The Abbey's Needs
By JOHNLAIRD The last appeal, thirty-three years ago, brought in LIRA)°, and this went a little way towards arresting decay. During the war years, however, all but the most urgent work was suspended, and now the battle has clearly become more unequal than ever before. Decay has the upper hand again, and parts of the external stonework are becoming dangerous: there are, for example. two stretches of stone parapet, above the nave and the west side of the south transept, which would certainly have fallen if they had been leaning outward; luckily, they inclined inward and could be shored. There are nineteen items in the category of stonework alone on the Surveyor's list of repairs. To deal with the smallest of them will cost (at present-day prices, which are anything but stable) £2,500, and with the largest, £25,000. It is estimated, in fact, that no less than £100,000 is needed for urgent repairs to the main structure.
The Abbey's doors are closed against the public now, and against the Dean and Chapter too, for that matter, so that the Ministry of Works can make w:th Byzantine thoroughness its preparations for the great spectacle of Elizabeth H's coronation. It may be thought that. while this is the best of all years in which to make an appeal to the public's generosity, with the eyes of much of the ward turning, as June draws nearer, towards the Abbey, it is also unfortunate that the pubiic should be asked for h?.'o while the public is locked out of the building which, more than any other in London perhaps, they have come in recent years to regard as their own inheritance. That, however, is another matter, and it is too late now to bring up the rights and wrongs of closing the Abbey for such a period. Even if one were still free to wander round the high-roofed interior, one would not see the cracks and gaps and flaws which demand immediate attention: they are far above the ground and out of sight for the most part. But in the cloisters there is more than enough evidence - of the disastrous effect of Landon's poisonous atmosphere on stone which is not kept clean. The surface of the walls and vaulting is pocked and scabbed by a black corrosion; any sharp change in temperature removes another fraction of an inch in flakes of cheesy stone. This is an offence to the eye, and that is bad; but the black rot is sinking surely towards the core of the stone, and that is infinitely worse, for it is the entire structure itself that is being threatened more ominously every month. Variotis preservatives have been tried in the past, but to no avail, and now an immense amount of work must go to the restoration of the stonework in the cloisters. This will cast at least £60,000, and when that is done there will -remain the continuous expense involved in keeping the surfaces clean—for that has been found by -experience to be the only sure preservative agaittst corrosion.
These are obviously urgent matters. But the state of the interior is hardly less alarming, for this too is beset in every nook and cranny and projection by the corrosive forces at large in London's atmosphere. Some cleaning had been done before the war, but it came to a stop in 1939 and nothing has been done since then; 'the work that remains will take at least ten years to complete and it will cost not a penny less than £100,000. Every square inch of surface must be cleaned by hand and with the greatest delicacy if the work of mason and sculptor and painter, at present obscured by the thick crust of grime, is not to be spoiled or destroyed. With care the intricacies and felicities' of mediaeval craftsmen and artists will rise renewed from the filth which at present both hides and devours them. Photographs of the small area already cleaned show how startling is the emergence of beauties of detail formerly hidden, and how the general effect is incomparably enriched. Here again it must be stressed that the cleaning of the interior is required for purposes of preservation even more than beautification, for the dirt is active and malevolent.
Twenty years ago the Surveyor of the Fabric and the Clerk of Works had about forty employees—masons, bricklayers, carpenters, joiners, painters, plumbers and electricians—con- stantly at work on maintenance; and this force was thought to be too small. Today there are only twenty-one. No matter how hard they work they can never hope to arrest the deterioration of the precious fabric in their charge.
There are other matters calling for attention. For the coronation of George VI the rebuilding of the organ had to be completed as quickly as possible and so it was erected without its great carved oak cases. To encase it now will cost £15,000. The Dean and Chapter wish also to endow the Choir School and give it the financial security which at present it lacks. To produce an annual income of £9,000, the capital sum of £260,000 is required.
The Abbey, like St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and unlike any other church in the country, comes under no external ecclesiastical authority., No Bishop or Archbishop rules over the Abbey. The Sovereign is its " Visitor " and so it has the name of a " Royal Peculiar." Apart from this association with the Crown the Abbey is virtually self-governing. The State contributes not a penny to its upkeep. The total income is £59,200, which is £11,000 less than that needed to ensure sol- vency for the present. To provide that additional income a capital sum of £314,000 must be found.
And so we arrive at the million pounds of the appeal: £314,000 for the maintenance of the fabric; £330,000 for immediate capital expenditure; £260,000 for the choir school; and £70,000 for future capital expenditure. It may seem a lot to ask, but it is certainly no more than is necessary.
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