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Reviving religious relics |
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Post-war environmental pollution, especially during the 1960s and 1970s, has taken its toll on St Mary Magdalene's tower and numerous similarly fragile structures. It was essential to employ contractors with specialist knowledge of the necessary conservation techniques.
© Strachey and Strachey
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Conservationists, Strachey and Strachey, had many years of experience with Wells Cathedral lime-stone problems. They used this expertise to great effect on St Mary Magdalene's tower.
The original tower was English in design and built in the 1300s. The current tower was built in 1540 from the great wealth generated by Somerset's sheep, wool and cloth trades. It is now acclaimed as one of the finest in the country.
Some of the 4.57m (15ft) crowning pinnacles perched on top of the tower were dismantled and rebuilt with hydraulic lime mortar and stainless-steel fixings. Hydraulic lime mortar has special properties that allow it to dry in wet conditions.
Using traditional methods of conservation, the company's team of skilled stonemasons, carvers and conservators carried out extensive repairs to the pierced parapet and the severely damaged grotesque figures on the top, as well as the tower face. Their preferred method, in most cases, was to preserve rather than replace; but one piece of restoration had a very curious route to completion.
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