St Mary’s Church in Nantwich, Cheshire, is widely considered to be one of the finest medieval churches in the country. It dates back to the 14^th century, although the latest phase of work by Maysand was on the west front, which was largely rebuilt by the renowned Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott. The work involved the recreation of two lost pinnacles and a central cross in Hollington red sandstone from the quarry of Staffordshire Stone. During the course of the project the church architect, Anthony Blacklay, died and the new work has become a fitting memorial to him.

The Grade I listed St Mary’s Church, Nantwich, is often considered one of the finest medieval churches not only of Cheshire but the whole of England. It attracts 50,000 visitors a year. It is honour enough for any stonemasonry company to work on the red sandstone of such a fine building, but a particular poignancy was added to the latest phase of work by stone specialists Maysand as the church architect, Anthony Blacklay, died during the course of it, turning the project into a memorial to him.

Anthony was a sole practitioner in Nantwich and passed the project on to a friend and colleague who does not even want to be mentioned because he does not want to detract from Anthony’s memory. He did, however, tell NSS: “The project was a real partnership between architect and mason. The philosophy of how the stone would be repaired was worked out on the scaffold.”

Maysand Masonry Surveyor Mick Fowles says: “Even though Anthony was seriously ill and had a lot on his mind, he made sure the project was safely handed over.” 

There were two aspects to the work. One involved power washing and renovation of the West Front. The stonework on the west front is nearly all the work of the highly regarded Victorian architect Sir George Gilbert Scott, carried out during a major 19th century restoration of a building that dates back to the 14th century. The other aspect to the programme was the installation of new Woodkirk sandstone steps and an electrical system to the south porch to enable a wheelchair lift to be included for disabled access behind a new electrically operated glass door.

The work to the west front included the replacement of crocketed pinnacles with carvings around their bases, and a cross, all produced in Staffordshire Stone’s Hollington Mottled red sandstone that was considered to sit most comfortably with the existing stonework. 

An analysis of the existing lime mortar was required in order to match it for repointing after existing mortar had been carefully raked out with non-mechanical hand tools.

A low-to-medium pressure water wash was used to clean superficial dirt, pigeon droppings and moss from the stone. Extra care had to be taken not to allow water jetting to damage the soft carvings. Any loose, friable masonry was lightly re-dressed and where necessary damaged masonry was replaced with indents.

Maysand’s on-site Senior Banker & Fixer Mason was Martin Rigby and the site foreman was Colin Spencer. Sub-contracting to Maysand was Richard Birchall of Birchall Masonry in Kings Bromley, who served his masonry apprenticeship with Linford-Bridgman working on Lichfield Cathedral. As a result he was familiar with the Hollington stone, although it was the first time he had come across Staffordshire Stone’s version.

There was an overall programme time of 22 weeks, but there was an eight-week lead-in time from the quarry that condensed the time available to the masons to produce the stonework – and most of the masonry had to be worked by hand, which led to some late night and weekend catching up.

Richard Birchall was working with another carver, Peter Smith. Both of them are familiar with the style of carvings required. “The key thing for us was consistency of block,” Richard told NSS as he worked on one of the new pinnacles on the scaffolding. “We had to select the block carefully. It was specified as mottled, with that bit of white in with the red.

“It’s a fantastic project to have got. It’s very seldom you get work this ornate any more. With conservation you don’t usually get a chance to replace something as substantial as this. It stretches your imagination and abilities.”

He said they were given a wide brief for the carving, although it was all produced in liaison with Maysand and the architect, with drawings being developed into maquettes before carving stated. “But at no point was there a conversation saying we were straying from the brief,” says Richard, who has studied at the Frink School of Sculpture and produces purely artistic work as well as masonry. 

He does the architectural stonework because “you have to be realistic about making a living”. He says the free-thinking and self-absorbed artistic work makes it “wonderful when you come back to a project like this because you have de-cluttered yourself”. He adds: “It’s of benefit to your architectural work to take time out to go down the sculptural trail.”

The existing stonework on St Mary’s shows a mixture of styles and there was no photographic evidence of what the original pinnacles would have looked like, although it was evident there had been pinnacles and a cross on the west front. It was decided to make them 2.2m high because that is what others on the church are.

Presumably the original pinnacles and cross had become unsafe at some time and been removed. The new versions have stainless steel dowels tieing them together and the stones at the base of the pinnacles weigh more than 900kg each. “I don’t think they will move,” says Richard. “The new pinnacles are slightly over-engineered… for peace of mind.”

The differences in the masonry on the north and south sides of the church, presumably because different teams of masons were working on either side, possibly with an element of competition between them, has allowed the carvings on the new pinnacles to vary. On one side are classical religious images of Jesus, a nun and the like, while on the other, freer forms of grotesques have been incorporated.