Bid to preserve cathedral glass

More than 15 years of work is still needed to protect the stained glass

A bid by Canterbury Cathedral for World Monuments funding is being made to help preserve its medieval stained glass.

The cathedral is aiming to raise £50m as part of the Save Canterbury Cathedral Appeal, out of which £5m would be spent on the windows.

More cash is needed because the windows still need more than 15 years of work to protect what is still there.

Spokesman John Meardon said the World Monuments Fund bid was specifically for work on the stained glass collection.

The Save Canterbury Cathedral Appeal has nearly raised £10m so far.

'Build-up of grime'

Mr Meardon, receiver general at the cathedral, said: "We are specifically making an application for support for the stained glass of this cathedral, which has got an awful lot of conservation work to be carried out.

"It's not only to preserve that programme, but also to make it more proactive, so that we can show the work that we're doing to a far wider audience."

Conservation staff at the cathedral, which is already a World Heritage site, said removing the build-up of dust and corrosive salt from one small panel of stained glass could take weeks.

They said the cathedral bid World Monuments status could be "enormously important".

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Repairing the cathedral is a painstaking task that is set to cost millions of pounds