Rosslyn’s Da Vinci dividend

THE trust responsible for Rosslyn Chapel, one of Scotland’s most historic attractions, has seen its income rise on growing visitor numbers.

In the year to 31 March, 140,000 people visited the Midlothian chapel – best known for featuring in the climax to the best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code – up by 4,000 on the previous year.

The Rosslyn Chapel Trust saw income of £3.03 million, up from £2.8m although the surplus fell to £1.7m from £1.96m.

The trust said considerable progress had been made during the year on a conservation project at the chapel with a new visitor centre also opening.

It spent almost £1.1m on conservation and maintenance activities during the year.

Visitor numbers to the chapel had been around 40,000 before the release of Dan Brown’s book.