Thousands of doves appear inside Rochester Cathedral

  • Watch this video report by ITV News Meridian's Sarah Saunders.

Rochester Cathedral has been transformed by an art display called Peace Doves.

The artwork, by sculptor Peter Walker, has been created from around fifteen thousand individually hand made paper doves.

The display has been re-curated for different spaces as it tours the UK, with adaptations seen in Liverpool, Lichfield, Derby, Sheffield and now at Rochester.

The Peace Doves project has incorporated educational engagement with many schools and community groups in the local area and each person has written individual messages of peace and hope onto each dove.  

The Peace Doves hang above worshippers at Rochester Cathedral. Credit: ITV News Meridian

The Very Reverend Philip Hesketh said: "We live in a very fractured and wounded world and it represents our prayers and just being underneath it is a canopy of tranquility and peace."

Throughout history the dove has been viewed as a symbol of peace in many different cultures. 

For example in Greek mythology the dove is a symbol of the renewal of life.

Within the Bible the dove appears at the Baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan and in the teachings of Noah and the Ark as a symbol of the Holy Spirit.