A historic Perth building has reopened to the public after a £1 million restoration.
Emergency repairs were needed to protect the 160-year-old St Ninian’s Cathedral and it took three years to raise the cash needed.
This weekend, the Scottish Episcopal Church is hosting a ceremony to thank the community for their efforts to save the A-listed building.
Work included repairs to the cathedral’s roof and drainage system, before water penetration damaged the entire structure.
Grants from Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic Environment Scotland got the ball rolling before the Perthshire community took on runs, cycles, bake sales and other challenges to reach the total needed.
Two inspiring women of the congregation, Jennifer Irving and Ann Yates, who have a combined age of 141, cycled more than 1,000 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats and raised almost £23,000.
The Very Reverend Hunter Farquharson, Provost of the cathedral, says: “It’s the old story of success breeding success.
“Once the donations and grants started coming in and people and organisations saw that this was actually going to happen others were happy to donate.”
During 2017, St Ninian’s was shrouded in scaffolding as the entire slate roof was completely overhauled and tiles were replaced.
New lead gutters and pipes were installed by specialist contractors and much of the internal roof, 80 feet high in places, had to be repaired.
The North Methven Street cathedral will be open to the public from 12.30 on Sunday afternoon, to allow visitors to see the restoration.
At 4.30pm, a short service of thanksgiving will be held to recognise the contribution of individuals.
But the celebration will only be a short reprieve for the hard-working congregation, as fundraising starts again for the final two phases of work to return the cathedral to its former glory.
Next, the external stonework will be replaced before the building’s huge windows are restored to complete the project.
David Willis, a conservation architect who carried out most of the work, said: “The efforts of the congregation have been absolutely remarkable, not just in generating funds, but to physically finish off the work.
“The cathedral was in a pretty poor state – suffice to say, large areas of the roof had reached the end of their natural lifespan and renewal was essential.
“We are a small practice, but we believe that we have responsibilities towards these buildings.
“Most cathedrals are in isolation unique, but the scale of St Ninian’s is out of the ordinary, in Scotland anyway.
“Its history is out of the ordinary, starting as a smaller scale building and then growing over a period of around 70 years.
“We can’t ignore these buildings. We simply have to do what has to be done to maintain them and where there is a will there is a way.”
