October & November 2024 – 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
Living the Lantern by Amy Outterside, Learning Officer
For centuries, Newcastle Cathedral’s Lantern Tower served as a beacon for travellers on the River Tyne. Today, the Cathedral seeks to work with others to help build a brighter tomorrow.
This article was first published in the June 2024 edition of Link Extra, the monthly magazine for news and stories from across the Diocese of Newcastle.
At Newcastle Cathedral, we are forging increasingly closer ties with schools, charities and artists. The result is a vibrant exhibition, events and schools’ programme that responds to the history and faith that inspired those who built and continue to use this building.
If you visited during May, you might have seen ‘Sacred Spaces’, an exhibition by local primary school children. This was borne out of a series of workshops with disadvantaged school children and young people within the boundaries of Newcastle Diocese. This project was funded by the St Hilda’s Trust and enabled us to offer free workshops and travel to the Cathedral. Pupils responded creatively to the idea of making a stained-glass window to express what makes a place special.
An important part of the Cathedral’s mission is to welcome school groups, particularly those that can least afford to visit. Schools face great financial pressures and activities such as school trips are often the first to be cut from their budgets. However, learning outside the classroom is invaluable, providing new experiences, boosting confidence and fostering connections.
We continue to see an increasing number of new schools visiting and have importantly increased our numbers of returning schools,
becoming an annual destination. Pupils range from pre-school age to A-level, from faith based and secular schools with rising numbers of GCSE preparation visits. Groups explore a range of cross-curricular subjects and relish the chance to explore such a wonderful building. Object handling is a popular feature of workshops, with the medieval ‘Hexham Bible’ – usually kept under lock and key – being the star of the show.
The rest of 2024 looks set to be just as engaging. During summer, we’re excited to present a lineup of heritage craft workshops for adults led by skilled ceramic and fused glass artists. Additionally, we’re offering family-friendly fused glass workshops on Wednesday 24 July and Wednesday 28 August. Plus, on Tuesday 30 July, we’ll host our second annual Archaeology Family Fun Day, displaying some of the finds from the building’s 2020-21 redevelopment.
Visit our website’s ‘What’s on’ calendar for further events that bring the Cathedral’s rich sacred heritage to the wider community.
For more information about school visits, please email amy.outterside@newcastlecathedral.org.uk.