Salford Cathedral to close for £18m refresh 

Purcell Architects is leading the revamp of the Chapel Street building, a project that aims to “revive the iconic splendour of the church”, according to the diocese. 

The £18m refurbishment of Salford Cathedral will include extensive repairs to the roof in a bid to cope with “increasingly unpredictable and extreme patterns of weather associated with climate change”, the Diocese of Salford said. 

In addition, the project will provide the cathedral with new heating systems as well as restoring original features lost over time. 

In order for the work to take place, the cathedral will close between March 2023 and December 2024. 

“Large parts of the Cathedral are in extremely poor repair,” said cathedral dean Father Michael Jones. 

“This is the right time to fix these and restore some of the original design features that have been lost over the years and enhance what we are able to offer the local catholic community.” 

Purcell is a specialist in heritage architecture and has worked on some of the country’s most well-known cathedrals, including Durham, St Paul’s and Canterbury. 

To fund the project, the diocese will “seek to utilise all available funding streams and grants” but is also calling for public donations to reach its target. 

“The extent of the restoration and conservation needed on the cathedral is a major operation,” Jones added. “We have taken the decision to accelerate and condense the programme of work, rather than to do it piecemeal. 

“This was not an easy decision to take, as this option means that the cathedral will have to close for 18 months, while the interior work is carried out. Closing the cathedral was not our first preference but it does mean that we will be able to make the repairs, restore and reorder the cathedral more quickly, safely, and efficiently.”