in continuous use can be found in London, Bevis Marks Synagogue was built in 1701, however, the oldest Ashkenazi synagogue in the English speaking world can be found in Plymouth.
If you are interested in finding out more about the history of various religions in Britain, Jew’s Court in London is a good place to start. The building that stands there now was thought to have been built in 1150 and still has some Medieval stone work.
Heritage Mosques
Similarly, there has always been a large Muslim population in the UK. The first purpose built mosque in the UK can be found in Woking – known as the Shah Jahan Mosque (or the Woking Mosque) was built in the 1800s and was used by Queen Victoria’s British Indian secretary while she was in residence at Windsor Castle.
Mosques then followed in various places in and around London, including the Fazl or the London Mosque which is located in Southfields, South London. Both these buildings have the look and feel of a traditional mosque, however, a number of the earliest mosques in Britain were more community-led and were often found in houses or community buildings, some of which are still visible today. You can find some of these in Cardiff and Liverpool, where a number of Muslim communities settled during the industrial revolution of the Victorian age and into the 1950s.
Historic religious buildings aren’t limited to churches, cathedrals, mosques and synagogues, there are a number of Buddhist and Sikh buildings across the UK as well as Hindu, Jain, Ba’hai and Zoroastarian buildings.
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