The Durham Cathedral scaffolding removal is almost at an end after four months of conservationists painstakingly removing it piece by piece.

The parapet of Durham Cathedral tower is now visible after being covered by plastic sheeting and scaffolding for months.

Work to remove the Durham Cathedral scaffolding has been ongoing since November 2018 and the conservationists who have been replacing stonework and lead sheeting at the top of the tower have been disassembling the scaffolding structure from the bottom upwards.

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The scaffolders have at times been working in subzero conditions, removing the scaffolding piece by piece and taking it down to ground level via the tiny lift they installed on the side of Durham Cathedral tower.

Durham Cathedral tower was originally closed back in 2015. The Durham Cathedral scaffolding was needed to enable stonework, which finished in November 2018, after which Durham Cathedral tower repairs moved on to fixing the lead around the top of the roof (the roof-coverings and rainwater systems) and installing a new viewing platform ready for when Durham Cathedral tower tours begin again.

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The focus of the Durham Cathedral tower repairs have been work carried out in response to the issues raised during an architect's inspection, which pointed out some serious tower repairs that had to be undertaken. Work - carried out by Durham Cathedral's own masons - included vital conservation work on the upper parapet, the tower belfry and the outside of the lantern.

The £1.9m project was funded from various groups including Friends of Durham Cathedral, the Alan Evans Memorial Trust, DCMS, the First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund and the Sir John Priestman Charity Trust.

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Durham Cathedral itself has been keeping visitors up to date with the progress of the work using the Twitter hashtag #thegreatunwrapping as the work to reveal our UNESCO site's tower continues.

In the meantime, the Durham Cathedral North West Tower tour (which features an app that includes a gigapixel image and interactive 360 picture to make the walls disappear, all created by ExplorAR) has been open, which has great views across Palace Green and the rest of Durham city centre to the north.