St Andrews Cathedral

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St Andrews Cathedral Clyde St Glasgow

The respected architect James Gillespie Graham (1776-1855) designed the Cathedral in 1814 in a Neo Gothic style.

Halcyon Ornamental Plasterers ltd were proud to be invited to carry out traditional plasterwork, cornice repair and complete restoration of the many columns, intricate coffers and mouldings in this beautiful place of worship.

Due to the refurbishment, many of the column clusters were severely damaged or lost, especially around the bases of the columns, our craftsmen had a particularly tricky job replicating these columns as no two were the same, it became evident pretty quickly that the plasterers who carried out the work to the columns when they were first built had done so freehand! Most likely using only their trowel skills and the naked eyes to form the circular sections.

On close inspection, the columns are far from perfect but still look correct.
In order to replicate each individual column as original we, therefore, had to alter and change moulds frequently, the end result gave the impression we required which was and always is, that the repairs and restoration are not visible on completion.

We carried out extensive plaster repairs using traditional sand and lime work; this involves using plasters that consist of sand/lime and animal hair plastered onto a substrate of riven lath.
Our craftsmen are all highly skilled in this type of work, we used chestnut hand riven lath and traditional lime plaster mixes to carry out the repairs.

All of the ornamental work was painted to great effect using highly skilled painting techniques, the columns were painted and sand casted to make them look like solid sandstone, gold leaf and coloured motifs were added to some areas and although we didn’t carry out these finishes on this particular job, we do offer this service when required.