MOVES to establish a 21st century campus in the shadow of York Minster have taken a major step forward today.
Plans for a Centre of Excellence for Heritage Craft Skills and Estate Management have now been submitted to City of York Council for two sites – The Heritage Quad and The Works and Technology Hub.
The development would enable the craft of stonemasonry to continue, and put York Minster on the global stage as a leading example of how best to manage complex heritage estates.
The scheme will provide new facilities for craftspeople, including York Minster’s stonemasons, delivering training in modern techniques and processes, with cutting-edge digital facilities alongside the ancient craft skills.
The sustainable scheme will reorder, repurpose and renew existing buildings to provide new workspace and other facilities.
The design, including a glass wall with views from the city walls into the workshop, will enable more interaction with the public.
The centre is a key element of the York Minster Precinct Neighbourhood Plan which sets out a policy-led approach to creating a sustainable future for the Minster and its seven-hectare estate.
Alex McCallion, director of works and precinct, said: “It takes a multidisciplinary team of skilled heritage craftspeople and experts in their field to maintain and care for the ongoing cycle of repair, restoration, conservation and development of York Minster, its ancient buildings and monuments.
"Our existing stoneyard houses the complete range of craft and trade skills that are vital to achieve this.
“Yet despite this, the facilities available to our skilled workforce are constrained and inadequate, set against a backdrop of declining craft skills.
Alex McCallion, director of works and precinct, at the site where the Heritage Quad will be
"We also recognise the need to keep pace with innovations and modern processes such as digital technology, data scanning and computer aided design (CAD)."
He said the centre of excellence would help preserve and develop ancient skills that have sustained the Minster for centuries, and secure its long-term environmental, financial and heritage sustainability.
CGI impression of the approach to the Heritage Quad, at York Minster's Centre of Excellence for Heritage Craft Skills and Estate Management.
“It will position York Minster as leading the charge for the preservation of ancient craft skills on the international stage, facilitating knowledge sharing and exchange programmes with partner cathedrals worldwide, including Washington, Milan and Trondheim and will also have immediate economic and tourism benefits for York and the wider region.”
The Revd Canon Michael Smith, Acting Dean of York, said the neighbourhood plan, of which the centre is a major part, would be the biggest programme of planned works at York Minster in 150 years.
“It is the first time an approach of this type has been used to map the future care of a cathedral and we believe it will positively inspire others to follow as we become an exemplar for how heritage estates address climate change.”
The project has been co-ordinated by the York Minster Fund whose chairman Richard Shaw said: "It aims to bring together the best of the best in a single location, both now and into the future.
"We see our investment in the project as the best way of securing skills, jobs and heritage restoration at the Minster for decades to come.”
A key element will be the resurfacing of the uneven and hazardous 1970s cobbled road leading to the Heritage Quad.
A planning decision is expected in late summer and, if approved, York Minster aims to deliver the project in early 2024.
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