Its way back to glory
it gave people the thought that if she could do that, maybe they could raise some money too. It really drove us and when the work actually started, we began to believe that it was going to be possible”.
The 160-year-old building at the junction of Atholl Street and North Methven Street was designed by William Butterfield.
Throughout 2017 the building was shrouded in scaffolding as the entire slate roof was completely overhauled and a vast number of tiles replaced.
New lead gutters and pipes were installed by specialist contractors. In the early part of this year, work moved inside, where the A-listed status of St Ninian’s is back open to the public the building meant that much of the internal roof, 80 feet high in places, had to be repaired using special plaster of the same type used when it was first constructed.
For most of the restoration period the work was overseen on a day-to-day basis by Norrie Menzies, a member of the congregation and a retired clerk of works in the construction industry.
Rev Farquharson praised Norrie for his work, as well as David Willis, the renowned conservation architect and a founder of CLWG Architects based in Edinburgh, who also helped out.
He said: “Not only was [Norrie] able to guide us, but he knew exactly what to do when liaising with the contractors. As he said to me, ‘I’ve developed all those skills through my working life and now I’m able to use them again’. He really enjoyed it”.
“[David] has been central to everything and without him we would never have got through this project.
“He has done a huge amount of work, keeping us right and often coming over here in his own time.”
David paid tribute to the volunteers who had raised the money: “The efforts of the congregation have been absolutely remarkable, not just in generating funds, but to physically finish off the work. The cathedral was in a pretty poor state.
“The scale of St Ninian’s is out of the ordinary, in Scotland anyway.
“Its history is out of the ordinary, starting as a smaller scale building and then growing over a period of around 70 years.
“We can’t ignore these buildings. We simply have to do what has to be done to maintain them and where there is a will there is a way.”
Perth Cathedral St Ninian’s is the ‘mother church’ of the Scottish Episcopalian Diocese of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane where the Right Reverend Ian Paton is the newly installed bishop.
Although he arrived after the work on the cathedral was planned, Bishop Paton said: “I have to say that the work involved and the fundraising and planning that made it possible, meant the cathedral was a beautiful and welcoming place for that service, and I’m very proud and pleased about what the provost and congregation have achieved.”
Sunday’s event at the cathedral may provide only a short break for St Ninian’s hard working congregation.
Two more phases of restoration remain: the pressing repair and replacement of external stonework and finally, restoration of the building’s outstanding windows.
The service will take place at 4.30pm, but residents are invited in from 12.30pm to inspect the repairs.