Feature: What Makes The Cathedral Tick?

Published on: 11 Jun, 2019
Updated on: 12 Jul, 2019

By Hugh Coakley

In April, The Guildford Dragon NEWS looked at the marvellous hidden spaces in the cathedral.

Early morning at the foot of Stag Hill, looking up to Guildford Cathedral.

In this second article, we see at what happens at the top of Stag Hill, from music to maintenance, from regal to routine and from prayer to pop.

We also have a fascinating interview (see below) with the Dean, The Very Reverend Dianna Gwilliams, on a wide range of topics from the work of the cathedral to the contentious planning application on the cathedral’s land and the relevance of the cathedral to the people of Guildford.

A lonely bell tolls out from the Lady Chapel to call the tiny congregation, often only one or two people, who gather for morning prayer in The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit.

Half an hour later, the bell rings again to announce the 8.30am Holy Communion service. The priest and the virger, now in full vestments, process into the chapel, bow to each other and part; the priest to the altar to hold the service, the virger to the pews.

This rhythm of daily morning and evening prayers is an unchanging pulse to the magnificent building, giving it a monastic feeling of calm and constancy. The prayers are the “bookends to the day, if you like” says the Very Reverend Dianna Gwilliams, the Dean of Guildford Cathedral.

Evening prayer, as often as not, it is sung by a fantastic professional choir. Sadly, there are often less than a handful in the huge church to witness it.

The Dean, The Very Reverend Dianna Gwilliams, being interviewed by The Guildford Dragon NEWS in her tiny office overlooking the car park.

But Dianna Gwilliams was undaunted by the lack of numbers. She said: “We gather to worship God.

“In the 21st century, the way people exercise their Christian discipleship is not just attending services.”

Worship is the “core purpose” said Dianna.

The Dean works with the Chapter, the ruling body of the cathedral, giving leadership for the ethos and direction of the church. When it comes to running the cathedral, Dianna said with a wry smile: “There is no typical week in the cathedral and I do have a fantastic team that I work with.”

Matt O’Grady in the yellow vest, takes his turn at marshalling traffic after an event.

Even though I had more than 10 interviews and countless conversations with visitors and volunteers over the last three months, I only touched on a tiny part of what happens on Stag Hill.

The people who work and volunteer there were, unsurprisingly, all Christian but not all Anglican. And not even necessarily church goers. But all I spoke to loved working at the cathedral.

One reason given was the building itself, with its extraordinary space and light.

Matt O’Grady, the cathedral’s chief operating officer, said the cathedral has up to 300 volunteers. He said: “It couldn’t work without them. We have stewards, guides, bell ringers, the shop, flower arrangers, choir chaperones for the boys and girls, Fairtrade, treasury curators and the archivists, to mention a few. And I haven’t even mentioned the pastoral team, the clergy, chaplains or virgers.”

And all that takes a lot of organising.

Carrying a huge array of keys “is the virger’s curse.” said Paul Williamson.

Over a cup of tea in the Seasons Cafe, Paul Williamson, the Dean’s virger for 10 years, gave me a flavour of the virger’s work. Paul said: “We are on 24-hour call, which is one of the reasons that we housed by the cathedral.

“We are the WD40 of the cathedral, we make it run smoothly.”

He said that to be a virger, “you need to have a faith, you have to be fully involved.”

“I love the job. It isn’t money based. I have lost four stone in weight because the job is so active.”

The Royal Cushion at Guildford Cathedral ready for the next royal visit.

Trisha Lambert, a volunteer and chief steward, cheerfully and very practically looks after about 40 fellow stewards. They meet and greet, take the inevitable collections and generally help out at events.

Tricia said: “Many people don’t want to talk to us, they just want to talk to ‘the Boss’.

“I love the cathedral, the people who worship here, the music in particular. The cathedral is sometimes a more welcoming place than the parishes.”

Janet Mathews, a volunteer and chief guide, said people become guides for all sorts of reasons. The youngest guide was 23 years old and the oldest, 88.

“It is a big task,” she said: “We get about 33,000 visitors a year not including those coming to services.

“It is the most beautiful, moving building. The light changes in the cathedral and every minute is different. People are uplifted here. It is so peaceful”

The Cathedral Tots bring play and children’s laughter into the huge, austere space.

As you would expect from a cathedral, the solemnity of the church makes it right for important county and even national memorials and funerals which are seen as a way of bringing the community together.

But more and more, the space is used by outside organisations such as the university, schools and choirs, corporate and civic events with, on average, one event every week.

Graduation celebration at the cathedral. Photo courtesy of the Univeristy of Surrey.

Tasha Collins, of George Abbot School, sings Jamelia to an appreciative audience at the monthly coffee concert in April 2019.

Ella Harrington, of George Abbot School, plays the cello at the monthly coffee concert.

The Wey Community Gospel Choir give their all in a spirited concert in April 2019.

Susan Barry, head of fundraising, was very conscious of her responsibility to bring in enough money to keep the cathedral going.

She said: “All donations matter, big or small. We have had a six-figure sum pledged in a will but all donations are important.”

Guildford Cathedral was “possibly the first crowd funded cathedral” she said, “with 200,000 people each spending 2/6d on a brick. People are still proud of having bought that brick.”

Scaffolding during the refurbishment in 2017.

Jim Blake, head of property and facilities and formerly a full colonel in the army, works for two days a week. He needs to be both well organised and very flexible to do his role in that time.

“We try to be as green as we can be,” he said, “but we have to balance being green with the investment that it would take on the Grade II* listed building. For instance, if we tried to use the windy location on Stag Hill for a wind turbine, some would love it and others would object that the view was spoiled.”

The Queens visit to Guildford Cathedral in 2010.

Behind all the services, prayer and activity, the thorny subject of money is always there. The 2018 Annual Report quotes yearly costs of more than £1.4 million and a deficit of £78,000. The forecast is for a balanced budget by 2020 and with £665,000 in the reserves, the finances look healthy enough. But the cathedral worries that much of its income, such as legacies and donations, is far from certain.

There are still plans for a housing development at the foot of Stag Hill to fund an endowment to secure its financial future. The original plan for 134 houses was rejected in 2017. The cathedral has now partnered with Vivid Homes for the next planning application.

Jim Blake said: “In some ways, we are more a small to medium sized business than a cathedral.” It will be interesting to see how the Dean and her team communicate the needs of the business of the cathedral and the work it does in Guildford with the needs of the cathedral’s neighbours.

In the next in this series of articles, we look at the stunning sacred music in the cathedral.