THE stories behind a cathedral's many monuments will brought to life for visitors through a range of new technologies.

The Cathedral Church of St Nicholas in Newcastle has received a grant of £250,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to help open up the hidden history of the building.

HLF’s investment, alongside £400,000 raised by the cathedral, will help conserve and explain the monuments through a project called Illuminating Stories.

This will include sophisticated lighting and the use of QR codes which allow people to download information about various monuments.

It is expected that the project will be complete within three years.

The Dean of Newcastle, the Very Rev Chris Dalliston, said: “This is fantastic news and will allow us to move ahead with bringing the monuments of the cathedral to light in all their glory.

“The project will involve telling the story behind the monuments and bringing them to life using the latest new media technologies. It is very exciting.”

There will be a linked range of educational activities on offer such as workshops, talks and exhibitions while work experience placements will also be available for students studying heritage, construction and tourism.

Ivor Crowther, head of HLF North East, said: “The North East has such a diverse range of places of worship, each one reflecting the history of its community as well as some of the country’s most impressive architecture.

“The cathedral is a notable landmark in Newcastle and has been for centuries. HLF is delighted to be supporting this project that will not only shed light on its long history but will also offer people a great range of educational and volunteering opportunities.”

The cathedral houses one of the finest collections of civic memorials in the country, many dating from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The memorials celebrate the lives and achievements of men and women, soldiers and sailors, academics and artists, each of whom had an impact on Newcastle and the region.

They include the 15th Century Thornton brass, the largest such memorial in the country, Pietro Rossi’s bust of Admiral Lord Collingwood and the effigy of John Collingwood Bruce, the historian who first popularised the study of Hadrian’s Wall.

The award follows a £1.4m HLF grant in October to the Heart of the City Partnership, which includes the cathedral, for the restoration project Old Newcastle: Where the Story Begins.

It will finance the revitalisation of the Grade I listed 13th Century Black Gate, adjacent to the cathedral, as a heritage, education and community resource which will introduce visitors to, and tell the story of, the historic quarter in which it sits.