Backing for Coventry Cathedral admission fees

Entrance charges introduced at Coventry Cathedral have seen a slight fall in visitor numbers but a rise in takings, a senior clergyman has said.


Canon David Porter said this justified the £4.50 levy to help towards the cathedral's upkeep.

Cathedral authorities need to raise £1.4m each year for the upkeep of the historic site but get no state help.

The charge came into force on 18 January after authorities found visitor donations were not raising enough.

"Certainly our takings are up significantly and that shows we were right to introduce charging," Canon Porter said.

"We have seen the majority of people willing to pay the charge and visitor numbers are down slightly, but not as much as we expected."

The cathedral was designed by Sir Basil Spence and was built after the destruction of its predecessor in the Blitz in 1940. The former cathedral's ruins adjoin the current building.

Visitors can avoid having to pay each time they visit by buying a £15 yearly pass that allows repeated access.

They didn't have to build a new cathedral. There was a proposal to rebuild the old one but the CofE decoded to make a political statement instead.

I certainly won't be paying to go in. More like a hocus-pocus art gallery than a 'church' anyway. Prefer the ruins of Cathedral #2 to be honest.

Cathedral bosses cut admission charges

Entry is being lowered across the board with standard charges dropping from £8 to £6 and concessions paying a reduced price of £5 down from £5.75.

The changes take effect from today.

The cut in fees is part of the cathedral’s vision to eliminate admission charges altogether by 2018.

Ticket prices for the Blitz Experience and the Tower are also coming down, while entry remains free under-18s and anyone wanting to pray or light a candle.

Reverend Canon Dr David Stone, Canon Precentor and Sub-Dean at the cathedral, said: “We have to find a balance between generating much-needed income to care for the two cathedrals and encouraging visitors to enjoy exploring this wonderful building.

“As a relatively new cathedral, we do not have the endowments or investments of the medieval cathedrals and need constantly to raise funds simply to keep the buildings open.

“We are hoping that these price reductions will encourage more visitors to come and enjoy what Coventry’s Cathedrals quarter has to offer.

“Some visitors are surprised at an admission charge for a ‘house of God’ but prior to charging, which was introduced in 2010, the average donation was just 24p per visitor.

“The admission charge was introduced simply in order to enable us to keep the building open seven days per week.”

It's a scandal that they were ever allowed to be introduced.

I always thought churches were exempt council taxes etc. because they were always freely open to the public?