Worcester Cathedral has begun a months-long project to repair and preserve the northwest pinnacles of its tower.
The cathedral was founded in 680, with the current building being constructed between the 11th and 16th centuries.
In 2021 the northeast pinnacle of the cathedral collapsed after being hit by 100mph winds during Storm Arwen.
Subsequent investigations found that the northwest pinnacle had been constructed in a similar fashion to the northeast and was at the same risk of structural failure.
The project to repair the pinnacles, known as Reaching New Heights, has received support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, via a grant worth £249,956.
Scaffolding around the pinnacle began on 17 August and is expected to take eight weeks to complete, at which point the real work on the pinnacle will commence. The repair work is expected to take another eight weeks and will be followed by a four-week contingency period, with the scaffolding coming down in January.
For the duration of the work, the cathedral’s quarter clock chimes will be silenced, while the hour bell will only be heard before 8am and after 5pm. This decision was taken by the cathedral in response to “community feedback”.
Similarly, bellringing and tower tours will not take place when workmen are on the scaffolding, which is expected to be from 7:30am to 4:30pm.
Despite these limitations, the cathedral is trying to make the most of the circumstances by inviting visitors on tours examining the architecture, archaeology and even graffiti found within its historic walls.
The pinnacles are to be rebuilt using Red Hollington stone, a type of sandstone originating in Staffordshire. While Worcester Cathedral was largely built with Bromsgrove Sandstone, Bromsgrove is no longer quarried commercially, and its resulting scarcity as a building material has led to Hollington being used as a suitable substitute.
The cathedral hopes it will be a chance for traditional crafts combined with modern engineering to come to the fore.
