Year of celebrations for 950th anniversary of diocese

The Diocese of Chichester is holding a year of events throughout 2025 to celebrate the 950th anniversary of its founding, along with the city's cathedral.

Work began on the cathedral in 1075, overseen by its first Norman bishop Stigand, although its spire, cloisters and detached bell tower date from the 1400s.

Previously the seat of the local bishop had been at Selsey, the site of a monastery which had become Sussex's first cathedral.

Events are planned throughout the year, including thanksgiving services across the diocese, exhibitions, pilgrimages and a summer camp for families.

From February to November the cathedral will host an exhibition entitled Religion, Rebellion and Reformation, featuring artefacts telling the story of Christianity in Sussex.

In October the building will be illuminated in a light show featuring 30,000 images from its archive, while on 15 June a community event will be held on the Green to mark the Feast of the Holy Trinity, to which the cathedral is dedicated.

Three youth pilgrimages are being planned across Sussex in the summer and autumn.

On 28 and 29 June there will be a weekend walk across the South Downs, with an overnight stay near Storrington.

Day walks are scheduled for 12 July, ending at the Cathedral, and 11 October near Alfriston.

The diocese will also be running a family camp at Stedham near Midhurst, in the South Downs National Park, over the weekend of 11, 12 and 13 July.

The Bishop of Horsham, Ruth Bushyager, told BBC Radio Sussex it had been a deliberate decision to keep the pilgrimages within the county.

"It is such an amazing county for walking," she said, adding: "We're using the South Downs Way and the Cuckmere Pilgrim Path and the Pilgrim's Way.

"We're going to be walking and praying and talking and enjoying silence - and walking from church to church.

"We've got such ancient churches across those pilgrim paths, we don't need to go out of the county for an amazing pilgrimage."

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