Religion
Nottingham has three notable historic Anglican parish churches all of which date back to mediæval times. St. Mary the Virgin, in the Lace Market, a member of the Greater Churches Group is the oldest foundation (dating from the eighth or ninth centuries) but the building is at least the third on the site dating from 1377 to 1485. St. Mary's is considered the mother church of the city and civic services are held here, including the welcome to the new Lord Mayor of Nottingham each year. St.Peter's in the heart of the city is the oldest building in continuous use in Nottingham, with traces of building starting in 1180. St. Nicholas' was rebuilt after destruction in the Civil War.
Non-conformism was strong from the 17th century onwards and a variety of chapels and meeting rooms proliferated throughout the town. Many of these grand buildings have been demolished, including Halifax Place Chapel, but some have been re-used, notably High Pavement Chapel which is now a public house. The offices of the Congregational Federation are in Nottingham. William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, was born in Nottingham in 1829.
The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Barnabas on Derby Road was designed by the architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, it was consecrated in 1844 and is the cathedral church for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham established in 1850 which covers Nottinghamshire (except Bassetlaw District), Leicestershire, Derbyshire (except Chesterfield and parts of the High Peak), Rutland and Lincolnshire (pre-1974 boundaries).
Today there are places of worship for all major religions, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Taoism and Judaism. The Nottingham Inter-faith Council works to make connections between faith groups and show the wider public the importance of spiritual aspects of life and the contribution faith groups make to the community. Despite this apparent religious diversity, Nottingham has often been reported to have one of the most significant non-religious populations in the UK.
Read more about this topic: Nottingham
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“My religion is no garment to be put on and off with the weather. You had better know that, all of you. I shall worship as I please and hope for all men to worship as they please in Scotland.”
—Dudley Nichols (1895–1960)
“This religion takes away the courage of thinking of unusual things and prohibits self-examination above all as the most egregious of sins.... It is one step away from protestantism.”
—Stendhal [Marie Henri Beyle] (1783–1842)
“All the sweetness of religion is conveyed to children by the hands of storytellers and image-makers. Without their fictions the truths of religion would for the multitude be neither intelligible nor even apprehensible; and the prophets would prophesy and the philosophers celebrate in vain. And nothing stands between the people and the fictions except the silly falsehood that the fictions are literal truths, and that there is nothing in religion but fiction.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)