Visiting hours

Come to visit the old sinner, 'ave you, luv?









Is £10 the penance I pay for coming here on Ash Wednesday?
No, luv, here you get to be a paid-up sinner every day.




OK, that’s unfair. Westminster Abbey will let you in for free if Securitas think you really want to pray. Practise the look: that’s penance enough.

But what else can they do? Deans of Cathedrals beat their breasts about it all the time: some say, without any government support, clobbering the visiting thousands is the only way; others say, Cathedrals are the ultimate spirituality workshop to which all should be invited unconditionally.

In a Sanctuary UK world, I’d go with the first, sad though I am to say it. I believe people are ready to pay for the big-and-special, and that Cathedrals – as tourist honey-pots – should be as close to self-financing as possible.

As for spirituality workshops, every community should have one, and on the whole does so, where bells summon to weekly happenings that are often under-rated, where experiment can be cutting-edge, where ordinary people find themselves - and others, who soon become friends.

Sanctuary UK’s investment is in the local. The big boys must fend for themselves.