The site
Gloucester Cathedral stands to the north of the city centre. It celebrated its 900th anniversary in 1989. The current building dates from the 13th and 14th centuries. It also has an extensive Cloister and Cathedral Close situated alongside the main buildings.
The problem
There had been numerous instances of lead being stolen from the cloister roof. While individually the thefts were small, over time the amount of material taken from the edges of the roof structure had caused damage from water ingress into the ancient buildings.
How Ace Defence helped.
In 2023 Ace Defence surveyed the complete site and installed a four-camera video surveillance system which was intended to cover the cloisters on a temporary basis to deter metal theft.
The Outcome
After the installation of the system there have been no instances of lead theft for over a year. The system has also identified unauthorised access by contractors. The Cathedral works department were very happy with the system’s effectiveness and this is now a permanent installation monitored by Ace Defence’s round the clock monitoring service.
Steve says…
This site proves the effectiveness of low-cost video surveillance for heritage buildings and sites where access is easy for wrongdoers.
