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Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Gloucester Cathedral completes 5-year renovation project

Stonemasons on the northern side of Gloucester Cathedral. (Photo: Getty/iStock)

Gloucester Cathedral has accomplished a five-year conservation project on its historic exterior.

The cathedral has a history dating back to the earliest days of Christianity in Britain, with parts of the present structure dating back nearly 1,000 years.

The restoration work, which was focused on the northern side of the cathedral, was necessitated by years of exposure to the weather.

A team of stonemasons worked to integrate recent stone into the constructing and have even added a bunch of 4 “grotesques”. Grotesques will not be quite similar to “gargoyles”. While each are decorative stone figures, a gargoyle also has the functional purpose of channelling rainwater. In short, all gargoyles are grotesques, but not all grotesques are gargoyles.

The cathedral said that the completion of the work marked the tip of a crucial chapter within the constructing’s conservation and was an illustration that a lot of the normal skills and crafts related to maintaining cathedrals are alive and well.

The Dean of Gloucester, the Very Reverend Andrew Zihni, said, “This project is a superb example of the care and dedication that goes into preserving Gloucester Cathedral for future generations.

Gloucester Cathedral
One of 4 recent grotesques on the cathedral.

“As a spot built to the glory of God, it’s a joy to see the constructing’s beautiful north side fully revealed again, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who has made this possible. We hope visitors will enjoy seeing the view of the Cathedral from miles around in all its glory over again.”

The cathedral gave due to all those whose donations made the work possible, notably the Julia Rausing Trust.

Later this summer additional restoration work will begin on the cathedral’s cloister, which has appeared in plenty of Harry Potter movies and within the BBC drama, Wolf Hall. 

Eilidh McIntosh, Head of Fabric & Property on the Cathedral, said of the finished work, “This has been a rewarding project, and I’m so happy with what the team has achieved.

“It’s taken real skill, patience and teamwork to get so far, especially from our in-house stonemasons and apprentices, who’ve brought such care and craftsmanship to each detail.”

A recent nationwide study by Historic England found that the British public greatly value historical church buildings and their preservation. 

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