Westminster Cathedral

John Francis Bentley’s 19th-century cathedral, mother church of Roman Catholicism in England and Wales, is a superb example of neo-Byzantine architecture with its distinctive candy-striped red-brick and white-stone tower features. Although construction started here in 1896 and worshippers began attending services seven years later, the church ran out of money and the interior has never been completed. Some parts of the interior are ablaze with mosaics and ornamented with 100 types of marble; other areas are just bare brick. The highly regarded stone bas-reliefs of the Stations of the Cross (1918) by Eric Gill and the marvellously sombre atmosphere make this a welcome haven from the traffic outside. The views from the 83m-tall bell tower – thankfully, accessible by lift – are impressive. Six Masses are said daily from Sunday to Friday and five on Saturday.