DOZENS of people managed to get their hands on parts of one of the North-East’s most iconic buildings when it went under the hammer.

The auction at Durham Cathedral raised more than £125,000 as people bid for the chance to own a bit of its historic fabric.

About 85 lots went under the hammer at the auction on Saturday, which was organised to raise funds to cover the £10million cost of conservation and annual repair at the cathedral.

Matthew Kirk, relationship and development manager at Durham Cathedral, said: “With this being the first event of its type at Durham Cathedral, we didn’t know what to expect in terms public interest, but we are so pleased with the final outcome.

"The driving force behind us putting so much hard work into this event, was knowing that our cultural landmark, the jewel in the crown of Durham City, was ultimately the one that was going to benefit in the long run.

"It is just brilliant to have raised this staggering amount, which will be invested back into the cathedral to allow for future restorative work.”

The pieces of Prudham sandstone were removed from the cathedral during a three-year project to repair its central tower, which was completed earlier this year.

The Northern Echo:

While the cathedral's masonry team tried to repair as many of the stones as possible when they were removed from the top of the tower, some proved too damaged and had to be replaced.

They had gone on display earlier in the day in the cathedral's cloisters before the auction in the Chapter House, which was packed out with members of the community, alumni of Durham University and architecture enthusiasts.

The top-selling lot – the central open tracery stone, which sat in the middle of the western window on the southern side of the central tower for more than 150 years – sold for £4,200.

The total raised was £125,782.

The auction, held by North-East auction house Anderson & Garland was in aid of the cathedral's Foundation 2020 campaign, which aims to create a £10million endowment fund to cover the cost of annual repair work to the cathedral.

All of the money raised through the auction was match funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.