INTRODUCTION

The Websites
In 1986 I toured Britain and became fascinated with British Cathedrals. The fascination for cathedrals has never left me. These days I have come to enjoy photography and also the creation of websites. So now there are cathedral sites for Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Europe, England, and Wales.

In these sites I have tried to capture something of the inspiration and beauty of each cathedral. The idea is that on the site you might join me in walking around the cathedral, and then going inside to explore, enjoy, wonder, be inspired ... and even meet with God! Our cathedrals are certainly worth visiting.

 

Over the years, there have been many changes in technology, particularly the growth in the use of mobile phones. All these pages use a ‘blog’ format: simple to navigate, and able to be used on screens of any size.

I hope this site will encourage many to explore and discover the many secrets of our cathedrals. Most are worthy of several visits – quite apart from worship. What an inspiration they are!

I would be glad to hear from anyone suggesting a correction or wishing to make a comment on this site. I can be reached at mail@paulscott.info

 

Scottish Cathedrals

At the time of writing (2021), I find that my overseas travel has been severely curtailed by the COVID virus. So this year I have been creating websites on British Churches, with the help of friendly English photographers who have been kind enough to let me use their photographs. The results can be seen at

http://paulscott.info/britishchurches/

There are many more British churches to investigate, but I also have a yearning to explore Scottish cathedrals – hence this site. I am hoping there are British (Scottish!) photographers who have a love for cathedrals, who will be prepared to partner with me in producing websites which, as above, will enable a viewer to walk through the Scottish cathedrals, either as a first time experience, or as a pleasant memory of a past visit.

 

The Scottish cathedrals fall naturally into three groupings. These are

• Roman Catholic Cathedrals (cathedrals affiliated with the Church in Rome);

• Episcopal Cathedrals (cathedrals aligned with the Church of England);

• Former Cathedrals of the Church of Scotland (Cathedrals which no longer have bishops: now often referred to as High Kirks).

 

Liturgical Directions
There is a tradition for orientating cathedrals which we shall follow here. I initially rebelled against this (my Baptist upbringing!), but quickly came to realize its usefulness. Apparently early Christians felt it was good to pray towards the rising sun. Therefore they placed the chancel and altar towards the East, and correspondingly the towers and church entry to the West. Similarly, there was a North transept and a South transept. This convention for labelling the walls of a cathedral has continued – all quite independently of the actual orientation of the cathedral. It may seem a little strange, but it means that all cathedrals can have a common labelling. We shall use these ‘liturgical directions’, denoting them with capital initial letters. We shall also try to avoid using the word ‘front’, as front seems to have opposite meanings depending on whether it refers to the exterior or interior of a cathedral.

 

 

Enjoy!

 

Paul Scott

6 / 2021