Magdalen College tower regains 16th-century lustre

(l-r) The fallen pennant before conservation; during the cleaning process; and the pennant after cleaning and repair work

Conservation specialist Peter Meehan ACR relates the story of the restoration of a storm damaged pinnacle in Oxford

Magdalen College is part of the University of Oxford and is located in the centre of the city to the east of the river Cherwell, with the Great Tower – also known as Magdalen Tower – sitting next to the High Street. The tower is an iconic piece of the college’s architecture and is currently listed Grade One by Historic England as part of what is known as the ‘Range’.

The college was founded by William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor, in 1458. It started with 40 fellows, 30 scholars and a large choir. He inherited the buildings of the Hospital of St John before beginning construction of the Longwall that enclosed the site in 1467. Works to the cloister, chapel, hall and library were completed between 1474 and 1480. The Great Tower was completed in 1505 after Waynflete’s death, with the Range along the High Street also being completed, connecting the existing buildings to the tower.

The tower is built of Headington limestone and is approximately 44 metres high. It consists of four unequal storeys with an octagonal turret enclosing each corner. The north west turret is slightly larger as it contains a spiral staircase giving access to the roof.

Each of the four towers has a decorative stone pinnacle topped by a gilded copper pennant or flag. At least three of the pennants appear to be original, being made of copper and completely gilded. The main flag panel measures about 360mm wide by 315mm high and is decorated in relief on both sides, with profiled copper strips soldered into place.

Attached to one side of the flag is a copper tube that forms the pivot point for the pennant. It rises above the top corner and is topped with a cruciform fleur-de-lys. Attached to the side of this tube is a further shaped horizontal tube with a fleur-de-lys attached at the end to form a pointer, which is weighted with lead. To each of the three remaining sides is a small fleur-de-lys approximately 110mm high, and a larger one (140mm high) fitted to the two corners opposite the pivoting point. All the fleurs-de-lys have raised relief to their surfaces formed of applied copper pieces.

The pennant after conservationDuring a heavy storm in the autumn of 2023 one of the four pennants was blown from the Great Tower roof, landing in the grounds of the college and being damaged by the fall. As a safety precaution the remaining three pennants were removed from the tower by specialist rope access team Wall Walkers Ltd of Bristol.

The college surveyor asked Peter Meehan ACR of the Historic Metalwork Conservation Company to prepare a condition report on the four pennants and advise on their conservation. During the examination it was found that the fallen pennant appeared to be a later replacement, being slightly different in its details and assembly. All had been repaired in the past, principally due to corrosion and metal loss from the applied copper relief pieces.

The three ‘original’ pennants had suffered from heavy black oxidation to the exposed copper surfaces where the gilding had been lost. The solder joints connecting many of the copper relief pieces on the fleurs-de-lys and main flag were failing, and some pieces had been lost. The pointer tube, one corner fleur-de-lys and two small ones had become detached from the fallen flag, but otherwise damage was not too significant. One of the original pennants had an old repair to its pivot tube made using iron. That had corroded to excess causing the copper tube to swell and split open.

Examination found that all the pennants could be repaired and re-finished for a reasonable cost, preserving most of the original pieces.

Conservation works

The four pennants were transferred to a workshop for conservation treatment. Each was cleaned manually using abrasive papers to remove the remains of the gilding and black oxides, back to a sound copper surface. A sample of each decorative relief piece that formed the raised surfaces of the various fleurs-de-lys was removed and transferred to a specialist fabricator to create replica pieces. Each relief piece type was drawn using CAD software to allow a plastic former to be created by 3D printing and used to make new copper pieces.

The loose copper relief pieces were removed, cleaned and then refixed using a lead-free solder. The new pieces were also attached by soldering. The detached pointer arm and fleur-de-lys from the fallen pennant were cleaned, straightened and re-attached using lead-free solder. The connection of the pointer arm to the pivot shaft was strengthened by the addition of a copper alloy block set inside the wide pointer end.

The pennant with the later iron repair was partially dismantled, with the cruciform fleur-de-lys removed so the corroded iron could be removed. The distorted pivot shaft was straightened and repaired and a new section of copper tube soldered into place before the fleur-de-lys was re-attached.

The pennant being refitted in placeThe four cleaned and repaired pennants were degreased using acetone before being painted using an alkyd system. Each was initially primed using an etch primer before brush application of one coat of Tikkurila Rostex Super Metal primer and two coats of Tikkurila Miranol gloss (golden yellow) to form a base for the gold leaf. Each pennant was completely oil gilded using 23.5 carat double thickness transfer gold leaf.

The conserved pennants were delivered back to Magdalen College for re-fixing. Each had to be first transferred to the roof of the Great Tower before they could be fitted. As the only access to the roof was via the narrow, spiral staircase, the pennants had to be transferred up outside via ropes.

Each pennant was packed and padded using bubble wrap and cardboard, leaving only the pivot hole accessible. They were transferred in two stages: first via a scaffold pulley winch to a platform above the Range roof. The second stage involved them being belayed up the outside of the tower to the roof by the specialist rope access company.

Once on the roof, a ball bearing was placed into the pivot hole of each pennant along with plenty of grease. That was to ensure they rotated freely once re-fitted, as the bottom edges of each pivot tube had worn down over time. Using a series of ladders and ropes, each pennant was raised up to the top of the pinnacle, where the rope access specialist placed it onto its original pivot. Once safely back in place the pennants were finally unwrapped and turned to ensure they rotated freely.

• For further information visit www.hm-cc.uk.