Successful HLF submission for Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral and Artelia’s Heritage team are celebrating a £13.8 million HLF grant award, following almost two years of development work on the comprehensive HLF applicationThe HLF grant, plus £10.8 million raised by the Cathedral will be used to carry out vital restoration work and to open up the Cathedral and its historic collections to as many people as possible.

Securing the funding means that over the next five years the leaking roof above the Cathedral Nave will be replaced and, subject to planning permission, visitors to the Cathedral will be greeted at a new Welcome Centre, opening onto the city’s Buttermarket. Improved landscaping at the west front of the Cathedral will make access easier for visitors and restoration work is to be carried out to the main entrance to the Cathedral from the city – the Christ Church Gate. More displays from the Cathedral’s historic collections are to be created and a new handheld, multimedia guide to help visitors learn more about the Cathedral’s rich history is to be developed.

The Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, the Very Revd Dr Robert Willis said:

“This is without doubt a very exciting time for the Cathedral. One million people come to this Cathedral every year as worshippers, visitors and pilgrims and we want further to enhance the experience for them as well as to reach out to those communities with whom we would like to share the richness of the heritage we have in this magnificent place.

“We are naturally delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has supported our application for a grant and we are enormously grateful to those very generous individuals from around the world who have placed their faith and trust in us so that together we may continue to cherish this holy place for future generations.”