Guildford Cathedral

20th-century Anglican cathedral on its lonely hilltop

Built between 1936 and 1961, Guildford Cathedral stands on Stag Hill above the University of Surrey campus, visible for miles across the Surrey downs. The exterior is restrained brick gothic; the interior is unexpectedly elegant, with a single uninterrupted nave 75 metres long lined in pale Doulting stone and Westmorland slate, and a kneeling-angel weathervane on the central spire that turns with the wind.

The cathedral was designed by Edward Maufe in a stripped-down style halfway between gothic revival and modernism, which has aged better than either pure version would have. Climb the tower (occasional openings) for the view across to the North Downs. The cathedral also features as the site of the climactic scene in the original 1976 film of The Omen.

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A story
Guildford Cathedral is the only Anglican cathedral built on a new site in southern England since the Reformation. Anyone who donated to its construction could buy a brick for two-and-six and write their name on it; the foundations contain bricks signed by Edward VIII, John Betjeman, and Eleanor Roosevelt.