An urgent appeal is being launched next week to raise funds for direly needed repair and restoration works at St Paul’s Anglican Pro-Cathedral, parts of which have been found to be unstable and at risk of collapse.
The appeal to raise €3 million for the architectural landmark comes after recent architectural inspections identified severe problems threatening the Cathedral’s tower, spire and stonework throughout the iconic structure.
“I am sure you cannot imagine Valletta’s skyline without St Paul’s majestic bell tower and spire,” Restoration Appeal Committee joint chairman Martin Scicluna said. “It is a universally recognised Valletta landmark. With the bell-tower and its spire rising to over 60 metres from the ground, it is a historic and iconic element of our skyline.”
The tower and spire is indeed a landmark, and they feature prominently in every postcard of Valletta depicting the view of the capital city over Marsamxett Harbour.
As such, the appeal, which will be formally launched on Thursday, comes with the tag-line ‘Save Valletta’s Skyline’.
Recent architectural inspections have found that the Cathedral’s fabric is in dire need of restoration and an urgent need for intervention to address what have been found to be “severe problems threatening the tower, the spire and the external and internal stonework” – so much so that parts of the structure have been officially declared “unstable”.
The costs of the required interventions are, however, daunting: external restoration €894,000; boundary wall restoration €383,000; tower and spire €716,000; ceiling [€165,000]; internal works [€165,000]; railings [€38,000], and do not include architects’ professional fees, technical surveys and an allowance for contingencies.
With the Cathedral set to mark its 175th anniversary in two years’ time, the Appeal Committee has tasked itself to see the project concluded in time to mark the red-letter date – November 2019.
Although St Paul’s Pro-Cathedral is one of the Cathedrals of the Church of England, it enjoys no current endowment and receives no support from the Maltese government or the Church of England.
There has been little maintenance on the fabric of the Cathedral for many years. And while the Cathedral’s small congregation meets the annual running and maintenance costs, which amount to approximately €100,000 a year, funding the major work required to save the iconic building is far beyond its means.
As such, the Cathedral’s only potential resource for the essential restorations and repairs will be the generosity of individuals and businesses and they will be encouraged to contribute in their own names or as lasting memorials.
Following preliminary architectural inspections, leading Maltese architectural practice Architecture Projects is now ready to proceed with a final study with a view to presenting its recommendations on commencing the urgent repair work.
Mr Scicluna, who co-chairs the Restoration Appeal Committee along with Sir Martin Laing, explains, “Individual elements of the required restoration have already been costed and work can be started quickly. The Appeal Committee is confident it has an achievable plan and that all elements are in place for a successful restoration once funding is secured.”
The Cathedral was built between 1839 and 1844 on the initiative of the Queen Dowager Adelaide, the widow of King William IV and Queen Victoria’s aunt. When Queen Adelaide spent the winter of 1838/39 in Malta, she was keen to found a Collegiate church in the Anglican tradition. At the time Anglican services were being held in a room in the former Grand Master’s Palace, in which, due to its size, the vast majority of English residents of Malta were unable to worship together under one roof.
Queen Adelaide’s offer to pay for the church overcame any possible objections. The British government provided a site where the Auberge d’Allemagne had previously stood.
The Cathedral had something of a chequered beginning. Richard Lankasheer, the Superintendent of Civil Artificers and a cabinet-maker by profession, had been entrusted with the design and supervision of the new church. When appointed, he was 36 years old and had very limited work experience in large construction projects.
Work started in earnest in accordance with his designs. But his lack of understanding of local construction methods and, in particular, the properties of Maltese limestone, proved to be his undoing. Within two years, “cracks, splits and crushings” began to undermine the fabric of the building. Lankasheer died suddenly in March 1841, after which serious structural defects were found and construction on the Cathedral was suspended.
The project was then taken on by British Admiralty architect William Scamp, who made a number of changes to the original designs and work resumed November 1841. Together with the Naval Bakery in Vittoriosa, the Cathedral was Scamp’s lasting legacy to Malta’s cultural heritage.
The Archbishop of Canterbury dedicated the new Chancel on 2 December 1949 (the centenary of the death of Queen Adelaide) in the presence of Princess Elizabeth who was visiting Prince Philip during his period of naval service in Malta. Prince Philip has since become the patron of the Friends of the Cathedral.
The numbers
External restoration works: €894,000
Boundary Wall restoration works: €383,000
Tower & Spire restoration works: €716,000
Ceiling works: €165,000
Internal works: €165,000
Railings: €38,000