churches

[dolberrow]

Please can anyone tell me why some churches are designated abbeys or minsters or cathedrals. Thanks in advance.

[Jonathan-Joe]

At least two cathedrals, holding the bishop's throne, York and Southwell, are called "Minster".

[dolberrow]

Thanks very much for such a clear explanation

[jno]

I doubt there's a Westminster Abbot any more but sometimes old names cling on even after the building's function has changed. (They can't change its name to Westminster Cathedra,l as that's the Catholic one down the road.)

[Jonathan-Joe]

jno, it is possible to have a duplicate name, where there is both a Church of England and Roman Catholic cathedral. Newcastle and Portsmouth spring to mind, and most famously, Liverpool. (If you want a cathedral, we've got one to spare was the Liverpudlians’ boast).
There's no point calling Westminster Abbey a "cathedral", as there is no bishop's throne there, which is the requirement in CoE terminology. (I believe it has a status by which it does not fall under the jurisdiction of any bishop.)

[jno]

it's a Royal Peculiar, which means it's under the monarch rather than a bishop

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Peculiar

Henry VIII made it a cathedral in the 1550s (so it was exempt from the dissolution of the abbeys). Elizabeth I made it a royal peculiar but turned the last abbot into the first dean.

[ABerrant]

Pedant alert !!! ;-)

Newcastle cathedrals do not share a name, nor do the so-called 'duplicates' in Portsmouth and Liverpool, it is just colloquialism that gives us [insert placename] [insert branch of Christianity] Cathedral instead of their proper titles:

Newcastle CofE - Cathedral Church of St Nicholas
Newcastle RC - Cathedral Church of St Mary

Portsmouth CofE - Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury
Portsmouth RC - Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist

Liverpool CofE - Cathedral Church of Christ
Liverpool RC - Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Christ the King

Colloquialism also gives rise to 'Westminster Abbey' since it was originally Church of St Peter, then Abbey Church of St Peter, briefly became Cathedral Church of St Peter and is now more properly named the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster. Over time the Abbey Church of St Peter became known as the West Minster while the nearby Cathedral Church of Paul the Apostle ("St Paul's Cathedral") was known as the East Minster, however Eastminster appears not to have stuck in the public consciousness.

'Westminster Cathedral' is the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood.

[mike11111]

Westminster Abbey is not a cathedral, in fact it does not come under any diocesan control, being a royal peculiar. The Anglican cathedral for London and the seat of its bishop is St Pauls.

[keenonhist]

The word cathedral comes from the latin for a chair "cathedra" It was the chair that the bishop sat in while mass was heard.
keenonhist.