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11th Century Chapel Gets 21st Century Network

Gloucester Cathedral in Gloucester, England dates back to the year 1089, but now it has an Audinate Dante network from 2021.

Gloucester Cathedral. Photo: Kevin Lewis
Gloucester Cathedral. Photo: Kevin Lewis

Gloucester, England (January 25, 2022)—Gloucester Cathedral in Gloucester, England dates back to the year 1089, and maintaining it is no simple feat. When the Cathedral began a restoration project on the Lady Chapel (the newest section of the church…built in the 15th century), the flooring was removed for restoration. This presented a rare opportunity to install a new chapel sound system by running cabling under the floors. Audiovisual system integrator DM Music Ltd put together the project, which centered around a Dante AV-over-IP system.

“When they were taking the floor up, we had a chance to put in a new PA system, and as is my habit on all large buildings with multiple areas, I put in a Dante-enabled equipment kit, including a Yamaha MTX5D mixer,” said Graham Bennewith, installation director, DM Music Ltd. “Whenever we’re working on a larger or a multi-area building, I use a Dante network because it allows for excellent flexibility. Even with the floor up, we still had very limited options for running cables, so we got the Dante equipment in place, then ran a network cable run through to the main nave.”

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While the system can run independently, the network also enables the chapel to connect with other areas of the cathedral, including the main nave. Lady Chapel, which can accommodate about 250 people, is often used as an overflow room for large events in the main nave, which holds about 2,500. The main nave was recently upgraded with an Allen & Heath AHM-64 mixer with a Dante card. The system is controlled by a Crestron touch screen and a custom iPad app using Crestron for mobile/wireless connectivity.

“Over time, as Gloucester Cathedral continues to upgrade its systems, each area will be Dante-enabled,” Bennewith said. “My team at DM Music is adding some microphones now, all fed into a Dante preamp interface. Dante gives us a lot of flexibility so these microphones can move around, and all they need is a network connection. By using PoE, users can take these microphones wherever they’d like.”

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