Today, Fri 26th April Open 10:00am–4:00pm
John Laing Centre closed to visitors as work will be taking place today and tomorrow in the entrance to the Sir John Laing Centre. This means that there will be no toilet facilities available at Nave level, and that the passenger lift will also be out of bounds. Alternative toilet facilities can be found in St. Michael’s Gallery (located in the Cathedral undercroft), however this unfortunately does not include accessible toilet facilities or baby-changing facilities. Apologies for any inconvenience.
General visiting times for the New Cathedral & Ruins Mon-Sat 10:00am–4:00pm
Sun 12:00pm–3:30pm
These opening times apply to the New Cathedral & Ruins. Other Cathedral locations' times differ.

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Transformation stories

Stories of journeys from darkness to light

Living in hope is about more than optimism. It is about finding practical ways, great and small, to change how we see, think and act, in striving for a kinder, more compassionate world.

Some of the stories told here are of apparently tiny, almost trivial transformations. Some might feel 'merely' symbolic, outrageous or even heretical. Others seem obviously profound.

In practice, it is often the little transformations that, years later, prove to be the most powerful in changing individual lives.

So, please enjoy the stories shown here with an open mind and when you do visit us, take time to consider the experiences of this Cathedral and those who have been transformed by its work.

Stories of transformation
  • Using an act of violence, to form friendship

    In January 2020, ‘The Angel of the Eternal Gospel’, the panel of the West Screen adjacent to the ‘south’ door, was shattered beyond repair in an act of vandalism. One of the sixty engravings which took artist John Hutton ten years to complete, it was smashed in a moment.

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  • Hushed tones to hearty conviviality

    Regularly, the Digbeth Dining Club transforms the inevitably melancholy atmosphere of The Ruin into one of welcome warm-heartedness. On one occasion, the weather proved so inhospitable that the decision was taken to move the event indoors - into the nave of the New Cathedral. Overlooked by the West Window’s famous dancing angels, happy diners…

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  • Sci-Fi Horror to the Triumph of Good

    St Michael's Victory over the Devil is the 1958 bronze sculpture by Jacob Epstein which greets visitors approaching the New Cathedral from Priory Street. St Michael holds his spear upright, not pointing at his captive with aggression, or intention of revenge. Epstein's last major commission (he died in August 1959), it represents a highly…

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  • Ruin to renewal

    The architect of the new cathedral, Sir Basil Spence, was keen that all visitors (including you) should enter via the main entrance to the Ruin, off Cuckoo Lane. Only after seeing the charred remains of what was a magnificent building, together with its moving artefacts, should you then walk across and into the New Cathedral (where another…

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  • Bombing, to building

    During WWII, Wing Commander John Dowling served as the captain of Lancaster Bomber, playing a direct role in the devastation of German cities. Nevertheless, as a life-long practising Roman Catholic he was on record as being strongly against attacks motivated by the desire for revenge. Indeed, of his many military medals, most were awarded for his…

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  • Darkness to light

    This walking journey is best done on a sunny day, when there are no services in progress

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