Worcester Cathedral visit and city wander

However religious or not you are, there’s no denying that many churches and cathedrals are spectacular to visit. And have some interesting history. My recent visit to Elgar’s birthplace, The Firs, meant I also had time to briefly visit Worcester Cathedral.

I’d hoped to also visit a couple of other places in the city, but they seemed to be closed on Mondays or until later in March. As usual, it’s always recommended to check out opening hours before visiting, especially in the shoulder season of winter into spring and autumn to winter.

I was lucky with the Worcester Cathedral as it was, because it was the university graduation day on the Tuesday and it would have been closed. On my visit the nave was closed for setting up. But there was still plenty to see, and you still got the impression of it’s large scale space and architecture.

My plan had been to park nearby in Copenhagen Street car park, but there was a flood alert and I didn’t know if any of the parking would be restricted. There’s also an NCP Cathedral multistorey car park nearby, but the signage was a bit confusing around the one way system, so I ended up in the Crowngate behind a shopping centre. It wasn’t too far to walk, although I did take a more roundabout route thanks to a combination of how much I hate Google Maps and street signs not pointing in quite the right direction.

Worcester Cathedral sits in a lovely square with some pretty housing alongside, and opposite the one way road system with a new leisure, food and retail area.

Visitor donations are digital, evidently around the cathedral, but I only saw one machine near the entrance. The welcome guy did say there were more around. I was also given a paper map of the different areas of the cathedral, and interesting sites to note. I do prefer a paper map when visiting places. It’s so much easier to refer to than trying to download a tiny map onto your phone when you’re also trying to take photos.

As with most cathedrals the building inside is stunning. From the tiled floors to the structure and roof. And of course not forgetting beautiful stained glass windows.

Worcester cathedral stained glass window

There are also notable interrments and tombs in Worcester Cathedral with King John of Magna Carta fame in the Quire. I didn’t get to see much in the Quire because there was some kind of tour going on when I was there. But I do love being near history.

looking down the quire worcester cathedral

Around the cathedral there are information points in place, as well as clever aids like mirrors to enable you to see the ceiling properly without craning your neck. There’s plenty of seating around too, if you need to stop and spend time in the quiet.

There are a few steps in places. So if in a wheelchair you might be a bit more restricted in where you can go.

I found going down to the crypt interesting. There is lots of information about the changing church and how the monks started and changed the cathedral and religion through their era.

I finished off walking the cloisters, and enjoying the quiet of looking out to the central outdoor area.

arched etched windows in worcester cathedrals

There’s also a small gift shop and cafe area in the cloisters part, but I didn’t bother stopping in either.

Although there were people around including those working to prep for the next day’s graduation ceremony, the cathedral was still nice and calm to sit or walk around.

I enjoyed my visit to the cathedral despite not seeing all of it due to the restrictions.

Via grabbing some lunch, I wandered back to the car park. Worcester seems to have quite a bit of street art and interesting building decor (including one really gorgeous town hall/tourist information centre.