Parish churches might be struggling with declining attendances, repeated thefts of lead from the roof, crumbling stonework and organs, but one part of the nation’s ecclesiastical heritage is thriving as never before.

Cathedrals are attracting increasing numbers of visitors and worshippers, with more than one in four adults, 11 million people, having attended one in the past year, according to research. Many were not Christians.

Of those surveyed who identified themselves as Christian, 35 per cent had visited an Anglican cathedral in the past year. Of those who were religious but not Christian, the proportion was 25 per cent and one sixth of atheists and agnostics paid a visit.

A quarter of adults who never attend church said that Cathedrals were an easy place to get in touch with the spiritual. The report, by the think-tank Theos and the Grubb Institute, a research foundation, called Spiritual Capital: The Present and Future of English Cathedral, found that men were more likely than women to have visited a cathedral.

Adrian Dorber, Dean of Lichfield, said: “While our age is one of great religious and philosophical diversity, it isn’t irreligious or unspiritual. Cathedrals uniquely provide a space where people connect with what is deep inside them.”

Ruth Gledhill | The Times