Exeter Cathedral has been at the heart of Devon for almost a thousand years and we are committed to making sure we are here for generations to come by improving the sustainability of our buildings. Find out more about how we are making our buildings more environmentally friendly.
As part of the Exeter Cathedral 2020s Development Appeal Project, we have been working on essential conservation and improvement works to make sure we are welcoming to all and here for generations to come. In the Quire and East End of the Cathedral, we have installed better insulation and a new underfloor heating system, to make the area is a more comfortable place for services and events, and to help reduce the Cathedral’s carbon footprint.
Inspired by Sir G.G. Scott’s grand pavements installed in the Quire in the 1870s, the Quire’s new Jubilee Pavement was created using only locally-sourced Devon stone. The 1963 purbeck stone floor removed from the Quire during the improvement works was reused in the new Friends’ Cloister Gallery.
Exeter Cathedral has improved the general insulation of our properties around Cathedral Close including additional loft insulation, secondary glazing, replacement of boilers and lighting for more energy efficient models. The work to install secondary glazing attracted an award nomination from the South West Energy Efficiency Awards, for which we were highly commended.
The Friends’ Cloister Gallery is the most significant building to adjoin Exeter Cathedral since the Speke and Oldham chapels were constructed around 500 years ago.
The new structure has been made using locally-sourced materials from Somerset and North Dorset. Underfloor heating was installed throughout, to improve the efficiency of the heating system and to help reduce our carbon footprint. The timbers used in the ceiling of the Cloister were remains of timber cut to size for the restoration of Notre-Dame, and parts of the stone floor was created usring Purbeck stone slabs that were recycled from the 1963 Quire pavement that was replaced during essential conservation and improvement works.
As part of the Exeter Cathedral 2020s Development Appeal Project, in June 2024 we worked with the Devon Swift Project to install swift boxes in our south tower. The swift boxes will help to support and increase the swift population surrounding the Cathedral by providing a place to nest. We now have three Cathedral Swift Champions who will carry out monitoring sessions to see if swifts have moved into the boxes.