My name is Ian Lambie and I’m one of Historic Environment Scotland’s District Architects.
A main part of my job, and a privilege, is looking after Glasgow Cathedral.
This impressive and amazing building has been here for over 800 years
and to conserve such a historic structure
it is necessary to understand it's historical development and the fabric’s significance.
As you follow me, we will learn from the tried and tested practices of our ancestors,
and we will find out how they created a building that has stood the test of time.
Glasgow Cathedral today is situated a little to the east of the modern city centre
however the cathedral and its monastic surroundings
were the reason why the original city of Glasgow was founded back in the 11th century
Our first knowledge of the site is of a 7th century monastic foundation
that was dedicated St Mungo, also known as St Kentigern,
though the cathedral as we see it today dates from a re-foundation
at the early 12th century by King David I in 1114.
That Romanesque style cathedral was enlarged in the 1180s
but in part of the building process it was burned down by fire.
We know of the cathedral (size) because during the 1990s when the heating works were undertaken
the trenches exposed the cathedral’s foundations.
A small fragment of the Romanesque cathedral still survives in the cathedral crypt also known as the lower church.
The cathedral building, we know today originates from the end of the 12th century
and is mainly the result of the massive building programmes carried out throughout the 13th century.
We can trace the development of the cathedral from scant historic records that survive,
but also by changes in architectural styles within the building.
During the 13th century details in the gothic style changed significantly
as decades of the century wore on.
Here we see a plan of the late 12th century Romanesque cathedral of Bishop Jocelyn.
Now we see the beginning of the present cathedral.
Commenced by Bishop Walter in the early 13th century with the formation of the east crossing,
transepts and a larger Nave on the west.
However, work to the Nave was halted after 1233 for several decades
when Bishop Bondington commenced the greatly enlarged eastern arm
as a setting for the shrine of St Kentigern.
This plan shows the relationship of the sequential expansion.
So, by the end of the 13th century most of the present cathedral had been constructed.
Archaeological survey has revealed that much of the fabric of the earlier 12th century cathedral
was reused in the later rebuild and expansion.
Here on the West Front two towers were subsequently added,
a bell tower to the north in the early 14th century
and another on the south containing a library in the early 15th century.
This early 19th century view of the West Front shows these unsymmetrical towers
that were subsequently demolished in the 1840s.
The Victorians deemed these two towers that were asymmetrical of a poor status
and also of a poorer condition
and subsequently the looked at replacing them with an elaborate scheme
with two western towers.
After much controversy unfortunately monies run out
and so a more modest 13th century design was considered and taken forward
and here we have it, here.
Though the cathedral still stands much as it was in the medieval period,
virtually all of the extensive cathedral precinct buildings have disappeared.
This illustration shows us the precinct as it might have stood in the early 16th century.
Though these buildings were dismantled after the 16th century religious changes.
You still can see the reused stonework in the later 17th century kirkyard walls.
Because stone is a high-quality material and traditionally was constructed with softer lime mortar,
it has made it easier for this material to be deconstructed
without damaging it for its reuse elsewhere.
Here is sustainability in practice.
In 1406 the central tower and spire collapsed after being struck by lightning,
this caused extensive damage to the east of the cathedral.
Particularly damaged were the Chapter House and Choir aisle vaults.
Over the next hundred years to 1508 these and the spire were repaired and reconstructed.
As in previous building programmes much masonry was reused,
probably even to the extent of replacing the damaged window tracery in new stone
exactly matching the originals, that by the 15th century was in an archaic architectural style.
This allowed the sustainable reuse of the undamaged stonework.
Repair has been a constant in the life of the Cathedral
and one of the reasons it still stands today.
So let’s go inside and look at the late medieval adaptions and changes to the cathedral.
We are now in the Nave of the Cathedral looking towards the great East window.
We see the massive volume of a cathedral built for medieval religious rite.
With the mid-16th century Reformation
the change from Catholicism to the new Protestant Presbyterian religion
there was no need for such large religious spaces.
Thus, most large cathedrals and abbey churches fell into ruin in Scotland.
However, in the case of Glasgow Cathedral its unique split-level layout
helped its sustainable adaption for the continued reuse of the expanding city.
In the late 16th century and mid 17th century
the cathedral was split into 3 for 3 separate church congregations
thus allowing the cathedral to survive
when the surrounding presbyteries and Canon’s Alley were lost.
This adaption is a good example of making the best of an existing building.
Our ancestors knowingly or not considered sustainability in reuse.
The cathedral’s eastern arm is 2-storey along with the western arm of the Nave.
This allowed the cathedral to be partitioned into 3.
Though this continued use unfortunately resulted in the loss of all the pre-reformation fitments.
Fortunately, in the adaption, the building of walling to separate the Choir from the Crossing in 1635
reused and saved the medieval Rood Screen.
Another wall to the west of the Crossing was built to separate the Nave in 1647.
Here is an 18th century view of the interior.
As that century progressed upper galleries were built in the Choir and Nave Churches
to accommodate the enlarging church congregations.
Thus for 200 years the new adapted joint use saved the cathedral,
until a renewed appreciation of medieval architecture in the early 19th century.
This led to the relocation of the Nave and Lower Church congregations.
And on removal of the later masonry partitioning and galleries
the whole medieval volume of the interior was reopened.
Adaption of this building was made possible
because the cathedral’s unique internal layout was flexible and able to be adapted,
making it easier to rearrange the spaces for new uses.
Today building designers should increasingly be thinking along these lines too.
The pulpit is a nice little example of continuity and reuse.
In the 1850s when the cathedral was opened again,
the 16th century panelling from the time worn and damaged pulpit of the Lower Church
was reused in the new pulpit for the remaining congregation in the Choir.
The mid-19th century also saw a large conservation project
on the repair of the time decayed high-level stonework of the cathedral
the weather eroded pinnacles, parapets and upper gables were all substantially rebuilt.
When considering the current conservation work on the cathedral masonry
we assessed the areas most at risk
and we are generally concentrating on the weather exposed
cathedral gables and high-level masonry.
But one of the worst facades of the building for decay was the sheltered East End.
Heavy smoke pollution deposits from the many chimneys
of the 18th to mid-20th century industrial city settled and formed
thick smothering crusts in these sheltered areas of the cathedral stonework.
These crusts with rainwater acted like an acidic poultices
dissolving the stone beneath.
Our masons had to carefully chip off the hard tarry sulphurous deposits
to allow the stonework below to breath.
Today we are facing risks from climate change.
More wetting and drying cycles are accelerating the decay of our stonework.
The corrosive acidic pollution not only attacked the stonework,
it also attacked the stained glass that had been installed
in the great 19th century restoration
Here I am holding a piece of the Munich Glass that was installed in the 19th century
and by the early 20th century the pollution was so bad
that the corrosion had actually started to etched the glass
and it had to be replaced in the mid 20th century.
We are now about to see the North side of the Cathedral
where masonry conservation and repair work continue today on the North Transept.
Today we have very large metal scaffold.
But you can still see evidence of the original timber scaffolds used in constructing the cathedral.
Notice these small square stones under the windows.
These were putlog holes where the vast amount of timber scaffold was attached
to the building when it was constructed
and you can see with the modern scaffolding how much it was used.
In the medieval period the sandstone quarry was on a ridge nearby to the west.
By the 19th century stone had to be brought in by railway from quarries in Lanarkshire up to 20 miles away.
Now with our current conservation work stone has had to be transported from Northern England
and east Scotland more than a 100 miles away.
Stone is a low carbon material to extract,
so the transport makes up a significant part of its carbon footprint.
Therefore, sourcing as locally as possible, as they did in the past,
helps to keep down the carbon footprint of these repairs.
Ironically the original medieval local stone has proved much more resilient to weather decay
than the Victorian replacement stone.
Here our Historic Environment Scotland masons are cutting out severely weather decayed stone
and they are using the same sustainable methods
as their medieval forebearers.
It’s only when you get up close that you realise the size of the individual stones
and the energy required to transport the new stones to site, carve them,
and hoist them up the scaffold to get them into position to be installed.
We are now all the way up at the gable of the North Transcept
Johnnie Clark, who is the Historic Environment Scotland’s Works Manager for the Cathedral
and a stone mason tells us more about the current repair work.
One of the challenges is the actual size of the stones that are getting replaced.
And this is, this is one of these ‘fleur-de-lis’. This one is actually in good condition
in comparison to the others that are going to get replaced. So it’s a massive stone so...
First of all you make your templates all up here
and it’s great to having the actual depot close to the cathedral as well
because you will have to revisit making this templates
because nothing is true or square on this monument.
And so this is where our tour ends.
We have seen how this magnificent building
has changed and adapted throughout its 800 hundred of years of history
and the work, the repair work that has gone on to maintain its fabric in the past
and the current work that has been carried out
to keep the fabric of the building in its current state.
As we face new challenges due to climate change
it’s important to remember that we need to make the most
of what buildings we already have
in order to be resource efficient and support net zero climate change targets.
To find out more you can visit our properties
or find us online on the Historic Environment Scotland website
and our social media channels