Bradford Cathedral is inviting visitors to take a closer look at one of the city’s hidden artistic treasures as it hosts the final Ecclesiastical Textiles Tours of 2025 on Saturday 8 November.
The special guided tours will offer a rare chance to view the Cathedral’s exquisite collection of embroidered and woven textiles, some of which are not usually on public display. Each piece tells a story, of faith, craftsmanship, and the communities who created and cared for them over centuries.
Led by Maggie Myers, Bradford Cathedral’s Director of Education and Visitors, the tours will take guests around the building to explore altar frontals, vestments, and decorative panels rich with symbolism and history. The event forms part of the Cathedral’s contribution to Bradford 2025, the UK City of Culture celebrations, shining a light on the city’s artistic heritage and craftsmanship.
The Cathedral’s collection includes works by major names in British design history such as Morris & Co. and the Leek Embroidery Society, alongside Bradford-born artists Ernest Sichel and Louisa Pesel. Pesel’s most famous contribution is an altar frontal designed and hand-worked by shell-shocked soldiers recovering from the trauma of World War One, a piece that continues to resonate deeply with visitors today.
Also featured are modern commissions, including contemporary pieces by designer Polly Meynell, which reinterpret the Cathedral’s traditional themes for a new generation. Together, these works trace more than a century of changing artistic style and social history.
Maggie Myers said:“The Cathedral is such a lovely building with so many wonderful features and stories. These tours allow us to focus on one of its most fascinating elements, the textiles, and to appreciate the creativity and devotion behind them. Many of these pieces are rarely on display, so it’s a special opportunity to see them up close and learn the human stories stitched into their fabric.”
The textiles tours form part of the Cathedral’s growing visitor programme, which aims to make sacred art and heritage accessible to everyone
