New Canon Treasurer at Salisbury Cathedral

During Evensong on Sunday 12 June, The Revd Dr. Kenneth Padley was installed as Canon Treasurer at Salisbury Cathedral by Bishop Karen Gorham. 

Kenneth joins Salisbury Cathedral from St Albans, where he was Rural Dean of St. Albans and Vicar of St Michael’s Church. He is one of three residentiary canons at the Cathedral, each responsible for different aspects of Cathedral life. 

The office of Canon Treasurer exists in many ancient English Cathedrals and traditionally involves responsibility for maintaining the building and preserving its ‘treasures’. However, the Salisbury role has expanded in recent to encompass sustainability, 

Kenneth also becomes chair of the Cathedral’s Visual Arts Committee, responsible for its high-profile exhibitions and groundbreaking visual arts policy. He will have oversight of exhibitions such as The Vanity of Small Differences by Grayson Perry, which opens in the Cathedral at the end of the month. 

The Revd Kenneth Padley, Canon Treasurer said:

“I am deeply touched by the warm welcome we have received in Salisbury and delighted to be taking up my new role. It is a daunting task, caring for a venerable building like the Cathedral but I will be well supported by the Works Yard team led by Gary Price, the Clerk of Works. Grayson Perry’s exhibition will be the first to take place during my term and, whilst I was not involved in the planning for this show, I look forward to seeing it and to taking part in the conversations it generates.”

The Very Revd. Nicholas Papadopulos, Dean of Salisbury said:

“Kenneth was appointed in February: we have looked forward to his arrival and are delighted that he is here. He will work as one of the priests to this community and as a member of its leadership team. He will have care of our building and its contents, oversee our arts programme, and assume lead responsibility for our journey towards greater environmental sustainability. It’s an immensely significant task – and we welcome him” 

Kenneth found his vocation early, aged 12. He recalls vividly being given a New Testament and Psalms by the Gideons shortly after moving to secondary school. Others threw their books away, but Kenneth kept his. After gaining a First Class Honours degree in Modern History at Exeter College, Oxford, he became a Lay Assistant at St Barnabas in Dulwich and trained for ordination at Ripon College Cuddesdon, near Oxford, gaining a BA in Theology and a Master of Studies in Ecclesiastical History. He completed the hattrick in 2016, gaining a DPhil at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. After a spell as an assistant curate in Central Swansea, he worked as Warden of Church Hostel, Bangor and Chaplain to the University of Bangor. Kenneth lists his hobbies as travel, cycling, poetry and is (he admits) a diligent but somewhat reluctant gardener. He is married to Anna and has one son, Alex.