20,000 attend Christmas services at the Cathedral

More than 20,000 worshippers attended Christmas services and concerts at Exeter Cathedral last month.

The traditional Christmas Eve service at 6pm, the Grandisson, attracted 1,800 people into the Cathedral to hear the choir and join worship, and on Christmas Day, nearly 1,500 attended services.

Other Christmas services, including the carols for shoppers and workers at lunchtimes, were packed out.

The figures represent a rise of more than 8 per cent on the numbers attending Christmas services and concerts in 2011.

The Dean of the Cathedral, the Very Revd Jonathan Draper, said it had been a wonderful Christmas in the Cathedral.

“It was great to see so many people seeking out their Cathedral to attend a service this Christmas, and shows that for so many of us, God is still at the heart of our Christmas.”

The Cathedral does not charge anyone attending a service at the Cathedral or wanting to come in for prayer or reflection.

Those visiting to look around are charged an entrance fee, which will go up this month for the first time in three years, from £5 to £6 for adults, and from £3.50 to £4 for students or senior citizens. Children are free to enter.

The price rise brings Exeter Cathedral into line with the charges of many other Cathedrals in the country, and is necessary due to the huge daily cost of the upkeep of the Cathedral.

Maintaining Exeter Cathedral costs more than £3,500 a day.