Hereford Cathedral - 19th-century Restoration and 1904 Reopening

19th-century Restoration and 1904 Reopening

In 1841 the restoration work was begun, instigated by Dean Merewether, and was carried out by Lewis Nockalls Cottingham and his son, Nockalls. Bishop Bisse's masonry, which by this time had been found to be useless, was swept away from the central tower, the lantern was strengthened and exposed to view, and much work was done in the nave and to the exterior of the Lady Chapel. When Nockalls Cottingham drowned on a voyage to New York in September 1854 George Gilbert Scott was called in, and from that time the work of restoring the choir was performed continuously until 1863, when (on June 30) the cathedral was reopened with solemn services. The Bishop of the diocese, Dr. Hampden, preached in the morning and Bishop Wilberforce preached in the evening. In his diary, Wilberforce characterizes his right reverend brother's sermon as "dull, but thoroughly orthodox"; but of his own service he remarks (not without complacency), "I preached evening; great congregation and much interested."

The west front was restored by John Oldrid Scott over the period 1902 and 1908

Between them these restorations cost some £45,000, a lot in the 1800s (equivalent to some £3,706 683 in 2007 ). Since then much else has been done. "Wyatt's Folly", as James Wyatt's west front was often called, has been replaced by a highly ornate façade in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, whose figure is to be seen at the beautiful stained glass which fills the seven-light (i.e. with seven main vertical "lights", or sections of glass) window subscribed "by the women of Hereford diocese".