Gloucester Cathedral

Gloucester Cathedral tickets: which one to buy

Gloucester Cathedral stands in the centre of Gloucester, England, and entry is free, with donations welcome; tower tours, which climb 269 steps to the top of the tower, are ticketed and offered on certain days. It is one of the finest cathedrals in England and famous for its cloisters, which appear in the Harry Potter films as the corridors of Hogwarts. Guided tours of the cathedral are offered daily and are included in the donation.

Gloucester is about two hours from London by train and close to the Cotswolds, the Forest of Dean and the city of Bath, and many visitors combine the cathedral with a tour of the Cotswold villages. The Gloucester Docks, with their Victorian warehouses, museums and shops, are a short walk away. The cathedral is active, with daily services and choral evensong. Guided tours of the cathedral leave from the welcome desk at regular times during the day.

Visiting Gloucester Cathedral: what to see

A monastery was founded here in 678, and the Norman abbey church was begun in 1089, whose massive round columns still stand in the nave. After King Edward II was murdered in 1327 at Berkeley Castle, his body was buried in the abbey, and his tomb became a place of pilgrimage that brought great wealth, used to rebuild the choir in the new Perpendicular Gothic style, one of the earliest and finest examples of this English style. The Great East Window, completed around 1350, was the largest window in the world at the time, as big as a tennis court, and it commemorates the Battle of Crécy. The cloisters, built between 1351 and 1412, have the earliest surviving fan vaulting in England.

The cathedral also holds the tomb of Robert, Duke of Normandy, eldest son of William the Conqueror, with a painted wooden effigy. The tower rises 69 metres. The Lady Chapel, at the east end, has walls of stained glass from the early twentieth century by the Arts and Crafts movement. The crypt, beneath the choir, is part of the original Norman building. The misericords in the choir stalls show scenes of medieval life, including a game of football. The whispering gallery, above the east end, carries sound across its length. The tomb of Edward II is carved in alabaster with a canopy of pinnacles. The cathedral's library, above the cloister, holds medieval manuscripts. The tower's bells include Great Peter, one of the oldest bells in England.

Gloucester Cathedral opening hours and the best time to go

The cathedral is open daily, with shorter hours on Sundays; tower tours run on certain days, mostly from spring to autumn. Gloucester is busiest in summer and during the Three Choirs Festival, one of the oldest music festivals in the world, held here every three years in summer. The Christmas season brings carol services and a market. Evensong is sung most days. Allow about an hour for the cathedral and cloisters, and walk to the Gloucester Docks and the National Waterways Museum. The Gloucester Docks' Victorian warehouses hold the National Waterways Museum and a shopping outlet.