State-of-the-art drone cameras have allowed parts of Chester Cathedral to be seen in close-up for the first time in centuries
The film crew - commissioned by Chester-based Big Heritage as part of the city’s stunning new Chester Unlocked heritage project – were given one-off access to pilot drone cameras inside the city’s 1,000-year-old cathedral.
And the team focused in on a mysterious demonic carving, bound in chains, close to a window in the cathedral nave.
Historians have labelled the mystery carving as 'The Chester Imp' and the footage has since appeared on the BBC and ITV regional news programmes.
Dean Paton, managing director of Big Heritage, said: “Chester Unlocked is a fantastic new project that we’re delivering in partnership with CH1ChesterBID, which is all about revealing Chester’s hidden history to the world.
"The drone cameras were able to get up close to parts of our beautiful 1,000-year-old cathedral that haven’t been seen since it was built and that’s incredibly exciting not only for us and the team at the cathedral, but, we hope, to the whole of the city.”
Devilish
According to legend, when overseeing the construction of the nave, a medieval priest was startled to see Satan himself staring at him through one of the windows.
The next morning, a stonemason was sent up to carve an image of the devil in chains in an attempt to frighten him from ever returning – this carving, filmed by the drone cameras, has since become known as 'The Chester Imp'.
As well as Chester Cathedral, the drone cameras also took to the city skies and captured a range of other unique footage, which will be unveiled by the Chester Unlocked team throughout the year.
“We have some fantastic aerial images of the city that will really wow people,” said Dean. “They will give people a unique perspective on everything that makes our city so special and that’s what Chester Unlocked is all about – opening up our city’s hidden gems, celebrating its rich history and encouraging more people to make the most of everything it has to offer.”
For more details about Chester Unlocked, visit www.chesterunlocked.com.
