De-Wreckovating Statues

Over the past many years, we have covered a number of church de-wreckovations, but never, I think, one about the dewreckovation of statues. Thanks to a reader for bringing to my attention this video, recently posted on the YouTube channel of a company that specializes in this kind of work, Ottawa-based Brushworks Statuary Restoration and Repair. It shows very nicely how they repaired and and repainted two statues from the parish of St Clement in Ottawa, the home of the local FSSP apostolate. (I make bold to suggest that the Spanish, who in recent years have given the world a spate of hilariously bad “restorations”, would do well to invite these folks for an extended visit to their country once the madness of the pandemic subsides.)

A Brief Update from Shrewsbury Cathedral

Earlier this year, we reported a few times on the current project to restore the cathedral of Our Lady and St Peter of Alcantara in Shrewsbury, England, a building originally designed by AW Pugin, but completed by his son Edward, and consecrated by Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman in 1856. (Here, here and here.) As you can see in those linked articles, a good deal has already been achieved in terms of undoing a very unfortunate wreckovation from the 1980s. The cathedral administrator, Fr Edmund Montgomery, has written let us know that although the coronavirus lockdown meant little could be done in terms of building work, the planning committee is moving forward, and God designs for the sanctuary will be submitted to the bishop for comment and refinement by early September. Also, a parishioner skilled in graphics and technology, Matthew Spriggs, brought a 3D camera to capture the cathedral; the full scan produced a virtual walk-through which might be of interest. A more developed version showing the stained glass and with labels, commentary etc is in the works.

https://viewings.spriggsova.co.uk/

Screenshots from Mr Spriggs’ website: the restored interior of the cathedral.

A shot of the floorplan, which shows where the beautiful original floors have been rediscovered.

A screenshot of the “dollhouse view” as if one were floating up near the roof.

Another Update from Shrewsbury Cathedral

The de-wreckovation of the cathedral of Our Lady, Help of Christians and St Peter Alcantara in Shrewsbury, England, procedes apace. Here is the main sanctuary as it looks as of today; note the statue of the Virgin and St Joseph, which have been restored to their original places just outside it, where they were until the reordering of the church in 1984/5.

Fr Edmund Montgomery, the cathedral administrator, writes in to say, “The Historic Churches Committee granted permission for us to temporarily restore the statues of our Lady and St Joseph, together with their canopies, to where they once stood before the reordering of 1984/5. The translation of Our Lady’s canopy revealed the original Baptistery floor and the aumbry for the holy oils.”

The former baptistery before the recent renovations, with the canopy for the statue of the Virgin against the wall, covering the aumbry.

Part of the original floor uncovered.

The newly revealed aumbry.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

An Update on the Restoration of Shrewsbury Cathedral

At the beginning of this month, we published some pictures of the newly begun restoration project of the cathedral of Our Lady, Help of Christians and St Peter Alcantara in Shrewsbury, England. We are happy to share this update from Fr Edmund Montgomery, the cathedral administrator; as you can see, a lot of progress has been made in less than a month. “Despite the difficulties presented by the pandemic, we used the sanctuary for the first time ad experimentum. The statues do have ornate canopies, but we have not gained the permissions to move these as yet. The platform is temporary but will allow a period of consideration as to position of the altar, the cathedra, etc.”

Continue Reading this Article. . .

Restorations of the Cathedral of Shrewsbury, England

We are glad to share some good news which we received from Fr Edmund Montgomery, the administrator of the cathedral of Shrewsbury, England, about the restoration of the cathedral which has just begun.

The works begun at Shrewsbury Cathedral are part of an initial exploratory programme to uncover some of what was lost in the reordering of the 1980s. Shrewsbury was one of the original dioceses established at the restoration of the hierarchy in 1850 by Blessed Pope Pius IX; the cathedral is dedicated to Our Lady, Help of Christians, and St Peter of Alcantara. The building was designed by AW Pugin, but completed by his son Edward, and consecrated by Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman in 1856.

A view of the original design of the sanctuary, from the cathedral’s Facebook page.

Regrettably, in the last half century and the reordering that took place following the Second Vatican Council, many of its beautiful aspects were removed: the altar rails, the pulpit, the stencilling and painting on the upper sanctuary, the high altar, the painting of Christ in Majesty above the chancel arch. We hope to ensure that original Pugin elements such as the baptismal font, the reredos, the sanctuary lamp, the pulpit, are retained and brought back to their full beauty, and explore whether we might locate them to their original position.

The sanctuary, just before the restoration works began this week.

The flooring now uncovered dates back to the early 1900s and was a further beautification of the cathedral, likely in preparation for its Golden Jubilee in 1906; all things considered, it is in a good state of repair. The two side chapels of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and St Winefride (a Welsh virgin whose has a shrine at Holywell) also have original tiles. Those in the Sacred Heart chapel are rather plain, but St Winefride’s chapel is both beautiful and damaged. Repairs are hopefully easy to achieve here.

Part of the original mosaic floor uncovered.

Damage to the original floor from the new installations of the 1980s.

Now that these initial works are underway, I hope to be able to advise the Bishop of Shrewsbury on the next stages. Together with the Historic Churches Committee and the various diocesan bodies tasked with heritage and conservation, it is hoped that a new schema for the sanctuary retaining the uncovered flooring and having a new altar, etc will be drawn up in the coming months.

If anyone is interested in this project and wishes to be in touch, they can be at: father.edmund@shrewsburycathedral.co.uk.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

Another Wreckovated Church Gets Un-wrecked

Holy Family Parish in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, within the Diocese of Greensburg, recently completed a very nice restoration and de-wreckovation. Under the leadership of Fr Daniel Mahoney, V.F., the parish put back the ornately patterned ceiling, a high altar, murals of varies “modern” Saints around the nave, as well as all new lighting and sound system, etc. The decorative work, murals, and painting were done by EverGreene Architectural Arts; the restored churched was blessed with the dedication of the new altar by Bishop Edward Malesic on June 25, 2017. Our thanks to Mr Christopher Pujol, a seminarian of the diocese of Greensburg, for sharing these photos with us, and our congratulations to Fr Mahoney and Bishop Malesic for bringing beauty back to this church. Ad multos annos!

The church prior to the renovations of 1967. Notice the murals, ornamented ceiling, and the similarity to the newly restored high altar seen below. Images of the Holy Family crown the arch.

This is the 1967 renovation of the church as pictured in the commemorative booklet from the consecration; the high altar, pulpit, and all decorative paintings have been removed.

The altar installed in 1967 was granite, and consecrated with the rite in the revised Pontifical of 1961, according to the commemorative booklet of the day. The relic chamber can be seen in the front of the altar where the relics from the original altar were placed; these have now been moved to the new high altar. The booklet from 1967 notes “This restoration observes the prescriptions given in the tradition of the Roman Church, assigning dignity to the altar by due attention to essentials and not to temporary decorations.”

A more modern photo of the church prior to the restoration of 2017.

The restored church played off the original design by returning the Holy Family to the arch; Christ the Divine Teacher takes the center position, as the parish school is claimed in His name. The focus again becomes the great window of the crucifixion in the apse, as well as the restored high altar with tabernacle.

The new high altar comes from a closed church in the Archdiocese of Baltimore; it is strikingly similar to the original altar of Holy Family. The relics deposited within the mensa are the same from the original high altar.

The beginning of a celebration of Low Mass at the new High Altar, by Fr Daniel Mahoney, assisted by Mr Christopher Pujol, June 2018.