CATHEDRAL FLOOR DAMAGE SURVEY Jane Fawcett I I I CATHEDRAL FLOOR DAMAGE SURVEY I Surveys of the Historic Floors of I Cathedrals and Greater Churches in England and Scotland I I I Jane Fawcett I The Secretary, ICOMOS UK (The International Council on Monuments and Sites) I A report prepared with the assistance of I a Research Award from the Royal Institute of British Architects I and with the support of ICOMOS UK I S The surveys identify Cosmati and tiled pavements, I brasses and brass indents, ledger stones and inscribed grave slabs in 44 Cathedrals and Greater Churches CONTENTS Acknowledgements Alphabetical list of reports Introduction Cathedral floor surveys and floor plans and illustrations (alphabetical) Guidelines for good practice Summary and conclusions Recommendations ALPHABETICAL LIST OF REPORTS ON CATHEDRALS AND GREATER CHURCHES Bath Abbey Beverley Minster Birmingham Cathedral Blackburn Cathedral Bristol Cathedral Bristol, St Mary Redcliffe Cambridge, King's College Chapel Canterbury Cathedral Carlisle Cathedral Chelmsford Cathedral Chester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral Derby Cathedral Durham Cathedral Edinburgh Cathedral Ely Cathedral Exeter Cathedral Gloucester Cathedral Hereford Cathedral Hexham Abbey Kirkwall Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral Manchester Cathedral Newcastle Cathedral Norwich Cathedral Oxford, Christ Church Peterborough Cathedral Portsmouth Cathedral Ripon Cathedral Rochester Cathedral St Albans Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral Southwark Cathedral Tewkesbury Abbey Truro Cathedral Wakefield Cathedral Wells Cathedral Westminster Abbey Winchester Cathedral Windsor, St George's Chapel Worcester Cathedral York Minster ICOMOS UK CATHEDRAL FLOOR DAMAGE SURVEY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I should like to thank the RIBA for granting me a Research Award and ICOMOS UK for ~rovidingthe administrative support and financial backing without which this survey could not have taken place. I am also most grateful for the encouragement and- help that I have been given by many Deans and Chapters, Cathedral Architects, Librarians and Clerks of Works. I have incorporated their comments, wherever possible, into my surveys, although in order to meet the RIBA deadline, I have had to omit some of the latest information sent to me. This is, therefore, a preliminary report. I am even more indebted to those who have taken some action as a result of reading my reports, particularly the Deans and Chapters of Exeter and Canterbury Cathedrals, who have offered financial support to the teams of cathedral recorders, and of York Minster for supporting a pilot scheme to carry out tests and prepare guidelines for historic floors. Others who have given valuable advice and help are the Cathedrals Fabric Commission, the Building Research Establishment, the Royal Commision on Historical Monuments and English Heritage. My husband Ted has given me his usual support and encouragement, and has helped with the floor surveys of four cathedrals. Last, but not least, my heartfelt thanks to my secretary, Kate Entwistle, who, not for the first time, and I hope not for the last, has shouldered the burden of typing and co- ordinating the survey reports. 3COlIOS UK CATHEDRAL FLOOR DAMAGE SURVEY INTRODUCTION As the recognition and protection of historic floors has until recently received very little attention, my surveys are fntended to provide a general assessment of the historic floors in all of the . most heavily visited cathedrals and greater churches, with a note of the major historic features and their condition. I have also made recommendations, wherever possible, for the immediate protection of the areas most seriously at risk from overuse. My surveys have been partly funded by a Research Award from the Royal Institute of British Architects and partly by ICOMOS TJK. I first wrote to all cathedral architects, asking for information on damage inflicted by visitors on historic floors, especially ledger stones, brasses and decorative tiles and for details of any controls or protective measures that had been introduced. Although cathedral architects were aware of the damage being Inflicted, very little had been done to control it. At the same time, cathedral librarians were requested to send information on existing records and plans of historic floors, with details of inscriptions and armorials on ledger stones and brasses, as well as photographs or prints. The results of these enquiries were extremely worrying. Many cathedrals have inadequate or non-existent records of floor slabs and inscriptions.and locations of ledger stones and brasses.and these, and such floor plans as exist, are fragmented between cathedral libraries, record offices, architects, and Clerks of Work offices. There is no overview of what exists. Without a full record of all inscriptions of lettering, heraldry, location, condition reports, and an archaelogical survey, supported by photographs and rubbings and entered on a floor plan, a historical element of outstanding importance is being irrevocably lost. Theresponse to my surveys, which have been circulated individually to all cathedrals for comment, has been most encouraging. Several have already agreed to take some action over their historic floors. These include: Westminster Abbey, St Paul's, Winchester, Exeter, Canterbury, Norwich, Ely, Wells and Lincgln Cathedrals, and Hork Minster. At Bristol and Lichfield Cathedrals, surveys were already under way, under Dr Warwick Rodwell. My surveys are one of the initiatives promoted by the ICOMOS UI( Cultural Tourism Committee. This committee arranged, with English Herltage, a seminar on Tourist Wear and Tear, which included papers on cathedral damage, in June 1989. It also organised an important European confer- ,'ence on the subject of tourist damage to the heritage at Canterbury in March 1990, using the cathedral as a case study. We are now awaiting reports from the Building Research Establishment on various aspects of historic floor protection, They have inserted studs to monitor the rate of deterioration in sample floor areas, in Canterbury Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. We have also asked them to advise on protective pads for chairs and moveable furniture, to avoid scratching; methods of moving stands and chairs for special events, without damaging floor surfaces; guidelines for protective covering for areas of special historic significance; and types of matting for extracting dust and grit from visitorst feet at entrances. The Care of Cathedrals Measure (1991) requires each cathedral to compile an inventory of all furnishings, books, manuscripts, plate, and other treasures, within five years. Historic floors are now regarded as a necessary component of these inventories. Sales and-thefts, such as the four medieval tiles from Winchester Cathedral, should thus be avoi-led. Thefts are becoming increasingly frequent and while some of the objects are stolen by tourists as souvenirs, many more are stolen deliberately and find their way into the sale rooms. The promise ofGovernment grants worth Ell million for cathedrals, should help to remove the temptation to sell treasures in order to pay for necessary repairs. The inventories will give much needed protection to the treasures with which many cathedrals are still endowed. Arising from my surveys, two initiatives are now underway. Cathedral Recording Teams are being set up, under the Surveyor to the Fabric, and with my help, to record all inscriptions and armorials on ledger stones and brasses, with condition reports. Their position will be entered on floor plans, photographs and rubbings will be taken and the records will be deposited in the cathedral libraries and with the Cathedrals Advisory Commission. Surveys have already started at Exeter and at Canterbury Cathedrals and at Westminster Abbey. Other teams will be set up wherever possible. These surveys, which will be based on the methods used by the Church Recorders, should in their turn provide some of the data necessary to make decisions over controls, repairs and the conserv- ation of historic floor surfaces. The Dean and Chapter of Pork Minster, the Cathedrals Fabric Commission .and ICOMOS 'JK have set up a Working Group of experts, including representatives from the Building Research Establishment, the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, and the York Centre for Conservation Studies, to establish guidelines for the recording and treatment of historic cathedral floors. Using York Minster as an example, methods of recording, recutting, reordering and protecting important ledgers, brasses and tiles will be initiated and guidelines circulated to all cathedrals. L It is clear that widespread damage is being inflicted both to monuments, floors, and to other parts.of the fabric. It is also clear that, hard as the cathedral authorities find it to accept, the majority of those inflicting the damage have little interest in the cathedral as the House of God; they often have no interest in the architecture; and they are, in many cases, destroying for each other whatever experience they might have expected by sheer noise and weight of numbers. We hope that these initiatives will help cathedrals to find some solutions to a very difficult problem. Jane Fawcett MBE Hon FRIBA Grad Dip1 Conservation AA The Secretarv of ICOMOS UK March 1991 ICOMOS UK CATHEDRAL AND GREATER CHURCH DAMAGE SURVEY BATH ABBEY A great many ledgers, many of them armorial, lie along both aisles, up the nave, and along the west end. Some have been broken up and relaid during one