Surveyor to the Fabric, Clerk of Works, consultants, contractors and designers
Biographical notes:
The post of Surveyor has existed since St Paul's Cathedral was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London. At that time, the architect of the new building, Sir Christopher Wren, held the title "Surveyor General of the Royal Works", the highest architectural office in the Kingdom, conferred on him by Charles II in 1669. Subsequently, the post became that of "Surveyor to the Fabric". Wren died in 1723 and since his appointment, there have been sixteen Surveyors: John James, Henry Flitcroft, Stiff Leadbetter, Robert Mylne, Samuel Pepys Cockerell, Charles Robert Cockerell, Francis Cranmer Penrose, Somers Clarke (Consultant Architect), Mervyn Macartney, Walter Godfrey Allen, Lord Mottistone, Paul Paget, Bernard Feilden (Consultant Architect), William Whitfield and Martin Stancliffe. The Surveyor was expected to be a "skilful architect", whose responsibility was to survey the whole of the building twice per year under the direction of the Dean and Chapter. In addition, the Surveyor was required to make a report to the Dean and Chapter on the condition of the building and, if necessary, to the Commissioners. The maintenance and repair of the fabric began prior to the completion of the building; accounts record repairs in 1689. It has continued ever since to a greater or lesser degree as requirements and available finances dictate. A fund for the upkeep of the fabric was established in Wren's period as Surveyor, under the Trusteeship of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London and the Lord Mayor of London. This fabric fund continued to the early twentieth century, but throughout the later nineteenth century, the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral increasingly took control of the fabric repairs and finances. The fabric fund paid for restoration work on Thornhill's paintings in the Dome in the nineteenth century, but generally it did not stretch beyond maintenance of the fabric; monies for large structural projects or decoration schemes were obtained by appeal/donation. This remains the case today. The Surveyor has responsibility for the fabric of the building, its decoration and architectural components and fittings. Surveyors at the cathedral have been instrumental in testing and developing new techniques, processes and technologies for maintaining the structure, measuring the cathedral's movements, and monitoring its environment.
From the guide to the Architectural Archive, 1710-2011, (St Paul's Cathedral)
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Subjects:
- Cathedrals
Occupations:
Places:
- London, England (as recorded)
