Last week was the official opening of the Fleury Building. which is the first extension to the Cathedral in 500 years and will provide storage, extra toilets and a boiler room. The extension was made possible by donations of the 'Friends of the Cathedral' who provided £819,000 to meet the cost.
The new building is named after the Abbot of Fleury from L’Abbaye de St-Benôit-sur-Loire in France. The Cathedral and monastery in France forged an official link in 1978 and both institutions remember the other in their daily prayers.
The extension has been built in similar stone to the main building and will gradually blend in over time, I hope so because at the moment it just looks a bit 'stuck on the side'!
The Cathedral has many good friends.
ReplyDeleteYeah, too bad the new building couldn't have been farther out.
You do not get much for you money now. Sadly I think I too am doubtful that this extension will ever look more than just that.
ReplyDeleteYou are right it looks like its stuck on the side. The new extension does not look anything closer to the old one.
ReplyDeleteWhere have they put it, on which side? A loo was desperately needed, because unless we chorister parents managed to sneak into the vestry, which we weren't meant to, we had to go all the way acroos the close to the refectory and use theirs and they shut just before 5pm. With the services finishing much later, parents who had a long journey ahead of them had no loo to use. I bet they are delighted with it, no matter how new and carbuncle-like it looks!
ReplyDeleteI have to say, it isn't very beautiful. It needs a few bushes planted around it.
It's ok, I recognise the area now, it is at the end of the Slype. Handy for the Christmas market, too.
ReplyDeleteHave added a 2nd photo to see which side the extention is on, it's the opposite side to where the Xmas Market is held. On first sight I thought it was a portacabin! But I'm sure it will be very useful
ReplyDeleteI enjoy all the ST. Peter's Cathedral post. Thank you for sharing your lovely home place of Winchester.
ReplyDeleteI see! No, it's not where I thought it was at all, I can't think how they got permission for that!
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