Two dog-friendly cathedrals have launched 2027 calendars starring their canine visitors, with St Edmundsbury Cathedral and Sheffield Cathedral each putting local dogs in the picture.
St Edmundsbury Cathedral and Sheffield Cathedral Launch 2027 Dog Calendars
At St Edmundsbury Cathedral, the 2027 Dogs in the Cathedral Calendar is the cathedral’s third canine-themed calendar.
Fifteen local dogs were photographed for it, including Chops the Brussels Griffon, who takes a seat in the font, Endeavour the Shih Tzu, who takes his place on the Cathedral’s Godspeed sculpture, and a trio of Labs who find a home in the sedilia.
The calendars were printed by local firm Premier Printers. The idea was born in 2024 and was a first in the UK, later inspiring other cathedrals to follow suit.
Catherine Rayson, Marketing and Communications Manager, who created the calendar with photography by Tom Soper Photography, said:
“The dog calendar photoshoots are the highlight of my working year. It’s so nice to welcome owners and their pets into the Cathedral and capture something a little different.
‘It’s also nice to hear the shoppers have already been asking in the Cathedral shop when the 2027 version will be available.”
In Sheffield, the 2027 calendar is the result of the Cathedral’s StrikeAPaws competition, where four-legged friends and their families posed for photographs.
More than 45 families brought their dogs to Sheffield Cathedral forecourt in July. Winners include Pickle the sausage dog, who features on the February page, and Walter the English bulldog, who represents September.
Ruth Maher-Heslip, enterprise business manager at the Cathedral’s 1554 Coffee & Gift Shop, said:
“Sheffield Cathedral is very dog friendly, and we have so many loyal canine regulars at the café, so it’s wonderful to be able to celebrate that fantastic sense of community through our annual calendar.
‘StrikeAPaws was hugely popular this year and the team had a really tough time choosing winners to star in the calendar. Hopefully this competition also shows that the Cathedral is a place for all to those who may not have visited us before.”
StrikeAPaws was organised in partnership with Supertram, which now permits dogs to travel on its trams, after a successful debut last year. All 14 winners received a professional photoshoot inside the Cathedral, a copy of the calendar, a canine gift bag, a week-long Supertram travel pass and a Cathedral concert ticket.
Both calendars are on sale in the cathedrals’ shops and proceeds will support the cathedrals’ work.
The launches come as Bury St Edmunds prepares to compete once again in the National DogFriendly Awards, which recognise establishments that go above and beyond to welcome the UK’s 12.5 million dogs and their owners.
Voting is open until 11 October.
Around 25 of England’s 42 Anglican cathedrals now welcome well-behaved dogs on short leads – Bradford, Bristol, Carlisle, Chester, Chichester, Coventry, Derby, Durham, Ely, Lichfield, Lincoln, Liverpool, Newcastle, Norwich, Peterborough, Portsmouth, Salisbury, Sheffield, Southwell Minster, St Albans, St Edmundsbury, Truro, Wells, Winchester, and Worcester (along with recent trial additions like Hereford and Gloucester on a specific six-day-a-week schedule).
All cathedrals admit assistance dogs.
