ARCHITECTURAL FOCUS
WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL
LIGHT-ILLUMINATED STANNAH PASSENGER LIFT INSPIRES VISITORS
Winchester Cathedral , a place of worship for over 900 years , has been brought up to modern accessibility standards with a light-filled passenger lift from Stannah . The installation now sits comfortably alongside the fine craftsmanship within the extraordinary Grade I Listed building .
This is one of the first passenger lifts to be installed in a medieval cathedral in the UK , paving the way for other heritage buildings to offer step-free access for visitors .
Central to this lift installation was working within the constraints imposed by the Grade I building of exceptional national , architectural and historical importance and with its own legislative requirements . As part of this , the lift had to be an honest 21st century addition to the cathedral .
The present cathedral was begun in 1079 and is one of the largest medieval gothic structures in Europe . It captures the architectural essence of the 11th to 17th centuries and has been a place of worship for over 900 years , having been a religious site for more than 15 centuries .
The cathedral is the final resting place for many , including Saxon royalty , William Rufus and Jane Austen , the novelist .
The £ 11.5 million invested by the National Lottery Heritage Fund scheme enabled the transformation of Winchester Cathedral ’ s South Transept into a fully accessible exhibition space rising through three levels .
The Work
Between 2014 and 2019 , Winchester Cathedral underwent an extensive conservation of the existing building materials and other adaptions to improve accessibility .
This included removal of modern elements in the South Transept to form a new exhibition space ; improved learning facilities to aid understanding of
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