Beginning at 2pm on Friday 20th May in the magnificent Norman and Gothic Cathedral, we shall firstly hear from the Organist and Master of Choristers, Charles Harrison, about the choir, and the recent decision to form a girls’ choir. Organ Scholar, Tom Howell, will talk about his role, and give a short recital. This will be followed by either a tour of the cathedral or a half-hour tour, for two groups of 10, to the Cathedral Library, one at 3.15 and one at 3.45 (there are 40 spiral stairs up to the Library). Following tea and biscuits in the cloisters, we shall return to the Cathedral for Evensong and a choir rehearsal.
On Saturday we will travel by coach to Boxgrove Priory, a beautiful twelfth-century church with excellent acoustics. Our Area Representative for Portsmouth, Peter Gould, formerly Director of Music at Derby Cathedral, has kindly offered to direct a ‘scratch choir’ of attendees, singing 10-15 minutes of choral music. If you would like to join this scratch choir, please sign up below, so that we can send you the music.
We will continue on to Arundel with its majestic Roman Catholic Cathedral. There will be plenty of time to go down the hill into the town to look around and find lunch (5 minutes’ walk) but you will have a steep hill to climb back to the Cathedral. Alternatively, there is a nice pub next to the Cathedral, St Mary’s Gate Inn, (tel. 01903 883145) – please ring them to book for lunch or book via their website.
At the Cathedral we will enjoy a short concert, a talk and tour before taking tea in the Cathedral Centre, and returning to Chichester for Evensong.
The Dinner will be at the Chichester Harbour Hotel and Spa. We are excited to welcome world-renowned countertenor, James Bowman, as our after-dinner speaker.
Services on Sunday will be at 10am (Matins), 11am (Eucharist) and 3pm (Evensong), with a buffet lunch in nearby Vicars’ Hall at 12.45. After Evensong, the Cathedral has very kindly offered to host a drinks reception before we all go our separate ways.
Accommodation
If you are planning on booking accommodation in Chichester for the weekend, the cathedral has advised attendees to book ASAP, as the dates coincide with another event in the vicinity.
Chichester Cathedral offers some accommodation at 4 Canon Lane. Please contact [email protected] or telephone 01243 8133586.
There is a Travelodge very close to the Cathedral (0871 984 6454)
Near to the Cathedral and reasonably priced are: The Vestry (01243 7733580) and East Walls Hotel (01243 967162)
The Chichester Harbour Hotel (01243 778000) is a luxury spa hotel
Chichester railway station is 10 minutes’ walk from the Cathedral
To book for the Gathering, please log in or create an account and click Register Myself. Then select the programme items you wish to attend (at the bottom of this page) before checking out. Please note, programme items which are free to attend do not require you to register.
You can also choose to register someone else, then select their programme items.
You can also book by phone on 020 3151 6096.