Lincoln Cathedral is undergoing a five year renovation project, during which time the north-west and south-west turrets and statues will be repaired and restored to something resembling their former glory.
Further to our blog detailing the history of Lincoln Cathedral, it seems that the Cathedral is undergoing a major renovation during the next few years. Keen-eyed locals and visitors may have spotted scaffolding being put in place around the Cathedral at the moment – it is expected that the scaffold erection will take 16 weeks, after which stonemasons and conservationists will spend two years renovating and repairing the statue of St Hugh of Avon and the south-west turret. Following this, the scaffolding will be moved to the north-west side of the Cathedral, where further works will be done on the turret and the statue of the Swineherd of Stow.
The Cathedral currently employs seven stonemasons and carvers in its renovation team, and the stone used for the repairs is Lincoln limestone, quarried from the Cathedral’s own quarry on Riseholme Road. Surveys are taken to produce drawings for the masons to follow, and templates from the original stones are made to aid reconstruction. The newly quarried stone is then worked by hand to an accuracy of 1mm, using the templates and drawings as a guide. When the replacements are finished, the old stones are chopped out and the new stones fixed into place using lime putty mortar.
