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St Paul's Cathedral - Main Dome Restoration St Pauls Cathedral Norman & Underwood had already carried out work to the Cathedral's East Roof in 1964 using 60 tonnes of sand cast lead at 'Code 10' thickness. It was a great honour to be approached again and asked to replace the lead and restore the Dome of this magnificent cathedral The old lead had stood the test of time and had virtually worn out. It was further damaged by a bomb which was dropped nearby in World War II. The Dome is 112 feet in diameter and is 366 feet high. Initially it was thought that the height of the dome would be a major problem. This was alleviated by use of scaffolding which was approximately 10 feet wide and a mechanical lift was installed to the lower sections. Ladders were used to access the higher sections. Mr Nick Nicholson who was in charge of the contract commented that the scaffolding felt so safe you could drive a car around it. Approximately 10 of Norman & Underwood's key plumbers and labourers worked to remove 110 tonnes of lead from the dome which was then transported back to our Leicester site to be recast. The unusual design of the dome which incorporates 30 panels or sections meant that the lead sheets were laid horizontally with laps and each panel was divided by ornamental roll sections. The contract took approximately 20 weeks to complete. When referring to St Paul's Cathedral Sir Christopher Wren said "Cast lead is certainly the best covering and being of our own growth and manufacture and lasting if properly made for many hundreds of years, it is without question the most preferable" The casting process at Norman & Underwood has not changed since the firm began in 1825.   back to top back to major contracts   11-27 Freeschool Lane, Leicester LE1 4FX, England tel: 0116 251 5000 fax: 0116 253 2669 e-mail: [email protected]