Conservation & Heritage Issue 50 Winter 2025/Spring 2026 - Flipbook - Page 40
By integrating specialist skills within the project team, each
area of conservation was carefully tested and questioned,
ensuring interventions followed the principle of ‘as much
as necessary, as little as possible’. Work on the Angel Freize
over the last five years, led by stonecarver Nina Bilbey,
is an exquisite example of how skills-driven but subtle
conservation can profoundly affect how visitors engage with
and interpret the fabric. Each surviving angel was audited
and its individual features surveyed to initially document
and subsequently re-commemorate their individual beauty,
which could then be transferred with adept sensitivity to
new angels. Ben Levings at Artscan3d produced resin prints,
then full-scale plaster prints and then modelling clay prints
of the whole frieze to allow meticulous re-interpretation and
sculpting to take place in Nina’s studio over the course of
several months.
preserve and pass on essential heritage skills, safeguarding
both the fabric of the cathedral and the craftsmanship that
has sustained it for centuries.
I play but one role amongst a wide range of dedicated experts,
custodians and stewards, all of whom are committed to being
steadfast, receptive and creative to each incoming challenge
that the fabric and community bring. It is my enduring
privilege to lean into the cathedral’s legacy as both a mirror
and foil to our collective, changing culture. Continuity, for
me, lies in not simply engaging with - but driving forward the development of art and craft, ensuring we are at our most
creative and innovative in times of need and investing the
site’s riches (both physical and ethereal) in each and every
visitor, pilgrim or tourist.
This article was written by Jonathan Deeming. Jonathan
Deeming is a Regional Partner at Purcell and Surveyor to
the Fabric of Canterbury Cathedral and Cathedral Architect
to Lichfield Cathedral. He is also the RIBA appointed
Commissioner for the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for
England.
Thankfully, the cathedral’s Head Mason found two blocks
of the original Caen limestone in use as banker tables in the
stone yard from which the final sculpting was produced with
further experts interpreting the frieze’s texts and carrying
out the letter cutting. The rediscovery of lost techniques was
brought to the fore in this instance, with Charlotte Howarth
researching an historic recipe for a mask that left no trace
when removed and then using a minute fire sharp chisel to
complete the inscriptions. The resulting harmony between
the old and new elements within the frieze is exceptionally
rewarding, particularly highlighting how one’s relationship
with and appreciation of the fabric plays a fundamental role
in the completeness of the worshipping experience.
The next Chapter
Under the guidance of a new Dean, David Monteith, the
cathedral’s recently published Strategic Plan 2025-2030
reiterates the enduring themes that have kept Canterbury
relevant spiritually and culturally for centuries, embracing
the notion that continuity is change. With a renewed focus
on accessibility and achieving net zero, the Chapter will
move forward with ambitions to make the estate more
economically independent as well cheaper to run in the long
term, and the preservation of its fabric will continue to frame
Canterbury’s evolution.
A partnership for preserving the precinct
Occupying almost a quarter of Canterbury’s walled city,
the significance and the scale of this historic site cannot be
understated. As Surveyor to the Fabric, I will keep playing
an active role in supporting the skilled in-house team of
masons, glaziers, carpenters, and plumbers in the care and
development of the cathedral, its ancient monuments and
the many properties and gardens that form its precinct.
With the help of Purcell colleagues, we will continue to
provide learning and teaching support to those on the
Cathedral Workshop Fellowship (CWF), and on the
University of Kent’s MSc in Conservation. Through these
programmes and Purcell’s own Conservation School (hosted
three times at the cathedral) we are consciously helping to
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