WESTMINSTER ABBEY

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 146, 18 December 1933, Page 17

WESTMINSTER ABBEY

RECENT FALL' OF STONE

DUE TO BAD REPAIRING

Neve light on the repair's,which have been proceeding for more than a year ou the roof of King Henry tk<3 Seventh's Chapel, Westminster Abbey, ' is shed in a Government report, says the London "Morning Post;".. It is revealed that the fall of a cusp, weighing more than a hundredweight, in the summer of 1932, was due to inefficient .repairing 'at some time in the past. Vibration due to /traffic is stated to be "negligible." These statements are made by the Director of the Building Research Station, Watford, in'the ahnual report of the Building Research Board under the Department of-Scientific and Industrial Research. . ■■.■'., 7 , Microscopical examination of the stone joint in- the vaulting' of" the chapel, from which the cusp fell, it is explained, showed that the joint had been fractured at some time and built up again in mortar, but without reinforcement. "Repairs of this type," the report adds, "are considered to be inadequate to carry the weight of the cusp with safety." A search for similar weaknesses has accordingly' formed an important part of the detailed examination of the roof, and the Dean of Westminster informed a representative of the "Morning Post" that everything had now been made good and that no further anxiety need be felt for the safety of the roof. : The result of tho vibration measurements conducted by the station is, however, in marked contrast to previous statements made by the Abbey authorities. The Dean, it will be recalled, referred a year ago to a feeling of vibration when, taking .services in the chapel which, he said, had not been noticeable a few months before. The Dean also referred to the increased traffic due to the opening of Lambeth Bridge' and to the construction of "monstrous buildings" .on the Embankment, adding that he would be apprehensive if largo buildings came any nearer tho Abbey. The question of traffic vibration was discussed many months figo with the Ministry "of. Transport 'by the Abbey' authorities. '