ONE thousand people witnessed the historic service in the Cathedral on Saturday at which the Very Rev Peter Atkinson was installed as the 46th Dean of Worcester.

He becomes the latest in a line of distinguished deans stretching back 466 years to Henry Holbeche who fulfilled the role from 1541 to 1544.

A large contingent from Chichester Cathedral joined the family and friends of Dean Atkinson and representatives of many aspects of life in the Worcester Diocese and in the city and Cathedral of Worcester. The new Dean comes to Worcester after 10 years as the Chancellor and a Canon of Chichester.

The installation and institution of the new Dean was conducted by the Bishop of Worcester, the Rt. Rev Peter Selby.

The Dean was welcomed formally during the service by various dignitaries and cathedral staff.

There were greetings and welcomes too, from the Lutheran Cathedral at Magdeburg, with which Worcester Cathedral has strong associations, and from Worcester's partnership Diocese of Peru.

Several bishops and a host of clergy were in the procession and the congregation included two former Deans of Worcester - the Rt. Rev Eric Kemp, who is 92 and was Dean from 1969 until 1974 before being appointed Bishop of Chichester, and the Very Rev Robert Jeffery, Dean from 1986 until 1996.

The Dean opened his sermon on a humorous note in thanking everyone for coming to "this modest Four Choirs Festival!" (Taking part in the service had been the Chichester Cathedral Choir, the Worcester Cathedral Choir and its girl choristers, the Worcester Voluntary Choir and the Worcester Chamber Choir) The Dean took as his text the passage from St John where Jesus said to his disciples after the feeding of the multitude: "Gather up the fragments that remain so that nothing is lost."

The new Dean is 54 and he and his wife Lynne have three children, James, Elizabeth and Leo. He said: "Worcester Cathedral is a magnificent building with a noble history and it is very humbling to be asked to contribute something to its life and work."