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How The Cathedral Is Funded

Canterbury Cathedral receives no Government or State funding and only occasional grants from English Heritage. It is not funded by the Church of England. The Church Commissioners pay the salary of the Dean and two of the residentiary Canons only. The Cathedral is therefore largely self-funded.


We spend £14,500 each day on the Cathedral with £9,000 of this being spent on daily running costs. In order to meet these huge costs the Cathedral has to rely on income from a number of commercial operations such as property rental, the Cathedral Shop, Hotel and Conference Centre and from entry charges to the Cathedral. This income is only just sufficient, however, to cover the daily costs of running the Cathedral and could not start to support the money needed for the conservation development projects that are vital for the survival of this magnificent building.

Keeping a Cathedral of this size working and open to the public is a big operation requiring the skills of many different people. And of course there are the costs of lighting, heating and general maintenance. We employ a full maintenance team of stone masons and builders, electricians, carpenters and plumbers to keep the building open throughout the year. There is always plenty to be done not least to meet ever more stringent health and safety legislation which is immensely costly as are the requirements of hosting so many visitors.


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