Friday, June 24, 2011

Card of the Day: The Consecration of Liverpool Cathedral

Following the Great War, King George V and Queen Mary set about attending a series of events intended to show the British people that their daily lives would eventually return to normal and that, as a nation, there was still much to celebrate.


The nineteenth in the series of Wills Cigarette cards commemorating the Silver Jubilee of Queen Mary and King George V depicts the consecration of Liverpool Cathedral. This Anglican Cathedral was not completed until 1978. Upon completion, it was ranked the largest in Britain and the fifth largest in the world. Today, the Cathedral retains its traditional Gothic architectural roots, but also realizes that times change. The interior of the Cathedral is brilliantly lit with colorful fiber optic lights and adorned with neon.

The reverse of the card reads:

Liverpool Cathedral (which is one of the world’s largest cathedrals) was consecrated in the the presence of the King and Queen on July 19th, 1924. It is the third Anglican cathedral to be built in England since the Reformation. The architect, Mr. (now Sir) Giles Gilbert Scott was twenty-one years old when his design was chosen from more than one hundred others. About forty-five Bishops including the Heads of the Church in Asia, America, Scotland and Wales attended the dedication. The Service was superb in the solemn ecclesiastical ritual. In the picture Lord Derby and Mr. Arthur Henderson, then Home Secretary, are standing beside the King and Queen.


The Cathedral Exterior
Interior

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