Lichfield Cathedral receives major grant to help ensure its future
Lichfield Cathedral is to receive a grant of £264,404 from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund to help secure the future of the 900 year old building for future generations.
The Cathedral is one of 142 historic sites across England to receive a grant which will see £35 million given through the government’s Culture Recovery Fund, to keep our heritage alive by paying for vital repairs and major building programmes.
The grant will help to address urgent masonry repair to the flying buttresses on the south side of Lichfield Cathedral. One flying buttress has turned significantly on its axis and the other five are deteriorating, putting the south side of the Cathedral building at risk of collapse. The repairs are essential to ensure the safety of the building and its continued ability to open for worshippers, visitors and the local community in the future.
The Dean of Lichfield, the Very Revd Adrian Dorber said, “Lichfield Cathedral is extremely grateful to the Culture Recovery Fund for a grant to enable the repair of the south nave buttresses. Without this unprecedented investment, the Cathedral’s future was at risk. This grant will ensure that vital repairs can be made, that the Cathedral continues to be Here For Culture, and here for the 100,000 visitors who visit each year from around the world, continuing the 1,350-year tradition of pilgrimage to this sacred space. We are also very grateful to The Dulverton Trust which has awarded £50,000 towards the buttress repairs ”
Administered on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) by Historic England, 142 sites will receive support, bolstering local economies and supporting jobs across the country.
Money from the government’s £2 billion Culture Recovery Fund is intended to open up heritage and the benefits it brings to everyone, helping to level up and improve life and opportunities for people in places that need it most.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said:
"From local churches to ancient buildings and landscapes, the UK's unique heritage makes our towns, cities and villages stronger, more vibrant and helps bring communities together.
"This latest funding - £35 million from our unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund - will help protect sites including Jane Austen's House and Hampton Court Palace for future generations and help them build back better from the pandemic."
Duncan Wilson, Historic England’s Chief Executive, said:
“Funding from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund is hugely welcome at a time when the people and organisations who look after our vast and varied array of heritage urgently need support to carry out essential repairs. Heritage is a fragile eco-system, with an amazing cast of characters who keep our historic places alive, with specialist skills that take time to learn and experience to perfect. These grants will protect their livelihoods, as they use their expertise to help our heritage survive.”
Money from the Heritage Stimulus Fund will also keep our nationally and internationally significant heritage assets in good condition and sustain the skilled craft workforce that looks after them.
The latest £35 million funding awards builds on £52 million already allocated from the first round of the Heritage Stimulus Fund, which has supported works at 800 of the country’s treasured heritage assets. This includes Blackpool’s iconic Tower Ballroom, the stunning Georgian landscape at Gibside in Gateshead and the tranquil Thornton-le-Beans Chapel in North Yorkshire.
None of these historic places would have been able to carry out crucial repair work during the pandemic without this support.