31 cathedrals benefit from First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund
New round of cathedral grants supports communities across England
More urgent repairs will be able to be made to 24 Church of England and seven Catholic cathedrals thanks to the announcement of £6.9 million in grants from the Government-sponsored fund set up to support vital repairs to some of England’s most important historic buildings.
ChurchCare, the cathedral and church buildings division of the Church of England, has today welcomed
Chancellor George Osborne’s announcement that the final phase of the scheme will provide 31 cathedrals with grants of between £12,000 and £800,000 for essential and urgent repairs ranging from repairs to roofs and stonework through to complete re-wiring.
Lichfield Cathedral, containing treasures such as the St Chad’s Gospel and the Saxon ‘Lichfield Angel’ sculpture, receives the largest grant, of £800,000, for work to replace wiring and lighting systems in the medieval building.
The cathedral was facing the possibility of closure without funds for the essential work. The Dean of
Lichfield, the Very Revd Adrian Dorber, welcomed the “timely and generous” grant.
“Lichfield Cathedral is over 700 years old and the last time it had to close its doors to the public was during a Civil War siege,” he said.
“The possibility of closure was heart-breaking. Cathedral buildings offer so much to so many – at
Lichfield we are running a Citizen’s Parliament to discuss the upcoming election, opening up new parts of the church to visitors via our tower and rooftop tours, and celebrating our fine musical tradition.
Without this timely and generous grant all of this would have been under threat.”
Other cathedrals to receive grants include Durham, which has been allocated £568,000 for repair and conservation work on its central tower. In Birmingham, £500,000 has been awarded to replace failed wiring and lighting with a new scheme to showcase its Baroque architecture and Edward Burne-Jones stained glass windows. Ripon Cathedral, which incorporates the oldest feature of any cathedral in
England, a Saxon crypt, receives £19,000 to repair 35 windows. And with £65,000, Sheffield Cathedral will be able to bring two chapels back into use by replacing failed lighting.
The Bishop of Worcester, Dr John Inge, lead bishop for cathedrals and church buildings in the Church of
England, said:
“Cathedrals are not just beautiful buildings which are part of our heritage, they are active places of worship and community hubs.
“Keeping these magnificent, complex buildings standing, open and welcoming to all who come through their doors, is rightly a priority for the Church of England.
“Cathedrals have an economic and social impact and it is appropriate to see the Government making a significant contribution to their care. This final round of grants shows the diversity of projects which need support, but also the ambition and open-mindedness of cathedrals when it comes to making themselves the centres of their communities.”

The Chancellor George Osborne said: “Churches and Cathedrals are a unique part of our national heritage, and play a vital role in community life – we want to support them, and thanks to our long-term economic plan, we can.
“Whether it’s our country’s future or these important buildings, the sun is shining and we’re starting to fix the roof.”
The Church of England's 42 cathedrals are estimated to contribute around £220 million to the national economy every year through employment and tourism. They welcome more than 11 million visitors annually, employ more than 7,000 people and are supported by 15,000 dedicated volunteers.
Sir Paul Ruddock, Chair of the Expert Panel, First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund and
Chairman of the Victoria & Albert Museum, said:
“Cathedrals are perhaps the most multi-faceted of historic buildings, still in use for their original purpose, and representing our own shared history.
“They are very much public spaces, there for everyone, a heady mix of sacred and secular, with vast appeal to millions of people. In chairing the Expert Panel which allocated this money I have been privileged to see first hand the heights of success which cathedrals can achieve through use of their wonderful buildings.
“I am also acutely aware that there is still much work to do in order to keep them safe and open.”
Rt Hon Frank Field MP, Chairman, Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England, said:
“In the year of the 800 th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta, six copies of which are still held by cathedrals, it is timely to consider the place of the church in the life of the nation. In the case of cathedrals it is clear that they provide much more than services. They offer a spiritual and physical sanctuary from everyday life, a chance to experience something greater. It is right and proper that the
Government is supporting the care of these places and the huge range of initiatives – from food banks and night shelters to concerts and exhibitions – that cathedrals run for the benefit of us all.”
This final round of grants has been made available as part of the £20 million First World War Centenary
Cathedral Repairs Fund, which was first announced by the Chancellor in the budget in March 2014.
Notes:
Full list of recipients below:
Cathedral Denomination Grant awarded
Birmingham CofE
Project
Internal restoration and replacement of lighting system
£ 500,000
Chester CofE £ 274,752
Coventry CofE
Complete restoration of cloisters
Surface fixing of westmorland slate to the cathedral exterior and
£ 80,364

Derby
Durham
Ely
Exeter
Gloucester
Guildford
Lichfield
Liverpool
Metropolitan
Norwich
Norwich
Nottingham
Peterborough
Plymouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth RC
Ripon
Salisbury
Sheffield
Shrewsbury
Southwark
St. Edmundsbury
St. Paul's
Wakefield
Wells
Westminster
CofE
RC
CofE
CofE
CofE
RC
CofE
CofE
CofE
CofE
CofE
RC
CofE
CofE
CofE
CofE
CofE
CofE
CofE
RC
RC
CofE
RC
CofE
RC repointing
Reroofing the Song School and adjacent roofs
Repair and conservation of central tower upper parapet
Replacement of defective electrical cable to north side of cathedral
Essential repair work, recording & conservation of east end
Conservation of masonry and glazing of the Lady Chapel
Reroofing and repair of tower and transepts
Essential relighting and rewiring
Repair to lantern glazing, east and west entrances
Urgent roof re-leading
Repair of a medieval roof
Improvement of drainage
Repairs to the tesserae Presbytery floor
Replacement of rainwater goods and associated repairs, conservation of the west window and repointing of clerestory walls
Removal of cement pointing and completion of lime mortar pointing
External masonry repairs
Urgent repairs to the glazing of 35 windows
External repair and conservation of elevations
To replace lighting in two contiguous chapels
Disabled access for front porch
New rainwater disposal arrangements
Re-reoofing and repairs to North
Aisle
Rectifying water penetration of the
Stone Gallery
Conservation and repair of three east end stained glass windows
Masonry and structural repairs to the North Quire
Re-covering of chancel roof
£ 124,181
£ 568,651
£ 150,000
£ 275,000
£ 185,415
£ 500,000
£ 800,000
£ 191,168
£ 179,900
£ 88,620
£ 140,000
£ 200,000
£ 398,496
£ 86,053
£ 79,800
£ 19,208
£ 150,000
£ 65,077
£ 280,866
£ 12,765
£ 300,000
£ 200,000
£ 72,000
£ 160,000
£ 100,000

Winchester
Worcester
CofE
CofE
Replacement of lighting and wiring system
Urgent repairs to roof and rainwater goods
£ 500,000
£ 116,440
York Minster CofE
Fabric repairs to the Camera
Cantorum and urgent window repairs
£ 100,000
Statistics for Round Three
TOTAL to all cathedrals in this round
TOTAL successful applications:
TOTAL to Catholic Cathedrals:
TOTAL to Anglican Cathedrals
£6,898,396
31 (out of 41)
£1,370,230
£5,528,526
OVERSUBSCRIPTION to the scheme across all three rounds was £12,819,794 more than the available funds.
All £20m of the money allocated by the Government has now been awarded.
Total to Anglican Cathedrals £16,230,591
Total to Catholic Cathedrals £3,744,758
Total number of projects funded 77
Total number of cathedrals funded 55