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A spectacular church, both inside and out. It was a long time in the building. Construction began on a different site about 2.5km to the north in 1853 and the Lady Chapel was completed in 1856. Work on the building then ceased, due to funds being diverted to the education of Catholic children. The Lady chapel then served as parish church to the local Catholic population until its demolition in the 1980s. The current site was bought in 1930 and Sir Edward Lutyens was commissioned to create a new design, and construction began in 1933, but had to stop in 1941 because of WW2 and rising costs to start again in 1956. By 1958, with only the Crypt complete, Lutyen's design was deemed too costly and work was abandoned. In the meantime A D Scott was commissioned in 1953, to redesign a smaller building, but his plans were criticised and did not go ahead. Finally, in October 1962, construction began on new design by Sir Frederick Gibberd (1908–84). Less than five years later, on the Feast of Pentecost 14 May 1967, the completed cathedral was consecrated. Link