600 people, including the Bishop of Southwark, the Right Reverend Dr Tom Butler, the Mayor of Southwark, Cllr Harry Canagasabey and Simon Hughes MP, are expected on the night.

This landmark lighting scheme designed by London-based lighting company Sutton Vane Associates and supported by Southwark Council, who will be paying for the running cost under their budget for Buildings of Significance, will give visitors and tourists to Bankside and those in the City a wonderful image of the 'hidden' Cathedral.

The lighting of Southwark Cathedral is a major contribution to the nightscape of London.

Quote from the Dean, the Very Rev Colin Slee:
"This is an exciting moment. Advent Sunday is about light in the darkness, there could be no better day to turn on the Cathedral's exterior lighting. Southwark Cathedral is one of London's most beautiful buildings, but history has hidden it. Now, freshly cleaned, it will delight people from unexpected angles, not least twenty million a year who pass by on the trains. We are indebted to the confidence and generosity of our donors. It is a fitting thing to light up a thousand year history as we move from 2000 to 2001 and makes a strong statement about Christian faith for everyone to see."

Quote from The Right Honourable Chris Smith MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport:
"Southwark Cathedral is one of London's greatest churches, but has been for too long invisible. I am delighted to be able to switch on the floodlighting, very impressed by its impact and glad that the Millennium Commission has been such a significant contributor to this venture. I look forward to the completion of the entire Cathedral building project of which the floodlighting is a foretaste. The South Bank and Bankside area continues to grow, as a place of cultural regeneration and renaissance, and it is wholly appropriate that its oldest building should be at the centre of this expansion."

The floodlight colour is sympathetic to the original honey-coloured stonework and picks out architectural detail such as the flying buttresses, turrets, windows, tower and gargoyles, faithfully revealing the craftsmanship and material form of the Cathedral.

A church has stood on the site of Southwark Cathedral for over 1,000 years. New facilities are being developed and the church has been cleaned and restored. The Millennium Commission has given grant assistance of £4.2 million to be matched by the Cathedral Appeal, launched by Archbishop Desmond Tutu last year.

Photo Opportunity:
The Minister will be speaking from Borough Market, which gives an excellent opportunity for pictures and television.

Contact: Rose Harding, Southwark Cathedral, Tel: 020-7367 6722.

Technical Notes: There are approximately 140 light sources of varying types, which light the exterior. Almost all of the lights are concealed and hidden to ensure that the lighting equipment is not seen or detracts from restored and cleaned façades. The type of lamps used are highly efficient and consume much lower energy than traditional light sources, they also have a very long lamp life. These special lamps take approximately 5 minutes to warm up and are accurately focused to reveal the building whilst avoiding sky pollution. A number of fine stained glass windows are back lit, which gives a feeling of activity within the building at night. The installation was carried out by CES under the supervision of Theo Paradise of Sutton Vane Associates and Ptolemy Dean of Richard Griffiths Architects.

Ends.

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