Peterborough Cathedral 2001-2006: From Devastation to Restoration

On November 22, 2001, an arsonist set candles under stacked plastic chairs beside the crossing of Peterborough Cathedral. The resulting fire endangered but did not destroy the cethedral's fabric; it did destroy nearly five years' work of restoration and left a thick sooty residue over the cathedral's interior. A wonderful display of photographs reveals the determination and hard work that have brought this magnificent building back to a worthy state. Peterborough is one of a group of superb East Anglian Romanesque cathedrals, including Ely and Norwich, but its particular glory is its thirteenth-century painted wooden ceiling, unique in the world. This, too, was covered in a layer of black soot that had to be painstakingly removed. An essay considers the ceiling and its imagery.