£600,000 to be spent on improvements at Chelmsford Cathedral
Plans include a new ceremonial route to the west door
More than £600,000 is set to be spent on improvement plans for Chelmsford Cathedral’s precinct area including a new ceremonial route to the west door.
Chelmsford City Council and the cathedral have been working in partnership and jointly appointed a landscape architect to prepare an enhancement plan for the precinct area which is being developed in parallel with the pedestrianisation works in the adjacent Tindal Square.
Initial costs, to be split between the council and cathedral, had been estimated at around £600k but these are likely to be now significantly higher.
The current plan includes a new through route from New Street via Church Street and out via Legg Street for servicing the cathedral.
This will be used infrequently for around 29 days a year when weddings, funerals or special events take place.
New retractable bollards on Church Street were installed in January 2022 to provide access for the cathedral ahead of Tindal Square closing to traffic as part of the pedestrianisation works.
The enhancement plan also envisages changes to the northern boundary wall and provide pedestrian access to a dropping off point on Church Street.
The plan provides a new ceremonial route to the west door of the cathedral, enlarged public spaces to the west and south of the cathedral and a new public space to the east.
Existing routes through the churchyard would be maintained. The principal route between Tindal Square and New Street would be widened.
A new paved route would be created from the existing steps adjacent New Street and Waterloo Lane to improve the sight line towards the cathedral. The existing pedestrian access onto New Street is to be closed off.
The hard surfacing would be a mixture of bound gravel and Yorkstone paving. Landscaping would be simplified with the removal of non-native species to be replaced with extensive new tree planting.
The council says the enhancement plan with improved paving materials and street furniture, together with new public spaces and improved routes would enhance both the cathedral’s ceremonial and public park functions.
It adds the scheme would deliver an enhanced public realm beyond the current works to Tindal Square.
Michael Hurst, principal heritage officer told the policy board at Chelmsford Council on September 29: “It’s a partnership with the cathedral. So today all the design work has been funded 50/50 with the cathedral and the city council.
“So going forward it it would definitely still be a partnership arrangement. We had the initial concept design costed by a quantity surveyor in February of this year and at that time it was circa £600k.
Obviously the way things are going that figure has almost certainly increased quite substantially. But I think the recommendation tonight is not to require any funding.
“The idea is that when we’ve got a detailed design, that will allow us to fundraise, and working in partnership with the cathedral, because they’re a charity, that opens up various other doors for funding opportunities that that will be open to us.”