Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King
Rising above Mount Pleasant with its unmistakable crown of light, the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral is one of the most striking buildings in the city. Known affectionately to locals as Paddy’s Wigwam or the Mersey Funnel, it stands today not simply as a place of worship, but as a bold statement of identity, ambition and renewal.
To understand its significance, you must begin long before the cathedral itself existed. The Archdiocese of Liverpool was established in the middle of the nineteenth century, at a time when Liverpool was expanding at a pace unmatched in the country. Tens of thousands of Irish immigrants arrived during and after the Great Famine, and the Catholic community of Liverpool grew into one of the largest in England. There was a burning desire for a cathedral that reflected both their faith and their place in the story of the city.
The first attempt was nothing short of monumental. In the 1930s, a vast classical cathedral was planned, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. His vision was extraordinary in scale, with a dome that would have been larger than St Peters in Rome. Work began, and the crypt was completed to breathtaking detail. But the Second World War and the economic hardship that followed brought the dream to an abrupt halt. The cathedral that might have dominated the skyline of Europe was never completed.
For years the unfinished crypt stood as a silent reminder of ambition interrupted. Yet Liverpool is a city with a habit of reinventing itself, and in the early 1960s a new idea emerged for a cathedral that would reflect the spirit of a changing church and a changing world. Architect Frederick Gibberd proposed a design unlike anything seen before. Instead of a long nave and distant altar, his circular cathedral placed the congregation around the centre, reflecting a renewed focus on participation and community.
Construction began in 1962 and, remarkably, was completed just five years later (which actually makes it older in terms of opening than the Anglican Cathedral). In 1967 the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral opened its doors, and its radical design quickly made it an icon. The great lantern tower, rising like a vast crown of glass towards the sky, captures and scatters coloured light across the interior. At certain moments in the day, the entire space glows with blues, reds and golds as the stained glass shifts with the moving sun.
Today the Metropolitan Cathedral stands proudly as the mother church of the Archdiocese of Liverpool. It is the heart of a community that stretches across Merseyside, West Lancashire and beyond. Concerts, university graduations, services of remembrance and major civic events all take place here, making it as much a cathedral of the city as it is of the Catholic faith. It forms a powerful architectural dialogue with the Anglican Cathedral at the opposite end of Hope Street. Few cities in the world possess two cathedrals so dramatically different in style placed so dramatically face to face.
The cathedral’s modernist silhouette has become a symbol of Liverpool’s confidence and creativity. It is a place where light, stone and faith come together in harmony. Whether you approach it from the great steps on Hope Street or rise up towards it from Brownlow Hill, the building seems to shift and open like something alive. Its crown reaches upward as though in constant conversation with the sky.
As you stand before the Metropolitan Cathedral, imagine the generations who have longed for a place like this. Imagine the unfinished dreams of the Lutyens design, the triumphant unveiling of the Gibberd cathedral, and the thousands of stories that now echo beneath its vast lantern.
This is a cathedral that was born twice. Once in ambition, and again in reinvention. Its history is one of perseverance and transformation, much like the city itself.
Question 5 Almost directly behind the altar and opposite the main entrance, there is an imposing statue of a major figure of the Old Testament. Who is this figure? is currently hidden because of Christmas, so the answer to this question is......Abraham
This is a multi-step cache. There are eight questions you must answer correctly in order to gain the coordinates to the final cache. Start your journey at the entrance of the cathedral and work CLOCKWISE around the cathedral, answering each question in turn. For each question, there will be a Certitude link like the one given below, which you should click on to both answer the question and gain access to the next one. The answer to each question is a single word.
So let's start:
Question 1. As you enter the Cathedral and work your way clockwise around, you will come across the statues of two Saints of South America. There is the bust of a Salvadoran Archbishop. What is the first name of that Archbishop? Answer using the Certitude link below
You can validate your puzzle solution with
certitude.