Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Cathedral ‘ales’ restoration work
The million-pound restoration of one of the most historically important parts of Canterbury Cathedral has been marked with a special topping out ceremony.
A bottle of beer was poured onto the base of the North West Transept to celebrate the completion of the two-year project, which involved the rebuilding of the towers above the transept.
The Dean of Canterbury, the Very Rev Dr Robert Willis, praised the work of the cathedral stonemasons who carved the new stone and the generosity of donors who, through the Canterbury Cathedral Trust, gave £1.3 million to pay for the work.
The trust’s chief executive, Sarah Frankland, said they were enormously grateful.
“Thanks to generous gifts from Viridor Credits Environmental Company, the Freemasons of Kent, Surrey and Sussex and other generous donors, Canterbury Cathedral Trust raised £1.3m for the North West Transept and it has been safeguarded for the inspiration and education of future generations,” she said.
The cathedral team said work to rebuild the towers threw up some challenges, including the painstaking rebuild of the octagonal tower in vertical strips.
“This meant our team of stonemasons had to work around the tower,” said head of conservation Heather Newton.
“It required skill and precision to ensure the walls and course heights were aligned correctly.
“The project was further complicated by the weakened structure of the back wall.
“This had been poorly constructed in the latter part of the 18th century due to the difficulty of acquiring limestone when Britain was in constant conflict with France.
“As a result, the stonemasons had used recycled stone from old monuments which reduced the strength of the rear of the turret pinnacle, on which the rest of the construction technique relied.”