Lincoln Cathedral and Daniel Charles sign agreement for Lincolnshire Limestone supply to secure future of historic landmark’s conservation
A new stone supply has been secured to ensure the ongoing restoration and preservation of an iconic Lincoln landmark.
Lincoln Cathedral has signed an agreement with a new quarry to secure the long-term supply of stone for conservation and repairs, after it exhausted it’s existing Lincoln Limestone beds.
Now, after work led by geologist Dr Mike Ashton to locate a suitable supply of new stone which meets the exacting standards required for the cathedral, Daniel Charles’ Dunston Quarry has been agreed as the new supplier.
The historic building’s previous supply of Lincoln Limestone came from a quarry on Riseholme Road in Lincoln, just over a mile away from the landmark. This quarry was bought by the cathedral in 1871 and was operational until 2021.
Extensive testing of stone from Daniel Charles’ Dunston Quarry has now identified a bed of the correct depth and quality.
Dan Ingall, managing director of Daniel Charles, explained that Lincoln limestone is an oolitic limestone formed around 165,000,000 years ago.
“It’s a good quality, robust building material, relatively resilient to decay from weathering, and is known for its light but warm colour,” he said.
“In 2025 Daniel Charles is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and we’re delighted to be looking to the future in partnership with Lincoln Cathedral and playing our part in ensuring that the cathedral continues to be a stunning landmark that can be seen from miles around.”
The new agreement is crucial to ensuring the continued maintenance of the cathedral, which is both a grade one listed building and a scheduled ancient monument — meaning it is of outstanding architectural and historic interest.
It is the only English cathedral to be listed in its entirety on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register, and so conservation of the building is of the highest priority.
Mark Wheater, director of estates and facilities at Lincoln Cathedral, said: “Each year we use a significant amount of stone for repairs to the fabric. This partnership gives us the security to know that we can continue to care for this important building using the correct materials.
“The cathedral is fortunate to have an in-house works department who are experts in the heritage skills needed to conserve this important building and we are looking forward to working with Daniel Charles to ensure that they have the materials they need to continue their work.”
Current projects include work to the historic chapter house, which has seen significant repairs to external stonework including recreating ornately carved pinnacles on the roof of the building.
The project will cost around £1.45m to complete. To find out more and to donate to the works, visit https://lincolncathedral.com/fundraising/chapter-house-phase-two/.
Fabric projects such as this receive no funding from the UK government or the Church of England.