THE scaffolding which has been hiding one of the North-East’s best-loved landmarks is being removed.

The top of Durham Cathedral’s 66 meter tower has been shrouded in a plastic wrap since early 2016 to allow for some of the stone work to be repaired.

The restoration work is now complete and yesterday, workers started to remove the 120 tonnes of scaffolding which has been necessary for the project to take place.

It is expected to take around three months for the scaffolding to come down, with the tower scheduled to reopen next summer after some further work on the roof and decking at the top of the tower.

 

Durham Cathedral's tower has been closed since 2016 for repair work to take place

Project manager Scott Richardson, the cathedral’s clerk of works, said: “It’s nice to know it’s complete.

“There’s a sense of pride for the whole team to have a project of this magnitude finished on time.”

 

Durham's viaduct, pictured from the top of Durham Cathedral's tower

The £2million project to repair and replace the stones at the top of the cathedral’s parapet has been a logistical challenge for the team, with hundreds of the blocks, which weigh up to 450kg, needing attention.

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A hoist, fixed to the outside of the tower, was used to move the blocks from the parapet to a workshop on the ground, where they were repaired before being put back in place.

The team of seven stone masons have now handed the job over to scaffolders.

Scaffolding supervisor Lee Boyes said: “It’s quite a big job. It has to go down in the same way it went up - in the hoist.

 

Lee Boyes, scaffolding supervisor has started the task of removing the scaffolding from the top of the tower

“We’ll have wintery weather to contend with which can stop the job. If the wind is 20mph then we won’t attempt to go up.

“It’s not an everyday thing. It’s been a fantastic project.”