The Condition of St. Paul's Cathedral.

Progress, Volume III, Issue 4, 1 February 1908, Page 133

The Condition of St. Paul's Cathedral.

At a meeting of the Roya Institute of British Architects recently held, Mr. Mervyn Macartney, F.R.1. 8.A., surveyor to the fabric of St. Paul's Cathedral, read a paper on "The Present Condition of St. Paul's Cathedral." Mr. Macartney said that the main points of weakness in the building — that was to say,

rounding masses. The "south transept~ r had suffered in addition to'the dislocation l^ the parts abutting on the dome by the tendency of the front of it "to 'move 'outwards. The walls of "this^facade'Shad^ moved outwards, and had sunk slightly to 'the east and west. This showed itself in'the south window arch, and in the upper part of the + ransept. With regard to the west front,' two tendencies were found to be at work, the one "arising from the other. The two towers were out'of the perpendicular, the one to the north and the other to the south, and the portico, which had been said to be the only flimsy piece of construction in the Cathedral, had followed the direction of the towers, and, in addition, had moved westwards. After much repair and renewal, the portico had been restored to its original state. Assuming that existing conditions could be maintained, it might be said to be safe. But the secret of its weakness had been learned while providing for its strength, and it was seen how dependent it was on the western towers, and how they in turn stood or fell by the maintenance unimpaired of the ground on which they were built. The average depth, of the foundations was' 4ft. 6in. below the crypt floor, which was 6ft. below the ground level north and south, and the footings of the walls consisted. of three 12in. courses of stone, with a projection of about 2ft. In no case had these shown signs of insufficiency, nor had any organic weakness been discovered in the structure itself. Where the walls had been opened for one reason or another they had been found to be perfectly well constructed. In conclusion, Mr. Macartney showed diagrams of the borings recently made, and said that! all tended to [prove that the danger to the Cathedral came from sub-