DURHAM Cathedral’s restaurant has been rededicated following a £120,000 refurbishment.

The popular Undercroft Restaurant had been closed for several weeks while new facilities were installed.

New tables and chairs will be added in coming weeks.

The revamped facility was rededicated today (Monday, March 10) by the Very Reverend Michael Sadgrove, the Dean of Durham.

He said it had been a forlorn start to the year without the restaurant as the liveliness of that part of the building depended on the shop and restaurant.

Its installation in the 1970s had been controversial, he said, but now a good restaurant is a crucial element of any cathedral or tourist attraction.

Hospitality is also one of the cathedral’s Benedictine values, he added.

The cathedral refurbishment is part of the ongoing £10m Open Treasure programme.

It features a glass frontage, wi-fi and uses low-energy equipment.

The work means the full extent of all 13 bays of the cathedral’s medieval west undercroft are visible for the first time in more than a century.

The Undercroft Restaurant is open seven days a week from 10am to 4.30pm and is available for private bookings.