Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, have attended a service to dedicate the new 46m high Barnack, Clipsham and Ketton limestone tower at Bury St Edmunds Cathedral that the prince has described as a "spiritual beacon".
The Millennium Tower, so-called because of the money from the Millennium Commission that enabled it to be built, helps complete the last unfinished Anglican cathedral in England, following the creation of the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich in 1914.
The nave of what was originally a church was built between 1503 and 1551. It was altered in the 19th century and the east end completely rebuilt between 1963 and 1970 under the direction of Stephen Dykes Bower, the cathedral's architect between 1943 and 1988.
Work on the tower came to a halt in 1970 when money ran out.
When Dykes Bower died he left £2million for the work to be continued. The Millennium Commission supplied another £5million and the rest was raised by public subscription and other grants.
At the dedication service on 22 July the Prince met some of those involved in the construction of the tower, including Andre Vrona, proprietor of Ketton Architectural Stone & Masonry, the stone specialists on the project.
The Prince and Camilla were among 1,000 people at the service who heard the Rt Rev Richard Lewis, the Bishop, refer to the Prince's words and the terrorist bombings when he said: "His Royal Highness has described this as a spiritual beacon. The events of the past fortnight and yesterday have given those words a special poignancy. The light of faith is badly needed in what can be a dark world.
Following the Prince's visit the celebrations at the cathedral carried on into the weekend with a firework display on Saturday night and a gala dinner by a brass band and local choirs. On Sunday there was a packed choral evensong.
The prince also officially opened the new garden at the V&A Museum in London in July, which is also featured in this issue of NSS.
Caption: Andre Vrona, the proprietor of Ketton Architectural Stone & Masonry, the stone specialists who built the new tower at Bury St Edmund's Cathedral, talks to the Prince of Wales during the Prince's visit in July.