Chester Cathedral Works Department

08/03/2025

On International Women’s Day we want to highlight the incredible women in our Works Department.

Did you know that, although the number of women in construction is growing, their representation in skilled labour roles is only 1%!

We are breaking trying to break this trend with our three formidable women at the forefront of the team: Naomi the Assistant Clerk of Works and Head of Conservation, Amy our Conservator and Trainee Buildings Surveyor, and Holly our Stonemason. Their hard work and dedication to their craft is not always visible to visitors but they play an essential role at Chester Cathedral maintaining our magnificent building for future generations to enjoy.

31/07/2024

We have some great news to share!

As a testament to all the hard work, we are pleased to announce that Will has successfully completed Level 4 of his fda in Applied Buildings Conservation.

Amy and Tremaine have also both passed their NVQ Level 2 in Stonemasonry 🤩 In September, Tremaine will progress onto the FCert in Stonemasonry, whilst Amy will be joining us on a permanent contract after finishing her year with us graciously funded by . Amy’s role with us will be as an Historic Buildings Conservator, whilst she also studies an MA in Building Surveying.

And last but certainly not least, we are thrilled to announce that we have recruited a further TWO stonemasons - Matt and Holly! Matt and Holly both will be joining us after they recently finished their Stonemasonry training at Moulton College. Welcome!!

07/05/2024

Earlier this week our masons, Phil and Will, finished carrying out repairs to the cross that sits atop the Lady Chapel roof.

The cross dates from the time of Sir George Gilbert Scott’s restoration, and suffered damage in a storm a couple of years ago

After reassessment by the team in November 2023, it was agreed with the Cathedral Architect that more masonry replacements would be needed.

Phil and Will have hand carved replacement components for the base of the cross, and these have been installed as four separate pieces to account for any slight movement that may occur due to high winds (don’t worry, it’s all perfectly safe and expected!).

Will has also been able to utilise this project as part of his coursework, so an added bonus!

02/02/2024

Today is the feast of Candlemas, also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ, and the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It marks the end of the Christmas/Epiphany season.

The stained glass at Chester Cathedral is full of depictions of major feasts like Candlemas. This image is taken from our Cloister windows and shows a typical Purification scene: with the parents of Jesus (Mary in particular) watching Simeon (the elderly man on the right-hand side) present Jesus to God.

You can learn more about our Cloister glass in person or by consulting our Gallery of Saints guide - link in bio.

24/01/2024

Exciting news! 🌟

Thanks to a generous grant from , our young stone mason Tremaine is on his way to earning his NVQ Level 2! 🛠️

This funding covers essential books and equipment, paving the path for a promising future in stonemasonry. Gratitude to for investing in skill development!

12/12/2023

🌟 Collections Spotlight 🌟

Pop into Chester Cathedral from now to Candlemas (2 Feb) to see some of our collections on display and learn more about this festive time of year!

Can you identify the book pictured in our post? 👀

08/09/2023

Our annual is back on again tomorrow, but this year we are exploring a Tudor theme!

As usual, we will have a variety of crafts demonstrations and stands from our own team, as well as lovely talented individuals and companies from near and far!

Fancy a go at archery? Tickets are available on the Cathedral website, or on the day at the Cathedral Admissions desk - we hope we see you there!

31/08/2023

How do you replace a piece of carved stone that was never really carved well in the first place?

Typically, if a stone was eroded to the point where the moulding was on the brink of being lost, then we would make the very best efforts to record and the replicate the moulding in a new piece of masonry.

On first glance, this would have applied in the Chapter House. However, Will’s templates said differently!

The differences between the two templates (one taken from the top of the stone and one from the bottom) aren’t a result of the typical deterioration we’d see from Cheshire sandstone that has been exposed to the elements. It also meant that the stone that was going back in, couldn’t be set out in the conventional way - it just wouldn’t look right!

We decided, in line with conservation principles, that the indent repair had to go back in as it would have been originally - twisted and misshapen, warts and all.

The end result is an indent repair that flows seamlessly from the old stone, to the new and back to the old again.


Will is graciously funded by the , and is enrolled on the course due to start this September!

29/08/2023

Our annual Heritage Discovery Day is fast approaching 😱

We’ve got a lot of familiar faces joining us again (and some new ones too!) and we’re all eager to teach you about the heritage skills used to maintain our beloved built heritage.

Make sure to book your tickets to get in on all the action on the day, it’s not to be missed!

Our Heritage Discovery Day on Saturday 9 September is fast approaching!

Book your free ticket below and experience Tudor Chester with:
🪙Chester’s Tudor treasures from Chester Cathedral and Grosvenor Museum and Stretton Watermill
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦Family activities
🎯Archery Workshop with Archery With Dave*
👀Sick to Death’s famous Plague Doctor
🎤 Exciting talks* and tours
🎼Musical events including Fantastic Byrd organ recital*
🍞‘Tudor’ food and drink
🙏Worship
🔨Heritage skills demonstrations
and much more!

*A paid ticket is required to participate in these activities.

Book your free ticket (and for paid activities) here: https://chestercathedral.com/heritage-discovery-day-2023/

18/08/2023

Big announcement!

We are excited to be partnering with Cheshire West and Chester Council to care for one of our city’s greatest assets: the city walls. This project will provide unique training opportunities in heritage skills in the North West.

Follow us to keep up to date with our heritage and conservation work.

A new partnership with Chester Cathedral will see the Cathedral’s heritage skills team work on both the Cathedral and Chester’s historic City Walls.

Full story ➡️ http://cwac.co/ICN3J

25/07/2023

Will has been cracking on with the indent repair for the historic break on one of the mullions in the Chapter House, and we thought you’d like to see some images!

He’s been meticulously cutting away the area where the stone has failed, so that his newly carved piece can be fitted. This has been done using a combination of tools, some of which you can see in the pictures.

The stone being used in the indent repair is a piece of reclaimed Cheshire red sandstone, the same that was used in the original construction of the Cathedral nearly 1000 years ago!

Due to the friable nature of the original building material, and because this repair is internal and should not be exposed to adverse weather conditions (hopefully!🤞), we can use the original building material, rather than using a replacement with similar properties.

We will do another post on the templates, and pictures of the indent repair being made - Will was quite surprised by what he found, and you might be too!

Will is graciously funded by The Hamish Ogston Foundation and is enrolled on the Cathedral Workshop Fellowship (CWF) due to start this September.

16/06/2023

The team are back in the Chapter House again for the next job, but this time they’re working on the ceiling!

We were unfortunate enough to experience some instances of pretty 😱 water ingress after some unseasonably heavy rainfall (thanks to good ol’ climate change and our water goods not being able to cope with large periods of intense rainfall ☹️)

As a result, the team will be removing loose haired mortar from the vaulted panelling, and replacing it with a fresh, sound mix, with a surface coating to match the surrounding vaulting.

Will is also going to be doing an indent repair to one of the mullions- the first of its kind in this space for at least 150 years!! We’ll do further posts about this to show you more detail, and how he’d getting on 😉

As ever, a big thank you to Craig and his team at for sorting out some excellent access for the team, and for being so conscientious when it comes to working in historic spaces!

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