Lincoln Cathedral

Cathedral Architect

Since the appointment of Director Nicholas Rank as ‘Architect and Surveyor to the Fabric’ in 1996, we have managed an active programme of repair, restoration and conservation to the Cathedral Church and close properties. With an active community, visitors from around the world, rich music heritage and major historic library, our role as architects to the Cathedral is as varied and complex as it is fascinating and enjoyable.

Lincoln Cathedral plays host to a constant scaffold which travels around its walls. One 'orbit' of the Cathedral takes approximately 40 years, seeing that no one Architect has ever overseen full restoration of the building. We manage an annual rolling £1.9M programme of conservation, repair and restoration to the fabric of the Cathedral Church, and in addition undertake significant individual projects which stand out as exemplars of conservation design and intervention.

These projects have included the restoration of the 7.5m diameter Dean’s Eye Window; conversion of the Cathedral Chapter House to an education and conference centre; and the design of a new visitor facilities building which, sitting in the Cathedral’s Nettleyard, was the first addition to the Church in a century. We are currently engaged on the Lincoln Cathedral Connected Project, leading conservation works to the West Front and Exchequergate Arch and liaising on the design of new visitor facilities in the Old Deanery.

A very significant restoration project which saw the medieval rose window - one of the few remaining originals to remain in Europe - conserved with the employment of the latest technical knowledge and matched with first class craftsmanship.

The medieval glass and the carved stone tracery were removed; the former conserved and the latter replaced like for like. The tracery was re-created as an exact fit to the distorted shape that it had compacted to over time, with a new steel structure internally that strengthened the window and indeed the whole façade.

A new outer clear glazed layer was created that exactly replicated the stained-glass inner, and the original glass was hung to the inside. This new double glazed effect protects the medieval glass but is not visible to the naked eye from the floor of the Cathedral.

Environmental monitors were placed around the medieval glass to ensure it is protected and stabilised in its new position.

This has been one of the most sensitive conservation projects undertaken on Romanesque sculpture on an English Cathedral in the last 20 years.

The work involved the assessment of the condition of the sculpture, developing conservation policies, obtaining consent and overseeing the work on site. Each panel of the Frieze was assessed, and individual decisions were made for the necessary work for each panel.

Careful conservation cleaning was carried out using lasers, the JOS system and delicate mechanical methods. This needed to take into account the survival of on-going polychromy. The panels were then carefully extracted from the West Front of the Cathedral so that their full condition could be assessed in the workshop. Due to the serious deterioration to the sculpture it was eventually decided that only one of the original panels could be returned to the West Front. As a result, copy carvings were made for the West Front, and the original carvings conserved and mounted as an exhibition in the Morning Chapel.

The next phase of the conservation program proposed for the southern run of the frieze is to follow the same philosophy. However, an initial assessment has suggested that the construction of the panels is different, so the proposed conservation methodology will be adjusted accordingly.

The ‘Lincoln Cathedral Connected’ project will radically improve the Cathedral’s setting and visitor experience with extensive landscape works, a new visitor centre including cafe, shop and exhibition spaces, plus significant restoration works to the first parts of the Cathedral experienced by visitors. The project hopes to bring an additional 125,000 visitors to the Cathedral each year by 2020.

Buttress are engaged as Conservation Architects alongside a team of other professionals to develop the project. Our role sees us leading on work to the West Front of the Cathedral, in particular the Southern Run of the Romanesque Frieze, Bishops statues and Gallery of Kings sculptures; and works to the C14th Excherquergate Arch, which leads visitors into the Cathedral Close.

In addition to these significant conservation projects we will also advise and direct the rest of the professional team in terms of the way new design sits alongside the Cathedral, ensuring its significance is understood and supported by new intervention.