A contemplative summer exhibition in the heart of Southwark
Southwark Cathedral will open its Nave to a free exhibition of work by the late Magnum photographer Peter Marlow, bringing a national project of rare stillness and scale to London’s oldest Gothic church. The display, Peter Marlow: The English Cathedral, runs from 21 July to 31 August 2026 during general cathedral opening hours and forms the latest stop on an ambitious tour that aims to visit all 42 Anglican cathedrals in England.
Organised by the Peter Marlow Foundation, the show presents Marlow’s photographs of every cathedral nave in the Church of England—each captured by natural light with modern artificial illumination switched off. At Southwark, the images sit within the very kind of space they depict, allowing visitors to weigh one sacred interior against another and to see their own cathedral anew.
A visual pilgrimage, 11 years on the road
Southwark is the 29th cathedral to host the exhibition, which is now in the 11th year of its ongoing journey. The project began after Royal Mail commissioned Marlow in 2008 to photograph six Anglican cathedrals for a set of commemorative stamps marking the 300th anniversary of the completion of St Paul’s. Those initial visits set him on a wider quest that took three years to complete. As he later reflected:
“What I thought was going to be incredibly simple became intricate, complicated, and utterly absorbing. The journey was memorable and wonderfully hypnotic, a kind of reflective pilgrimage. My cathedral days involved hours of driving and thinking, with my reference Polaroids drying in the sun on the dashboard. England passed by.”
Marlow’s portrait of Southwark Cathedral underscores what the building does best: a long view down the nave drawn in stone and shadow, the eye led by tracery and vaults that speak to centuries of worship on the south bank of the Thames. Stripped of artificial light, the photographs lean on daylight and dusk—revealing a softer order within these large spaces that busy schedules and event lighting often obscure.
How to visit
The exhibition sits within general opening hours in the Nave, with no ticket required. It is free to view and designed to be taken at an unhurried pace, whether you have five minutes between errands or an afternoon to dwell on the quieter details.
| Dates | Location | Opening hours |
|---|---|---|
| 21 July – 31 August 2026 | Nave, Southwark Cathedral | Mon–Sat: 9am–6pm; Sun: 8.30am–5pm |
As with any working cathedral, services and events may occasionally restrict access to parts of the building. Visitors are encouraged to plan a little flexibility into their trip, especially at weekends, and to respect the quiet of the space.
Why this matters locally
For Southwark residents, the show offers a chance to place our cathedral—familiar to many from school visits, lunchtime stops and carol services—within a wider English story. The 42 photographs read almost like a national atlas in stone. You can stand in Southwark’s own nave and look along lines of pews from Durham to Truro, noting how each community shaped its place of worship, and how light works its way differently through glass and vaults from county to county.
There is something wonderfully democratic about the project’s sweep. Every Church of England cathedral is represented and hung as part of a single body of work, giving equal attention to the well-known and the overlooked. It meets us in a building we know and leads us outward—then gently back again to notice things at home: the fall of light across a column, the hush between footsteps, the way Southwark holds its history without fuss.
Background on the photographer
Marlow (1952–2016) was a British photographer with a long association with Magnum Photos. Guided in part by English Cathedrals (1989) by Edwin Smith and Olive Cook—and, charmingly, a deck of Anglican cathedrals Top Trumps—he set out to make a consistent, contemplative record of these interiors. The resulting series is less about spectacle and more about patience: the camera on a tripod, the lights off, the building breathing at its own pace.
Practical notes
- Admission: Free; no booking required.
- Where: Nave, Southwark Cathedral (south bank of the River Thames).
- When: 21 July–31 August 2026; Mon–Sat 9am–6pm; Sun 8.30am–5pm.
For those who like their art without barriers or a paywall, this is a generous summertime invitation. Pop in on your way through Borough, or make it a destination on a quieter morning and let the light do the talking.
