Winchester Cathedral welcomed 25,000 visitors at Christmas

Winchester Cathedral has declared the 2025 Christmas season to be each a spiritual and business success. 

In January the Diocese of Winchester said that it had seen “significant increases within the variety of worshippers this Christmas, in comparison with previous years.” Some churches within the diocese reported attendance numbers up 10 per cent on previous years.

The news from Winchester served as one more piece of anecdotal evidence that there may very well be a “quiet revival” going down.

The idea of a “quiet revival” comes from research conducted by the Bible Society and YouGov suggesting that increasing numbers of individuals, particularly in Generation Z, area attending church.

While some have forged doubt on the claims of the research, many churches up and down the country have reported increased interest and turnout, suggesting that something may indeed be happening.

Following its January update, Winchester Cathedral has now said that in the course of the course of Advent, some 25,742 people attended its various services and events.

The hottest events were carol services, which drew in over 5,590 people. Over 1,000 attended its Midnight Mass.

In addition to non secular services and events, Winchester Cathedral hosted a Christmas market, with profits from the event going towards the associated fee of running the cathedral, which is around £14,000 per day.

Nearly 120,000 people visited the market, the overwhelming majority of whom were locals. Footfall was 4 per cent up from the previous 12 months and a fifth of the 145 traders on the event were newcomers.

Canon Roly Riem, Interim Dean of Winchester Cathedral, said, “Christmas will at all times be first-and-foremost about worship, about giving because of God for the gift of his Son Jesus, who got here to bring the greenness of fresh growth to a barren earth. 

“We have fun that so many over the festivities joined in Cathedral services and people in churches throughout the Diocese of Winchester.”