And now our second Church of the Week, the winner of The King of Prussia Gold Medal for innovative, high quality church conservation architecture: St Michael’s Church in Othery, Somerset, whose fine repairs were carried out by Beech Tyldesley Architects. The Gold Medal was the gift of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia in 1857, who was highly impressed with British Victorian church architecture. Today his descendant Prince Nicholas von Preussen, a Vice President of the National Churches Trust, assists in the judging for the Gold Medal. St Michael’s Church dates back to the 12th century, and is in the perpendicular style. It was remodelled in the 15th century, and partly rebuilt after 1844. Its very impressive 15th century Somerset tower was restored in 1849 and 1853, when pinnacles and niches were built (sculptures of heads and angels were added in the following years). There are five bells in the tower; the oldest dates to the 1650s and was made by Robert Austen, and the others date from 1692 to 1815. Other stunning features include roundels of medieval glass, which were originally from Glastonbury Abbey and depict the heads of three doctors of the church, and stained glass by Hardman, Bell, and Holland of Warwick, installed in the 1850s in the chancel, vestry, and north transept. The church also houses a memorial to the three Chard brothers, who included Colonel John Chard V.C., who led the defence of Rorkes Drift, South Africa. The Othery Cope, found under the mediaeval pulpit at the time of the Victorian renovations, is an extremely rare 16th-century ecclesiastical robe, restored and now housed at the Glastonbury Abbey Museum. The Grade I Listed St Michaels had recently been on the Heritage at Risk register due to the state of the high level stonework on the tower, and this project helped to remedy that grave situation. The works included repair and consolidation of the lias stonework of the tower, walls and buttresses, conservation work to the dressed stonework and careful restoration work to the tower statues and niches. The project has already won the William Stansell Somerset Conservation Building Award. Mark Taylor Director of Beech Tyldesley Architects said: “Winning the King of Prussia Gold Medal is quite frankly an amazing turn of events. The recognition it gives to this gentle stone repair technique is difficult to understate. A means of preserving friable stone without visible effect has been illusive for years. The more usual solution of defrassing and stone replacement is fundamentally destructive, removing the very substance of the building to be conserved. This, in some ways new technique for repair, develops the practice of sheltercoating into a functioning yet aesthetically invisible protection and consolidation for friable stonemasonry. It is adaptable to differing stones and differing environments. Many hands have contributed to the development and the execution; stone conservators, English Heritage architects and conservators, the willingness of the parish to support all of the work and find the necessary finance, Viridor and the HLF who made substantial contributions and above all the expertise and painstaking care over the repairs of Sally Strachey Historic Conservation”. Claire Walker, CEO of the National Churches Trust said: “The National Churches Trust is proud to be a joint sponsor of these awards, which recognise the expertise and talent of church architects. This year we received entries for some exceptional projects involving Church of England, Roman Catholic and Methodist churches. Beech Tyldesley, winner of the King of Prussia Gold Medal , demonstrated in depth skill and expertise in their project to repair the tower of St Michael’s church, Othery, Somerset. The extensive works have renovated the ailing tower fabric, greatly improved its appearance and made it secure for many years to come.” nationalchurchestrust.org/news/top-prizes-church-architecture bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-29930170
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 11:32:09 +0000
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