The Cathedral of St Chad was built at the instruction of Bishop Thomas Walsh, Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District and designed by Augustus Welby Pugin. The first stone was laid on 29 October 1839. It was opened and consecrated on 21 June 1841.

Relics of St Chad, after whom the Cathedral is named, are reserved in a reliquary mounted above the tabernacle on the sanctuary.

St Chad’s was the first Catholic Cathedral built in England since the Reformation. It became the principal and mother church of the Diocese of Birmingham when Pope Pius IX restored the English Hierarchy in 1850.

In 1911 St Chad’s became a Metropolitan Cathedral when the Province of Birmingham was created by St Pius X with Birmingham as its Archbishopric.

The Cathedral was created a Minor Basilica by Pius XII on the occasion of its centenary in 1941.

The celebration of the Dedication of the Cathedral is kept as a Solemnity in the Cathedral, and as a feast elsewhere in the Archdiocese. The celebration is kept on June 18th.

God our Father,
from living stones, your chosen people,
you build an eternal temple to your glory.
As we gather to celebrate the consecration of the Cathedral Church of St Chad,
we pray that your faithful people may continue to grow
into the new and eternal Jerusalem.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

• The Cathedral welcomes pilgrims and visitors. Details of Mass and opening times are given on its website.
• A simple guide and introduction to the Cathedral - for young and old - can be downloaded here. And here is a quiz sheet for the young, and young at heart.​

Photographs (c) 2024, Allen Morris

Reliquary containing the relics of St Chad.

St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham: Mother Church of the Archdiocese

A Pugin sketch envisaging the interior of the Cathedral.

The Cathedra - the bishop's seat.