Conserving and Enhancing a Cathedral - TrustNews May 1989
A Cathedral Dean is in the nature of things up to his eyes in the business of conservation. Although his training is in theology and his primary concern is with people, he and his colleagues on the Chapter inevitably find that much of their time is taken up with the care, protection and development of a very large ancient building.
The chances are that, as at Winchester, this building will be one of the nation's architectural treasures, and numbered among the most important edifices in Western Europe. Surrounding the Cathedral itself is the Close - a collection of fine houses, dating from the 13th to the 18th century, with spacious rooms and delightful gardens. Here again there is responsibility for something precious in the local, regional and national heritage, and something costly in its maintenance.
In seeking to discharge his responsibilities in these spheres, a Dean is well aware that his role is very different from that of the curator of an ancient castle or a ruined fort. The Cathedral and the Close are in constant use - one attended by some hundreds of thousands of worshippers and visitors every year, the other providing homes for a community committed to maintaining a particular religious tradition. It will not be surprising if the needs and perceptions of the worshippers and the community change from age to age.
No Legal Constraints
Strange as it may at first seem, Deans and Chapters are not subject to any constraints as far as the interiors of their Cathedrals are concerned. If they wish to demolish the central tower or add a refectory to the east end they must first obtain the consent of the local planning authority, but they are quite free to do what they wish with the interior and its furnishings.
The origin of this exemption from planning consent goes back to 1913 when the government of the day decided that if the Church itself established some system of control over the care of its buildings there would be no need for these buildings to be brought under the jurisaiction of the Local Authority. There were two reasons for this: the first sprang from a recognition that buildings used for worship require special consideration and expertise not always available in the councils of secular government; the other arose from the fear that the new planning machinery would be incapable of dealing with some 12,000 important and sensitive buildings, 8,000 of them built before the year 1600.
Faculties and Inspections
As far as the parish churches are concerned the arrangement has worked well. Before anything can be added to or taken from a building, advice must be sought from a specialist committee and if the verdict of this committtee is favourable the parish must advertise its proposal to the local community, then petition for a faculty from the Bishop. Major restoration projects also require a faculty, minor repairs are authorised by an Archdeacon's certificate. Every parish church has to be inspected by an officially approved architect at five-yearly intervals, and his recommendations carried out as the money for them becomes available. These procedures have not, of course, prevented some doubtful actions and a few disasters, but generally speaking England's parish churches are now in a better state of repair than for several centuries past and in some places there has been exciting artistic embellishment. The system is admired in many other parts of the world and the results certainly compare favourably with those to be seen in France, where state control and state finance have combined to produce much deplorable neglect.
Here in Britain, however, the Cathedrals have not so far been required to submit to any form of control, sacred or secular, and Deans and Chapters have been trusted to care for their buildings and to seek the advice of bodies such as the Cathedrals Advisory Commission before embarking on innovations. Every Cathedral has its own architect,usually with considerable conservation experience, to keep a watchful eye on the building and supervise its continuous restoration. Once again the system - or lack of it - has worked reasonably well. There has been no irreparable disasters and, although some new furnishings are incongruous or second-rate, these could not have been prevented by any of the existing planning regulations. Over the last forty years well over £100 million has been raised by voluntary gifts and spent on Cathedral restoration.
Public Accountability
Now things are changing. The increasing and long overdue interest in conservation has lead to a demand that the Cathedrals should no longer be left to the mercy of their Deans and Chapters but brought under an effective form of external control. A debate is now going on as to 410 the kind of control that might prove to be acceptable and helpful to all concerned - and before long a decision will be made.
Significantly none of the Cathedral authorities is resisting the idea of public accountability for the safeguarding of the nation's architectural treasures. We are, however, strongly opposed to any suggestion that Cathedrals should lose their exemption from listed building consent, and this for three main reasons:
- Cathedrals, as centres of Christian worship and mission, require special skills and sensitivity for determining their appropriate conservation and development.
- The record of Local Authorities in the conservation of ancient buildings is not impressive, as the devastation of so many towns and cities in recent years bears sad witness.
- It is undesirable that all matters concerning architecture and art should be subject to centralised control. There is need for a variety of responsible judgement as well as a facility for moving quickly should circumstances so require.
Fabric Committees
The current discussion is therefore centred on the suggestion that every Cathedral should have a Fabric Committee consisting of, say, a consultant architect, an engineer, an artist, an archaeologist and an art historian. Most of these would be nominated by a central Cathedrals Commission, though it is anticipated that good use would be made of local talent, including some non-specialists. Deans would be allowed to attend meetings of their Fabric Committee, but without voting power. In the event of serious disagreement among members of the Committee about a particular proposal, the matter would then be referred to the Cathedrals Commission, and provision made for appeal to an even more exalted body.
All proposals affecting Cathedral fabrics would have to be advertised and opportunity provided for Local Authorities and local conservation groups to make representations. Bodies such as English Heritage, the Royal Fine Arts Commission and the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission would be represented on the central Cathedrals Commission.
Something along these lines seems certain to emerge within the next 2-3 years and should have the beneficial effect of securing more community involvement in the protection of the Cathedrals and making more expertise readily available to those who are ultimately responsible for them. What needs to be avoided is the heavy, inhibiting hand of bureaucracy that always plays safe, always consumes an inordinate amount of time, and always costs a lot of money.
Dynamic Communities
The Cathedrals are not historic monuments and they are certainly not redundant buildings. They are the homes of dynamic communities that recognise the privilege and responsibility of using a building of great artistic merit and cultural significance, and which is valued by many others who do not often use it for the purpose for which it was originally erected.
How is this privilege and responsibility to be discharged in Winchester? Not very differently from the way it has been in the past, and if this sounds a little complacent it should be noted that our great Cathedral has survived almost 900 years of turbulent history on a site of uncertain stability and in weather conditions of frequent hostility. There have, of course, been times of neglect and also a period of religious fanaticism when many lovely things were destroyed, but the overall care of the building has been sound, and this is something to be grateful for.
It is also worth remembering that the building we know today is significantly different from the Cathedral dedicated in 1093. Over a period of 10 years at the end of the 14th century, Bishop William of Wykeham transformed the original Norman nave into the dazzling Gothic style which never fails to astonish and inspire the 20th century visitor and worshipper. In 1520 Bishop Fox inserted lovely stone screens into early 14th century arches to enclose the presbytery. The Lady Chapel was built in the 13th century but reconstructed a century later and given its fine woodwork towards the end of the 15th century. It may fairly be assumed that none of this would have taken place if the churchmen and builders of those days had been required to obtain planning permission for their work, and Winchester Cathedral would have been immeasurably poorer had there been such a constraint.
The Cost of Conservation
I hasten to add that the present Dean and Chapter lack the courage and v/ the finance to emulate their illustrious predecessors in the Middle Ages! Our primary architectural task is to conserve our great inheritance, and this is going to require the raising of at least £5 million for restoration work to be carried out during the 1990s. Obviously we are going to need the support of the whole community in this considerable and urgently necessary undertaking.
I should also like to believe that during the same decade it might be possible to make a few additions of high artistic merit to the building and its furnishings. We best show our regard for a building that contains so many treasures from the past by contributing to it something of the best from our own age. Such contributions will now have to win the approval of the new Committees, soon to be established, and it is therefore of the greatest importance that these Committees include members who can discern the creative movements of the present as well as the glories of the past. Only so will they be able to serve a living Cathedral.