TWO stonemasons who went to school in Bradford on Avon have helped to create intricate carvings for the restoration of the town’s historic Christ Church south west pinnacle.
Ethan Darby and Adrian Moodie are both employed by Wiltshire Stonemasons, which is working on the £280,000 Discover Christ Church Project.
Ethan, 21, who is a former Christ Church Primary and St Laurence Secondary school student, has carved the intricately decorated stone that crowns the south west pinnacle - the original having succumbed to the ravages of the weather.
He then scaled the heights of the tower to help install his masterpiece at the top of the south west pinnacle.
His Wiltshire Stonemasons boss Adrian Moodie, who lives at Monkton Farleigh, is also a former St Laurence pupil.
Their colleague Mark Silk, from Trowbridge, has re-carved one of the huge and complex lower stones that had cracked as a result of corrosion of the Victorian rod that supported it.Together, they will complete the installation of the intricately carved southwest pinnacle this week – restoring it to its former glory.
Becky Strike, Community Outreach Project Officer for the Discover Christ Church Project, said: “We were absolutely thrilled to learn that a former student of both our local schools was carving this key feature of Christ Church, and that he was able to talk to people of all ages about his work at our ‘Meet the Stonemasons’ drop-in last week."
Rev Tessa Mann, the Vicar of Christ Church, added: “It is so special to see such talented traditional skills in action.
“The pinnacle marks the culmination of the restoration of Christ Church’s landmark tower and spire and restart its landmark clock.”
The first week of December has seen the completion of the restoration of Christ Church Bradford on Avon’s landmark spire.
Standing at the highest point in town, and towering above Christ Church primary school next door, the spire can be seen for miles around.
Before hoisting the stones up to the top of the tower, Ethan and Mark were on hand at a BoA Youth drop-in attended by close to 100 people, where they were able to show people of all ages both the original and newly-carved stones sitting side by side.
They answered a wide range of questions from how they became stone masons to how they carved such complicated designs.
People of all ages took the opportunity to stroke the stones before they were hoisted aloft where they won’t be touched hopefully for another 100 years.
Speaking to young people at the drop-in Ethan said: “It has been an amazing privilege to carve this special stone.
“Opportunities like this don’t come along very often and having this stone here at Christ Church - right next to my primary school - makes it extra special.”
The previous week Wiltshire Steeplejacks had been on hand to talk to young people about the life and work of the steeplejacks who have repointed and repaired the spire.
The restoration of the landmark tower, spire and clock marks the completion of Stage 1 of a two-year National Lottery Heritage Funded project at the church.
The restoration of the tower and spire has included rewiring, new lighting, repairs to the clock and bell chamber floors, followed by restoration, re-gilding and restarting of the spire clock, repointing the spire and repairing windows to stop the water coming in and finally the recarving of the badly damaged southwest pinnacle.
The project will now move on to install new lighting and restore the church's interior so there will be many more opportunities for people to get involved.
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