CLEANING ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21334, 29 November 1934, Page 5

CLEANING ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

WORK OF TWO YEA US AM) A-H AM The cleaning of St. Paul's Cathedral is nearly over, states "The Decorators' and Painters' Magazine." Only a small section of scaffolding, huddling under the dome, remains. The rest of the stonework looks as white and new as it must have done when it was tint built. Working with soap and water, eight men have been scrubbing the dirt of a century from the interior of the cathedral. It lias taken them two years and a half, and the vast painting by Sir James Thornhill, which covers the inside surface of the dome, has yet to be cleaned. The whole aspect of the cathedral will be altered when this painting is restored to its original clear lightness. A small section of the painting has already been cleaned. »The contrast is astounding. From the cathedral floor it is impossible to make out the details of the painting. A thick coat, of grime has toned it down to a drab uniform expanse. But the cleaned portion stands out with the vivid freshness of a new picture. Lightening Effect 'l'lie effect of cleaning the dome will be to lighten the whole cathedral tremendously. The light reflected down by the cleaned patch is considerabl When the cleaning is finished, St. Paul's will be one of the lightest cathedrals in the country. The task of cleaning the dome will, be a hard one. The clerk of works recently stated that Ihe most difficult problem was to find support for the scaffolding, but he has found that the dome is pierced by a number of holes. From these holes he proposes to suspend the scaffolding on which the cleaners will work. Fortunately the dirt that has covered the interior is not corrosive. The sulphur in the London atmosphere which attacks the exterior stonework of buildings, seems not to have penetrated inside. Most of the soot has come from the old systems of heating and lighting which were in use in the Cathedral. The old coke fires in the crypt, used for heating, were the chief offenders.

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