In 2025, Carlisle Cathedral was one of just six cathedrals across the country to take part in a national research project, commissioned by the Association of English Cathedrals in partnership with the Church Commissioners, and organised by the religion and society think tank, Theos. The purpose of this project was to explore the social, cultural and spiritual role Cathedrals play in today’s society.
At the National Cathedrals Conference, held in Bristol Cathedral in May, the Theos report – Living Stones: English Cathedrals as Sacred Spaces in Changing Times – was released and was an important topic of discussion throughout the week.
The Association of English Cathedral concluded that “The research found that England’s 42 Anglican cathedrals were among the country’s most significant institutions, serving as places of worship as well as centres of civic life, community outreach, education, music and the arts.
The report drew on a nationally representative YouGov poll, a survey of more than 1,300 cathedral visitors, and qualitative fieldwork involving 146 interviewees across six representative cathedrals.
The survey found that 77 per cent of English adults had visited a cathedral in the last three years with 37 per cent visiting more than once in the last year – which if compared to the latest Government statistics, suggests cathedrals attract a comparable share of the public to museums and galleries, and more than those that attend live sporting events.”
The full report can be read here.
A complementary report to Living Stones: English Cathedrals as Sacred Spaces in Changing Times has been released, that specifically focuses on Carlisle Cathedral, and the results of the interviews held here in 2025. You can read this report here.
Carlisle Cathedral would like to thank all staff, volunteers and visitors who contributed to this research through the survey, interviews and photography sessions.
