Project: New tower at Bury St Edmunds Cathedral

Originally designed by Stephen Dykes Bower

Project Architect: Gothic Design Practice

Main Contractor: Morgan Ashurst (Bluestone)

Built: 1999 - 2005

Value: £4.8 million

Brief description

The Bury Cathedral project included the new Millennium Tower, North Transept, Choir Aisle and new cloisters built out of Barnack, Clipsham and Hartham Park limestone’s.  The tower was of a truly medieval design i.e. mass load bearing masonry, built on top of an existing 15th Century crossing tower of the Church to help with its transformation from a Parish Church to a Cathedral.  Andre Vrona was solely responsible for sourcing the long lost, famous Barnack stone from an old quarry for this project.  The works involved 2,000 tons of Barnack stone and 1,500 tons of Clipsham stone that all had to be masoned by hand for the masonry elements within the works.