FOR over a year now the Norman grandeur of Durham Cathedral has been shrouded in scaffolding; its hallelujahs bearing hard hats, its blessings in work boots.

Soon Open Treasure, the biggest development project the Cathedral has seen in decades, will be finished and open to the public.

Church leaders hope it will protect the Cathedral’s financial security and prized free admission for a generation.

Work is progressing fast and completion is anticipated for the first half of next year.

Visitors will enter the new paid-entry facilities from the Cloister, famed for its role in the Harry Potter films. A new lift has been installed for those not able to climb the grand stone staircase to the North end of the Monks’ Dormitory, where the experience begins.

A new floor, heating system and services are in place and the grand medieval hall is awaiting the return of thousands of books from the Cathedral and monastic collections, some of which were moved for the first time in centuries to make way for the work.

Imposing Roman and Anglo Saxon stones, some moved out, others wrapped in protective materials in situ, will lead visitors on a family-friendly trip through the Cathedral’s history from its foundation by the community of St Cuthbert, through its years as a monastery, into the Reformation and its reinvention as a Cathedral, right up to the present day.

A library for registered readers will be preserved at the South end, while visitors will pass through an arched doorway unblocked for the first time since the 19th century into the collections gallery, a tightly controlled environment capable of housing the most precious of artefacts, both from the Cathedral’s own collections and loans from across the globe.

Down a new staircase, or lift if desired, will be the entry to the Great Kitchen, most recently a bookshop.

Here will be the treasures of St Cuthbert: his coffin, pectoral cross and vestments; along with the famous 12th century Sanctuary Knocker, a copy of which now hangs on the Cathedral's main North Door, and information on the cavernous building’s original use, as the medieval monks’ kitchen.

There will also be interactive displays, galleries and the refitted Monks’ Refectory will be used for public events.

Open Treasure has received pledges of about £8m, including £3.9m from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Donations can be made direct or by buying £1 bricks in a Lego model of the Cathedral currently under construction in the Undercroft. For more information, visit durhamcathedral.co.uk/open-treasure