A grant of £420,000 to help repair the north aisle roof of Hereford Cathedral, which runs the length of the nave and is seen as you enter the Close from Church Street, has been announced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and ChurchCare. The funding is from the First World War Centenary cathedral repair fund announced in the last Budget and was secured by Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust.

"We are delighted by the news," said the Dean of Hereford, the Very Revd Michael Tavinor. "Keeping our roofs in good order and the building weather proof is essential but it is work which is deeply unattractive to many funders.

"This fund will not only enable us to undertake this vital work but we hope it will also encourage others to look at supporting us in this area of restoration."

Karen Bradley, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport said: "Cathedrals are powerful symbols of Britain’s shared history. They are important not only for their architecture and heritage, but also for the vital role they play in local communities. I am delighted that the First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund will ensure that these wonderful cathedrals remain in a good state of repair and are preserved for future generations."

The repair and restoration work will start later this year and run into next summer with the works taking upwards of nine months to complete.

"In addition to replacing the roof covering, the work will repair damp and rotten timbers and replace a quantity of stonework," said Glyn Morgan, the Chapter Clerk and Chief Executive.

"With water having seeped into the building over many years, we will not always know what we will find in some of the timber work until we are able to reveal it. We rather hope we do not find anything too gruesome and unexpected, although it is always a challenge with projects at high level such as this."

The restoration work will include stonework and the Perpetual Trust looks forward to reintroducing its popular sponsor-a-stone scheme where individuals can help fund the repair works by supporting our stonemasons and having initials or a name carved onto an inner face of the replacement stones.

For further information on sponsor-a-stone and the project, please contact the Perpetual Trust office by calling 01432 374261, or email [email protected].