The Cathedral 'open and Free'

Book excerpt: This book sets the work of Frank Selwyn Macaulay Bennett, Dean of Chester 1920–37, in context, and traces the influence on other cathedrals of the changes he instituted at Chester. His earlier work as parish priest and his interrelated writings on theology and on education, health, and ecumenism are examined for the light they shed on his practice. Despite the efforts of his predecessors, Bennett found Chester Cathedral in need of much repair and renovation if it were to match his ideal and fulfill the purpose he had in mind for it. In the early twentieth century Anglican cathedrals in England were generally perceived as remote and unwelcoming places and of interest mainly to antiquarians seeking to inspect their monuments; admission charges were levied on visitors. Frank Bennett changed all this. In 1920, he promptly declared Chester Cathedral "open and free"; he would lock up nothing except the safe. "Visitors" now became "pilgrims", whose voluntary offerings rapidly surpassed the sums previously raised by compulsory entry charges. By the time he retired in 1937, the Cathedral’s finances were in credit; the fabric of the church and adjoining monastic buildings had been repaired, renovated, and developed, and all were fully in use, as Bennett had planned in 1920.