The North East's rich historic past has been well recognised and rewarded of late thanks to a series of grants awarded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Since 2013, Newcastle has received multi-million pounds worth of investment in three key areas of the city, all centred on its historic, medieval quarter. The most recent award of £4.2 million has been awarded to Newcastle Cathedral, the ‘Cathedral of the City’.
The money will fund an exciting and ambitious project which is expected to cost almost £6 million, with The National Lottery Heritage Fund grant bolstered by additional funding from the Cathedral’s supporters, benefactors and charitable trusts. A large slice of the money will pay for physical changes to create an amazing open space capable of hosting exciting new events and activities.
The Cathedral will also launch an Activity Plan to encourage local people to get involved with the Cathedral and their heritage and will be recruiting hundreds of volunteers to help bring alive the ‘story of the stones’. The history of the city is written in the Cathedral stones, walls and windows. It tells the story of local people who built Newcastle, fuelled the industrial revolution and put Newcastle on the world map. Creating engaging and imaginative ways to bring these stories to life and provide the backdrop for this exciting new events space will be a major part of the Heritage funded project. The overarching ambition is to reinstate the Cathedral as a dynamic hub for the whole community, a vibrant, must-see attraction in the city centre and a unique events space for all.
The Cathedral is working closely with NE1 Ltd, who have already set the bar high with their National Lottery Heritage Fund supported redevelopment of the Bigg Market. Cultural heritage is one of the main cornerstones of NE1’s business plan for the next five years and its work in the Bigg Market is already coming to fruition with the public realm complete and two hugely successful events, The Bigg Market Bash and the first Bigg Foodie Friday already setting the tone for how the space will be used in the future. The Cathedral team is keen to learn a lot from its collaboration with NE1 and aims to work closely in future to create events that bring the wider community into these new spaces. The Cathedral plans to host its very own Medieval Markets and will be looking to NE1 for support to make these events a roaring success. On a practical level, the knowledge and experience NE1 has amassed through its work on heritage projects will also be a major asset when shaping and delivering the Cathedral’s plans.
It is no coincidence that the city’s historic and heritage regeneration has been led by the coming together of Church, State and Business. The Cathedral represents the church; Newcastle City Council the state with its successful regeneration of the Castle; and, business is personified by the team at NE1 Ltd, the modern face of the market economy, representing the city’s business interests and championing the regeneration of the Bigg Market and the wider redevelopment of the city. This 3-way partnership strongly echoes the city’s medieval past and reflects how Newcastle was originally formed.
The history and heritage of Newcastle is the golden thread running through all this recent redevelopment of Newcastle’s medieval quarter, its historic heart. The Cathedral’s efforts, combined with those of the Council and NE1 Ltd, aim to ensure that the area continues to play its rightful part in the city’s future. It is already paying dividends; consider what the Bigg Market was like a decade ago and it is easy to see that the transformation has already begun. The area covering the Castle and Black Gate, the Cathedral, the Mining Institute and the Bigg Market all provide a much more appealing offer for locals and tourists alike and it is only set to improve.
The aspiration is to make the Cathedral a place where people come for events, activities and to worship, where they socialise and do business. This will echo a bygone era when the great and good of the city, the eminent merchants and industrialists of the 17th and 18th centuries came to church to see and be seen. It was here that they lived their lives, conducted business, worshipped and connected with other leading families of the day. Working with NE1 the Cathedral team want to bring modern day business and entrepreneurs back to the Cathedral, recreating a centre of city life for business, locals, families, tourists and pilgrims alike, the heart of modern business.
Re-establishing these links between the Cathedral, the public and the business community are crucial for the next chapter of the city’s history. Collectively, NE1 Ltd, Newcastle City Council and the Cathedral are all working to shape the development of the city. History is not just about the past, with this investment and greater collaboration, it is about positioning the city and contributing to its future economic development.
