Cathedral awarded repairs funding

The grant will go towards the cathedral's £50m fundraising campaign

Canterbury Cathedral has been given a £230,000 grant to help repair the roof of its library.

English Heritage and the Wolfson Foundation is providing funding towards work on the Howley Library as part of their Cathedral Grants Scheme.

A cathedral spokesperson said they were "very grateful" for the money and work was likely to start in the spring.

The grant will go towards the cathedral's £50m fundraising campaign to protect the Kent landmark.

Over the past 17 years the Cathedral Grants Scheme has given more than £52m, with 23 cathedrals in England benefiting from the latest pay-outs.

The scheme was launched in 1991 when a survey revealed that cathedrals were facing a huge backlog of major repairs that they could not fund alone.

This is the final year of the current joint grant scheme with the Wolfson Foundation, but English Heritage will continue to fund priority repairs to cathedrals in need through its regional grants scheme.

A new survey has been commissioned to review the condition of England's cathedral buildings.