by Gordon Lyons | May 14, 2018
St Anne's East Window restored to glory Lyons Stonework has repaired and restored the 19th Century, five-light, stained glass East window at St Anne's Church in Sale. ST ANnE’s church was opened in 1854 to accommodate an increase in local population following the arrival of the railway to the town. IT IS built in the Victorian Gothic style. The need for repairs had been identified in the Church’s most recent quinquennial report. THIS showed that the stonework tracery of the window had deteriorated AND was at risk of total failure. the stone had been bedded in the wrong plane and, during previous repair attempts, covered in cementitious mortar and sealant. This had exacerbated the problem because it trapped in moisture, causing the stone to decay more quickly. Lyons Stonework was awarded the JCT Minor Works Contract from a short list chosen by the Church’s architect, Equilibrium. As main contractor Lyons enlisted the help of specialist Pendle Stained Glass. This was now the proven team which had completed a similar scheme at St James’ Church in Brindle with Equilibrium. The first move was for Pendle Stained Glass to strip out all stained glass lights and remove them to the workshop for restoration and cleaning, reforming any deviation in plane, and renewing the perimeter lead. Pendle would also replace the iron saddlebars designed to keep the panes from bowing, since the iron had corroded and therefore expanded causing fractures to the surrounding stone. As Lyons began removing the damaged tracery, more stonework issues were uncovered. The hood mould above the window had deteriorated, and the cross finial was cracked down...
by Gordon Lyons | Jul 4, 2017
Tracery window repairs, St James' Church, Brindle Lyons Stonework undertook a programme of repairs and replacement to tracery windows at St James' Church, Brindle A Grade II designated church in the Diocese of Blackburn, St James’ Church dates back to the 12th Century, with addition of the present tower in Perpendicular style around 1500. The nave, including the windows restored as part of our works was originally built in 1817. The south side of the nave has three large arched windows, being the focus of the programme of work having suffered fracturing of the stone from corrosion of Iron pins over the years. Our repair works proceeded concurrently with restoration of the stained glass. Brought in by conservation architects Equilibrium, Lyons worked through the process of matching the stone, condition assessments, planning the works, templating and scheduling the stone, cutting and shaping the stone before refixing the stone on site. A local gritstone was sourced to match existing masonry and taken in 5 tonne blocks to Lyons’ yard at Ramsbottom. The masons set out the templates in the workshop to make final measurements before sending through cutting lists to the saw shop for cutting of the block to sawn six sides pieces. The banker masons then using section and face templates set to work further cutting and shaping the tracery by hand. The finished masonry was sent to site where the fixer masons installed the new masonry. The process was fully completed in house without use of any external contractors. “I was lucky enough this week to see the sun shining through all three stained...
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