Details in medieval paintings in Durham Cathedral have been brought back to light by the completion of a renovation project.
The cathedral has used a £20,000 grant from the Banks Group’s Banks Community Fund to replace the old lighting in the Galilee Chapel, which sits just inside the main entrance to the building, with an LED lighting system.
As well as both costing less to run than its predecessors and supporting the cathedral’s carbon neutral drive, the greater power of the new lights has revealed a range of new details on the paintings and the surrounding architecture.
Go here for more County Durham news and updates from County Durham Live
The wall paintings in the Galilee Chapel are believed to date from around 1300.
Whitewashed over at the Reformation, they were revealed again during the 1800s, and while much has been lost, they provide a tantalizing glimpse of how the Chapel would have originally looked.
The images include a crucifixion, scenes from the lives of the Apostles, and full-length figures of St Cuthbert and King Oswald of Northumbria.
While revealing details previously hidden, the new LED lights will also help to preserve the paintings, as they significantly reduce the levels of harmful ultraviolet light falling on the surfaces.
The Banks Community Fund is administered by the County Durham Community Foundation whose chief operating officer Margaret Vaughan said: "Without funding like this, a real treasure would have been left at risk and future generations could have missed out entirely".
The funding has also paid for a range of other work to be carried out, including the installation of new cast iron hand rails alongside the steps that lead down into the chapel from the cathedral’s main entrance, which has been specially designed to fit in with its historic surroundings.
Conservation work has been carried out on one of the chapel’s medieval stained glass windows and a new fire detection system has also been installed.
Further safety work has been undertaken to stonework above one of the building’s emergency exits, allowing the door to continue to be used.
The programme of works was identified after a review of the cathedral’s structure was carried out in the wake of fires at other historic buildings, including Notre Dame in Paris and the Glasgow School Of Art.
The Very Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Dean of Durham, said: "At almost 890 years old, Durham Cathedral requires constant management to preserve this magnificent historic building and ensure it remains safe and accessible for all our community to enjoy.
"The lighting in the Galilee Chapel has long been limited by concerns that heat produced from the lamps might damage the wall paintings within, and the need to address and upgrade this became more pressing as the old lights began to fail.
"The new LED lighting has completely transformed the space, revealing the intricate architectural and pictorial details in the chapel’s upper reaches in a way that was not possible before.
"Combined with work to improve safety and accessibility, the Galilee Chapel is ready to welcome all our visitors for decades to come.
"Our closure due to the pandemic had a very significant impact on the cathedral’s finances, but the costs of maintaining the building have not gone away.
"It can be difficult to secure funding for essential projects like this which don’t necessarily catch the public eye, but The Banks Group have been extremely responsive to our needs and it would have been challenging to deliver these works without their generous support."
Mark Dowdall, environment and community director at the Banks Group, said: "Durham Cathedral is perhaps the most important single element of the North East’s cultural heritage.
"We are pleased to to have helped to reveal some more of its treasures to visitors."
