On-Site
8th January 2018
Leicester Cathedral
Leicester Cathedral masonry repairs pilot project is underway.
The pilot project includes the western bays of the south aisles and clerestory facades, and is intended to establish the best ways of carrying out repairs, using samples that include all the apparent stone defects and stone types.
This pilot project has been made possible by a generous grant from the First World War Centenary Repairs Fund.
We are excited to start uncovering what the walls are made up of and to be able to further refine the methodology of repair. This methodology will then be used to plan and reliably estimate the cost of repairs to the rest of these faces, so we can better preserve and maintain the historic fabric of Leicester Cathedral.
Photos here are from our initial South Facade investigations which were carried out using a cherry picker with specialist input from our stone consultant in April 2017. Selected areas of stone samples were temporarily removed allowing a glimpse into the unknown core walling behind. We were surprised to uncover the thinness of some of the facing stones. Mortar and stone samples were also taken away or petrographic analysis.
