Project overview
Sometimes what one takes away is as important as what one puts back. The largest project undertaken by WMF Britain was about making difficult but informed choices. On a project of this scale, we needed to secure the full support of the Parish Council and national and diocesan church authorities, as well as other heritage groups.
Reconnecting with Hawksmoor
St George’s posed a fundamental question in the restoration field. Are alterations as much a part of the history of a building as what was there at the start? St George’s had been dramatically altered, largely by the Victorians who shifted the entire layout of the church by 90º. However, once all the evidence had been unravelled there was little doubt that it was achievable to return the interior to Nicholas Hawksmoor’s original design.
Total reorientation
Therefore the most radical aspect of the internal restoration was the reinstatement of the altar in the eastern apse. This alters the whole effect of the space on a visitor. Hawksmoor had created the apse as a special place for the altar, its plaster vault decorated with cherubs and symbols of the Resurrection. Today, visitors to the church now enter via the Western tower and turn right into the open, harmonious interior as Hawksmoor intended.
Work on delivering the dream Hawksmoor scheme is approaching completion as we reinstate the North Gallery, which was removed in the 1780s. Extensive historical research has informed the design of the gallery, and the intricate carving and detailing is currently underway. Once it is complete later this year, it will reflect the South Gallery and the square of worship will be defined once more.
Total restoration
There were many other aspects of the restoration that demanded particular attention from WMF Britain. The project included overhauling the roof and stone cleaning on the exterior as well as the installation of disabled access. On the inside we performed repairs to the original decorative plaster ceiling, windows, railings, floors, and furnishings. We upgraded the electrical systems and installed an underfloor heating system. This project demanded painstaking research from the details of the paint scheme to the entire layout of the church.
Heraldic Beasts
Yet the most visible part of the restoration was not inside the church. Our scheme called for the reinstallation of four massive heraldic beasts, two lions and two unicorns, that were part of the original design. The sculptures were intended as a symbolic comment on the Hanoverian succession, with the lions representing England and the unicorns Scotland fighting for the crown of England. Considered to be too frivolous for Victorian taste as well as being potentially unsafe, the ‘beasts’ were removed from the tower in the 1870s and lost. Only the weathered statue of George I dressed as a Roman Emperor was still in residence.
We were determined to re-create these fantastical beasts and, in October 2002, we held an architectural competition. The winner Tim Crawley (of Fairhaven of Anglesey Abbey craftsmen) had previously carved the acclaimed “Modern Martyrs” for the front of Westminster Abbey, and was charged with bringing the lions and unicorns back to life from contemporary drawings. His sculptures are dramatic to say the least. Each of the four creatures is over ten feet tall and weighs eight tons. Clearly visible from the ground, they form a dramatic and playful part of Bloomsbury once more.
Since completion, church congregations have swelled, the church has a thriving concert programme and is once again in the heart of this central London community. The next time you are on Bloomsbury Way, perhaps on one of the many buses that pass in front of it, you should drop in. The church is open most weekends and weekday lunchtimes.
