A unique donation point has been unveiled at Winchester Cathedral to help raise money for maintenance works.
The donation point sits inside the mouth of a hand-carved stone gargoyle located near the cathedral shop.
It was unveiled on Wednesday, July 1, by the Dean of Winchester Chris Palmer, who also blessed the donation point, as well as stone mason Chris Herron, who carved the gargoyle.
Dean Chris said: "It is great to have it up and running.
"It is part of the Stone by Stone campaign, where we are trying to raise money for important maintenance work at the cathedral.
"These big medieval cathedrals there are ongoing challenges to keep them in good working order.
"We have a fantastic team of stone masons here, but their work needs funding.
"The Stone by Stone campaign is a way of trying to attract donations, to that.
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"Some of the donations are quite large - £100, £500, £1,000 – but some of them will be smaller donations where people can tap their credit card on that point.
"It is meant to be a fun installation.
"The gargoyle where the donation point is located is a real way of showing the stone mason’s work, so people can see their professionalism up close, usually the gargoyles are high up on the cathedral so it’s a great way to see it up close.
"And it’s an important thoroughfare for visitors to the cathedral, up from the doors through to the café and shop.
"A lot of the stone work is just behind where the donation point is, so visitors can turn around and they can see the scaffolding and the stone masons at work."
Stone mason Chris Herron said that it took about three weeks to carve the gargoyle from caen stone, a material which was popular to use in the 12th century.
He said: "It is very unique; most of the carvings are hidden, so no one is able to appreciate it up close.
"So, having the ability to be eye to eye with something like that, it makes me proud, especially since it will be here for some time as well."
As previously reported, the decade-long Stone By Stone project aims to restore the South Nave Aisle wall, which has been damaged over centuries by weather and wear.
The cathedral café will also be adding a homemade Marble sponge cake to its menu on the same day to offer visitors another way to support the cause.
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