| Brigadier David Innes BSc (Eng) FICE Chief Executive of Canterbury Cathedral Development Limited |
| Robert Willis Dean of Canterbury Cathedral |
| Canon Condry Canon Treasurer |
| John Burton Surveryor to the Fabric |
| Léonie Seliger Head of Stained Glass |
| David Flood Director of Music |
| Heather Newton Head of Stone Conservation |
| Cressida Annesley Cathedral and City Archivist of Canterbury |
Brigadier David Innes BSc (Eng) FICE
Brigadier David Innes was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, brought up in the Home Counties and educated at Merchant Taylors’ School, Northwood.
He entered the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in September 1972 which marked the start of a 34 year career as a Royal Engineer in the Army during which he was lucky enough to serve in many parts of the world. His final appointment was as Engineer in Chief (Army) during which he spent 3 years as the head of a world class, multi-disciplined construction task force employing 12,000 full time and part time staff. He was professionally and technically responsible for organising, recruiting, training, equipping and maintaining this capability to deliver engineering solutions world-wide, in both conflict and post conflict situations.
David, who is 53, decided that he wanted a very different second career on leaving the Army and is now Chief Executive of Canterbury Cathedral Development Limited. This charitable company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canterbury Cathedral Trust Fund and has been set up specifically to secure the long term funding necessary to carry out the major conservation and development work required on the Cathedral and within the Precincts. He has an office within the Precincts and is thoroughly enjoying this new challenge which requires many of the skills he developed during his Army career.
He is married to Annemarie and they have two children; Julia (23) who is a qualified physiotherapist and Robert (21) who has just completed his second year at Loughborough University reading Chemical Engineering. The Innes family have recently moved to Kent and live in Challock.
The Dean - Robert Willis
Robert Willis is the 39th Dean of Canterbury, having moved to Canterbury from Hereford Cathedral in the Summer of 2001. He is the Chairman of the Deans' and Provosts' Conference of the Church of England and has been a member of the General Synod for 14 years.
He is an accomplished pianist and lover of opera
as well as a keen tennis player and traveller; he has also written
some hymns. "What is important for all who work in the Cathedral
is to find ways of showing every aspect of this holy place to the
millions of visitors who come here each year, although how we do
that may change over time" says the Dean. "In particular,
the Education Centre is a great resource for hospitality and for
our communicating the welcome of Jesus Christ to all, both young
and old, local residents and people from all over the globe."
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Canon Condry
Canon Edward Condry has lived in Canterbury for
four years. He is the Canon Treasurer of the Cathedral.
Edward came here after many years as a priest in various parishes in the Midlands, which followed completing his doctorate at Oxford. He finds life in a Cathedral very different but invigorating. “It is good to work with so many people who are skilled in their field. People often imagine that the Cathedral is somehow remote, but nothing could be further from the truth. With a million visitors from around the world a year no two days are ever the same. During the day the Precincts are very busy, but at night when the medieval gates shut there is a great peace. The daily cycle of worship, of morning prayer and choral evensong, provides a basis for everything else.”
He has been responsible for training all the new priests – the curates - in the diocese of Canterbury for the last four years. Now he is moving across to be responsible for the International courses at the Study Centre. “The educational role of the Cathedral is part of our commitment to foster theological reflection. We welcome everyone from tens of thousands of primary school children, to scholars with an international reputation.” The International Study Centre hosts many groups through the year, including the courses for the Canterbury scholars who come here from all parts of the Anglican Communion, to live together for a time, eating, discussing, and worshipping together. Through these courses a network of international links is established which builds understanding and support.
Edward is married to Sarah, and they have four children who are beginning to scatter. They also share their house in the Precincts with various dogs and cats. In his spare time his interests are mostly energetic. He is a member of Canterbury Harriers running club, and he also enjoys canoeing, cycling and rowing. He was a member of Team GB in the World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston in 2006.
He is currently organising a sponsored cycle ride to Rome for 30 friends, which will take place in the summer of 2007 in aid of the Cathedral’s Development Campaign. He is very interested in Pilgrimages, and often welcomes groups to Canterbury, as well as accompanying them on their journeys. He is slowly walking the 1000 miles of the Camino from Le Puy to Santiago in sections, as time allows.
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John Burton
John Burton, Dip Arch, RIBA, IHBC is an architect specialising particularly in caring for historic buildings. His practice, Purcell Miller Tritton has been responsible for conserving and restoring many of England's great historic buildings.
For sixteen years John has held the position of Surveyor to the Fabric of Canterbury Cathedral - a position with medieval origins - and six years ago he was appointed Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey. The last person to hold both positions together did so in 1396.
He is responsible for co-ordinating the conservation of the fabric of the buildings, their structure and contents, the wall surfaces, the paintings and glass which form part of these magnificent buildings.
John also heads a team of conservation architects that care for the Crown Estate. This includes great Georgian houses built by John Nash, the gentleman's clubs of Pall Mall and Carlton House Terrace. Included on the estate is Wingfield House, the official residence of the American Ambassador to the Court of St. James. John helped guide a major restoration programme of that house.
Leonie Seliger
After a traditional apprenticeship in stained glass manufacture in Germany, Leonie worked as glass painter and glazier in a studio in Karlsruhe, southern Germany.
In 1991 she joined the team of Canterbury CathedralÌs stained glass conservation department (The Cathedral Studios), where she received her training in conservation, becoming the studioÌs senior conservator and glass painter in 1995 and PACR accredited in 2006.
In 1999 she started an MA degree at the University of York, dividing her time between that and continuing to work for the Cathedral Studios. In 2001 she graduated with distinction with an MA in the conservation of historic buildings.
She is one of the section editors of ICON News, the quarterly publication of the Institute for Conservation. She also advises the Dioceses of Canterbury and Rochester on faculty applications involving restoration/conservation as well as new designs for windows in the churches of the dioceses.
She has published several articles on conservation and painting techniques and has lectured at international conferences.
Since 2003 she has advised the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence on the conservation of the 16th century stained glass in the Biblioteca Laurenziana.
Leonie is also a versatile designer of new windows; her work can be seen for instance in St. BartholomewÌs Chapel in Sandwich and All Saints Church in Boughton Aluph.
One of the most important aspects of her work is the training of students who come for placements at the studio. She enjoys nothing more than to pass on skills and techniques to others in the field.
In 2006 she took over from Dr Sebastian Strobl as head of the Cathedral Studios.
david flood
Having
begun musical studies at an early age, David held his first parish church organist
post at 15 and has been deeply involved with church music ever since. He
became Organ Exhibitioner of St John’s
College, Oxford and spent a further postgraduate year at Clare College, Cambridge.
In 1978 he was appointed Assistant Organist at Canterbury Cathedral, a post he held for eight years. During this time he was involved in many national and international occasions, such the enthronement of Archbishop Runcie and the visit of Pope John Paul II. He has made several recordings and has appeared on radio and television as well as performances in Cathedrals, churches and concert halls. He has given organ recitals in France, Germany, Holland, Australia, New Zealand and USA. He has studied with Gillian Weir and Jean Langlais.
In 1986 he was appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at Lincoln Cathedral and, after two enjoyable years, returned to Canterbury in 1988 as Organist and Master of the Choristers. He has been responsible for the music at all the special occasions, in particular the enthronement of Archbishop Carey, the Enthronement of Archbishop Williams in February 2003 and the 1998 Lambeth Conference.
The Cathedral choir under his direction has toured in Europe and North America; highly successful tours of USA and Canada were undertaken in 1994 and 1999 and a tour to Rome and through France in 1997 celebrated the 1400th anniversary of the arrival of St Augustine in Canterbury. All the Canterbury Choir recordings (12 in the last 15 years) have been greeted with considerable acclaim.
He was invited by the Riga Dom Boys Choir and the Latvian Ministry of Culture to direct a week of workshops and lectures on the training of boys’ voices in March 1997. Annually since August 1997 he has hosted an American Children’s Choir Festival with over 400 children. In 1999, he visited Australia and New Zealand to direct residential choir courses and give recitals and made his first appearance as conductor at the Berkshire Choral Festival in Massachusetts, USA. He is much in demand in the USA to direct choral festivals and workshops. In July 2002 he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Music by the University of Kent.
The responsibility of daily sung services in naturally the most important part of his work and performing exciting music for the millions of visitors and pilgrims to the Cathedral each year is a great joy.
He lives in the shadow of Canterbury Cathedral with his wife and four children, all of whom are involved in music making of various kinds. He likes to spend what free time he has with them.
Heather Newton
Having trained for four years at Art School in Salisbury and Leeds, Heather Newton went on to work with young people in a school and community centre in Toxteth, Liverpool.
In 1985 she had a daughter and then decided to pursue further training in stonemasonry, carving and conservation. Heather gained a distinction in City and Guilds and a post-graduate qualification in the conservation of stone and plaster from Weymouth College in Dorset.
She came to Canterbury Cathedral in 1988 and in her own words “ I have continued my training until the present day!”. After just 10 years here she was asked to run the stone conservation unit.
She has been Advisor on stone conservation to Canterbury Diocesan Advisory Committee since 1996, PACR Accredited since 2000 and was appointed to the Fabric Advisory Committee of Rochester Cathedral and made Head of Stone Conservation at Canterbury in 2006.
Heather has worked as a visiting lecturer at Christchurch University in Canterbury on both the Sculpture and Built Heritage Conservation courses and has given numerous talks and presentations to professional and special interest groups.
She continues to work collaboratively with her husband Gary, who is a letter-cutter, mason, carver and teacher on many private commissions.
Since the birth of her son in 2000 she has been involved in the formation and development of the Cathedral Crafts Fellowship, a forum for those employed in Cathedral Stonemasonry Departments. The Fellowship has the support and financial backing of the individual Dean and Chapters and HRH the Prince of Wales has recently agreed to be its Patron.
The Fellowship has drawn up a programme that will co-ordinate the training of all Cathedral masonry apprentices and has been operating a series of apprentice exchanges over the past two years. It is hoped that in the future apprentices will be encouraged to continue their training throughout their professional lives and so provide a pool of specialist talent that will be of particular benefit to the built heritage sector, but of wider benefit to the industry as a whole.
Cressida Annesley
Cressida Annelsey is Cathedral and City Archivist
at Canterbury.
Cressida qualified as an archivist from University College London in 1997, and is a Registered Member of the Society of Archivists. She has particular interests in medieval charters and seals, and in architectural records. She is currently on the committees of the Religious Archives Group and the Cathedral Libraries and Archives Association. She is an editor of the Journal of the Society of Archivists. She also has experience of archives in France and overseas, having attended an international course for archivists in Spring 2003, attended by some 37 archivists from 26 different countries. She is an elected member of the Council of Canterbury Cathedral.
She leads the staff team at the Cathedral Archives, where the historic records of the Cathedral, dating back to the 8th century, are preserved and made available for consultation. The Cathedral Archives also holds the records of Canterbury City, of the Diocese of Canterbury and of parishes in East Kent, as well as related manuscript collections. It is managed in partnership with Kent County Council, and under the terms of an agreement with Canterbury City Council, and is one of the three record offices of the Kent Archives Service. Open to the public every day but Friday, access is free of charge and open to all (although appointments should be made). It is a busy record office, with over 5,600 research visits made during 2005/6, and staff answer a regular stream of telephone, email and postal enquiries throughout the year. Group visits are also regularly hosted. There are currently 12 staff in the Archives (some part-time), including four archivists, a professional genealogist, a photographer and two professional Conservators, who attend to the preservation and repair of documents, books, and bindings. Archives staff work closely with the staff of the Cathedral Library, and the two departments share a reading room.