St Mary Redcliffe Support from the Cathedrals Project Support Panel

Meeting with the Cathedrals Project Support Panel - Wednesday 3 April 2019Background
In September 2018, the church invited representatives of the various statutory stakeholder
organisations - some of which, including Bristol City Council (BCC), the Church Buildings Council
(CBC) and Historic England (HE), will need to give formal approval to the church’s scheme in order
for it to go ahead - to St Mary Redcliffe for a project update. This was the third such update since
2014, the year before Purcell won the architecture competition and were appointed to work with
the church on creating new facilities. Following this session - which featured a presentation from
Project 450 Lead Architect, Dan Talkes - Christina Emerson, Church Buildings Officer, at the CBC,
wrote a formal response (included with this summary) on behalf of that organisation. This
response:
- recognised that St Mary Redcliffe is “one of the most important churches in the country”;
- noted that the church had consulted with the CBC previously and reminded the church of its
previous advice;
- recognised the detailed planning work that has been carried out by the church in preparation
for Project 450 but questioned how this work and the Statement of Need have informed the
work carried out by Purcell;
- recommended that a more robust Statement of Needs that reflects the sum of the work to date
be produced;
- acknowledged the challenge of integrating the church development with the wider development
of Redcliffe, when details of the latter are still to emerge;
- requested an explanation of the decision to site the majority of the new buildings to the north of
the church, citing the potential impact on views of the north elevation;
- recognised the level of resource that the church will need to make Project 450 a success;
- offered the CBC’s “support to the parish for its ambitious vision and encouraged it to move
forwards”, stressing that; “both consulters and potential funders will require robust and
evidence-based arguments” for the project.
Support from the Church Buildings Council
After commenting on the church’s proposals, Christina continued:
The Council is acutely aware of the resource required to deliver a project of this nature and
would therefore like to suggest that the parish seeks the assistance of the Cathedral
Projects Support Panel. The panel brings together experts in a range of disciplines to help
cathedrals and major churches with the process of developing major projects. The panel
would be pleased to assist, and its advice is offered on an unpaid basis.
This offer is significant because in it the CBC demonstrates its willingness to support the church
in carrying out the additional work needed to make Project 450 a success.
Cathedrals Project Support Panel
Following the communication from the CBC the church arranged an inception meeting with the
Cathedrals Project Support Panel (CPSP) Co-ordinator, to talk through the church’s plans and
arrange an introductory workshop with panel members who had expressed an interest in
supporting the church by providing expert advice and guidance.
The purpose of the workshop, which took place on April 3, was to introduce panel members to
the church and its staff, offer an overview of Project 450 and lay the foundations for future
involvement by the panel. The workshop included a welcome and introduction from Dan, a
presentation from Purcell followed by a Q&A session, a tour of the church and a round table
discussion during which initial feedback was provided.
The workshop was attended by the following CPSP members:
Ed Baldwin, a retired senior partner in Arcadis - a global design, engineering and management
consulting company - who is an expert in business development and large capital projects.

Bonnie Kitching, an architect and former Bristol resident who describes her work as “a
portfolio ... spanning a decade that has been primarily focused in working with large complex
sites embodied with built fabric and heritage that sit at the heart of community life”. Bonnie has
worked on a number of church projects and with the cathedral architects at York Minster,
Southwark Cathedral, Shrewsbury Catholic Cathedral and Canterbury Cathedral.
Revd James Bryson, an architect with twenty years experience, who is now Parish Priest at St
John the Baptist, Eltham, South London. James has particular interest in pre-project advice and
the clarification of mission. He was Founding Director of Grace Architects, which worked for five
years solely with church clients.
A fourth members of the CPSP who was due to attend the workshop, but was unavailable due to
illness, is Jill Preston.
Jill Preston who has wide-ranging experience in marketing communications, project leadership
and business planning both in major corporations and in senior roles at heritage and visitor
attractions, including Kew Gardens. Jill is a former board director of ALVA (the Association of
Large Visitor Attractions) and a board member of of the National Trust London and SE region. She
also chaired Chelmsford Cathedral Fabric Advisory Committee.
(A separate meeting with Jill will be arranged in due course. See update below))
Following the workshop, the three panel members who attended, along with Anne Locke, the
CPSP Co-ordinator, agreed to provide initial written feedback, which is included with this
summary.
Each response offers critical insight and analysis on the current proposals and the church’s
approach to managing the project, offering thoughts on subjects such as the additional work that
needs to be carried out, project timescales and phasing. Happily, the responses are all very
positive and the panel members seem to have been inspired by the churches ambition and
impressed with the way the church has conducted itself in taking on a project of this scale.
Significantly, some of the comments also addressed issues raised in the letter from the CBC -
such as the need for buildings to the north of the church. Each panel member also expresses their
willingness to provide further support as the project progresses to its next phase.
Next steps
• Rhys and Dan to meet with Jill Preston to talk through the project and discuss her involvement
• Rhys to continue work on the new Statement of Need, taking into account comments from the
CBC and CPSP members
• Purcell to embark on the next stage of planning, developing a masterplan for the new buildings
and taking the church’s plans to RIBA Level 3
• Rhys to arrange a second workshop with CPSP members to discuss the project 450 masterplan
and rewritten Statement of Need.
Update April 2020
On April 1 2020, Dan Tyndall and Rhys Williams met with Janet Gough and Jill Preston of the
cathedrals Project Support Panel to discuss Hogarth’s altarpiece. Jill’s biography is included
above. Janet’s is below:
Janet Gough OBE Janet’s work is around support for historic buildings and their communities to
improve their welcome, interpretation, uses, sustainability and funding, as well as strategic review
of sector risks and opportunities and implementation of practical solutions. Janet is a senior
heritage professional who led for the Church of England on its built heritage with headquarters
responsibilities for 42 cathedrals and 16,000 church buildings, amounting to 45% of England's
Grade One listed buildings.

- She brings strong business, finance and management orientation, including chartered
accountancy qualification.
- She is a successful fund-raiser, moderniser and policy advocate.Author of two recently
published books on cathedrals and churches
- She is an accredited lecturer on The Arts Society's (formerly NADFAS) Directory of Lecturers
- She is a commissioning editor of books on European religious heritage, Scala Arts and Heritage
publishers
- She was wwarded OBE for services to heritage in 2017 New Year honours
- She is a Governor of Haileybury (commissioned conservation management plan) & Trustee
Order of St John (Hospitallers/St John Ambulance, crypt lighting project for 12th century
Crusader church)