Norwich Cathedral Wedding Photography: Tips for a Stunning Ceremony

Norwich Cathedral is one of the finest Norman cathedrals in England — a 315-foot spire soaring above a remarkably complete Romanesque interior with the largest surviving collection of medieval roof bosses in the world. For wedding photography the cathedral offers three distinct settings: the nave and crossing, the cloisters, and the Cathedral Close.

The Nave and Crossing

The nave arcade — eleven bays of Norman rounded arches rising to the triforium and clerestory — creates a solemn processional sequence that photographs powerfully from the west end looking east toward the altar. The ribbed vault above, added in the Perpendicular style in the 15th century, is decorated with 1,106 carved bosses telling the story of the Bible. The crossing beneath the lantern tower allows a vertical shaft of natural light from above that is one of the most useful photographic opportunities in the cathedral.

Flash photography is not permitted during a service. The available light in Norwich Cathedral is reasonable for a Norman interior — the clerestory windows are relatively large — but modern mirrorless cameras with wide- aperture primes are essential for sharp ceremony photographs.

The Cloisters

The cathedral cloisters — rebuilt after a 1272 fire and completed over more than a century — are the largest cathedral cloisters in England. The vaulted cloister walks, with their roofboss-studded ceilings and slender tracery windows looking onto the cloister garth, provide a sheltered, enclosed portrait location available in any weather. The interplay of light through the tracery windows creates patterned shadows across pale stone that are ideal for documentary portrait photography.

The Cathedral Close

The Cathedral Close — one of the largest cathedral closes in England, enclosed within flint walls and entered through medieval gates — is a complete historic precinct of canons' houses, school buildings and green spaces. The Erpingham Gate (1420) provides a pinnacled Gothic arch for framing portraits. The river frontage at the south of the Close, where the Wensum bends around the cathedral precinct, gives a water-and-spire composition unique to Norwich.