The Cathedrals’ Workshop Fellowship (CWF) is a partnership of twelve Anglican cathedrals which have joined together to create a new generation of crafts men and women capable of caring for our cathedrals and heritage buildings in the 21st century. 

Cathedrals in the Fellowship are: Canterbury, Chester, Durham, Exeter, Gloucester, Lincoln, Lichfield, Salisbury, Westminster, Winchester, Worcester and York Minster.

Founded in 2006, the CWF offers apprentice stonemasons, carpenter/joiners, plumbers and electricians a recognised career path and a route to higher level qualifications.

The underpinning philosophy of the CWF is that the cathedrals’ own master craftspeople are best placed to determine, in the traditional ‘master to apprentice’ way, how to develop the knowledge and skills of the next generation, and that the best place to learn and develop craft skills is in the workplace.

The CWF approach enhances the traditional apprenticeship model by providing apprentices with access to experts from all of the cathedrals, not just their own, drawing on the particular expertise of each cathedral’s master craftspeople.

In this way, all the apprentices are able to benefit collectively from the expertise of individual practitioners whom they wouldn’t ordinarily encounter and to gain in-depth knowledge of a large number of cathedrals and historic buildings.

The former Prince of Wales has been our patron since 2005 and we receive sponsorship and grant funding from Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, Friends of the Cotswolds and The Worshipful Company of Masons.  Find out more…