Episcopal Press and News
ENGLAND: Save Canterbury Cathedral Appeal reaches £7 million
Episcopal News Service. November 9, 2007 [110907-05]
The Save Canterbury Cathedral Appeal has reached the £7 million (US$14 million) mark, one year after its public launch. The Appeal, established to fund an extensive conservation and development program, has made good progress during its first year, enabling the first phases of critical conservation work to be carried out.
Following its high profile launch in October 2006, the Appeal quickly settled down to business and has been attracting donations both locally and from overseas. The Appeal is also gaining increased support from business and a number of grant-making Trusts and Foundations.
Commenting on this new milestone, Brigadier David Innes, chief executive of the Save Canterbury Cathedral Appeal, said: "An enormous amount of progress has been made during the year both in terms of fundraising and the important conservation work. Although it is still early days, the work that has been taking place at the Cathedral over the past year shows how right the decision was to launch this important Appeal to ensure that this magnificent national treasure can be enjoyed by generations to come."
During this year, the work underway includes:
• a significant amount of stone conservation on the eastern side of the South East Transept. This has involved a complex cleaning operation to remove the black sulphate crust that has built up on much of the external walls and replace damaged stonework. The work has also included the replacement of cement mortar with mortar made from lime putty, sand and stone dust. Repairs have also been carried out to the leaking roofs over the chapels of Saint Gregory and Saint John.
• similar work on the upper levels of the south side of the Corona. A significant amount of cleaning has already been undertaken and the stonemasons will be spending much of the winter carving new stones.
• installation of protective glazing on a panel of the South Oculus window in the South East Transept and the fitting of special environmental monitoring equipment to measure the effects of atmospheric changes to the Cathedral's stained glass. Work is also underway to remove corrosion from and clean the panel of the South Oculus.
• extensive refurbishment of the choristers' boarding house including new music practice rooms. It is expected that the choristers will move back in the middle of 2008.
Other highlights for the year have included:
• The return of Caen stone for use in stone replacement for the first time in over 100 years. Caen stone is no stranger to Canterbury Cathedral. Much of the original pale stonework of the Cathedral is from the Plain de Caen in northern France, some of it dating back to medieval times. However, a shortage of supply at the end of the 19th century meant that the Cathedral stone masons had to source stone from elsewhere, much of it of inferior quality to or a poor match for the Caen. The team of stonemasons is starting to use the new stone in the work on the Corona.
• The launch of Sponsor a Stone and Sponsor a Lead Tile schemes enabling supporters to play a personal part in this historic project.
• A 2,000 kilometer sponsored cycle from Canterbury to Rome in aid of the Appeal. This spectacular feat was undertaken by 27 enthusiastic, but not professional, cyclists who climbed over 70,000 feet (several times higher than Mount Everest) during their 16-day venture, endured temperatures ranging from 5-46 degrees centigrade and emerged with only 12 punctures and few injuries. The team raised over £100,000 in sponsorship much of which will go to the Save Canterbury Cathedral Appeal but will also be shared with other local, national and international charities.
The Christmas period will be a busy one for the Appeal with a week of Christmas Giving planned for early December and a concert on December 10 given by internationally renowned conductor Harry Christophers and The Sixteen in the Cathedral.
For more information on the Save Canterbury Cathedral Appeal email the team on fundraisingcampaign@canterbury-cathedral.org or visit the website.