Hereford Cathedral awarded lottery grant to restore historic walkway

Tree-ring analysis has revealed St John's Walk was built at a later date than previously thought

Hereford Cathedral has been awarded a £241,000 grant to restore a 16th-Century walkway used by its choir for more than 500 years.

Cash from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) will be put towards re-roofing and installing new lights in St John's Walk.

The walkway links the cathedral with its medieval college cloisters.

Restoration works will begin early next year and take about nine months to complete, a spokesperson said.

'Much-loved'

Tree-ring dating carried out as part of the project on curved timbers in the walkway's roof, had revealed it was built later than previously thought.

The new date - in the early Tudor period - would allow for new interpretation of carvings in the wood, they added.

Head of the West Midlands heritage fund Reyahn King said St John's Walk was of "significant heritage importance".

The Very Revd Michael Tavinor, pictured left, said he was "delighted" by the news

Dean of Hereford, the Very Reverend Michael Tavinor, said it was a "much-loved" feature of the cathedral.

"With the choir passing through it on a daily basis to and from services, it is still used as it was intended over 500 years ago," he said.

The grant, awarded to Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust, will be matched by donations from the Garfield Weston Foundation, Tabor Charitable Trust and the William A Cadbury Charitable Trust.