THE Acting Dean of York says a £40 million national repair fund has revitalised English cathedrals.

The Revd Canon Peter Moger was speaking after an independent report about the First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund concluded it had significantly reduced immediate risks to the buildings.

The fund, launched by the Government in 2014, prioritised making cathedrals weatherproof, safe and open to the public, and ensuring they would be safe to host acts of remembrance for the centenary of the First World War armistice later this year.

York Minster was awarded £300,000 for repairs to the stonework and roof of the Camera Cantorum, which houses the Minster shop and a rehearsal space for the Minster’s choristers, and £500,000 for repairs and restoration work on the 11 bays of the Quire Aisle.

Canon Moger said the funds for the Camera Cantorum helped to preserve a building which linked the past and the present, where generations of Minster choristers had trained, including 12 choristers and a song man who were killed on active service in the First World War.

He argued that the decision to set up the fund had been an acknowledgement that cathedrals continued to play a vital role in the lives of communities.

“The fund established a shared sense of purpose and national responsibility to ensure that cathedrals will endure for future generations,” he added.