WHEN I was a child I ‘collected’ cathedrals. No family holiday was complete without me badgering my parents to detour to some as yet unseen cathedral or monastic ruin. So I looked forward to some pleasant memories as I trawled through 40 or so websites of cathedrals and greater churches. Among the cathedrals only Birmingham does not currently have a site, though several others are new on the scene and have little content. Many of the ‘greater churches’ such as Westminster Abbey, Beverley Minster and Tewkesbury Abbey, which share much with the cathedrals, are represented (www.westminster-abbey.org, www.beverleyminster.co.uk and www.tewkesburyabbey.org.uk).
Websites should behave themselves, not breaking your computer or software. Canterbury (www.canterbury-cathedral.org), for example, has a a menu system that failed to work. After trying various combinations of browser and computer I managed to view it, finding an interesting site that then crashed my browser.
Having got this far I expect a site to be friendly and helpful. Carlisle (www.carlislecathedral.org.uk), was a disappointment, insisting that I set my monitor to a particular resolution, and have certain software installed, at which point I moved to the next site.
Finally, I expect a website to be quick and easy to use. Front pages containing just a large image and a message such as ‘click to proceed’ waste my time: a front page which combines attractiveness and usefulness is more likely to engage the viewer. So, thumbs down to the ten or so cathedral sites that have this unnecessary preliminary.
Cathedral websites are aimed at several different groups: worshippers, tourists, schools, those interested in history and architecture, and so on. The best have illustrated pages to cover all these areas. Many sites, notably Norwich (www.cathedral.org.uk), St Albans (www.stalbanscathedral.org.uk), Southwark (www.dswark.org/cathedral), and some others, provide special information for teachers and students. In addition, Gloucester (www.gloucestercathedral.uk.com) and York (www.yorkminster.org) excel with their collections of online games.
Photo guides are another common feature, usually consisting of small pictures of the building and details with brief notes. St Edmundsbury (www.stedscathedral.co.uk) has fascinating pictures of the building of its new central tower, while St Paul’s (www.stpauls.co.uk) provides wonderful moving panoramas.
Here, though, is an opportunity for a greater use of the web’s real strength: hypertext, allowing easy-to-navigate cross-references and increasing levels of detail. For example, a simple ‘virtual tour’ could expand to more significant information such as that provided in Pevsner’s books, and that, in turn, might expand to a section from a detailed monograph, with historical references and pictures.
It will take time and money to capture this detail, but the internet provides an archive of all sorts of information. Implementing such a record might provide an opportunity for co-operation with a local university or history society, and could even attract a grant. York’s history section approaches this, with footnotes from Encyclopaedia Britannica, while Christ Church, Oxford (www.chch.ox.ac.uk/cathedral), relying on its parent college, has more detail than most.
Many of these websites have been created on a small budget, and while this shows in the design, it need not compromise the content, as is shown at Exeter (www.exeter-cathedral.org.uk) and Portsmouth (www.portsmouthcathedral.org.uk). The richer places have obviously paid good money for a professional design, and the result at St Paul’s is an excellent site.
What is missing, at St Paul’s and elsewhere, is anything particularly spiritual. Several cathedrals have a ‘mission statement’, but they are using this term with its secular, business meaning, apparently without intended irony. A very few make an explicit attempt to proclaim the gospel and to explore spirituality. At Ely (www.cathedral.ely.anglican.org) there is a version of its faith exhibition, while Salisbury (www.salisburycathedral.org.uk) offers Christian reflections; and many of the parish church cathedrals and greater churches have details of parish life. This must be an area which our cathedrals could better promote.
It is also surprising how few cathedrals mention their Bishop. Much greater prominence is given to visitor information, cathedral shops — including nascent online shops at Chester (www.chestercathedral.org.uk), Ely, St Paul’s, Ripon (www.riponcathedral.org.uk), Winchester (www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk) and York — Friends and fund-raising. Important as these are to Deans and Chapters who must balance the books, they should not be allowed to dominate.
Any church website should tell me what services are held when. Most cathedrals provide this, except Hereford — clearly still under development (www.herefordcathedral.co.uk). The best, such as Salisbury, put the information on their front page where it can be found easily.
At St Mary’s, Warwick (www.saintmaryschurch.co.uk) the calendar of services is empty — my family and I went to worship elsewhere when staying nearby. Many of the bigger cathedrals have full details of the music at their services, and the more enterprising invite applications for the choir. We await, though, the online voice trial, and Evensong streamed direct to your PC.
Simon Kershaw is Secretary of Christians on the Internet, and a member of the Ely Cathedral Council. Links to all cathedral websites mentioned can be found at www.oremus.org/cathedrals.