A CATHEDRAL which has undergone a £300,000 revamp is now looking to recruit a tea-room supervisor and an activity co-ordinator.

St Asaph Cathedral boasts new facilities including a tea-room, community meeting rooms and toilets and a new patio area, which will incorporate seating during warmer months.

The extension is not quite complete as work on a “major” interactive development that highlights treasures housed within the cathedral is continuing and the tea rooms are still being painted.

Recruitment is under way for a supervisor to run the tea room, while cathedral bosses also want to appoint an activity co-ordinator after being awarded a grant of £243,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The person appointed will support and co-ordinate the work of the volunteers and oversee the delivery of activities. Work started on the extension in March 2017 and the cathedral remained open throughout.

The dean of the cathedral, the Very Rev Nigel Williams, said: “We’re delighted that the plans we’ve put in place to extend the cathedral are resulting in new job opportunities.

“These are exciting times for St Asaph Cathedral and the city. It will be a major boost for tourism to the city, encouraging coach companies to stop in St Asaph and visit the cathedral and local area.

“Work has already begun on the interactive activities to properly show-off the many treasures housed within the cathedral, including one of only 20 known copies of the original William Morgan Bible dating from 1588.

“These new conservation and interactive facilities are urgently needed to preserve the manuscript for future generations.”

The cathedral, which is one of the oldest in Wales, tells the stories of St Asaph and St Kentigern and was instrumental in the preservation of the Welsh language through the translation of the Bible into Welsh.

As well as housing one of only 20 copies of the original William Morgan Bible, the cathedral also has copies of the first translation of the New Testament into Welsh by the Denbighshire scholar William Salesbury, dating from 1567; the revision of the William Morgan Bible from 1620, made by Bishop Richard Parry, also Bishop of St Asaph; and a Book of Common Prayer from 1621 containing The Edmund Prys Psalter, which allowed psalms to be sung in Welsh in church for the first time.

Famous historical figures with links to the Cathedral include poet, Felicia Hemans, the explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley who was a local resident and the writer of the World War I song - Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag and Felix Powell, who was a chorister at the cathedral. His name is still to be found graffitied in the choir stalls.

Details of both jobs can be found at stasaph.churchinwales.org.uk/work-with-us. Closing date for applications is January 26.

Newtown based architects Darnton B3 developed the design of the new extensive with Grosvenor Construction from Kinmel Bay carrying out the work.

Mr Williams added: “The cathedral is rich in historical, cultural and religious treasures and this grant will enable us to better tell the story of Christianity in Wales to many more people.”