Cathedrals share heritage money

Chelmsford Cathedral will use its grant for fire protection

Two cathedrals in the east of England are to benefit from a £2m funding package announced by English Heritage on Thursday.

Norwich Cathedral is being given £161,000 for the final phase of work on re-leading the cloister roof.

Chelmsford Cathedral in Essex has been awarded £25,000 for a fire detection system.

Richard Halsey, head of the cathedrals team at English Heritage, said: "Cathedrals form the architectural centrepiece of the historic cities which have grown up around them.

"It is vital that these historic assets are maintained and their futures safeguarded."

Restoration projects

Tim Cawkwell, the steward of Norwich Cathedral, said: "We're obviously very pleased. We've got splendid cloisters in Norwich Cathedral.

"We've done the east and south sides of the cloister roof; this grant will enable us to work on the west cloister roof this summer, and when that programme is complete, we'll have really done something for the next generation.

He said the re-leading project must be done periodically in order to keep water out, and that English Heritage and the Friends of Norwich Cathedral had been "very helpful" with financing the effort.

The leaded roof at Norwich Cathedral is being restored

A spokesman for the Norwich Cathedral Campaign said a funding drive to add an education centre and other community facilities to the site has been successful to date.

He said more than £7.5m had been raised towards the goal of £10m.

The first phase of the project in Norwich has been restoration of the cloister and the building of a refectory on its monastic site.

It has modern facilities including a restaurant, terraces, offices, store rooms and kitchens.

Elsewhere in England, cathedrals at Salisbury, Lincoln, Leicester, and Truro were each awarded £200,000 from English Heritage for structural repairs.