19/09/2010

The Dean of York, the Very Reverend Keith Jones, and the Canon Chancellor of York Minster, the Reverend Glyn Webster will join members of the York Minster Stoneyard at the top of the Minster's East Front Thursday 16th September at 11.00am to mark the completion with a ‘topping out' of the Area 2 East Front Buttress.

The completion of the Area 2 East Front Buttress, located above the Great East Window, marks the end of the largest reconstruction, redesign and restoration project at the Minster in the last 30 years. The corona also contains ‘aliments and illness' themed grotesques, which were exhibited to the public last year at Barley Hall to much acclaim.

Rebecca Thompson, Superintendent of Works, said, "This has been a complicated project and shows the exceptional quality of craftsmanship carried out within the Stoneyard."
Initial work began three years ago with major structural works to the buttress and involved the entire Minster Works Department, including joiners, electricians, masons, carvers, scaffolders, and labourers. All work was reviewed and signed off by the Minster's Surveyor of the Fabric, Andrew Arrol, of Arrol & Snell Architects in Shrewsbury.Ends

Notes to the Media: All media are welcome to attend the Topping Out ceremony. If you would like to arrange an interview or photography, please contact The Stoneyard Office on 08449390020.