Wrought Iron Architectural Metalwork
Designed & manufactured in the U.K
By: Chris Topp & Co Ltd, North Yorkshire
Tel: 01845 501415
Rarely do we have the opportunity to create in wrought iron a large new work of art such as a reredos in a building as large and prestigious as Ely Cathedral.
Our team have just finished constructing (Feb 2011) a five-metre wide and five-metre high screen for the cathedral’s Lady Chapel. It is in a central location behind the altar and under the large main east window of the Chapel. This part of the cathedral dates back to the fourteenth century and still today daily services are held. An altar table and candle standards have also being made.
The project comprises the largest piece of elaborate ecclesiastical wrought iron work created by us in our 30-year history. It is also possible that the screen is the largest piece of new ironwork placed in 900-year-old Ely Cathedral for nearly two centuries. We are proud to think that our new screen could remain in the cathedral for centuries, and it has been a privilege to have been commissioned to undertake this work and an honour for the talented group of traditional blacksmiths working here.
The screen has been designed by John Maddison, a Cambridgeshire based artist and expert on medieval architecture. John recommended us for the commission of this intricate construction because we had worked with him before and he is an admirer of the quality and skill of our staff. John felt our experience in this field and Chris's talents would contribute to the finished product.
The work has been done in traditional style, emulating the high standard of craftsmen working in wrought iron for centuries and rarely practised today. For example there is no modern electric welding of joints: instead the time-honoured use of wedges has been employed on the screen.
John Maddison’s design is very modern in concept and is cleverly arranged to show off the remains of an early, fourteenth century reredos, carved into the chapel wall. A rectilinear framework is distinguished by the use of blacksmith-made pierced joints held together in time-honoured fashion by means of iron wedges. Projecting upper parts of the screen add another dimension, while their style makes reference to their Gothic surroundings.
We scour the world for ancient wrought iron that can be re-rolled for use today. The screen for Ely Cathedral was made with wrought iron that previously was part of large chains raised from the seabed of the former Gibraltar naval dockyard! The use of wrought iron, well known for its long life, as well as being a joy for the smiths to work with, will guarantee that the reredos will last for centuries to come.
Technical Information and Interesting Facts
Comments from John Maddison the Designer
“The quality of the iron work is really lovely and from the moment that the first sections were placed against the medieval reredos it looked completely at home in the building. You can never tell how such a thing is going to work until it is installed and I was duly apprehensive but the result is exactly what I had hoped for. Needless to say the design was greatly improved by the powerfully expressive joints which you devised. The whole thing has a strongly medieval character seems to me worthy of its remarkable setting.”
