Backlash against plan to rebrand Southwell Minster

Southwell Minster is a cathedral and one of my very favourite ones. 

It has been a cathedral since the Diocese of Southwell, covering Nottinghamshire and part of South Yorkshire, was carved out of Lincoln in 1884. But it is still called a minster, not a cathedral.

It has never bothered anyone in York that the second most important cathedral in the country is always called York Minster, but in Nottinghamshire they worry about such things.

In 2005 the diocese was rechristened the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham and now it wants to rebrand Southwell Minster.

On Monday an online survey was posted asking people to choose between four new names for it:

• Southwell Minster Cathedral, Nottingham
• Southwell Minster, the Cathedral Church of Nottingham
• Southwell Cathedral, Nottingham
• Southwell Minster Cathedral, serving the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham

The survey disappeared after a few hours and BBC News quotes Dean Nicola Sullivan:

"We should have started with our near community and stakeholders before putting it on the Wild West of social media.

"But the fact that people have these views on it just confirms what I've known since I started here - people really care and want the best for it."

My advancing age make me resistant to change, but even if you see the case for it none of those names will really do. Some are too much of a mouthful, some make it sound as though Southwell is in Nottingham, some do both.

So here's a suggestion. Change the second proposed name to 'Southwell Minster, the Cathedral Church of Nottinghamshire' and adopt that.

The authorities can put it on their letterheads and compliments slips and everyone else can go on calling it Southwell Minster.