The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Cathedral to reopen after restoration work COMMUNITY: A celebration will be held to mark the end of the first phase of renovation of St Ninian’s Cathedral
A historic Perth building has reopened to the public after a £1 million restoration.
Emergency repairs were needed to protect the 160-year-old St Ninian’s Cathedral and it took three years to raise the cash.
This weekend, the Scottish Episcopal Church is hosting a ceremony to thank the community for their efforts to save the A-listed building.
Work included essential repairs to the cathedral’s roof and drainage system before water penetration damaged the entire structure.
Grants from Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic Environment Scotland got the ball rolling before the Perthshire community took on challenges like runs, cycles and bake sales to reach the total.
Two inspiring women of the congregation, Jennifer Irving and Ann Yates, who have a combined age of 141, cycled more than 1,000 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats, and raised almost £23,000.
The Very Reverend Hunter Farquharson, provost of the cathedral, said: “Once the donations and grants started coming in and people and
One the donations and grants started coming in... others were happy to donate. MR FARQUHARSON
organisations saw that this was actually going to happen, others were happy to donate.”
During 2017, St Ninian’s was shrouded in scaffolding as the slate roof was overhauled and tiles were replaced.
New lead gutters and pipes were installed by specialist contractors and much of the internal roof, 80 feet high in places, had to be repaired.
The North Methven Street cathedral will be open from 12.30pm on Sunday to allow visitors to see the restoration.
At 4.30pm, a short service of thanksgiving will be held to recognise the contribution of individuals.
The celebration will only be a short reprieve for the hard-working congregation, as fundraising starts again for the final two phases of work to return the cathedral to its former glory.
Next, the external stonework will be replaced before the building’s huge windows are restored.
David Willis, a conservation architect who carried out most of the work, said: “The efforts of the congregation have been absolutely remarkable, not just in generating funds, but to physically finish off the work.
“We are a small practice, but we believe that we have responsibilities towards these buildings.
“Most cathedrals are in isolation unique, but the scale of St Ninian’s is out of the ordinary, in Scotland anyway.
“Its history is out of the ordinary, starting as a smaller scale building and then growing over a period of around 70 years.
“We can’t ignore these buildings. We simply have to do what has to be done to maintain them and where there is a will there is a way.”