Carving at the Monument

As part of the major restoration works at the Monument funded by the City of London Corporation, CWO was commissioned to replace four ornately carved paterae to the underside of the viewing platform.  

These had always been separate stones, hung by the means of leaded wrought iron hangers.  The last recorded mention of these is their removal on safety grounds in the late 19th century when a large section fell off. Though extensive searches have been carried out, no records of what they were like have been found.

As the same architect also designed St Paul’s Cathedral it was decided to take inspiration from the carvings on this most famous edifice. CWO visited St Paul’s on several occasions, taking detailed photographs, which were used as a reference to create proposals for project architect Julian Harrap Architects to consider.

Once designs had been selected scale models were made using modelling compound. Final approval came soon after models had been completed for three of the paterae, the architect expressing his delight at the quality and strength of these designs, though the fourth proved more problematic.

As the carving commenced, the architect had great input, reminding us that if the paterae were to stand out at over 200 feet we had to create deep dark shadows and fine detail would be superfluous.

During all this the not insignificant problem of how to hang these 250kg stones was being wrestled with by Clive Dawson the structural engineer. The solution was to hang them from bolts secured into the stone with specially formulated two part epoxy resin.

As the carving cannot be lifted from above and it is vulnerable to damage if pressure is applied from below, the stones were laid face down on a cushion, with a hole in the middle to allow the location of the central pin of the hanger. This cushion is placed on a purpose made cradle.  The whole contraption was then jacked into place using a genie lift with fork extensions enabling the mast to clear the viewing platform.

Images supplied by Sue Salton Photography