Spirit & Faith

Royal Mail celebrates the church's important role as a focal point for communities across the UK by featuring four Millennium projects linked by belief and history.

St Edmundsbury Cathedral (2nd class)

For almost 1000 years pilgrims have visited St Edmundsbury Cathedral, to revere one of the most martyred kings of Saxon Britain, St Edmund. This church is England's last remaining uncompleted Anglican Cathedral and attracts thousands of tourists and pilgrims to Suffolk town of Bury St Edmunds.

Church Floodlighting (1st class)

Installing 400 state-of-the-art floodlighting systems at places of worship across the UK was the bold aim of the Church Floodlighting Trust whose achievements are illuminated on this stamp. One of the Trust's key aims was to place emphasis on the church as a focal point in the community and to enhance and reveal church architecture while providing a community amenity.

St Patrick Centre / Downpatrick (45p)

Arguments still rage among scholars whether he was from Wales, Scotland, England and even Gaul, but there is agreement about where St Patrick was buried. Sited at the foot of Cathedral Hill in Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland, where tradition places the burial of the Saint, the Saint Patrick story will now be comprehensively told for the first time. February 2001 will see the opening of a £6.3m centre devoted to the story of Saint Patrick.

Mystery Plays / York Minster (65p)

Known throughout medieval times as the Corpus Christi, the York Mystery Plays were traditionally performed outdoors in the City of York from the 14th to the 16th centuries and revived as part of the Festival of Britain in 1951.
The York Mystery Plays are a magnificent example of medieval drama. Based on the bible they tell the story of life on Earth, from the creation to Doomsday.

Stamps in detail

The stamps were printed by De La Rue Security Print in gravure in a horizontal format (37 x 35mm) with 14.5 x 14 perforations. The 2nd class stamp has one phosphor band and the others have two bands. The glue is PVA.

More information

Stamps United Kingdom
Postage Stamps 2000