St Edmundsbury Cathedral Completes LEGO® Model After 10 Years and 200,000 Bricks

In 2016 St Edmundsbury became one of four cathedrals building a replica in LEGO® bricks. After 10 years of building, the model has now been completed.

The project was designed as a fundraiser and for every £1 donated, a LEGO® brick was added to the model. Once the initial costs of the bricks and kits were recovered, all donations supported the work of the Cathedral. The design was created by company Bright Bricks. They inspired Durham, Exeter, Chester and St Edmundsbury cathedrals and several parish churches to embark on this project. For each location, detailed photos and computer modelling was undertaken and a unique set of instructions created. All bricks are genuine LEGO bricks; nothing was been specially made.

The St Edmundsbury LEGO® model contains 200,000 bricks. The first brick was laid on 28 May 2016, the 100,000th brick in July 2022 and the final brick in May 2026. The model was built in modules – each one had its own instructions and pack of bricks and as donations were received, volunteers and visitors added bricks to the module being worked on. Completed modules were placed in the correct location using a ‘placement’ sheet.

The final brick was added on Tuesday 26 May at a special celebration for volunteers who worked on the build, some of whom have been there since the beginning.

Over 70 volunteers, of all ages, helped with the project. No experience was needed, just an ability to follow the written build instructions and get all the bricks in the right place. Many visitors added bricks, often returning multiple times as the model grew.

The Very Reverend Joe Hawes, Dean of St Edmundsbury, said, “When the LEGO Cathedral build began in May 2016, we could never have imagined the commitment it would take to reach the moment of adding the final brick. Within the ten years of building we faced many challenges, instructions that were hard to read, keeping the volunteer rota full and a global pandemic! But this model now stands as a testament not just to craftsmanship, but to what our community can accomplish together. Our volunteers have helped raise many donations to support the work of the Cathedral over the years and we hope visitors will continue to enjoy visiting to see the finished product.”