BRITAIN must consider how it wants its cathedrals maintained if visitors object to entry charges, says the estates manager for the Dean and Chapter in Canterbury.

The Church receives no government funding for the maintenance of its hundreds of historic buildings around the country.

Increasing financial strain on the country's cathedrals has led to the Archbishop of York, Dr David Hope, considering using an ancient power to overrule the Dean's decision to introduce a £3.50 entry charge 50p less than that charged at Canterbury.

The privilege, Visitatorial Rights, dates back to the 6th century and enables a bishop to enter a cathedral with a High Court judge and financial advisor to investigate the accounts and instruct the dean on how to manage them.

But estates manager for the Dean and Chapter in Canterbury, Chris Robinson, has some sympathy with the Dean in York, Dr Raymond Furnell, who faces a £600,000 annual deficit.

"Without charging an entrance fee we wouldn't be able to balance the books at Canterbury. We have to count the pennies," says Mr Robinson, who is also the official Cathedral spokesman.

"We are lucky as we own property which gives us income. There are also some reserves from an appeal in the mid 1970s.

"Half the country's historic listed buildings are churches and if we are just relying on the contributions of dwindling congregations to pay the cost of looking after the buildings, it is worrying."

Charges for Canterbury Cathedral rose from £3.50 to £4 in April. The fee is reviewed annually but had not been raised for two years previously.

At a meeting of the Synod prior to the Archbishop of Canterbury's enthronement it was suggested that cathedrals shouldn't charge visitors.

But the motion was defeated heavily on the practical grounds that it is necessary.

Unlike the Archbishop of York, Canterbury's Dr Rowan Williams does not have any argument with the cathedral's entrance charge as far as Mr Robinson knows.

"I am sure if he had any concerns they would be talked about amicably, though I am not aware of any at present.

"In the Middle Ages exercising of Visitatorial Rights happened in Canterbury as a fairly standard thing to do but I'm not aware of any instance of it happening recently."