A Verger's tale
Head Verger Colin Tolhurst tells the day-to-day work of the Verger Department. Featured in The Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Report for 2007-2008.
I have been working here at the Cathedral since 1996 and over the last eleven and a half years I've seen many things change and have been involved in many services and events. The Cathedral is an immensely busy place in which to work and everything that goes on in the building has a direct effect on the Cathedral Vergers.
The Cathedral is a centre for many facets of the community life and we aim to ensure that everyone who encounters this place leaves having had a positive experience. We are very proud to be associated with such a long history and consider it a privilege to be at the heart of helping to deliver the Dean and Chapters vision.
As Head Verger I have a plethora of responsibilities, ranging from Health and Safety through to the administration of the department. I am very lucky to have Joseph Miller as my deputy and between us we cooperate to ensure the smooth running of the department. We are supported by the Assistant Vergers Eddy Bates, Mel Shales and Geoff Matthews and between us facilitate all the services and events that happen at the Cathedral. Jane Nelson, Sue Brand and Kim Woolley work in the housekeeping department and are very much part of the team. I am extremely grateful to all members of the team for the support they give to me and for the way they continually adapt and rise to the challenges of this busy environment.
Our working day begins at 7am when the Duty Verger arrives to unlock the building and prepare for the morning services. The working day then 'generally' finishes at 6.30pm though quite often it extends beyond this to accommodate an evening event. There is an events team in place to help us prepare the Cathedral in readiness for the next service or event. This has been a great introduction and has enabled us to be better prepared in advance and given us space to ensure that back-to-back events are delivered as successfully as possible.
We are also responsible for the day to day maintenance of the building. We find we require basic knowledge about all the various aspects of the technical equipment in use. This ranges from the sound system to the heating plant and includes all sorts of other equipment in between - fire alarm, chair lift, clock ... etc. We are also responsible for the changing of lamps around the Cathedral. This process has recently been made easier by the introduction of an access work platform (AWP); commonly known as the cherry picker. The AWP was purchased last year by the Friends of the Cathedral to whom we are most grateful, and it has made the process of changing lamps in the building more time economical and safer for those involved.
It is good that the Friends have been able to have such a direct and positive effect on the routine maintenance around the Cathedral.
I am writing this having just said farewell to Ralph Godsall. We have enjoyed working with Ralph and are very lucky that we have such a good working relationship with all members of Chapter. Life at the Cathedral can be very rewarding and yet very demanding; we have to try and remember to keep things in perspective. It is important that we enjoy ourselves yet remember why the Cathedral is here and the important ministry it provides to the local community. We aim to be patient with people and are on hand to assist where needed. We want people to have a positive experience of the Cathedral for all the right reasons. However tired we are and however demanding a day we've had we always try to smile and I think we succeed - most of the time!
Colin Tolhurst
Head Verger
From the left are Catherine Staziker, Mel Shales, Eddy Bates, Geoff Matthews, Colin Tolhurst, Rev Ralph Godsall and Joseph Miller.
The Friends of Rochester Cathedral were founded to help finance the maintenance of the fabric and grounds. The Friends’ annual reports have become a trove of articles on the fabric and history of the cathedral.
Canons, colleagues, volunteers and staff have shared their memories and reflections in many forms over the years.