14 Mar 2025
Take a close look at this photograph. Do you see what’s missing? Now try and imagine St Albans without the Cathedral at the heart of the city, and ask yourself whether you take this amazing building for granted?
A staggering 115,000 people visited the recent Museum of the Moon installation at the Abbey, which saw a replica of our lunar satellite measuring 7m in diameter suspended in the Nave.
They attended events including yoga sessions, jazz concerts, a silent disco, a candlelit rendition of Pink Floyd’s seminal album Dark Side of the Moon, and an organ performance of Hans Zimmer’s score for the movie Interstellar by the musician who played it for the film.
It’s fair to say the experience was a phenomenal success. Yet how many of those people who enjoyed the installation actually made a donation to the running and upkeep of the Cathedral?
It now costs more than £7,000 per day to keep the Cathedral open, a substantial increase on the £6K of a few months ago thanks to increases in insurance and energy bills, with further hikes to come when National Insurance contributions go up.
Last year the Abbey welcomed 600,000 visitors, with associated costs including everything from toilet rolls to cleaning, but in order to maintain its current level of service every one of these visitors needs to donate £4.25 per visit.
The average donation during the Museum of the Moon, including lighting of candles, was just 43p. This is actually an increase on last year’s Peace Doves installation, which had an average donation of just 31p.
These are challenging times for cathedrals across the country, and for the third year in a row St Albans will be running at a deficit, prompting major initiatives to tackle the shortfall. This includes the possibility of installing solar panels on the Nave in a bid to become environmentally and financially sustainable, coupled with a packed programme of events and grant applications.
Most St Albans residents feel a close connection to the Cathedral, but it’s fair to say that many people don’t ever consider making a donation to support it.
Head of marketing and visitor experience Gemma Jones said: “People see the Cathedral’s worth to the St Albans community, and we are committed to never charging them to enter, but we need to keep the building here for future generations, and donations are key to making that happen.”
Cathedral chief operating officer Alan Hartwell agreed: “To keep the doors open seven days a week for worship and for visitors, St Albans Cathedral needs to find £7,000 each and every day of the year.
“Donations also support vital conservation work, our community outreach programs, and our educational initiatives, allowing the Cathedral to continue inspiring faith, learning, and cultural heritage. We are also committed to maintaining a ‘no charge for entry’ policy and every donation large or small helps us.”
The Cathedral is now marking Lent in the run-up to Easter, culminating in major services during Holy Week itself, which will be attended by hundreds of people from across the district. Whether you’re attending one of these, or one of the many other events taking place in this stunning setting, consider how much it costs to pay for the lighting, the heating, the hot water and any number of other outlays, and then maybe dig a little deeper and donate what you can.
