Heather Newton doesn’t quite know every inch of Canterbury Cathedral intimately – but she’s getting there.
Heather has worked at the Cathedral since 1987, working her way up the ranks to her current position as Head of Stone Conservation. And although her workload has always been more than steady, the last few years have seen a dramatic upsurge in major restoration projects.
“It has obviously been generated by the current Canterbury Cathedral appeal and the work that enables us to do,” she says.
The latest fundraising drive was launched in 2006 after a quinquennial report by John Burton, Canterbury Cathedral’s architect and Surveyor to the Fabric, found that the ancient building was in need of much work, some of it urgent.
The appeal has so far raised close to £10 million to secure the future of Canterbury Cathedral, still one of Britain’s top tourist destinations and among the great pilgrimage sites of Europe.
There are always several significant conservation projects going on at any one time at the Cathedral, while the schedule of works is laid out for years in advance.
But although planning is meticulous, new projects sometimes emerge unexpectedly. During 2009, a stone fall from the Cathedral’s Great South Window prompted a thorough structural investigation of the stone tracery around the window’s precious stained glass. The window was found to be in need of urgent attention, and so other work which had been due to start was put on hold.
This year has also seen the completion of the restoration of the south side of the Corona, the eastern-most part of the Cathedral built to house the relics of St Thomas Becket, infamously murdered at the Cathedral in 11??. Work on the Corona’s north side will follow soon.
Work has been taking place on the Norman staircase tower of the South East Transept, with wood from trees felled in the late 11th Century recently discovered in the Cathedral’s rafters.
The £6 million Bell Harry tower project looms as large in the near future as the imposing 235 foot tower itself above the Canterbury skyline.
“It can be daunting if you stack the projects up end to end, but every project is different, planned in great detail beforehand and broken up into bite-size chunks,” says Heather Newton. “When you look at it like that it becomes a bit more manageable.”
The Cathedral’s Director of Works William Roe agrees.
“We are not daunted by the scale of the task,” says William. “We must focus on getting as much out of the money as we can.”
“The challenge is trying repay every person who supports the appeal by making sure we squeeze as much out of their money as possible with as little waste, with as much efficiency and with as much legacy-value as we possibly can.
“When you look closely at the Great South Window, which has presented major problems recently, you notice the repair work carried out over the years and begin to see there is a historical problem with that window.
“We will hopefully be the ones who sort it out so it is not a problem in the future.”
Both Heather and William acknowledge that conservation at Canterbury Cathedral is made more challenging because it is a living, working building, with craftsmen and women forced to down tools during services and the programme of works significantly influenced by the needs of the paying public.
“There is an ongoing tension between the need to allow people to get up close to it and be a part of it, and the need to conserve it for future generations,” Heather says.
“Of course it would be a lot easier if we cleared everybody out; just closed it down for a couple of years. I can’t fib and say that it wouldn’t be easier.
“But then services have been held here since it was built, they’ve never stopped. There hasn’t been a single day where someone hasn’t said a prayer and that is something that just has to continue.
“And the fact that it’s such a visited and loved building is part of what makes it such an exciting and stimulating place to work.”
Heather shares the affection that many millions have for the Cathedral, whether for its history, its culture and heritage, or the more spiritual side of things.
“It is a privilege to be allowed to work on a building such as this. I love my job and I think most people who work here really enjoy it,” she says.
“One of the best things for me is the channel for creativity that religious buildings have always provided. For craftsmen, the Church has always been a great patron.
“If you don’t see these buildings as a celebration of the spiritual side of things, they are definitely celebrations of what people can do when they get together and decide to build something beautiful.”
