It was an appeal by Durham Cathedral which did not fall on stoney ground.
People had been urged to back an auction of 85 lots of stones removed during restoration work on the cathedral’s central tower.
And buyers packed the cathedral’s Chapter House where the sale took place, with another 150 having registered to place online bids.
In addition to the main auction, around 40 small pieces of stone were offered for sale on a table outside the Chapter House from £10 upwards.
“There was a queue as the small stones went like hot cakes in about 20 minutes,” said Julian Thompson, managing director of Newcastle auctioneers Anderson and Garland, who conducted the main event, “while bidding in the auction was pretty frenzied as people wanted a piece of what is a world heritage site.
“This was a one-off event and there was a real buzz.”
The day raised a total of £125,782 for the cathedral’s Foundation 2020 campaign to create a £10million endowment fund to cover the cost of annual repair work to the near 1,000-year-old Norman building.
The final total was reached as the National Heritage Lottery Fund matched the sum raised from the sale itself, which was sponsored by Baldwin’s Accountants.
Prices paid in the auction ranged from £110 to £4,200 for a central open tracery stone, which had sat in the middle of the western window on the southern side of the central tower for over 150 years.
“It was a really exciting day and it was an honour for us to be asked to conduct the sale, and we were delighted with the results,” said Julian.
Matthew Kirk, relationship and development manager at Durham Cathedral, said: “With this being the first event of its type at Durham Cathedral, we didn’t know what to expect in terms of public interest, but we are so pleased with the final outcome.
“The driving force behind us putting so much hard work into this event, was knowing that our cultural landmark, the jewel in the crown of Durham City, was ultimately the one that was going to benefit in the long run.
“It is just brilliant to have raised this staggering amount, which will be invested back into the cathedral to allow for future restorative work.”
Standing at over 66 metres high, the central tower at Durham Cathedral dates back, in its current form, to 1484, although smaller towers were in place earlier than this date.
Like the rest of the cathedral, the tower is constructed from golden sandstone, a beautiful stone but one that is highly susceptible to erosion and weathering.
Apart from some restoration in the 1960s no major work had been carried out until the current project started in 2016.
