Durham Cathedral now protected by market-leading intelligent fire panels from Advanced

Durham Cathedral, the 1,000-year-old World Heritage Site and one of Britain’s most visited buildings, is now protected by market-leading intelligent fire panels from Advanced.

Founded in 1093 and the final resting place of St Cuthbert, Durham Cathedral remains the seat of the Bishop of Durham, the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England. As well as being the North-East home of the Magna Carta, which was taken to London during the Reformation and now makes occasional trip back to the north, the Cathedral and its environs have also featured in numerous Hollywood films including the Harry Potter franchise.

The Advanced MxPro panels specified for the Cathedral were supplied by Custom Advanced Systems Limited and installed by Expert Fire Solutions, both long term partners of Advanced. The fire system covers the entire Cathedral complex, including the new ‘Open Treasure’ exhibition that gives the public access to previously unseen parts of the Cathedral. It is comprised of two MxPro 5 panels, linked by fault-tolerant network cards and supplemented by a remote display terminal.

Alan Raine, Director at Expert Fire Solutions, commented: “Advanced panels are our first choice every time, combining innovation, ease-of-use and reliability. Durham Cathedral is a historic gem, but also a working ecclesiastical building with over 700,000 visitors each year, so the fire system needs to be specified to the highest level, while also fitting discretely within the fabric of the structure.”

In addition to the remains of St Cuthbert, whose body was brought to the mainland from Holy Island in 875AD following Viking raids, the Cathedral is also home to the remains of St Bede, which were interred in the Galilee Chapel in 1370. Born in Jarrow around 672 AD, Bede wrote the Ecclesiastical History of the English People, and is often described as the ‘Father of English History’.

Jo Hughes, Property & Facilities Manager at Durham Cathedral, said: “Durham Cathedral has played a prominent role in the history of the North East and it continues to attract visitors from around the world. Both the building itself, and priceless artefacts such as Prior Castel's Clock, deserve the best possible protection. After working closely with the installation team, we concluded that Advanced panels offered the right combination of quality, reliability and functionality required for this vital system.”

MxPro is the fire industry’s leading multiprotocol fire solution, offering customers a choice of two panel ranges, four detector protocols and a completely open installer network that enjoys free training and support. MxPro panels can be used in single loop, single panel format or easily configured into multi-loop, high speed, 200 panel networks covering huge areas and thousands of field devices. Advanced’s legendary ease of installation and configuration and wide peripheral range make it customisable to almost any application.

Neil Parkin, Advanced Sales Manager for the North, commented: “Durham Cathedral is the latest in a long line of historic and ecclesiastical buildings to enjoy Advanced protection, including Iona Abbey in Scotland, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and Lincoln Castle, home of another copy of the Magna Carta.

The Advanced panels installed in the Cathedral are renowned for their quality and reliability, which makes them ideal for a high-profile and sensitive installation such as this one.”

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