28 . Glasgow Business June 2016
INSPIRED WORK
Craftsmen’s skills, old and new, restore university bell tower to its former glory T
he blue scaffolding that has swathed the University of Glasgow’s famous bell tower has hidden many a secret over recent months. No – not an
internal helter-skelter, installed under cover of darkness, as the university pretended in a widely-acclaimed 1 April prank this year. Although many students (and even a few staff) wish that a helter-skelter had indeed been installed, it was not – nor is it likely to be. Instead, four stonemasons, two pointers
and five labourers have been working on various aspects of the tower restoration on-site at Gilmorehill, with further skilled workers carrying out intricate carving, working off-site at the South Street premises of the main contractor, Conservation Masonry Ltd. Te bell cradle has also been fully restored.
Te bells, weighing three tonnes, one tonne and 0.5 tonne, were liſted off the cradle. Tey used to be pulled manually with the use of bell ropes, but as part of the refurbishment, computer technology has been installed which will allow them to be programmed to play
different tunes. Te company contracted to reposition the bells is the same one that installed the bells in 1887 – John Taylor and Co. of Loughborough. David Hasson, the University of Glasgow’s
Building Surveyor who oversaw the 40-week refurbishment programme, said: “A lot of the skills used are still the same as when the tower was built originally, albeit that some of the labour can be helped nowadays with electronic power tools. Tat said, a lot of the intricate carving is still done by hand.” Several contractors were commissioned to
carry out specific areas of specialist work: John Fulton Ltd for lead work; P Johnson and Co, Ratho Byres Forge, to replace the badly- corroded wrought-ironwork on the spiral staircase that snakes its way up the inside of the tower. Te last restoration work carried out on the tower was some 25 years ago – and that was the first major work done on the 278ſt- high structure since its construction in 1887. Mr Hasson acknowledges that, as with many major pieces of work, the initial survey
uncovered further problems that had to be done. And once the scaffolding was erected, it made sense to maximise the opportunity of having access to the tower. Aſter moving from its original site on
Glasgow’s High Street in 1870, the university’s new campus was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scot. Te tower’s signature spire was designed by Sir George’s son, John Oldrid Scot. Te spire is made of stone latice, not iron.
It has four statue carvings of eagles in each of the four corners, which stand over 1.5 metres high. Tere are also four large weather vanes and spikes, each about two metres long, which have been gilded on site up the tower, which requires a sealed-off, dry, regular temperature for the work to take place as the gilding is very sensitive to humidity and temperature. Mr Hasson said: “When you have been
working at the university as long as I have – 17 years – you don’t realise just how special some of the buildings are because you get used to seeing them every day.”
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