Cowane wrist repair will soon be in hand
The restoration of the John Cowane statue adorning the central tower of the listed Stirling building which bears his name is among muchneeded work expected to commence next year at the historic site.
The statue commemorates the merchant and benefactor whose estate funded the building of the 17th century almshouse. Its right hand, made of wood, fell from the statue a number of years ago.
The statue will be removed from its niche and taken to a specialist conservator for restoration.
A planning application for its temporary removal from the site for repairs, conservation and redecoration was recently lodged by the Patrons of Cowane’s Hospital Trust.
Fundraising for the work – which includes grant applications – is ongoing. It is the first stage of wider conservation work at the hospital.
Plans for the building’s restoration had been thrown into doubt last year following a shortfall in cash needed to trigger the award of multimillion pounds grants. However, Stirling Provost and chairperson of Cowane’s Hospital Trust Christine Simpson had pointed out they were confident of a positive outcome.
According to a sculpture conservation report, dating from June 2010, work on John Cowane’s hand had been described as an ‘immediate priority’. The report followed an inspection of the painted stone statue carried out at the 17th century hospital in February that year.
The report pointed out that the John Cowane statue appears to have been carved from sandstone, but the right hand is documented to have been recarved in wood around the 1820s.
It stated: “There is a large open visible crack one centimetre in width, with movement in the joint at the wrist of the dexter hand area which has been repaired in the past, prior to the most recent paint scheme. This hand is projecting from the niche and directly over the central access door of the building.
“It is likely that the metal dowel securing the wooden hand and possible cement repair of the stone corroding. This corrosion combined with frost jacking in the hand could cause the hand to fall at any moment.”
The report had also pointed out that there are also areas of previous damage to the stone carving which had been covered by painting carried out by St John Street resident John Lennon in the 1990s.
It went on: “The upper paint scheme as seen today is not original and has many layers under these 1990s colours.
“The polychrome layers over the statue are peeling away from the stone in visible areas, due to natural weathering, the ingress of moisture, and the use of more modern paint layers including varnish, although the stone does seem sound underneath most of the visible areas.”
As well as the statue the report also mentioned other aspects of Cowane’s Hospital which require restoration work as ‘immediate priority.’ These include weathered date stone letter-cut panels on the building walls, Victorian stone door and window surrounds and the balustrade to the south east of the building which was vandalised.
Following the vandalism master and factor on behalf of Cowane’s Hospital Trust Sharon Shortt, said the senseless destruction of the balustrade had come at a time when the trust was about to embark on a major programme of repairs to the building, which had been described by Historic Environment Scotland as ‘a rare survival of 17th century burgh architecture and one of the finest buildings of its kind in Scotland.’
Ms Shortt said this week: “The trust is very pleased that things are starting to move on the project. We’re hoping for a March or April starting date and expect the work to take about six to eight months subject to any delays.”
Anyone wishing to contribute or help with raising funds for the project can contact Cowane’s Hospital at the nearby bowling green pavilion or call 01786 472247.