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- The West End
- The 1554 Gallery
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- The Chapel of St Katharine
- The Window of the Six Worthies
- The Chapel of St George
- The Chapel of the Holy Spirit
- The Crypt
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- Architecture
- Tudor monuments
- The bells of Sheffield Cathedral
- 10 ways to look for God
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Did you know?
In 1554 Queen Mary Tudor's Charter was granted to 'The 12 Capital Burgesses and the Commonality of the Town and Parish of Sheffield'.
The West End
The Lantern Window
For years Sheffield Cathedral was regarded as a gloomy place in need of natural light. In the 1960’s large clear windows were introduced into the extended west end. It was crowned with a lantern window.
Natural light now streams in through a wooden representation of the Crown of Thorns, reminding us of the suffering of Christ. The glass was designed by Amber Hiscott in 1998. It is an abstract interpretation of Resurrection and the Holy Spirit (golds and reds) transforming human conflict and struggle (blues and violets) andleading to healing and growth (greens).
When you come into the Cathedral you are greeted by a blaze of colour above your head, something beautiful to bid you welcome and lift the spirit; for this is the gate of heaven, a place where you are drawn onwards and upwards into the richly coloured way of being which God wants us to enjoy. A lantern is there to light things up.
The glass is designed to symbolise baptism, dying to the old life and rising to the new. Stained glass can be very solemn, and some of it is in this very Cathedral. But there is something playful about the lantern glass, something happy and childlike and filled with laughter.
The lantern, with its lively, playful colours, suggests the joyous pilgrim pathway to God.
The Font
The font is where people begin their Christian pilgrimage through in baptism. The present font was donated by the Freemasons of Sheffield and has many of their symbols as decoration.
It was made in 1881 from granite by a local craftsman Charles Green. Bronze figures include Christ as the Good Shepherd and St John the Evangelist with his Gospel book and pen.
On the wall nearby is the bell of the first HMS Sheffield, a cruiser of considerable fame in World War II. Naval tradition has been to use the ship’s bell for baptisms on board. There are also several interesting monuments and plaques.
Stained Glass Window
The window above the new archway entrance was originally given in 1881 by Sir Henry Watson of Shirecliffe Hall, in memory of his parents. It is the work of Dixon of London.
In the upper tracery are sacred symbols and monograms, including the Greek letters Alpha and Omega (symbolising the beginning and the end).
The main theme of the window is the ‘Acts of the Apostles, preaching and healing’ with reference to the patron saints of the Cathedral, St Peter and St Paul. In the centre, St Peter is preaching to the gentile centurion Cornelius and his friends. The lower panels consist of two sets of three, showing on the left, miracles of healing by St Peter and on the right, preaching and healing by St Paul.
