Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
21 Jun 2013
21 Jun 2013
Vision of William Wardell for St Mary's Cathedral continues to be realised
Restoration and repairs to the 79 neo-Gothic dormer windows that sit high on the gabled roof of St Mary's Cathedral have finally been completed.
For the past two and a half years artisans have been working on the dormer windows as part of the ongoing restoration and conservation of one of Sydney's historic cathedrals.
"Some of the dormers were constructed as far back as 1867 and were built from timber and timber louvers. Later dormers built in the late 1920s as part of phase two of the Cathedral's construction used galvanised steel. But in the intervening years, the wood rotted and the steel rusted and eroded," says Dieter Koch, Property Manager for the Archdiocese of Sydney.
But as from this week every one of the dormers has been completely restored. Each of the 79 now boasts a hardwood frame, copper louvers and new lead cappings, the architectural term for the dormer's roofs.
Each of the dormer windows took eight days to be replaced and fully restored, with restoration of every one of these dormers costing a minimum of $7000.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars are needed each year for the restoration and conservation of the William Wardell designed Cathedral. The work itself is continuous and carried out every week of every year with projects planned several years in advance.
Rusted neo Gothic louvers and dorrmers prior to repair and restoration
Much of the funds needed comes from generous donations to the Cathedral's Conservation appeal. Funds are also raised from a unique scheme launched in November 2010 where Sydneysiders and anyone else inspired by the beauty of the Cathedral to can sponsor one of the stones that make up the Western facade, dedicating their particular stone to their family or loved ones for posterity.
In addition to restoration of the dormer windows, over the past few years the entire roof of the Cathedral has also been repaired and restored and work on cleaning the exterior sandstone walls is an ongoing process.
Currently leading Sydney stone mason and expert in heritage buildings, Jasper Swann is carrying out an inspection of the sandstone of the Cathedral's exterior walls with his report on whatever work may be needed due at the end of the month.
"Once we know what might be required and what, if any, stones may need repairing or replacing, we will then embark on our plans to begin cleaning the North West facade of the Cathedral facing on to College Street," Dieter Koch says.
One of the stone masons prepares a statue for installation in the reredos
Along with this ongoing exterior conservation, the Cathedral's interior is also receiving close attention with continuing work being carried out on these walls.
Statues and many of the Cathedrals wonderful paintings are also in the process of being cleaned, regilded where necessary and meticulously restored.
As well as the vital conservation work, William Wardell's original vision continues to be realised with this year's additions of 16 specially commissioned hand-carved painted statues in the reredos, the orntate stone screen behind the high altar.
The 17 niches in the elaborately carved stone reredos were always meant to be filled with depictions of the Apostles, St Paul, John the Baptist and the two Biblical prophets Elijah and Moses. But for 133 years the niches were empty save for the centre niche where more than 100 years ago, Wardell and Bishop John Bede Polding had installed an exquisite statue of Our Lady Help of Christians, patron saint of Australia.
Cathedral's 79 dormers were in urgent need of repair
Commissioned by the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Pell from the famous ecclesiastical Talleres de Arte Grandas workshop in Spain, the statues were made possible by donations from the Friends of the Cathedral, the Australian Catholic University and Damian Fogarty.
Cardinal Pell has overseen some other important additions to the Cathedral including the magnificent triptych of the sanctuary's marble altar and its accompanying statues of Christ and Mary Magdalene.
He also commissioned the Louis Laumen sculpture of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop and two of her young students which stands on a large sandstone block on the steps of the Western Transcept on College Street.
To find out more about conservation, restoration or to sponsor a stone or donate to St Mary's Cathedral Conservation Appeal log on towww.stmaryscathedral.org.au
SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY
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