THE Dean of Guildford welcomed hundreds of benefactors and the community to Guildford Cathedral earlier this month­ to see behind the scenes at the cathedral’s substantial building works.

The works have been made possible through the cathedral’s ‘Make Your Mark’ appeal which raised more than £6.9 million including a multi-million pound grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, to save and transform the grade II* listed building.

More than 350 people attended the open day, as part of Heritage Open Days weekend. The ever popular tower tours provided stunning views across Guildford.

Talks, tours, trails and children’s activities filled the nave while visitors absorbed the magnitude of the project which is currently under way.

New interactive visitor touchscreens were being tested, ahead of the launch in 2017. Visitors learnt more about the project to digitise the cathedral’s extensive archive and the fascinating stories captured as part of the oral history project.

Children enjoyed exploring the construction theme – from building their own cathedrals and scaffolding structures to designing stained glassed windows and brass rubbings.

Meanwhile there were opportunities to hear from the Dean and meet the organists and the wider cathedral team.

Visitors were treated to unique tours and insight into the building works by Buxton Building Contractors Limited who are heading the works which started on April 4 and are scheduled to take 15 months.

Cathedral architect John Bailey said: “The open day provided a perfect opportunity to help people understand the complexities of this major project and be able to look forward to the significant transformation that it will bring.

“We anticipate that the majority of the scaffolding will be removed by April 2017.”

Reflecting on how these substantial works have been made possible through the cathedral appeal, the Dean added: “Raising more than £6.9m is an amazing result. In total, over 4,000 individuals and organisations have supported the appeal in different ways and today is another opportunity to say thank you to everyone for their generosity and support.

“It’s splendid to see the building works well under way. Although the inside of the building looks very different during this exciting project, the cathedral is remaining open throughout and visitors are most welcome to come and see how the works are progressing for themselves. Our varied programme of events offers plenty of opportunities to visit too.”

Forthcoming events include a textile study day on September 21 and an archive study day on November 2, giving visitors a chance to explore the cathedral’s fascinating heritage in more detail.