October 5, 2006

LONDON – £50 million is urgently needed to save Canterbury Cathedral. A global fundraising campaign to finance an extensive conservation and development programme for the Cathedral has been launched today.

The Cathedral Trustees have been forced to act as the Cathedral is suffering serious damage through a combination of old age and modern pollution. If action is not taken now, the rate of decay and damage being inflicted on this unique building will increase dramatically with potentially disastrous results. Already urgent repairs are needed to certain key areas of the Cathedral in order to avert them being designated as health and safety hazards. In this event, visitor access will become severely restricted as areas are cordoned off from the general public. This, in turn, will create more complex problems of access to other parts of the Cathedral.

Fabric conservation is the most urgent priority of the campaign with parts of the roof already leaking badly and elements of the masonry crumbling.

• Vital repairs must be carried out on the buttresses to the West Towers in order to avoid eventual collapse and the tower roofs need re-leading to protect the bells and clock.

• The mammoth task of re-leading the nave roof is a further priority as are critical repairs to the stonework, carvings and pinnacles on Bell Harry.

• Fundamental structural work within the North and South Transept roofs is a matter of urgency.

• Major cleaning and intricate repairs of masonry and flying buttresses are needed in relation to the Quire, Presbytery and Trinity Chapel.

• Conservation and protection of the stained glass and, in particular, the 12th century south Oculus window is required.

An integrated conservation and improvement programme of repairs has been approved ensuring the work is done in a logical sequence in order to deliver best value for money. It embraces an innovative and holistic approach towards the future survival of the Cathedral.

• Canterbury is the seat of the Archbishop as diocesan Bishop.

• It is the seat of the Archbishop as Primate of all England and is seen as the Mother Church of English Christendom.

• It is regarded as the Mother Church of the world-wide Anglican Communion.

• The Cathedral is a great Church in its own right, ministering to large congregations throughout the year, utilising all the resources necessary to fulfill this function every day of the week.

• It is a World Heritage Site continuing every year to host more than one million visitors transcending all denominational barriers.

With this in mind, the programme has also taken into account refurbishment of the organ and introduction of state of the art technological improvements to the Cathedral's electrical, audio-visual, heating and lighting systems which will significantly benefit visitors including the disabled and hard of hearing. These vital enhancements are designed to ensure that visitors will be able to take much greater advantage of the Cathedral as a place of education and learning as well as heritage and history. Urgent repairs to the main Cathedral entrance, Christ Church Gate and the Choir House are also encompassed by this massive project. At the same time, the Cathedral Archives and Library including display areas will receive urgent repairs to the walls, parapets, copings, roof and tower.

Commenting on the launch of the campaign, the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Dr Rowan Williams said:

"This great Cathedral is home for everyone in the Anglican Communion wherever they may be around the world. It is also a place of welcome where visitors from every continent, regardless of belief or creed, can come to experience this unique centre of worship, of education and learning, of craftsmanship and heritage, of music and culture, and of friendship and understanding.

"I am delighted that the Trustees of Canterbury Cathedral are launching such an ambitious fundraising campaign to save this beautiful and sacred place for the benefit of present and future generations."

Allan Willett, Chairman of the Canterbury Cathedral Trust Fund added:

"Canterbury Cathedral, which has survived for more than 900 years, is once again under attack. It is threatened by serious corrosion and deterioration caused by centuries of weathering and modern pollution, worsened by the limited repairs that scarce resources forced us to carry out following the wartime bombing.

"Despite its 900 turbulent years of history it is the next few years that represent its time of greatest danger. £50 million is a substantial sum and it will need the generosity of the global community if we are to succeed – and succeed we must in order to protect Canterbury Cathedral for another thousand years."

Some Interesting Facts

• In 2005 over one million people came to Canterbury Cathedral

• It was founded in 597 by St Augustine, who was sent from Rome by Pope Gregory the Great to convert the pagan Anglo-Saxons. It is the oldest institution in the country

• In 1170 Thomas Becket was murdered in the Cathedral by four knights, who acted on the words of Kind Henry II "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?" Within 3 years, Thomas Becket had been made a saint and Canterbury became one of the leading pilgrimage centres of Europe

• King Henry VIII destroyed the Shrine of Thomas Becket in 1538

• Canterbury Cathedral has long been associated with literature. The Canterbury Tales were written by Chaucer following a pilgrimage to the Cathedral. Christopher Marlowe was educated here. More recently T.S. Eliot and Dorothy L Sayers wrote plays performed in the Cathedral's Chapter House

• The Cathedral houses the finest 12th Century Stained Glass in the UK. The Quire is the earliest Gothic building in the country and the Cathedral has leading examples of every type of Gothic architecture

• Canterbury and Durham are the only two cathedrals in the UK that are World Heritage Sites. Other World Heritage Sites include the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon and the Great Wall of China

Anglican Communion News Service, London