ABSTRACT
English cathedrals have become popular visitor destinations over the last two-three decades—a time when parish participation has been falling—but such popularity raises significant questions within and beyond the Church. Are such visitors ‘mere’ tourists—‘buffered’ selves, in Charles Taylor's terms– attracted to beautiful heritage sites that make few if any spiritual demands? This chapter explores often unnoticed intersections between heritage practices and religious rituals in urban English cathedrals. Cathedral spaces and behavioural frames are shown to bridge heritage and ritual, past and present, while pointing to potential future trajectories of religious as well as cultural and historical engagement in post-secular contexts. I examine these themes through ethnographic work carried out at three English Anglican Cathedrals: Durham, Canterbury and York, as well as through participant-observation at a meeting where I and colleagues presented our initial project findings to a group of 100 or so cathedral clergy and administrators.
