A view of the Metropolitan Cathedral from along Hope Street with the Anglican Cathedral behind the camera position. Hope Street links the two cathedral sites.

Here is a closer view, and look here for a view from Brownlow Hill.

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, to give its full name, or the Catholic Cathedral is built on the site of a 19th century workhouse (housing up to 5000 people) and the crypt of an earlier cathedral laid out in 1933, this cathedral was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869 - 1944). The 'Lutyens' cathedral was to be larger than St Peters of Rome but work had to stop in 1940 due to World War II. After the war in 1950 it was found that the cost of £27 million to complete the cathedral was too much and the site remained unfinished.

In 1959 a competition to design a cathedral, incorporating the crypt was held and won by Sir Frederick Gibberd (1908 - 1984). It took four and a half years to build, and cost £1.9 million. It is dominated by a large concrete cone and a chimney of stained glass and concrete, capped with a 50 feet high fibre glass crown. It was consecrated and opened in 1967 and can hold a congregation of 2,200 all of whom can see the alter.

The design is such that it is said that, "You can loathe it, or you can love it - but you can't ignore it"