Monday, 11th December 2006
The skyline of Pimlico, South-West London will soon see the return of the spire of St Barnabas church which has been shrouded in scaffolding since March, while it was rebuilt. Funding was sought when a piece of render was dislodged by high winds in 2004 and subsequent surveys revealed the poor state of the 19th century spire. A record £746,000 joint grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage helped fund the rebuilding along with , so preserving one of the finest integrated ensembles of Victorian church art, architecture and decoration in existence.
Lead by the Morton Partnership, the project team comprised architects Purcell Miller Tritton, inspecting architect of St Barnabas Simon Yauner, quantity surveyors Sawyer and Fisher and contractor Universal Stone Limited.
To celebrate the topping out of the spire the Bishop of London will begin a service at the top of the scaffolding spire on Friday December 15 involving members of the congregation, local residents and 100-plus school children from the neighbouring St Barnabas C of E Primary School.
Rt Hon and Rt Revd Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, said,
"Spires lift the spirit and point to God. This is more
important than ever at a time when people are discovering that
happiness doesn't come by accumulating and consuming more and
more."
Ed Morton of The Morton Partnership, Lead Consultant and Structural
Engineer said, “On one of my initial visits in May 2004 I
climbed the temporary ladders to the base of the spire and found
the spire to be in truly awful structural condition. Scaffold was
soon erected to protect the school children and general public from
falling material and applications made to the funders. We were all
delighted when the grant was confirmed and the parish agreed to
proceed with the re-building of this local landmark, now being
celebrated with the topping out presided over by the Bishop of
London.”
Purcell Miller Tritton’s Mark Hammond was Conservation
Architect on the project. He said, “The original spire was in
a terrible condition. Not only was the original stone
deteriorating, but it doesn’t appear to have been built to a
particularly high standard in the first place. This, combined with
the failure of previous render repairs, meant we had to start
almost from scratch and rebuild rather than restore. This is quite
unusual for a project of this type, where we aim to conserve as
much of the historic fabric as possible.”
Mark concluded, “This work was only possible thanks to the determination of the people at St Barnabas, the good work of the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage and a superb team effort by all the contractors and consultants involved. Together we have been able to restore it to its former glory – only better!”
Stephen Johnson, Heritage Lottery Fund Director of Operations, said, "St Barnabas is a very visible part of London's skyline but the majority of passers-by are probably not aware of its extraordinary interior. It's great news that this important restoration work is almost complete. It will benefit both the local community as well as visitors seeking a moment of tranquillity in a beautiful 19th-century building. It's a wonderful example of the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage working together to help save some of our most important places of worship."
Richard Halsey, English Heritage's Head of Places of Worship Strategy, said: "St Barnabas Pimlico by the architect, Thomas Cundy II, was built as a mission to the slums of Pimlico which bordered the fashionable squares of Belgravia. It is a particularly important artistic embodiment of the ideals of the 19th century Anglican Oxford Movement. The church is built in Early English style and its sumptuous interior reflects many hands, notably GF Bodley and Sir Ninian Comper. Just two years ago it became clear that a huge and costly rebuilding programme would be necessary to secure its future. English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund were pleased to step in with a grant of more than £700,000 towards project costs of over £1.1 million - the most ever given to one building under the Repair Grants for Places of Worship Scheme - in order to get the project completed in one phase. We congratulate all those involved and, in particular, Fr Alasdair Coles, churchwarden Alastair Woodrow and the congregation who have worked tirelessly to secure match-funding."
