16 February 2009
City of London’s iconic Monument reopens to the public
The Monument, the City of London’s memorial to the Great Fire of
London in 1666, will reopen to the public today (Monday 16 February
at 12 noon), following a £4.5 million restoration project.
The 202-ft high structure has been closed for the last 18 months
for restoration and repairs, which include the installation of a
new viewing platform balustrade and cage, new telescopes as well as
improved lighting, cleaner stonework and repairs to the
architecture sculpture. The ‘flaming’ orb has been regilded and
real-time panoramic views from the top of the Monument will be
relayed on a dedicated website.
Designed by Sir Christopher Wren and the City Surveyor, Robert
Hooke, the Monument was built between 1671 and 1677. It is the
tallest isolated stone column in the world – 202ft high – which is
the exact distance between it and Pudding Lane, where the Great
Fire of London is believed to have started.
The newly-regilded ‘flaming’ orb, which crowns the structure,
symbolises the Great Fire and is a timely reminder that the City
has undergone more than one crisis in its time - and has not only
emerged and recovered, but thrived.
Ian Luder, Lord Mayor of the City of London, says: “I am
delighted that the Monument has been restored, repaired and
protected for future generations and can now, once again, welcome
visitors. Whether they come to admire Wren’s work, or enjoy the
panoramic views from the top or the contrast between the old and
new in the City at street level, visitors have always been drawn to
the Monument.
John Barker OBE, Chief Commoner and Chairman of the City Lands
and Bridge House Estates Committee at the City of London
Corporation, says: “The renovation of The Monument has been a huge
project, requiring hard work and dedication from a large team of
architects, surveyors, engineers and technicians. The City
Corporation is very grateful to everyone involved, and is proud to
be continuing to preserve and enhance the City’s heritage and
treasures.”
The Monument is open daily from 9.30am – 5.30pm (last admission
5pm). Admission for adults is £3.00, £2.00 for concessions and
£1.00 for children. A combined ticket for the Monument and the
Tower Bridge Exhibition costs £8.00 for adults, £5.50 for
concessions and £3.50 for children. For more information, call 020
7626 2717 or go to www.themonument.info
Ends
Notes for editors
The media is invited to a press view of the monument at 10am,
ahead of the reopening to the public at 12 noon.
Please call Fiona Milligan or Andrew Buckingham (see below) for
details. The Monument is situated at the junction of Monument
Street and Fish Street Hill, next to Monument tube.
Representatives from the City of London Corporation; Julian
Harrap Architects; principal contractor and specialist stonemasons
CWO; engineers Hockley & Dawson; quantity surveyors Davis
Langdon; and other specialists and craftsmen will be available for
media interviews. Professor Chris Meigh-Andrews will be on hand to
explain the panoramic camera system.
The City of London Corporation’s principal contractors on the
restoration project, which started on 30 July 2007, were specialist
stonemasons Cathedral Works Organisation (Chichester) Ltd.
The consultant architect engaged by the City of London for the
project was Julian Harrap Architects, and the structural engineers
working for the architects were Hockley & Dawson. Hare &
Humphreys Ltd carried out the re-gilding of the flaming orb,
restoring its brilliant shine with the application of over 30,000
leaves of gold. The restoration was filmed and photographed by
Harris Digital Productions, which has set up a website to show how
the works have progressed.
For more information
The City of London Corporation, which provides local government
services for the ‘Square Mile’, the financial and commercial heart
of Britain, works nationally and internationally to maintain and
enhance the City as a world-leading international financial and
business centre. Its other special responsibilities and
services to London and the wider UK include the Barbican Arts
Centre, the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey, 10,000 acres
of open space including Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest, three
wholesale food markets, two inner-London City Academies, the City
Bridge Trust, economic regeneration programmes in neighbouring
boroughs and acting as London’s Port Health Authority. The Lord
Mayor of the City of London (currently Ian Luder, an eminent tax
accountant) works extensively at home and abroad to promote the
City.
Fiona Milligan, Senior Press Officer, City of London, telephone
020 7332 3451, email
fiona.milligan@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Andrew Buckingham, Press Officer, City of London, telephone 020
7332 1452, email
andrew.buckingham@cityoflondon.gov.uk