If you’ve recently driven over Magdalen Bridge and glanced up at Magdalen’s Great Tower, you may have noticed something a little different about it. Glinting at the top of Oxford’s second tallest building are four golden flags. “Have those always been there?”, you ask yourself, “or have they just painted them?”
The answer lies in the final stage of a long and meticulous restoration project. This restoration, which began in the late 1970s with repairs to the stonework, has now culminated in the regilding of the Tower’s four iconic weather vanes, which were reinstated in September 2024.
The Great Tower, an iconic feature of Oxford’s skyline, is adorned with ornate stone pinnacles on all four corners, each crowned by a gilded flag. While these flags are certainly historic, it’s uncertain whether they were part of the original construction when the Tower was completed in 1505, as the fabrication techniques have changed little over the centuries. However, Peter Meehan, a conservationist who led the restoration effort, believes that at least three of the current flags may indeed date back to the Tower’s original completion.
After over 500 years of exposure to the elements, though, the flags had begun to show their age. So, in 2023, after much deliberation, the College decided it was time to restore them to their former glory.
This was no small task. Standing at 144 feet tall, the Tower’s pinnacles are not easily accessible, even from the roof. A specialist team with expertise in heritage rope access was required to scale the Tower, retrieve the flags, and safely lower them without causing any damage to the structure.
Enter Chris Milford from Wall Walkers, a company specializing in heritage rope access. In November 2023, Chris and his team undertook the daunting task of climbing the pinnacles and carefully bringing down the four flags.
Once on the ground, the extent of the damage became clear. Many of the decorative elements were missing or had loosened, and the gold leaf had worn away to reveal oxidised copper underneath, which is why they looked so dark from the ground. After a thorough assessment by Peter Meehan, it was determined that, despite their deterioration, all four flags were repairable. Meehan quickly got to work, restoring the copper foundations and regilding the flags with gold leaf to bring them back to life.
When the time came to return the flags to their lofty home, the process was as intricate as the restoration itself. Each flag had to be securely packaged and carefully hoisted 144 feet into the air. Using a system of pulleys and ropes, Chris and his team painstakingly winched each flag up the side of the Tower. Once at the top, Chris climbed each pinnacle individually, using ropes and pulleys to lift the flags up to him at each corner, and finally manually putting the flags in place.
As the protective wrappings were removed, the newly gilded flags suddenly shimmered in the afternoon light. After 500 years of presiding over Oxford’s skyline, thanks to the incredible craftsmanship of those who originally made them, we hope that this new restoration will enable them to stay atop the tower for another 500 years.
