Buy a piece of the cathedral
AUCTION OF STONES FROM CITY’S ANCIENT BUILDING DUE TO TAKE PLACE
IT’S an internationally-renowned marvel of construction drawing more than tourists 700,000 a year – and now Durham Cathedral is offering its admirers a chance to take a piece of it home.
The near-1,000-year-old city landmark is to host its first ever Stone Auction this autumn which will enable people to own a precious piece of North East heritage.
The auction will take place on October 19, when those interested can make a bid for unique stones of all shapes and sizes. But anyone concerned that sections of the Norman cathedral are about to be whittled away can rest assured that the stones being made available to buy are no longer needed.
They come from the top of the central tower and were taken out during its recent renovation. Now their sale will raise money to help cover the annual cost of the building’s maintenance.
Gaye Kirby, the cathedral’s head of development and strategy, said: “Durham Cathedral has a long history of adorning the skyline of our historic city and the Stone Auction provides people with an opportunity to literally own a piece of that history.”
At the same time it well help secure the future of the cathedral which, along with the castle at the opposite end of Palace Green, makes up a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Gaye added that all proceeds will go towards Foundation 2020 – the cathedral’s public campaign to build a £10m endowment fund to cover the cost of annual repairs – “so will forever support the cathedral’s ongoing repair work”.
The stones are made of Prudham sandstone and formed an intrinsic part of the fabric of the Central Tower, with some of them dating from the Victorian period when the last renovation was carried out in 1861.
Local auction house Anderson & Garland will run the sale, which will take place from 1pm to 3pm on October 19 in the cathedral’s rarely seen 12th Century Chapter House, off The Cloister. Before that there will be opportunities to view the stones between October 14 and 19 – from 9.30am to 4.30pm – in The College, around the back of the cathedral, where some will be on display in the Works Yard and some others in the DLI Garden.
Bidding for a stone will boost the fundraising appeal, as every donation will be matched pound for pound by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Anyone unable to make the auction in person can bid online. A catalogue with details of the type, shape, size and provenance of the Central Tower stones – each considered a historical gem in its own right – can be viewed at www.andersonandgarland.com/ auction/search?au=350. To make a bid, people need to register on the website or outside the Chapter House from 11am on the day of the auction.
For anyone interested in taking home a small memento, there will also be smaller pieces of the precious cathedral fabric available to purchase, from £5 to £30, outside Chapter House between 11am and 1pm.
Julian Thomson, chairman and managing director of the auction house, said: “It has been utterly fascinating to learn more about this wonderful, globally-renowned place of worship.”