Welcome to the Sunday Post, your exclusive article about something lovely and British delivered to your inbox every Sunday. This week, we explore the unexpected American connection we discovered on our visit to Gloucester Cathedral a few months ago. It's a fascinating, and strange story! 

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Britain in 2025 - Who’s Going?

We ended up at Gloucester Cathedral almost by chance. We were nearby, but the place we wanted to go to was closed, so searching for anything to salvage the day of sightseeing, we saw we were only a few minutes away from Gloucester Cathedral, a place we had never been to. So, we redirected the car and a few minutes later found ourselves in the magnificent cathedral. And while I’ll talk a bit about the history of the place, my most surprising discovery was a small, but significant American connection.

One of Britain’s grandest cathedrals, Gloucester Cathedral's history spans over 1,300 years, beginning as a Saxon monastery founded in 678-9 AD by Osric, a prince of the Hwicce tribe. The present building's foundations were laid in 1089 when Abbot Serlo, the first Norman abbot, began construction of what would become one of England's most magnificent cathedrals. The Norman core of the building remains largely intact, particularly in the massive cylindrical columns of the nave, which are among the earliest surviving examples of their kind in England.

The cathedral's architectural evolution mirrors the changing styles of medieval England. The 14th century saw the addition of the spectacular fan vaulting in the cloisters - the earliest example of this quintessentially English architectural feature - while the 15th century brought the soaring perpendicular Gothic tower that still dominates Gloucester's skyline. The Great East Window, installed around 1350, remains one of the largest medieval windows in England and tells the story of Christ through its intricate stained glass.

One of the cathedral's most significant moments came in 1327 when it received the body of the deposed King Edward II for burial. The magnificent tomb that was created for him became a popular pilgrimage site, bringing wealth and prestige to the abbey (the tomb is still there, being one of the few places that is the burial place of one of Britain’s kings or queens). This financial windfall enabled much of the cathedral's later architectural development, including the stunning fan-vaulted cloisters that have recently found fame as corridors of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films.

The dissolution of the monasteries in 1540 could have spelled disaster for the building, but its status as Edward II's burial place helped ensure its survival when Henry VIII designated it as the seat of the new Diocese of Gloucester. The cathedral survived the English Civil Wars relatively unscathed, despite Gloucester's pivotal role in the conflict, and subsequent centuries brought careful restoration rather than radical change. Today's building thus presents an remarkably complete example of the evolution of English ecclesiastical architecture from Norman times to the present.

When we were there, the place was home to a temporary art exhibition, which consisted of a giant rotating Mars, floating in the middle of the sanctuary as if by magic. Luke Jerram's "Mars: War and Peace" was a stunning artistic installation featuring a seven-meter (about 25 feet) diameter illuminated sculpture of the Red Planet suspended in the Cathedral's Nave. The piece used detailed NASA imagery to create an extraordinarily accurate representation of the Martian surface at a scale where each centimeter represents 10 kilometers of Mars' actual surface.

I’m a huge space nerd, so it was a delight to come across this special installation, as I had no idea it was going on. It was quite something to see it suspended in air, a wonder of the universe amidst a true wonder of human architecture.  What made the installation particularly powerful is its juxtaposition of the sacred and the celestial - the ancient Gothic architecture of Gloucester Cathedral provides a uniquely contemplative space for viewing this modern representation of another world. The rotating sphere is accompanied by an immersive soundscape created by BAFTA and Ivor Novello award-winning composer Dan Jones, which blends sounds from NASA Mars missions with those of seas, deserts, and, poignantly, the sounds of warfare and marching armies.

The Dean of Gloucester, the Very Reverend Andrew Zihni, noted in an interview last year that the installation not only showcases the beauty and mystery of the universe but also provides an opportunity for reflection on peace - a theme that resonates deeply given Mars' association with the god of war in classical mythology. This marriage of astronomical wonder and spiritual contemplation makes the installation particularly meaningful within the cathedral setting.

Though, we didn’t find that day particularly contemplative. It was half-term - for those not aware of what that is - it’s the break in the middle of the school term when kids are off of school. So, parents across Britain are always in search of things to do with their kids to keep them entertained (and it helps if the thing is free, which the cathedral was). So, as a consequence, the cathedral was full of families enjoying a Great British Day Out. This is not a complaint, I love seeing a beautiful place being enjoyed by people, even if the usual quiet contemplative space is uncharacteristically loud for a few days (we always recommend that if you want silence at these places, don’t visit during half-term).

It’s no secret that Britain’s heritage attractions are always in need of money simply so that they can remain standing, and with the increasing irrelevance of public religion in Britain, the cathedrals are no stranger do this, so it’s a very good thing that the cathedral authorities put an art installation inside that brought thousands of families inside to wonder at the art, and then have a wander around the incredible architecture because it is incredible inside, especially the vaulted ceilings.

Gloucester Cathedral's interior architecture represents a masterclass in medieval engineering and artistry, but it's the cathedral's ceilings that truly showcase its architectural innovation and splendor. Most notably, the cloisters feature the earliest surviving example of fan vaulting in the world, dating from the late 14th century. These intricate stone fans spread out from central points like delicate umbrellas, creating a breathtaking canopy of stone lace that has influenced ecclesiastical architecture for centuries.

The cathedral's nave presents a fascinating study of architectural evolution. While its massive Norman pillars reach upward to support the ceiling, the original Norman roof was replaced in the 14th century with a magnificent lierne vault. This complex pattern of ribs creates a net-like effect overhead, demonstrating the transition from Romanesque simplicity to Gothic complexity. The vault's boss stones, where the ribs intersect, feature intricate carvings of religious symbols, heraldic devices, and natural motifs.

The choir ceiling represents perhaps the cathedral's greatest architectural achievement. Created between 1351 and 1377, this vault shows the first major steps toward the development of fan vaulting. Its intricate design manages to be both structurally sound and visually stunning, with ribs radiating out in complex patterns that seem to defy gravity. The Great East Window beneath it works in harmony with the vaulting, creating a space that draws the eye both upward and eastward.

The Lady Chapel provides yet another variation in ceiling design, with elegant tierceron vaulting that creates a delicate, star-like pattern overhead. This lighter, more feminine design perfectly suits the chapel's dedication to the Virgin Mary, while still maintaining the structural integrity necessary for such a large stone ceiling. The restoration work carried out in the 19th century carefully preserved these medieval engineering feats while ensuring their survival for future generations.

These ceilings collectively demonstrate not just the evolution of English Gothic architecture but also the remarkable skill of medieval masons who, without modern technology or engineering knowledge, created structures that have survived for over 600 years. Each ceiling tells its own story of architectural innovation, from the early Norman work to the development of the uniquely English fan vault, making Gloucester Cathedral a virtual textbook of medieval ceiling design.

It truly is a sight to behold. Gloucester Cathedral isn’t really on the ‘American’ tourist trail of the Cotswolds, but I want to encourage all of you to pay a visit to it, especially because of the story I’m about to tell you.

So, as we wandered along the stone hallways of the place, taking in the majesty of the architecture, my eye immediately caught something familiar to pretty much any American, the stars and stripes flag.

Why on earth was there an American flag hung proudly in Gloucester Cathedral?

Thankfully, there was a plaque to explain it!

Gloucester Cathedral is the burial place of a man named John Stafford Smith, who lived from 1750-1836. You probably have never heard of him. I certainly hadn’t until I was standing in that spot. I’d always heard that America’s national anthem was set to a British drinking tune…

John Stafford Smith was born in Gloucester in 1750 and educated as a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral, composed what would become one of the most recognized tunes in history - though not in the way he might have expected. As a composer and musical antiquarian, he wrote "To Anacreon in Heaven" for a London gentlemen's club called the Anacreontic Society in the 1770s.  The Anacreontic Song served as the "constitutional song" of the Society. After the initial concert and meal, the Song would be sung in order to open the after-supper, more light-hearted part of proceedings (eg it was a drinking song).

This melody would later be used by Francis Scott Key for his poem "The Star-Spangled Banner," written during the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814. The combination of Key's patriotic lyrics and Smith's British drinking song melody was officially adopted as the United States' national anthem in 1931, creating an ironic historical connection between a Gloucester Cathedral chorister and America's most important patriotic song. Smith died in 1836, probably unaware that his tune would eventually be played at every major American sporting event and official ceremony for centuries to come.

So, Smith was buried in the cathedral. When we (the royal we) found out about this, we had to honor him properly. I’ll let the plaque explain it:

USA. FLAG GIVEN BY ROTARY CLUB OF NEW YORK. AND BRITISH FLAG BY ROTARIAN H. G. NORMAN CITY HIGH SHERIFE TO THE ROTARY CIUB OF GLOLICESTER 1920: PLACED HERE ON 26" AUGUST 1977 TO MARK THE USA. BICENTENNIAL YEAR. CONSIDER THE WORLD ROTARY MOVEMENTS IDEALS OF PEACE, GOODWILL. UNDERSTANDING AND FELLOWSHIP: REMEMBER ARTHUR NEWELL OF AMERICA AND MEMBER OF GLOUCESTER CLUB. WHO PROMOTED THESE IDEALS BETWEEN US

And as this all took place in 1977, the flags are a relic themselves (well, they are older than me, so I think they’re a relic). What a fascinating little historical, and important connection.

The American flag flies side by side with the British Union flag in Gloucester Cathedral as a permanent monument to our shared culture and history - and enduring partnership (the less said about the bombardment of Fort McHenry and the War of 1812, the better, but I digress). I was very moved by it all. It was the perfect capstone to our visit to Gloucester Cathedral.

If you find yourself in the Cotswolds, be sure to pop into Gloucester and pay tribute to the man who composed the tune to our national anthem (albeit unknowingly) and the UK-US special relationship. And while you’re there marvel at an amazing example of medieval Gothic architecture as a little bonus.

I put together a gallery of pictures I took while there, in case you'd like to explore it virtually yourself. Check it out here.