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Da Vinci Code link nets chapel £1.3m



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Published Date: 02 March 2008
By Murdo MacLeod
ROSSLYN Chapel has chalked up a £1.35m surplus due to the stream of visitors who came to see the building in the wake of the Da Vinci Code film.
The 15th-century Scottish church, which featured in the controversial hit movie, saw the number of visitors climb from just 30,000 a year in 2000 to 120,000 in 2005/06 and 176,000 in 2006/07.

The cash is being ploughed into speeding up a planned £
12.75m renovation of the building and a revamped visitor centre.

But the managers of the attraction, entrance to which costs £7 for adults and £5 for children, believe that Da Vinci Code fever has peaked and that annual visitor numbers are due to fall by about 20,000 a year.

They believe that the number of visitors in 2007/08 will fall to 155,000 as the effect of the film wears off – although numbers are still well above the annual target of 80,000.

Colin Glynne-Percy, the director of Rosslyn Chapel, said: "We think it's clear now that the initial interest in the aftermath of the film has peaked. If you look at the figures for the August bank holiday, they were 31,000 in 2006 and 29,000 in 2007.

"We did achieve the aim of getting visitor numbers up and we want to make it an essential destination for visitors to Scotland."

He explained the takings were being used to speed up a major series of works to the building.

Glynne-Percy said: "The money raised may only be used for the upkeep of the building. The renovations will be completed within five years. Without the extra money, they would have taken considerably longer. Several years longer."

The chapel features in both the Da Vinci Code book and the film. It emerges in the film as the ultimate location of the Holy Grail.

Among Rosslyn's many intricate carvings are a sequence of 213 cubes or boxes protruding from pillars and arches with a selection of patterns on them. It is unknown whether these have any particular meaning.

Many people have attempted to find information coded into them, but as yet no interpretation has proven conclusive.





The full article contains 376 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

 
1

Kitti Kat,

Newtown Square 02/03/2008 00:19:49
with all that money, maybe they will put a better looking cover over the roof. All that metal and scaffolding did not impress me when I was last there in 2006. If the roof covering has to remain, why not try plexi glass and some other kind of support for it. That wonderful old chapel should be seen in a better light .
2

Mcsnagpile,

02/03/2008 09:18:49
Harry Potter’s next episode could be done in Rosslyn that could bring in a few more Dollars. After all I am sure he can tie a bow as well as the next man and that’s no jokin. We could also have the mysterious Billiards game with two canes and one ball. What a laugh, ma ha bones are aichin. There is nothing like a wee bit o shibb tae bring in the doe.
3

albanman,

Edinburgh 02/03/2008 09:25:18
The absentee owner of Rossyln Chapel is certainly sitting on a cash cow, and he know this fact. After Dan Brown's piece of fiction (Da Vinci Code)hit the stands and visitors increased dramatically, the owner put up the price from 5GBP to 7GBP. He also received over 300,000h towards the renovation of the chapel (and his home)from Historic Scotland on condition that he make his home more available to the public - which he has not done, prefering to lease it out for wedding receptions.

Rossyln Chapel is a beautiful building which is poorly presented (as noted by Kitti Kat above), and the 7GBP admission charge is extortionate when one considers the charges of other monuments of much greater size (and running costs). The owner needs to be less greedy.
4

TimW1234,

Ottawa, Canada 02/03/2008 13:28:14
When I visited Rosslyn Chapel some twenty years ago it was a tad tatty then and there was hardly anybody about. How that has changed.

It was a startling experience to view the weird carvings and windows and architecture and even the site is unique.

It reminded me of the time I wandered into Westminster Cathedral and was stunned by the Byzantine-Gothic architecture, the huge crucifix hanging over the nave, and the amount and variety of marble columns lining the nave.

These two places of worship are among the most unique in Great Britain and need all the money they can get to keep them in a condition that is conducive to enjoying the original visions of their architects.
5

Pilrig.,

Livingston 02/03/2008 13:46:53
4- me and the wife lived nearby in the early 80s till mid 90s, we visited the chapel quite a few times, and frequently had the place to oorselves, preferable perhaps to the present circus. Though I don't grudge the chapel money - it was neglected for far too long. Also in the years I mention Rosslyn Castle wasn't oot of bounds to the public, and for a fee of 2 bob the auld lady in charge of it gave us the keys of the castle and dungeons and a torch to help us see into the gloom. Quite a creepy place !
6

Pilrig.,

Livingston 02/03/2008 13:52:41
1 - the admittedly ugly canopy will have to remain until the Chapel trust find a solution to it's vulnerability to the elements.
The damage was done in the 1950s when a cement wash solution was applied to the roof, securing any dampness. of course at that time they thought what they were doing was for the good of the building, but the said solution caused no end of problems over the years, hence the canopy.
7

Rua,

Roslin 02/03/2008 14:25:32
The Chapel might be raking in the cash but it`s done nothing much for the local community. We`ve no money for school repairs, Youth club, Toddler Group, or anything else in the village! Unless it`s Chapel relatedand for the tourists then it`s a non- starter.. Even the lothian bus service is timed for the tourists and not for locals..
8

Pilrig.,

Livingston 02/03/2008 17:02:48
7 - surely the fault lies with Midlothian cooncil and the less than sooper-dooper First Bus compant rather thna the chapel ?
9

Ard Righ,

The Rock Of Edinburgh 03/03/2008 23:37:49
Rosslyn Temple. Is what it is. Not a chapel. The ghastly extension on the west wall should be removed, along with its fake Christian affectations.
10

Big_les,

Edinburgh 09/03/2008 13:11:17
Ard Righ - you're right that it isn't technically a chapel. But neither is it some esoteric pagan temple.

It is a medieval collegiate church of the St Clair family. Nothing more, nothing less.

If you were to remove the Christian symbolism, there would be little left.

Anyone wanting the real story of the chapel should check out the books 'Rosslyn Chapel Revealed' and 'The Rosslyn Hoax'.

The extension is pretty grim though, you're right there.

 

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