The Friends’ Annual Reports have become a trove of research and reflections since their founding in 1935, chronicling life at the Cathedral as the community has shared in its ups and downs.

Minus a few slim volumes during the years of paper rationing the Friends’ Annual Reports have mostly followed a recognisable format. A list of members of the Council are provided following a message from the President. The Chair reports on major activities and events during the year followed by a report from the Treasurer and sometimes from the chair of a subcommitee our volunteer group, of which there have been many over the years. This is typically followed by a report by the architectural advisor to the Dean & Chapter. Job titles and the names of groups and committees have often changed over the year, and in more recent years has often featured studies and discussion from the archaeological advisor (i.e. the Cathedral Archaeologist). There then follows a small number of research articles and endmatter including the The Constitution, Statement of Accounts, and in the early years an enrolment form.

The Annual Reports are far from bland statements, each opening a unique window onto the events, worship, and research at the Cathedral for that year. The first Annual Report for 1935 features a foreword by Bishop Earnest Blackie and summarises work on the first project undertaken by the Friends, the restoration and opening of the Cloister Garth. Bishops, deans, senior members of clergy, staff, volunteers, a wide array of researchers, artists and many more besides have contributed in a reasonably open format, preserving their own words and detailing their activities and projects. Despite this, there is no complete central archive for the Annual Reports, although the Friends’ Office does hold an almost complete collection.

Around 2017 the Annual Reports were photocopied and have been made available to researchers and the generally curious on request. This year the Reports have been entirely digitised – each article has been made available as webpages in their own right, sort of the equivalent of a digital restoration of old film. The result is that the archive of Friends’ Reports is now fully accessible on all devices large and small, for screen readers and the range of other accessibility features that many rely on, and on the large touchscreens around the Cathedral floor. In many cases the articles have been reillustrated, either with high-resolution copies of their original print illustrations or with the growing range of multimedia from 3D models to sound and video recordings. Lyndall Hacker’s 2007 article on the Cathedral Font, for example, now guides visitors around a high-quality 3D model. For some further particularly illustrative examples, see the articles featuring on the Lapidarium pages incorporating 3D models of the Pre-Conquest and Romanesque sculptural fragments. Many of these articles are important pieces of the Cathedral’s story and bring to light features of interest that have previously been overlooked or half forgotten, such as the 1950 report by Cathedral Architect W. A. Forsyth on the application to the War Damage Commission for funds to repair Sir Gilbert Scott’s 19th-century pinnacles, a project resulting in much of the demolition material that in subseuqent decades saw use in some curious landscaping feaures around the Cathedral Precinct and gardens.

The Annual Reports are now preserved and fully accessible to the standards of the 21st century forming an integral part of the Cathedral’s online public interpretation and archive, as they have in turn played such a vital role in preserving and opening the Cathedral’s heritage for much of the last century.

Jacob Scott
Heritage Officer

Projects and events archive

The Friends have helped to fund projects in and around the cathedral varying from just a few pounds to six figure sums. During the last 50 years, the Friends have granted over £1,250,000 to the Dean and Chapter.

Events and exhibitions archive

Index of Annual Reports

Annual report for 1988 (no. 1)

Annual report for 1988 (no. 2)

Annual report 2021

Events and Exhibitions Archive