St Paul’s Iconic Symbol Secured in £500k Restoration Project

St Paul’s Cathedral has been awarded a grant of £500,000 towards the restoration and conservation of its Cupola, Ball, and Cross – the structure that rises from the Golden Gallery on top of the Dome, which, at 365ft high, is an iconic symbol of the City of London.

St Paul’s Iconic Symbol Secured in £500k Restoration Project

St Paul’s Cathedral is one of four recipients of the new £10m Landmark Grants Programme from The Goldsmiths Company Charity designed to accelerate skills development in the UK.

Professor Charles Mackworth-Young, Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company said:

“The Landmark Grants Programme underscores the Goldsmiths’ Company Charity’s determination to increase the impact of our charitable giving and our enduring focus on the development of skills in our trade and beyond. 

“The four grants announced … will help these organisations to achieve real change in the skills people develop and the outcomes they achieve.”

A £500,000 Landmark Grant has been awarded to St. Paul’s Cathedral as part of a major heritage restoration and conservation project of its iconic Cupola, Ball, and Cross. Dating from 1710, and last restored in 1821, the Cupola is now reaching the end of its structural life and requires extensive essential repairs.

The multi-million-pound project will raise awareness of heritage craft skills and train apprentices in the skills required for the restoration, such as masonry, lead working and gilding.

The Very Reverend Andrew Tremlett, Dean of St Paul’s, said:

“Our partnership with the Goldsmiths’ Company and its Charity is not only historic but special. Having supported almost every major restoration project we have had since the Great Fire of London, their coat of arms is under our dome.

“We would like to warmly thank the Goldsmiths’ Company Charity for their very generous grant, which will not only support vital repairs of the Cupola’s upper Dome including the Ball and Cross, but will help train apprentices in the skills required for the restoration. 

 “This partnership presents us with a great opportunity to celebrate St Paul’s heritage and the skills of all the people responsible for building and sustaining it, from Christopher Wren to those working on this new project.

With the help of the Charity, St Paul’s will be preserved in all its glory for worshippers and visitors for generations to come, offering people from different backgrounds and communities a place to explore their faith in the heart of London.”

St Paul’s Cathedral joins Aston University Engineering Academy, the National Literacy Trust, and St Giles charity in each being awarded grants of £500,000 towards their projects. These grants will be delivered in three tranches between 2023 and 2035 to mark the Company’s 700th-anniversary celebrations in 2027.

 The Goldsmiths’ Company Charity is a grant funder that was founded in the late nineteenth century with investment income on assets given by the Goldsmiths’ Company over the centuries. The charity is focused on improving the life chances of people and communities across four key areas.