All God’s Children

All God’s Children is an exhibition in Bristol Cathedral that explores the impact of the slave economy on Cathedral life, past and present.

All God’s Children is part of the Cathedral’s work to understand its links with the transatlantic trade of enslaved people. Research that informed the exhibition discovered that between 1670 and 1900, roughly 1,000 people were buried or memorialised in the Cathedral and its grounds. Around 200 (20%) of them had a close connection to the slavery-based economy.

We hope that the exhibition will inform a wide-ranging conversation about the stories we tell in the Cathedral, the ways in which we can repair and restore damaged relationships and the ways we can work together for a better future for everyone.

Why is Bristol Cathedral putting on this exhibition?

The Bible teaches us in many places that each and every person is loved and valued by God. We are told that when one person suffers, we all suffer. Yet Christians have so often failed to behave as if this is what they believe. For hundreds of years many of the people who gathered in this Cathedral enslaved, bought and sold their sisters and brothers of colour. They exploited, raped and murdered them and the exploiters did not see their actions as being incompatible with their Christian faith.

We recognise that neither the injustices of the past nor the impact of racism in the present have been properly acknowledged in the Cathedral. We seek to welcome to everyone but we know that it cannot be truly welcoming until the story of the painful legacy of slavery is told within these walls and until the contribution of all our sisters and brothers to our shared life is recognised.

This exhibition presents the first findings of a research project into Bristol Cathedral’s connections with slavery as revealed through its memorials and grave-markers. We hope that it will help to inform a wide-ranging conversation about the stories we tell, the ways in which we can repair and restore damaged relationships and the ways we can work together for a better future for everyone.

The exhibition is available whenever the Cathedral is open