Behind the scenes at the cathedral

Women’s Institute
For their July meeting at the village hall Old Buckenham WI were taken behind the scenes at Norwich Cathedral by Jill Napier, the Community Learning Officer at the cathedral. Her talk ranged from a general overview of the cathedral’s history and its foundation as a Benedictine monastery right up to the present day. She reminded her audience that the Benedictines followed the rules of worship, hospitality and welcome, education and work in the community: all aspects which are still very relevant in the work the Dean and Chapter and the numbers of officers do today.

An archaeologist by training, Jill brought numerous artefacts which had been discovered when work was done around the building – shards of pottery and some stone masons’ tools which have altered little in design over the centuries. She also brought along some ‘mini’ vestments made for children to wear at education workshops when learning about the work and services in the cathedral. There are many ‘behind the scenes’ departments which all help with the smooth running of the day to day organisation: the Dean and Chapter , the vergers and sacrists, the music department, librarians, architects, stone masons, librarians, the flower guild, broderers, catering and shop manager and many volunteers and welcomers to the building. The new Hostry will be opening in the autumn and will provide extra space for educational facilities as well as exhibition space and a visitor centre. After listening to the talk everybody had a much more informed idea of the huge amount of work which goes on behind the scenes in a busy and wonderfully historic building.