Divine grotesques on the way
CARVINGS BY MASTER CRAFTSMEN FOR CATHEDRAL
CREATURES carved from stone will arrive at Leicester Cathedral in the coming days as part of ongoing construction work.
Four new grotesques have been crafted to replace eroded ones.
The Leicester Cathedral Revealed project has been well under way, starting with archaeological excavations last year that revealed a wealth of local history.
As part of the project, external stonework on the south facade of the building is being repaired and restored.
Four new creatures, created by Loughborough stone carvers at Midlands Stone Masonry, will arrive at the construction site tomorrow. They will join the fox and tiger grotesques that were installed in 2018 and designed by Irish artist Phoebe Cope.
The new carvings are a white boar, a peregrine falcon, a wyvern and a Leicester longwool sheep. Tomorrow, a few specially-invited guests with a connection to each grotesque
design will be attending the cathedral construction site to see the newly-arrived carvings.
King Richard III Visitor Centre’s Iain Gordon will be there for the white boar; Leicestershire and Rutland Ornithological Society’s Jim Graham for the peregrine falcon; Leicester City Council’s Ted Cassidy (who is closely connected to the cathedral) will be there for the wyvern and a representative of Leicester Longwool Sheep Breeders Association will attend for the Leicester longwool sheep.
The new carvings are made from Peak Moor stone from Derbyshire to replace the old Victorian sandstone ones which have become heavily eroded over the years. Leicester Cathedral will store the weatherworn ones once removed.
Simon Bentley, Leicester Cathedral Revealed Project manager, said: “We’re really looking forward to the new grotesques arriving and bringing these new features that mean so much to the communities in Leicester and Leicestershire.
“While it will be late 2023 before all the Cathedral Revealed work is complete, we are making real progress and when these carvings are visible on the building in a few weeks’ time, we hope they will be an encouraging sign that our cathedral has an exciting future and will continue to be the beating heart of our city and county.”
The grotesques were funded with a grant from the Culture Recovery Fund for programmes of works undertaken by specialist builders and craftspeople on churches and cathedrals - £12.7 million was raised for the full project to go ahead.