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The
following message is from the Dean.
Questions have been raised recently in the local Press about the need
for the shop to be re-located in the South-west corner of the nave of
the Cathedral.
When plans were considered some six years ago for two new developments
at Norwich Cathedral to encompass a new Refectory and Hostry the relocation
of the retail shop was one point taken into account.
The initial thinking was the shop would be sited in the new Hostry building,
to the west of the Cathedral on the original footprint of the ancient
Hostry which stood there to greet pilgrims and other visitors in monastic
times.
Over the last two years detailed plans were considered for the Hostry
in conjunction with professional advisers to evaluate the best use of
space throughout the new building.
A key fact emerged from this process concerning the location of the retail
shop. If the plan for it to be located in the new Hostry building had
gone ahead, professional advisers stated that it would mean the new building
would be subject to VAT. This, naturally, would have led to a massive
increase in costs for the new building in the region of £630,000
which could not be absorbed within the £10 million fund raising
plan.
The additional fund raising would have taken longer to achieve and with
building costs continuing to move upwards the Dean and Chapter had to
look at other locations for the shop.
After much consultation, including information and advice from other
cathedrals such as Ely, Canterbury, Winchester and Gloucester, it was
decided to relocate the shop to the south west corner of the Nave at Norwich
Cathedral.
This decision was not made quickly or easily. We had to investigate the
options; consult with advisers and talk to our colleagues at other cathedrals
who had already relocated their shop to within their cathedral building.
We have spent a great deal of time considering how this might be done
at Norwich so that the shop could be located in the south west corner
of the Nave. The location, size of the shop and how it is operated have
to be appropriate to the surroundings as it cannot be allowed to be invasive
to this great place of worship.
The design has been carefully considered so that is sympathetic and does
not affect the structure of the historic building.
Cathedrals receive no Government funding but they are expected to be
open, lit and provide some level of warmth whatever the weather. Norwich
Cathedral is open throughout the day so that people can worship both at
services and privately. The staff also work hard in maintaining a beautiful
cathedral which is open at no charge to school children, students and
tourists. Therefore we have to maintain a sustainable future and one way
of doing this is by generating income from both the shop and refectory
which are both managed in-house with our own teams of staff.
We think that it is vital for a place of worship and heritage such as
Norwich Cathedral to be open to local people and the wider community beyond
the diocese and to that end we are working hard to develop revenue streams
in our business plan which will negate the need for admission charges
at this landmark building.
Graham Smith
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