Cathedrals bid for Whitehall funds

THE cathedral of Our Lady and St Thomas in Northampton is likely to be among the first Catholic centres to apply for funds from the government's £11.5 million repair fund, launched by heritage minister Sir George Young in Chichester last week (Catholic Herald, April 5).
A spokesperson for Northampton cathedral said that any money the diocese received would go towards replacing the nineteenth century plaster in the roof. rile cathedral was built in the 1860s, shortly after the restoration of the hierarchy, he said.
But Fr Francis Isherwood, financial administrator of Portsmouth diocese, said the chances of obtaining useful sums of money from the fund, to be spread over three years and divided between 19 Catholic and 42 Anglican buildings, would appear to be low. Extensive repair work to the exterior of Portsmouth
cathedral and the dampproofing of the sanctuary, costing £65,000, was about to begin, he said.
Nicholas Coote, assistant general secretary to the bishops' conference, said that most Catholic cathedrals would probably approach English Heritage before the September deadline for applications. But he said the total cost of repairs to the country's cathedrals could be ten times the grant announced by the government.