Echo readers' carvings installed at cathedral

Two new stone carvings designed by Echo readers are to be installed at Lincoln Cathedral today.

The intricate stone shelves, known as corbels, have been completed after eight weeks of hard work.

They were based on artwork submitted to a competition run by the Echo in conjunction with the cathedral.

The corbels will be displayed 15ft up in the foyer of the building's new toilet block which is to open in February next year.

The first was designed by Senta Martin, who won the adult section of the contest, and takes the form of a wheat sheaf with daffodils and pods of peas.

For the second, two separate designs submitted for the under-16s category were merged with personal interpretation by stone carver Paul Ellis.

It has an image of the cathedral framed by a heart shape formed by the necks of two swans.

Mr Ellis said: "With the swan design we had the chance to represent both St Hugh, whose symbol was the swan, and Lincoln as we know it today.

"I thought that it was also fitting that the heads of the swans formed a heart around the cathedral which is the heart of the county."

Visitors to the cathedral will get the chance to see the corbels as they would have looked in medieval times – painted in vibrant colours.

"When we replace stones in the main building we have to stay true to the look it holds currently but because this is a new block we had a lot more freedom to represent different ages," said Mr Ellis.

For the full story and to read what inspired the winning designers see Monday's Lincolnshire Echo.