My life in history: head of conservation at Lincoln Cathedral

What are the challenges facing the conservation of Lincoln Cathedral today?

Lincoln has a 100-year conservation programme in place, so the repairs are almost never-ending! It’s the only cathedral on Historic England’s Buildings at Risk register, mainly due to the scale of the building and the consequent amount of work required, and the risk of those funding needs not being met. Lincoln doesn’t have the large, wealthy population and high numbers of visitors such as other cathedral cities like York, so our income is smaller. Furthermore, although there is a works department to keep the cathedral and our 82 historic properties going, we’re down to half the number of staff we had before the Covid-19 pandemic. We’ve had to slow our works programmes down as a result, but we should be able to start building back up again over the next two to three years, all being well.

What does an average day look like for you?

It’s highly variable. My role covers conservation of the cathedral fabric (primarily stone) and ex-situ sculpture, so one of my primary tasks is to make sure that the rest of the conservation team can keep working on the fabric without any issues – recording, cleaning and carrying out repairs to the highest possible standards. Sometimes I can be on site looking at work with the team, then back in the office writing up reports, programmes, costings and orders. There can be quite a few meetings to attend as well. Occasionally, I still get to help out with something practical – from moving sculpture
to clearing sites. Although I’m generally hands-off, I rarely seem to go home clean!

What’s your favourite fact about Lincoln Cathedral that people may not know?

Lincoln is one of the best-preserved cathedrals in the country – if not the best-preserved! Approximately 80-90 per cent of what visitors see is Norman or medieval stone; a much higher percentage than other similar structures. This is because Lincoln limestone, quarried within a couple of miles of the cathedral (and beneath where our works department is now) is an unusually resilient material, and has therefore withstood the ravages of time. This piece of information – combined with the fact it is also more highly carved than any other cathedral – makes it a conservator’s dream.

What’s the most impressive piece of conservation you’ve been involved in?

Our current project, the conservation of the lower west front, has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As part of a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we have been able to return to conserving sculpture that hasn’t been touched for a number of years. This includes the Romanesque frieze panels – some of Europe’s most important 12th-century sculpture – and the wonderful Gallery of Kings, which comprises 11 life-sized statues that sit above the Great West Door. I first worked on some of these sculptures in the mid-1990s, so it’s been a privilege to see the work through to its final stages.

• On the podcast | Cathedrals: from bishops' seats to tourist hotspots

What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened during your job?

There have been no major disasters, thankfully, but there are always hiccoughs when you are undertaking practical work. Fortunately, there is always a way around an issue – it just may not be the route you originally had in mind! Overall, you do have to be quite reactive when you are involved on a large site that also happens to be a thousand-year-old building still functioning as it was originally intended. Health and safety practices and the professionalism of many trades and craftspeople has really improved over the 30 years of my career, so incidents are few and far between. However, working both with people and the British weather means things can always be a little unpredictable...

This article was first published in the December 2021 issue of BBC History Revealed