Creative thinking draws a record number to Minster
ALMOST 250,000 people visited Hull Minster last year, as the church established itself as one of the city’s leading arts venues.
The record-breaking figure was in part due to two installations, The Museum of the Moon, and Ship of the Gods, when the Minster recorded attendances of 82,000 and 25,000 people respectively – part of a series of events at the rejuvenated church which has sought to capitalise on a £4.5m transformation of the building to enable it to be more flexible in the social, cultural and community activities it hosts.
The Minster said the figures were a significant boost as increasing visitors and donations were both vital to raise the substantial funds needed to meet high running costs and establish a sustainable future.
The Vicar of Hull Minster, the Reverend Canon Dr Neal Barnes, said: “The figures reflect the significantly increased visits from both local people and tourists and the terrific range of events we are now staging. It all means more footfall to support the renaissance of the Old Town and CENTRE OF ATTRACTION: boost trade for businesses in the area.
“The huge increase in visitors been made possible by the development project, which has made the Minster a flexible and welcoming place for worship and a broad range of community, cultural and corporate events.
“The growing numbers of people visiting and using the church are helping to ensure the sustainability of the Minster, but we’ve still got some way to go to secure our future.”
The visitor numbers for 2018 are more than three times the 70,000 who came to the Minster during Hull’s year as UK City of Culture 2017 when the church hosted several cultural and artistic events, and do not include visits to regular services.
They also mark a dramatic increase over the past few years. In 2010, just 14,000 visitors were recorded when the then Holy Trinity Church was at its lowest ebb before the launch of the development project.