Cathedral of St John the Baptist Norwich saved from flooding

Adam Walus, 56, was needed as a torrential thunderstorm flooded areas of The Cathedral of St John the Baptist, with his actions preventing the destruction of irreplaceable archives and documents.

Adam Walus has been labelled a hero after saving the cathedral from flooding (Image: Michael Hill)

As the storm raged on May 11, he climbed onto the roof and cleared a vast quantity of hailstones and ice that had collected and plugged the downpipes - filling the gutters with overflowing water.

"I'm not a hero," said Adam, who also lives in Norwich. "I was just doing my job.

"I saw what the problem was and pushed the ice and hailstones out of the way to let the water escape into the downpipes.

"But it's not just me who protects St John's, we have a great team here who do a fantastic job."

Music books which suffered some water damage at The Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Norwich (Image: Michael Hill)

READ MORE: Mass held for Pope Benedict at Norwich's St John’s Cathedral

Despite Adam's modesty, the Earlham Road cathedral's manager Charley Purves said: "Adam really saved the day as without his actions there would have been a great deal more water and absolutely horrendous damage.

"Within minutes those battling the encroaching waters noticed a reduction in flow. Then it all stopped.  

"From the panic of trying to save everything from getting wet, everyone quickly focussed on mopping up with anything that came to hand including all of the Cathedral House towels.

St John's Cathedral in Unthank Road (Image: Antony Kelly)

WATCH: Timelapse charts £1.8m revamp of cathedral organ - as 5,767 pipes are restored

"Now we wait for everything to dry out."

Adam's actions come as St John's attempts to raise £600,000 to reduce fire and safety risks and repair the roof of the cathedral, which was built between 1882 and 1910.

The total value of the works is estimated at more than £8m and "over £1m has already been spent on urgent repairs".