DEVELOPMENT UP-DATE FROM WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL ISSUE 12 – FEBRUARY 2017

In this edition of Illumination we focus on the often hidden work of our Stonemasons. We take a look behind another scene as work commences on the lift which will make the South Transept accessible at every level. We also celebrate some significant achievements in raising the funds to make all of this possible.

Members of the public engage with stonemasons from around the country and learn about this often hidden craft at our first Stonemasonry Festival. OUR FIRST STONEMASONRY FESTIVAL Visitors to the Cathedral one weekend way, and got cracking. By lunchtime on Lovett, a former Winchester Cathedral last summer could have been forgiven for Sunday the results were spectacular and mason, took first place and Alex Waddell, thinking they had stepped back in time as the event concluded with the works one of our current apprentice masons they found themselves in amongst a team being judged, and then auctioned. There (pictured bottom right) took third place of 17 stonemasons competing in their were honours for Winchester as Ross for his mad monk. centuries-old craft. The first of its kind for Winchester Cathedral, it brought together cathedral masons from around the country as well as several . Central to the event was a competition tapping into the medieval architectural style of the old English cathedrals as well as offering the masons scope to express a little of the weird and wonderful. On Friday each mason was presented with a square section block of . They interpreted a theme in their own unique IN FOCUS

Stonemasonry is one of the oldest crafts which has played a part in the life of the Cathedral since it was first built. Often hidden and carried out at eye-watering heights, our team of five masons (three full-time and two apprentices) continue that work today. Recently, of course, their skills have been engaged in conservation as part of the capital projects both inside and out on the south transept (pictured below) and the presbytery windows. More recently they have been working on a special project, which displays the complex and painstaking nature of what they do and the stories they discover along the way. A house made of stone

As part of the work on the South Transept Despite the loss of its head, this two-thirds a statue was discovered on its gable end; sized statue is a fine example of medieval at one stage thought to be St Swithun. . The figure’s swaying (contrapposto) The original statue, made of Caen stone, stance finds parallels in a standing figure from was in a very poor state of repair. Caen the Cathedral’s collections that has been stone is too soft as an external stone, dated to c. 1330–1352. Despite the original especially in such a vulnerable environment attribution, the garments worn by the statue battered by the prevailing south-west wind. seem to preclude a bishop and research has The head had sheared off at the neck, and concluded that the figure might represent several cracks and fissures in the stone were a monastic saint, possibly St Benedict or St apparent. The plinth at the apex of the gable, Ethelwold, founder of St Swithun’s Priory. supporting the statue, was also in Either would be appropriate for the statue’s very poor condition. context, looking down on the monastery.

Left: The South Transept Top: The original statue from the gable end Above: Images of SS Ethelwold and Benedict IN FOCUS

EXPERIMENTAL MOULD AND NEW CARVING RECONSTRUCTION INSTALLATION MAQUETTES PLASTER CAST FROM PLASTER OF GABLE END ON GABLE END GUIDE CAST PLINTH

One of the major tenets of all conservation The result, generously supported in part work, whether in stone or otherwise, is to by The Radcliffe Trust, is a re-carved replace as much as possible like with like but, statue in , refitted on the considering the poor state of the original south transept gable end. This was a and the absence of its head, how this should challenging but rewarding project for the look was difficult to determine. Therefore, masons. Will Davies has noted in particular A house made another great tradition was used; that of that carving a half-size likeness was a creating a likeness of the Dean at the time demanding technical challenge. (this is the third on the Cathedral that we The new statue represents a medieval know of). Masons Will Davies (pictured left ecclesiastic clad in an alb and a cloak with the new statue), and Pourang Tajally and loosely alludes to various important embarked upon the project which took figures in Winchester’s history. This includes some 18 months to complete from inception Saint Birinus who brought Christianity to to installation, whilst head mason Tim of stone Wessex and built Old Minster – the church Covington repaired the plinth. that the statue is shown carrying – and St Ethelwold, who founded the Priory of St Swithun, the monastery over which the statue is looking and which was rebuilt after the Norman Conquest. It also evokes the succession of Deans of Winchester – thus the statue is gazing down at the Deanery, formerly the Prior’s House. It fulfils the aim of the project, which was to create a statue that fits comfortably with the surrounding , echoes the styles of the statue to be replaced, and continues to convey the message that it was originally intended to tell.

CAPITAL FUNDRAISING APPEAL SOME MAJOR DONORS APPROACHES ITS TARGET Heritage Lottery Fund Hampshire County Council It all started in July 2013, when we received Since then, although a range of pledges had Garfield West Foundation the welcome news of a £10.5m grant from been received towards additional projects, The Sackler Trust the Heritage Lottery Fund towards our a variety of grant-givers, organisations and Winchester Council capital projects, followed by the launch of individual donors have been approached. The Linbury Trust an appeal for additional supporting projects, A Gala Dinner and a Ball have been held. The Wolfson Foundation such as the sound and light. Now, three and a Countless people have pledged, donated and Allchurches Trust Limited half years later, there is just £200k remaining organised events contributing to a wonderful A full list is on the Cathedral website. of the overall target required to complete joint enterprise engaging the local and wider the works. We take a look at how we have community alike. However, we must not rest reached that milestone. on our laurels as there is still some distance to go and work on all of the projects themselves The award of the HLF grant, as we said at continues until at least 2018. the time, enabled long-held aspirations to become a reality and work on the HLF A list of all of our capital projects is on the projects commenced almost immediately. next page. SUMMARY OF CAPITAL WORKS • Urgent repair work involving releading the Presbytery roof and conserving the fine 16th Century vault below with its 250-plus bosses • Conservation of the 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 JUST A HOLE IN THE GROUND? techniques, greatly enhancing the quality of our outreach to 20,000 The image above shows the work which movement in the area using highly sensitive children annually from Hampshire has been carried out to create a pit to hold equipment. Dyer & Butler, the civil engineers schools and beyond, as well as the new lift which will serve all three floors who are overseeing the whole lift project enabling all-age learning of the South Transept exhibitions. Far from and Stannah (based in Andover) have been • New exhibitions at three levels in the just a hole, the process involved a number designing the lift, based on the drawings Cathedral’s stunning South Transept of stages. Our archaeologist Dr John Crook by our architect Nick Cox, which ultimately to give visitors an exciting encounter first carried out a dig. Next on site was piling they will install. Contracts Manager, Jonathan with Winchester’s greatest treasures, contractor, Keller. Eight piles were ‘augured’ Ryan, tells us that the last person who would including the worldfamous in (rather than ‘rammed’) to a depth of have dug down anywhere near as deep as 16.4m, a quieter and more stable method this under the Cathedral itself would have Winchester Bible, which are for a delicate environment. Specialist been William Walker, so quite a complex but currently not readily accessible and surveyors Ramboll continue to monitor carefully executed project. often overlooked • New wiring, lighting, sound and audio-visual systems in the Cathedral WHO KNOWS WHAT’S and Learning Centre. HIDDEN IN THE WALLS?

An unexpected bonus from the current register, who were subsequently married in work in the South Transept has been the the Cathedral include, in 1927, Mary, daughter rediscovery of a document that has now of Dr Prendergast who was the Cathedral been added to the Cathedral Archive. When Organist from 1902–1933 and, in 1936, Lucy, a bricked-up archway between the former daughter of Dean Selwyn. Virgers’ Vestry and Song School was being reopened, the register of banns of marriage The Cathedral Archive is held in Hampshire used in the Cathedral between 1921 and 1937 Record Office, on deposit from the Dean and was revealed; its significance was appreciated Chapter. The archive is still being catalogued, by the stonemasons and, after just a little but much of it – including the banns register – cleaning, it has now joined other completed is now listed on the HRO online catalogue at registers in the archive. Those named in the www.hants.gov.uk/archives.

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