Top-up the Tower! A One-Year Opportunity to Protect Our Belfry

Our cathedral’s historic belfry now needs urgent repair and redecoration, and 2026 offers a rare and time-limited opportunity to complete the work affordably. 

The belfry is constructed from timber, which means it requires specialist maintenance and repair roughly every five to ten years to protect it from weather damage and decay. This essential cycle of care helps preserve the structure and ensures the bells can continue to sound safely above the city.

This year, specialist steeplejacks are able to carry out the work without the need to scaffold the entire tower. However, if the work cannot begin this year, the cathedral tower would need to be fully scaffolded in the future,  potentially increasing the cost of repairs by up to four times.

The total cost of repairing the belfry this year is £120,000.  To secure the specialist team and begin the work in September, we must raise £50,000 by July.  After exhausting grant funding options, we are asking our supporters and friends of the cathedral to help us meet this urgent need.

Our belfry is one of the most distinctive features of Portsmouth’s skyline and a treasured part of our Grade I listed cathedral. Generations before us cared for this building so that it could continue to serve the city. Now we have the opportunity  and the responsibility,  to do the same.

Every individual contribution will help make these repairs possible. Whether you are able to give £50, £100, £500 or more, your support today will help ensure the work can begin this year while it is still possible to do so affordably.

Please help us reach the £50,000 milestone by July so that repairs can begin in September and help us protect this iconic part of Portsmouth’s skyline.