Scope of Works
Manchester’s ‘Our Town Hall’ project entails restoring one of the city’s greatest cultural and civic assets to its former glory. Forming part of the wider project is the repair and restoration of Grade I listed Albert Memorial, the first monument to commemorate Prince Albert, featuring a marble statue of Albert standing on a plinth, placed within a large Medieval-style ciborium, designed by architect, Thomas Worthington. Incorporated into the canopy are a number of carved medallions, four winged angels holding gilt trumpets and figures representing things that Albert felt passionately about – art, science, agriculture and commerce.
Sadly, nature’s elements had taken a toll on Albert Memorial. Years of weathering had resulted in erosion and loss of carved detail. To mitigate these effects, safeguard the memorial against further deterioration and to ensure its longevity allowing present and future generations to connect with history and honour Prince Albert’s significance, Manchester City Council embarked on a project to revitalise the memorial and appointed Bullen Conservation as specialist contractor to undertake the conservation work.
The conservation process required in-depth consultation and analysis ahead of project commencement. Together with Manchester City Council and Purcell, our specialist team members established the most suitable methodology for conservation and sourced materials that work in harmony with the memorial.
Scaffolding was erected and a thorough survey was undertaken in partnership with Purcell and Manchester City Council. All defects were recorded before the eroded or decayed stone was carefully removed. A full schedule of works was produced following a team collaboration between BCL Johnsons Wellfield and the Architects, Purcell, for stone quality regarding the most appropriate stone to use.
Premium quality Crosland Hill Hard York stone was chosen to work with the exceptional significant heritage setting outside Manchester Town Hall. The stone is widely regarded as being the finest Yorkstone available and possesses the ideal balance across a range of technical requirements, giving the mineral unparalleled flexibility of use, whilst maintaining the critical durability required for longevity. The stone is especially good for ornate and decorative carving purposes.
A high level of up-front detailed design, using collaborative computer modelling and physical samples enabled the successful piecing together of the different elements of the memorial.
Bullen Conservation co-ordinated and managed all aspects of the project, however, given the high levels of detailed design required, with regards to the sculpture work, we commissioned a local Manchester based sculptor to work with our professional team.
We appointed sculptor, Nick Roberson, a figurative stone carver with vast experience of working on public commissions, to produce Albert’s arm and two angel part replacements. A number of clay maquettes were created before the design was signed off. The arm was then produced using Italian marble. Please see accompanying images.
To enable us to meet deadlines, the ornate fine stone carvings were carefully detailed and carved in collaboration with Mono Masonry, a local stone carving company, who have assisted us in the past, to ensure the highest standards of craftsmanship. The significant amount of time spent measuring and detailing various elements and producing samples ensured the highest quality of finish was achieved and enabled a smooth process of fixing when the elements arrived on site.
Our masonry workshop where the project’s senior masons and apprentices work safely and efficiently is based a few miles from site in Manchester. This made it easy to check various elements against existing detail, create profiles and templates and make adjustments to the existing stonework with precision.
