It’s natural to be nosey, and what better place to do that than at Bath Abbey where you are currently being invited to put on hard hats, hi-viz waistcoats and steel capped boots and take a sneak peak behind the scenes of a major stabilisation and conservation programme.
The Footprint Project is the name of the multi-million pound enterprise which is currently underway to save the church floor from collapse and conserve its record collection of 891 memorial stones.
I joined a group of local people in the company of experienced guide John Taylor who was taking us to parts of the building currently off-limit to members of the public.
It’s a fascinating historical glimpse at the social and religious history of this World Heritage city.
John was able to explain why there are so many memorial stones on the Abbey floor, why it is collapsing and was able to let us see a glimpse of the complex work underway to stabilise it.
We also had a chance to look at some of the finds the archaeologists are making along the way and hear how the natural energy from Bath’s thermal waters will be used to heat the place.
Here’s John to tell us more about the tour.
There’s more information on the Bath Abbey website – and remember B&NES ratepayers only have to show a Discovery card to do the tour for free.
