History
It was built between 1841 and 1844, costing £15,000 (£1,210,000 as of 2012), and was first consecrated in 1844, fifteen years after the Catholic Relief Act ended most restrictions on Catholicism in the United Kingdom. A substantial amount of the cost was paid by the important Catholic Lord Shrewsbury. The architect was Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin who also designed the interior of The Houses of Parliament. It was built in the Early English Plain Gothic style, although in contrast, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel was richly decorated and Pugin’s later churches were built in that Decorated Gothic style throughout. Pugin was retained as architect by Rev Robert William Willson, then priest in charge of Nottingham. In 1842 he was named as Bishop-Elect of Hobart, Tasmania, and had to leave the work in Nottingham before completion.
Following the establishment of a new Catholic hierarchy in the United Kingdom in 1850 by the decree of Pope Pius IX, it was raised to cathedral status in 1852, becoming one of the first four Catholic cathedrals in England and Wales since the English Reformation. It is the seat of the Bishop of Nottingham.
The cathedral is a Grade II* listed building of the lancet style of architecture, and is considered to be one of the best specimens of the work of Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin.
The clergy of the Cathedral also serve the churches of Our Lady and St. Patrick in The Meadows and St. Augustine on Woodborough Road.
Read more about this topic: Nottingham Cathedral
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