December 2023 – Before planning your visit, please check our ‘Visitor Notices’ for accessibility updates and one-off changes to opening times. Click here to view.
NEWCASTLE CATHEDRAL
A BEACON OF LIGHT
Remembering Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
We join with the whole nation, and friends across the world, in expressing our sorrow at the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Amidst the pain and grief, we also give prayers of thanksgiving for her life, service and example to our nation and to the world.
Paying Respects
Newcastle Cathedral is open for all who wish to offer prayers and reflect on the great contribution Her late Majesty made to our nation. During the period of National Mourning (which runs until Tuesday 20 September 2022), you are very welcome to light a candle or sign one of the Cathedral’s books of condolence.
Please visit the Church of England website to submit a message via the official book of condolence.
Café 16 will be open on Sunday 18 September from 2:30 pm to 4pm, serving hot drinks and cake. The café will be closed on Monday 19 September, observing the Bank Holiday for the Funeral of Her late Majesty The Queen.
The Period of National Mourning
| Friday 9 September | From 12 noon until 1pm, the Cathedral bells will toll fully muffled, the death of a monarch being the only occasion when this happens. At 5:30pm, Choral Evensong will take place instead of Said Evening Prayer, with Bishop Mark in attendance. The Cathedral will remain open until 7pm for you to pay your respects or spend some time in quiet reflection. |
| Saturday 10 September | At 4pm, Choral Evensong will take place in remembrance of Her late Majesty, with Bishop Mark in attendance. This service will be livestreamed via our YouTube channel, for anyone who is unable to attend in-person. |
| Sunday 11 September | At around 1pm, the Proclamation for Tyne and Wear of the new Sovereign will be read by the High Sheriff from the steps of the Law Courts on Newcastle Quayside. The Dean of Newcastle will be in attendance, along with the Bishop of Berwick and the Archdeacon of Northumberland. For full details of Civic tributes, please visit the Newcastle City Council website. |
| Sunday 18 September | A Service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving for the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will take place at 4pm on the eve of the State Funeral. The full Cathedral Choir will be in attendance, along with the Vice-Lord Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear, the High Sheriff of Tyne and Wear, the Acting Bishop of Newcastle and civic dignitaries. Booking is not required for members of the public; however, spaces are strictly limited. We strongly advise that you arrive to be seated before 3:30pm. Café 16, in the Cathedral refectory, will be open on Sunday 18 September from 2:30pm to 4pm, serving hot drinks and cake. |
Watch the livestreamed Service of Commemoration on Sunday 18 September via our YouTube channel
| Monday 19 September | At 11am on the day of the State Funeral, two minutes of silence will be observed in St Nicholas Square to coincide with the very start of the service in London. Please note that the service in London will not be screened at the Cathedral, so the observance is best suited for local residents and people in Newcastle city centre who still have to be at work on Bank Holiday Monday. Live television coverage of the State Funeral will be shown on a screen in Old Eldon Square, Newcastle. Click here for more information from Newcastle City Council. Café 16 will be closed on Monday and will reopen on Tuesday 20 September. |
Click here to view our regular pattern of worship.
Statement from the Acting Bishop of Newcastle and Bishop of Berwick, the Rt Revd Mark Wroe
Words cannot express the impact that Her Majesty’s death has had on our nation. Queen Elizabeth II served our nation with love and absolute dedication throughout her reign, and provided wisdom and stability at times of great change and challenge. Her leadership was greatly admired at home and across the world, and her faith was an inspiration to the Church and beyond. It is with deepest gratitude that I give thanks for Her Majesty’s life and for her service to her people, and I pray for her family and for our nation at this time of deep sadness and grief.
Statement from the Dean of Newcastle, the Very Revd Geoff Miller
It is with great sadness that, alongside people across our nation and the Commonwealth, we heard the news of the death of Elizabeth, our Queen and Governor. We at the Cathedral in Newcastle will approach this period of national mourning not only in grief but in deep gratitude to her for a long and dignified reign, in which her wisdom and graciousness have enabled stability, progress and a growing desire for goodwill among all people.
She has been our Queen through many challenging times and has unfalteringly sought the good for our nation and its citizens. For this, we give thanks, and now we pray that she may rest in peace.
Together, inspired by her spirit of commitment and graciousness, we shall look forward to the future and give loyal support to her successor, the King, in the sure knowledge that her example will inspire him and us.
God Save the King.
Elizabeth’s Life and Reign
Elizabeth II, born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary on April 21st, 1926, was the eldest daughter of George VI. She became Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms when her father died on February 6th, 1952.
Through her marriage to HRH Prince Philip she had four children – Charles, Prince of Wales; Anne, Princess Royal; Prince Andrew, Duke of York; and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex – as well as eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
During her reign, she was advisor and confidante to 15 Prime Ministers, including Winston Churchill, made over 100 state visits all over the world, and has been the longest-serving British monarch in modern history. She became patron of more than 600 charities and organisations and awarded for 400,000 honours.
She exemplified a life of sacrifice and service, attributing her faith in Jesus Christ, and his life and teaching, as the source and motivation for her long years of service.
“I know just how much I rely on my faith to guide me through the good times and the bad. Each day is a new beginning. I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give of my best in all that the day brings, and to put my trust in God … I draw strength from the message of hope in the Christian gospel.”
Queen Elizabeth II, Christmas 2002