Page:The Building News and Engineering Journal, Volume 22, 1872.djvu/190

 174 THE BUILDING NEWS. Marcu 1, 1872. - _——— SS SSS SSS THE RESTORATION OF EXETER CATHEDRAL. HE work of the restoration of the Cathedral commenced in May last in the Lady Chapel, situated at the east end of the choir, where the seven o'clock morning service was held for some years. Onentering the chapel the new east window attracts the attention of the visitor. It is of stained glass, in character with the rest of the building, but scarcely so harmonious in its colours as could have been wished. The main feature is Christ sitting as the King of the World, and on either side are the figures of Gabriel, Joseph, the Virgin, John, Joseph of Arimathea, and Mary Magdalen. In the spaces underneath there are representations of various sub- jects connected with the Saviour's life on earth—the annunciation, the birth, the crucifixion, the women at the tomb, &c. The ancient colouring of the roof of this chapel has been restored, and four of the bosses on the ceiling, emblematical of the Evange- lists, are now particularly striking. The white- wash having been scraped off the walls near the tombs, traces of various figures in very high colours have been discovered, and these are in the course of being reproduced. Until about thirty years ago this chapel was used for a considerable period as the Cathedral Library, and in putting in doors the handsome screen was very materially injured, but the damage is now being repaired. The floor is to be of Devonshire marbles and encaustic tiles. On the north side of this chapel is another, dedicated to S. Mary Magdalene, and on the south S. Gabriel’s Chapel. The restored colouring of the roofs of both these chapels is artistic and striking, but not gaudy —the principal features of the design being white crescents on a blue ground. In each of these chapels and on the screens are traces of very profuse decoration, representing various subjects. The carved pinnacles and much of the delicate carved work of the screens of these side chapels have been knocked off from time to time, and are now being replaced, whilst the old carving having been cleaned, aremarkably fresh appearance is given toit. In the S. Gabriel Chapel was a large statue of North- cote, the painter, which has been now removed to the North transept. Adjoining the Mary Magdalene Chapel is a still smaller one—S. Saviour’s—through which is the small entrance to the choir oppo- site the Cathedral school. There is a curious record about this entrance, for it is reported in the archives that during the Commonwealth the Pres- byterians had one part of the Cathedral for their use, and the Independents the other. As there were feuds between the two parties, and the Mayor of the time being equally opposed to fisticuffs and flour bags, he ordered an entrance to be made through the north-east corner of S. Saviour’s Chapel, which still remains. To make this doorway, however, a stained glass window and handsome reredos were destroyed. The dvorway is to be stopped, and the reredos—of which there are sufficient traces left to give a guide to the original—is to be restored. In the south aisle, opposite to this chapel, is the Oldam Chapel, which was a few years ago—in 1866— partly restored, though the reredos was not attended to; the head of every figure in this reredos was knocked off, save one, and this shepherd only saved his head by being quite in the background and almost concealed. Half way down the choir are the chapels of S. Andrew and 8. John. There appears to have been considerable docoration in the former, and this will be attended to. Under this chapel is a crypt, where, probably, one or two bishops were buried, but which, fifty years since, was used as a wine cellar for the palace. Coming to the choir itself—which passed into the builder’s hands last September—we found quite a forest of scaffolding’and heaps of rubbish lying all over the place. ‘The seats, reredos, pulpit, stalls, and screen behind the stalls have all been removed, and will be replaced by new. The greatest amount of work yet done is in connection with the massive Purbeck marble pillars, which support the choir roof. The surface of these pillars being rotten, a great quantity of stone has had to be removed—in some cases blocks of marble from six to ten inches in thickness. The amount of marble that has had to be replaced is enormous—no less than a hundred tons have been used in the ten columns that have already been “ stopped.” When finished, the pillars are in a semi-polished state, and look remarkably well. The work on them has been very great indeed. The restoration of the roof has been completed from the east end nearly down to the bishop's throne. The bosses have been cleaned and the colouring repro- duced, so that the character and beauties of each can now be seen from the floor; the contrast between the restored and the unrestored bosses is very strik- ing. Whether the colouring of the whole of the roof will be reproduced is at present an open question. Thick coats of whitewash have been removed from both the roof and the walls, and the face of the stone —which came from near Exmouth and Lyme Regis and Beer—is now seen. One of the corbels from which the arches of the roof spring was cleaned, and the colouring reproduced—but it has been decided that these corbels shall remain plain; only the dirt and plaster which now blur them is being removed, giving those already done a very clear and crisp appearance. The new screen at the back of the stalls is now being built, and instead of a dead brick wall it will be pierced stone, so that the aisles may be utilised for service; the ancient piereed parapet will be reinstated on the new sereen. ‘The old stalls are to be replaced by those of highly carved oak with canopies over each. At the back of the stalls on the south aisle is the tomb of Bishop Cotton, and in the north aisle is a cenotaph of Bishop Carey; over both of these were stone canopies—quasi-classic pieces of architecture — but these have been taken down, and it is to be hoped they will not be put up again, for the voices in the choir could not be heard through these canopies by those in the aisles. The reredos will be somewhat small, with an open wrought-iron screen on either side. It is to be of alabaster, pre- cious stones, and marbles. The cost of this piece of work will be somewhere about £1.700, and this is to be defrayed by Chancellor Warington and Dr. Blackall. This reredos and the stalls—both by Farmer & Brindley, Westminster-road — will be most handsome, judging from the photographs of the designs which we have seen as taken by Mr. Verger Parsons, a clever amateur photographer The floor of the choir is to be of Devonshire marble and en- caustic tiles. The black paint, which is supposed to have been put on during the past century, is being taken off the Bishop’s Throne, and it is discovered that the original colouring of this beautiful piece of carved oak was gold and white; these colours are to be restored. It is interesting to note the difference in the cost of labour in the fourteenth century as compared with the price it now commands; this throne was made by contract in 1317, and the price paid for the wood was £6, whilst the labour cost £4! If the work had to be done now, probably hundreds instead of units would appear in the contract, The matchless sedilia at the right of the Communion- table also bears traces of very rich colouring—prin- cipally gold—andif the colours are brought up again as anticipated, this delicate piece of carving will have a very beautiful appearance indeed, On the screen opposite here the bratticings—which are a peculiar feature of this Cathedral—are being reproduced from the patterns that still remain. The old oak pulpit has been removed, and in its place a stone one, pre- sented by Mr. Edwin Force, is to be put up—only it will stand above instead of below the doorway. Passing into the aisles we find that the dirt and whitewash are being removed from the roof and walls; the colouring of the roof here will not be re- stored, though the colours on the bosses may be reproduced. Four of the large heating stoves stand in these aisles, the flues of which are much dis- coloured, and contrast very unfavourably with the clean walls. These flues might be carried under an iron grating in the floor, which would be a great improvement. The choir will probably be finished by about Christ- mas. ‘The work has been carried on partly by gas- light, gas pipes having been laid on in the choir, This reminds one that often efforts have been made to induce the Chapter to light up the nave, so that evening service might be held there; undoubtedly the evening services would be very largely atttended It is not at present contemplated, we believe, to do anything to the grand old West front, but if it is intended to do something to it at any future time, working drawings should at once be made of the details, for every year more and more of the figures crumble away, It is two centuries and a half since that any- thing on a large scale was done to the Cathedral so as to preserve it, Then—in 1626—we find that Dean Ward spent something like £25,000 in restor- ing and beautifying the fine old building. Among other things he put up a pair of organs at a cost of £200, and these were at the time con- sidered the best in Europe. This £25,000 tben represented £200,000 or more of present value. The colouring runs from the Early Decorated period down to the Late Perpendicular in the sixteenth century. The centre window of the North aisle is a great curiosity in its way, it being the only specimen in the cathedral of early glazing; the heads of the yarious figures, however, have been either stolen or lost, and plain glass substituted. The present restoration is being carried out accord- ing to the plans of Mr. Gilbert Scott, who has an efficient and courteous representative superintending the work—Mr, H. R. Snelgrove. The contractor is Mr. Luscombe, of S. Sidwell’s, Exeter, a builder of high standing in the West of England. Messrs. Farmer & Brindley, of Westminster- road, are supplying the stalls and reredos, ‘and Messrs. Clayton & Bell, of Regent-street, are doing the decorations. ———e—- PAVEMENT IN CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. HE position of the now destroyed shrine of S. Thomas of Canterbury is marked, not only by the well-known mosaic pavement, or opus Alexan- drinum, that lies immediately in front of it, but also by five of the circular slabs shown in one of our illustrations, and which lie behind it in a line north and south. Each stone is just under two feet in diameter, and the depth of the cutting for inlay is from one and a half to two inches, and in some places, where the pattern is small, much less. There are thirty-two similar circles by the sides of the large mosaic, but these all have zodiacial signs or other subjects in the centre, surrounded by borders, and the inlay is of black mastic, with one exception, which is shown in the illustration, and where the red inlay is of tile instead of marble. The spaces between the circles were evidently intended to be filled with patterns in black, red, and gray marbles, such as still remain between nine of the stones. The translation of the remains of S. Thomas to the shrine took place on Tuesday the 7th July, 1220, and this pavement must have been laid shertly before. The lithograph is from tracings. F.C. D. ee CHIMNEY-PIECE, MAISON COMMUNALE, CRUYBERE, NEAR ANTWERP} OX of our lithographs this week represents a chimney-piece in the Town Hall, Cruybere, near Antwerp, recently carried out from a design by and under the superintendence of F. H. Brangwyn, of 16, Goldhawk-terrace, Shepherds’ Bush, and Bruges. ‘The material of the chimney-piece is white Luxembourg stone, with a cornice of oak. The back of the fireplace is in blue and white, and the hearths of encaustic tiles. The style is early fifteenth century Flemish. The building is in the same style and was erected from designs of the same architect, selected in competition. ———__>—_—__ PORTABLE DECORATIONS. FRENCHMAN, M. Lasché, has recently patented a method of preparing oil-paintings for decorative purposes, so that they may be kept in stock in the warehouse and when required easily carried and fixed to the work to be adorned. The invention consists in painting wpon tin-foil with properly prepared colours any desired subject or design, either by hand or suitable machinery. Plain tones, imitations of woods and marbles, figures’ of birds, shells, flowers, landscapes, plain and orna- mental gilding, and imitation of carved work, can all be executed on either sheets or strips by skilled hands at the workshop, and supplied by the yard or piece, like paper-hangings, for the decoration of buildings, ships, carriages, carpenter’s or cabinet work, furniture, &e, Tin-foil of the greatest thick- ness is used, either composed of tin or of a mixture of suitable metals; this is evenly spread on a hard and smooth surface, which is slightly moistened to assist in the process of spreading the foil. The foil is then painted either by hand or machinery with the subject or design required, and is afterwards varnished. When thoroughly dry it is removed from the hard surface, and is ready for affixing to the work to be decorated, or it may be rolled up like paper and stored till required. The work to be coated, or the object to be decorated, is coated with a sticky varnish or with hydraulic cement, and a piece of the oil-painting of the required size being cut it is carefully pressed against the prepared sur- face, precautions being taken to prevent air bubbles remaining underneath, when it is said to become firmly adherent, and being perfectly waterproof protects the surfaces covered better than ordinary oil-paint, while it is preferable to paper for wall hangings from its impermeability to moisture. From the flexibility of the foil as well as the paint or gilding, the prepared material can be affixed to mouldings, carvings, or other irregular surfaces. The invention cannot fail to be of great utility if the permanency of the colours and the adhesion of the foil can be relied upon.