An exclusive Spire tour of Chichester Cathedral

SussexWorld

Here's a slice of the Spire tours Chichester Cathedral has been putting on for visitors for the first time in history. This years slots are all booked up, but more are said to be available for Spring 2025.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, I'm Colin, I've been a Cathedral Guide for 10 years now.

00:04Today we're going to take you up the tower.

00:06We've got a 950th anniversary, so this is probably 900 years old up here.

00:12We're now in the Triforium on the south side of the choir.

00:16So if you'd like to come along here, that is the choir down there,

00:21where Evensong is sung every day.

00:24And then look across, right across, that is the north side Triforium,

00:30so you can get an idea of where this is.

00:34So looking down here, we are now looking at the top of the stone vaults,

00:42which you will have seen in the choir.

00:44Above them are timbers going back to about 1280,

00:51and then above us again is the lead roof, which was renewed a few years ago,

00:57starting before COVID and interrupted by COVID, and then ending afterwards.

01:03We are now up in the Cathedral Lantern, and as you can see, each side is open.

01:08Before the fall of the spire, these would have been covered with wooden shutters,

01:14but they were not replaced, probably deliberately,

01:18because obviously wooden shutters need maintenance and so on.

01:22What that does mean, however, is that we're here high up,

01:27and in the winter particularly, we get southwesterly salt-laden winds,

01:31which don't do the stonework any good.

01:33So constant maintenance is necessary there.

01:37Our tours for this year are all booked up,

01:39but we're going to be starting again next spring, and we hope to see you then.

01:48you

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