£60 Million in a Decade and £14,000 a Day: Six English Cathedrals Face a Repair Funding Gap

• An English Heritage report said six cathedrals must raise £60 million over ten years
• Canterbury, Chichester, Lincoln, Salisbury, Winchester and York were named
• Ring-fenced government cathedral repair funding of £3 million a year had ended
• Salisbury Cathedral costs about £14,000 a day to maintain

Six of England’s great cathedrals need to raise £60 million over the next decade to keep their buildings in repair, British Heritage reported in July 2016, citing an English Heritage report.

The six are Canterbury, Chichester, Lincoln, Salisbury, Winchester and York. The government had ended ring-fenced funding for cathedral repairs that had been worth £3 million a year.

Salisbury Cathedral, built between 1220 and 1266 with Britain’s tallest spire at 404 feet, costs about £14,000 a day to maintain. Its Major Repair Programme had spent £22 million, with £12.5 million still needed. The money came 31 per cent from English Heritage and the Wolfson Foundation, 21 per cent from cathedral reserves, 37 per cent from the Spire Appeal and 11 per cent from the Friends of the cathedral. The development office had raised £2.2 million since 2008. Of about 250,000 visitors a year, nearly 40 per cent come from overseas, and about 30 per cent decline to give a voluntary donation.

The Dean, June Osborne, described the burden. “We have this tremendous responsibility…we run everything…without central funding, either from the Church of England or Government,” she said.

English cathedrals show the scale of the cost of looking after major historic churches, and Jamaica’s own cathedrals and old parish churches face the same challenge on a smaller scale. Tourism can help, but many visitors do not give. Churches in Jamaica with heritage buildings should consider entry charges or suggested donations, dedicated repair appeals, heritage grants and diaspora giving, and plan long-term repair programmes rather than waiting for emergencies.

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