Major restoration and community improvements will begin at Brecon Cathedral following a £2,041,756 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Together with a further £745,000 from additional funders, the plans combine repair of the historic fabric with new ways for people to use and experience the building.

The work includes a fully accessible entrance, improvements to the piazza area and the creation of flexible space within the cathedral for exhibitions, concerts and community events. New interpretation will help visitors understand the building’s history and its place in Welsh life.

As part of the project, urgent reroofing will provide NVQ Level 3 heritage training for 18 young people and career-change trainees, ensuring traditional skills are passed on while repairs are carried out.

The Very Rev’d Dr Paul Shackerley, Dean of Brecon, said the project balances conservation with opening the building more fully to the community.

“We can now address decades of urgent repairs while offering a safe and accessible welcome to all who visit. Alongside that work we want to share the history and culture of this place and create opportunities for people to use the cathedral in new ways.

This will help ensure the cathedral remains at the heart of the community for future generations.”

Bishop John described the announcement as a “bittersweet and deeply significant moment” in the life of the Cathedral.

“The Diocese recognises that this is a bittersweet and deeply significant moment in the life of Brecon Cathedral,” he said.

“On the one hand, we celebrate the announcement of a major National Lottery grant that will transform the Cathedral into a vibrant place of welcome, learning, and worship. This investment will not only secure and strengthen the building itself—one of Wales’s most important architectural treasures—but will also create vital training and employment opportunities. Above all, it will safeguard a sustainable future for the Cathedral, a future that would have been difficult to imagine without this support. We extend our warmest good wishes to the Cathedral community as it embarks on this exciting new phase of its journey.

“At the same time, we acknowledge with sadness—but deep gratitude—the announcement by the Dean of Brecon of his intention to retire. His leadership, vision, and faithful stewardship of the Cathedral, as well as his dedicated service as senior priest of the diocese, have shaped and strengthened our common life in many ways. We offer him our heartfelt thanks and wish him every blessing for the future.”

Work will be phased and will start in March 2026 with the opening of a new west entrance, followed by interior reordering and the south transept roofs being replaced over the summer. Further roof repairs will continue in later phases.

Andrew White, Director for Wales at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “This funding will help Brecon Cathedral strengthen its role at the heart of the community, safeguard its heritage and create new ways for people to engage with its story for generations to come.”