Salisbury Cathedral's Canon Treasurer joins our 'Retrofit and Renewal' forum

Above: Salisbury Cathedral, dusk, November 2024

Future Cities Forum is delighted that The Revd Dr. Kenneth Padley will be joining our 'Retrofit and Renewal' discussion event hosted by Buro Happold this month.

Kenneth was appointed Canon Treasurer at Salisbury Cathedral in 2021 by the then Acting Bishop of Salisbury, The Rt Revd. Karen Gorham. The office of Canon Treasurer exists in many ancient English Cathedrals and traditionally involves responsibility for maintaining the fabric of the building and preserving its ‘treasures’. However, the Salisbury role has expanded in recent years to encompass sustainability and driving the Cathedral’s pledge to be carbon-neutral by 2030.

Currently, the Works Department has begun a major restoration project to the North Cloisters that is expected to take up to five years to complete. The project will restore the Cloister’s elaborately carved tracery and Purbeck columns, which are in urgent need of repair. Salisbury is one of only 10 cathedrals to have an in-house team of skilled stonemasons who still use original medieval carving techniques. Salisbury has one of the most magnificent cathedrals in England, a prime example of the Early English Gothic style (built 1220-58). The arcaded cloister is the largest in England (58m x 190ft square) and was added in the late 13th century.

No stranger to major building projects having managed developments on two listed churches and three halls in his St Albans parish, Kenneth works closely with the Works Yard team on the completion of the Major Repair programme and strengthening the Cathedral commitment to the environment. In 2020 Salisbury became the first cathedral to achieve a Gold Eco-Church Award from A Rocha UK, and the solar panel project undertaken by Salisbury Community Energy (SCE) won the Alan Clark Award for Best Local/Community Energy Project at the 2021 Solar and Storage Live Awards.

In his role as Canon Treasurer, Kenneth also oversees the Cathedral’s acclaimed Visual Art programme. Through its Visual Arts the Cathedral has encouraged and challenged visitors and the congregation to explore ideas about society and faith.

The Very Reverend Nicholas Papadopulos, Dean of Salisbury said of Kenneth's appointment: “He has been entrusted with a very significant task both as a priest and a member of the senior team. The Cathedral building is at the heart of our worship. It is the place to which pilgrims and visitors have come for hundreds of years, and it will be his job to ensure that they are able to do so for many years to come.”

After gaining a First Class Honours degree in Modern History at Exeter College, Oxford, Kenneth became a Lay Assistant at St Barnabas in Dulwich and trained for ordination at Ripon College Cuddesdon, near Oxford, gaining a BA in Theology and a Master of Studies in Ecclesiastical History. He completed the hattrick in 2016, gaining a DPhil at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. After a spell as an assistant curate in Central Swansea, he worked as Warden of Church Hostel, Bangor and Chaplain to the University of Bangor.

Below: the cloisters, Salisbury Cathedral