Pupils build model of saint's shrine at Durham Cathedral

Pupils from St Cuthbert’s Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, were selected to build it for the Lego replica of the famous cathedral.

The model shrine has been sponsored by Durham publisher Sacristy Press, which stipulated it should be for pupils from a local school called St Cuthbert’s.

Richard Hilton, Operations Director at Sacristy Press and a cathedral volunteer, explained: “When I was a child one of my favourite pastimes was building Lego, so when I first heard about the Lego Cathedral I was filled with childlike excitement.

“Thomas Ball (Commercial Director at Sacristy Press) and I wanted to give the opportunity for some local children to enjoy that same excitement and, because St Cuthbert’s shrine is special to both Sacristy Press and me personally, it seemed like the perfect choice.”

The Lego Cathedral invites people to build a cathedral from the plastic bricks and is set to raise £350,000 towards the £10m Open Treasure appeal that will transform some of the Cathedral’s most historic spaces.

Durham Cathedral’s Head of Development, Gaye Kirby, said: “We are very grateful to Sacristy Press for their generous donation to the project and thrilled that they have chosen to donate the bricks to local school children.

“The Lego model is popular with people of all ages, but children in particular take real pleasure from placing their bricks and in doing so, taking part in a piece of living history.

“It is particularly nice for the pupils from St Cuthbert’s Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School that they have been given the chance to build the shrine of their own school’s namesake.”