ISSUE 10 – MARCH 2016
Welcome to Illumination, Winchester Cathedral’s projects newsletter. This issue will keep
you up-to-date with the work that is well underway on all aspects of the project and reveal
what is going on underneath our splendid temporary roof structure.
Foliate boss before conservation (left), Tudor Rose after conservation (centre), and inscription found on the reverse of the large picture boss (right).
PROJECT IN FULL SWING
Our project is in full swing in many areas. Current activities include:
Presbytery Windows: Holy Well Glass has been
appointed to work on the glass conservation and
the first pair of windows has been removed. In
all, eight windows will be worked on off-site, in
pairs, for conservation and restoration. The ninth
window, the East Window, will be worked on in
situ. The Cathedral stonemasons are restoring
the stone tracery. Altogether, work to the
windows will take three years to complete. The
stone has been purchased from Caen, France
Whilst working on the large picture bosses,
the conservators made an exciting discovery.
An inscription has been found on the reverse
of one of the bosses commemorating Bishop
Fox. Dated 1819, the inscription includes the
names of the Bishop, Dean and Chapter, and
the painter from the period of the major
repair work to the bosses and roof, 1810–1819.
South Transept: approval was granted in
December 2015 by the Cathedral Fabric
Commission for England (CFCE) for the new
Roof bosses: conservation began on the roof
lift providing access to the mezzanine and
bosses in November 2015. Work has been
triforium levels within the south transept.
competed on the foliate bosses, removing
It will be the first lift in a cathedral to travel
the complete covering of 20th century cream
through a 12th century groin vault. The
paint to uncover the original deep colours and
construction works package is currently
gilding from the 1500s. Modern paint is also
being removed from the picture bosses and the being agreed.
original painted areas conserved. The rib vaults Mortuary Chests: the restoration of the
mortuary chests was completed in October
themselves are being cleaned and repainted.
2015, although work to examine the contents
Once completed, the vibrancy of the bosses
of the chests continues.
will be striking.
Cathedral Lighting: a lighting contractor,
has won the contract to install new
lighting in the East End of the Cathedral,
encompassing the North Transept, the
Presbytery and Presbytery Aisles, the Quire,
Retroquire and Chapels. The project will
provide beautiful lighting throughout these
areas but most importantly it will remove
the hazard of dangerous wiring and lights
that generate heat. Works started in January
2016. This work has been funded by a
grant from the First World War Centenary
Cathedral Repairs Fund.
IN FOCUS
Work to the Pre
The previous issue of Illumination described
the enormous temporary roof that has
been erected over the East End of the
Cathedral. So what is it for – and just what
is going on underneath?
Quite simply, all the lead from the
Presbytery roof needs to be taken off in
order to be re-cast and then re-laid. This is
necessary because the lead has reached
the end of its ‘natural life’ and is failing to
keep the Cathedral below water-tight.
According to plaques found on the roof,
the lead ranges in age from 1819 (the year
Queen Victoria was born!) to 1897: it is
fracturing or cracking in places and fittings
have failed, leading to the sheets slipping
out of alignment.
‘The lead is thicker than we would normally
expect considering its age’, says Geoff
Beetham of Norman and Underwood, one
of the country’s leading roofing contractors,
with extensive experience of cathedrals,
churches and many other important
buildings in the UK and abroad. ‘However
additional quantities need adding to bring
each element up to the required thickness
for re-laying’.
Around 50 tonnes of lead will be needed.
‘The lead will be re-cast on a casting table
bedded with planed sand, using a process
little changed since Roman times’, continues
Geoff. ‘The process is carried out at our
premises in Leicester, with a large extraction
Top left: Old lead
being removed
Bottom left: New
timbers and lead
Centre: New lead joints
being rolled
Far right: Archive images
supplied by Norman &
Underwood
Right top: Deathwatch
beetle larvae
Right centre: Original
lead roof
Right bottom: 1195 KG
of lead packaged for
collection
esbytery Roof
chimney and breathing apparatus. During
the early 20th century, however, a horse and
cart would have transported the casting
table to site’.
As a metal, lead suffers from thermal
expansion and contraction: therefore the
size of each sheet is restricted and joints
must allow for movement. Hidden fixings
are used to maintain waterproofing and clips
allow the lead to move while also restricting
lifting in high winds.
‘When lead is laid by experienced
craftsmen to the standards set out by
the Lead Sheet Association under the
guidance of a good conservation architect,
we would expect a lifespan well in excess
of 100 years’, reports Geoff. His firm
should know: Norman and Underwood
have been repairing and restoring roofs
since 1826.
With 8 men having been working on
the roof at any one time – and up to 14
when materials needed moving around –
the work is now over three-quarters
complete and due to be finished in April
this year.
The work has revealed deathwatch
beetle, but readers should not be
alarmed. The beetle larvae only eat damp
wood: the whole object of the exercise is
to eliminate leaks and thereby ensure
that the roof timbers remain dry –
and unappetising!
CURATOR’S DIARY
A ‘time capsule’ has been found by one of
the conservators while working high on
the scaffolding in the Presbytery vault last
month. It consists of a folded piece of lead
wrapped in coarse paper, inside which is a
letter with a George III halfpenny dated 1807.
There are numerous, rather confusing
inscriptions on the lead which makes the
sequence of events a puzzle,
but it seems that it was first
placed there by the Cathedral’s
carpenter, Peter Stubington and
his colleagues in October 1808.
However as the letter inside is
dated 1810, it must have been
retrieved and the letter inserted
at that date. It describes how
the vault was renewed in 1810
using ‘Real English Oak’, and gives
the names of the carpenters
who worked on it with
freemason symbols.
A further inscription shows that it was
rediscovered by two further workmen in 1819
who signed it with their names, James Jepp
and Alexander McKenzie, and replaced it
where it has remained undisturbed for nearly
two hundred years. I hope to be able to put
it on display for all to see very shortly.
Jo Bartholomew, Curator and Librarian
SUMMARY OF CAPITAL WORKS
• Urgent repair work involving re-leading the Presbytery roof and conserving
the fine 16th Century vault below with its 250-plus bosses
• Conservation of the glass and renewal of the surrounding stonework of
nine unique medieval glass windows in the Presbytery at Clerestory Level
• The Learning Centre Project, including a new build extension in green oak
using traditional building techniques, will greatly enhance the quality of our
outreach to 20,000 children annually from Hampshire schools and beyond, as
well as enabling all-age learning
• New exhibitions at three levels in the Cathedral’s stunning South Transept
will give visitors an exciting encounter with Winchester’s greatest treasures,
including the world-famous Winchester Bible, which are currently not readily
accessible and often overlooked
• New wiring, lighting, sound and audio-visual systems in the Cathedral and
Learning Centre.
THE FRIENDS’
WINDOWS
APPEAL
Back in 2013, the Friends launched
its five-year Windows Appeal,
to raise £800,000 towards the
cost of the conservation of
the medieval stained glass in
the Cathedral – an essential
part of the Cathedral’s current
development programme. In less
than three years we have raised
£772,000. This is an incredible
achievement and we are so
grateful to all the Friends for their
amazing support.
With £28,000 left to reach our target,
the fundraising continues. As described
on page 1, the work on the windows has
begun, giving our search for the remaining
funds a new urgency. The conservation
of the windows will take longer than
any other part of the Cathedral’s
development programme.
Despite this, we would like to secure our
fundraising target as soon as possible, so
that we can continue to help the Cathedral
in other ways.
If you would like more information on
the Windows Appeal, the conservation
work on the glass or how to donate,
please contact Lesley Bestwick on
[email protected].
Supported by the
Heritage Lottery Fund
Cathedral Office
9 The Close, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 9LS
Tel: 01962 857 200
[email protected]
www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk