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Taking care: conserving Sydney’s public art and memorials

Meet the conservators, masons, architects and artists preserving our precious City Art Collections

The Wives and Mothers Memorial, Woolloomooloo. Photo: Chris Southwood / City of Sydne

The First World War Soldiers Memorial (Wives and Mothers Memorial)

Andy Wilson has an Edinburgh accent as thick and strong as his hands. A banker mason by trade, he’s been carrying out restoration work for 35 years. There are three apprentices under his watch, carrying out a repoint and clean of the First World War Soldiers Memorial (Wives and Mothers Memorial) in Woolloomooloo.

“I started my apprenticeship when I was 15 in Scotland, then followed a woman to Australia! That old story!” said Wilson. He landed in Australia right as restoration work was undergoing something of a boom, in the early 90s.

He’s had the opportunity to work on some of Sydney’s most iconic buildings, but the clock tower at Town Hall has been his favourite project. “It’s the heart of Sydney. When you go up there, you can’t help but think about all the things that building has seen. The number of famous speeches and moments that have happened right there on the steps.”

Andy Wilson is passionate about training new apprentices, to ensure the skills to preserve memorials like this live on. Photo: Chris Southwood / City of SydneyThe Wives and Mothers Memorial was erected in 1921. It marks a place where so many farewells were made, as young Australian soldiers boarded ships bound for battlefields in Europe.“When you look at the lime mortar, you can see that it’s eroded away considerably,” said Andy. “But that’s what mortar is designed to do, it’s designed to be sacrificial. If there’s any movement in the memorial or the building, the mortar will absorb that. It also allows for the transfer of moisture out through the softer Joints, not through the stone which might lead to deterioration or discolouration.”“A monument like this will last just about indefinitely,” said Andy. “The Council’s program of monitoring and restoration should ensure it’s here for a very long time.”

 

Looking for qualified, experienced stonemasons/bankermasons.      Apply at:

info@traditionalstone.com.au