A major service to mark the completion of the 22-year, £10 million restoration of Worcester Cathedral drew a large congregation on Sunday afternoon.

The local and national fund-raising appeal and pressing programme of restoration on the ancient landmark and place of worship was launched in 1988 when the massive extent of urgent repair work was fully realised.

The most critical priority was the strengthening and repair of the 4,500-ton Cathedral Tower which was in real danger of collapse with widening and lengthening cracks and the discovery that all four support pillars had significant voids inside them. The tower project alone was estimated at £4 million – the sum raised by the restoration appeal campaign in just two-and-a-half years.

The congregation at Sunday’s special Choral Evensong was headed by the Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, Michael Brinton, the county High Sheriff, Lady Morrison, and the Mayor of Worcester, Councillor David Tibbutt and included many people involved in the original fund-raising appeal and restoration programme.

The Dean of Worcester, the Very Rev Peter Atkinson, paid glowing tribute to all those involved in the restoration including Richard Pugh, chairman of the Worcester Cathedral Appeal 1988-1991, former cathedral architect Kenneth Wiltshire and the current holder of the post, Christopher Romain, and master mason Darren Steele and the cathedral’s present and former teams of stonemasons who carried out the bulk of the restoration work.

It was upon their craftsmanship and skill that it had all very much depended.

“The restoration may now have been completed but the work goes on,” warned the Dean. “The preservation of the cathedral never finishes.”

He said continuing and costly maintenance work, requiring considerable financial support and goodwill, would be necessary over the years.

The sermon was given by the Very Rev Robert Jeffery, Dean of Worcester from 1987 to 1996, who spearheaded and played a pivotal part in the Cathedral restoration campaign. He said buildings such as cathedrals were replacing themselves all the time. Down the centuries, the cathedral had undergone several large-scale restorations.

But in the 1980s, falling masonry and other indicators had shown that a very major restoration was needed. Dean Jeffery spoke of the many people involved in the appeal which brought in 9,000 donations, large and small, including big grants from English Heritage and a large donation from the Worcester Diocese.

The cathedral had set up its own team of stonemasons to tackle the work and they had done “a magnificent job” over the 22 years, he said.