Heritage project worth the wait
Local
For 10 years James Henry has been waiting to finish re-slating the roof of St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral, using slate sourced from the same Welsh mine as the original roof slate.
The project began when refurbishment of the Cathedral was being carried out as part of the installation of a Casavant Frères pipe organ from Canada in 2015.
Four years ago, 25 tonnes of slate, comprising 14,000 pieces of specially hand-cut and hand worked roof slate, were shipped to Adelaide from Wales and put in storage at the back of the heritage-listed Cathedral in Wakefield Street.
COVID and considerations around the impact on Cathedral services prevented the work from commencing.
Mr Henry was working on the roof of the church in the Newton parish when a friar there told him about St Francis Xavier’s body being buried in the old Goa Cathedral in India.
He and his son Ky decided to travel to India to visit the shrine and pray to the saint who is the patron of the Adelaide Cathedral.
James Henry.
“I’m not a very religious person but I said a prayer that we would get the work done and when we returned to Adelaide we got the go ahead,”
Mr Henry said.
“I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t think we would ever get it done.”
The heritage roofing expert said it was a “massive” project and the biggest he’d done in “one stage”.
As well as using the best quality slate from Wales, the timber battens come from Europe, the copper nails to fix the slate are from Belgium and the waterproof membrane from England.
St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral, first dedicated in July 1858, has undergone four major extensions during its history – in 1860, 1887, 1926 and in 1996 when the tower was completed.
An Archdiocesan spokesperson said the slate installed during the 1887 extension had deteriorated to a level that the work needed to be done before more roof slate became dislodged and started causing leaks.
Some areas of the interior have been cordoned off at times and workers down tools during services, but the Cathedral will remain open.
Mr Henry and five roofers, including his son Ky, are working on the project under the supervision of heritage consultant Ian Hamilton.
The re-slating is expected to take up to six months and is scheduled to be completed in time for Easter.
Mr Hamilton said the steep pitch of the main roof meant that roofers would need to work in harnesses much of the time for their safety.
“Much of the roof has already been stripped and a green waterproof membrane installed prior to fixing the new slates, which will need to be individually checked, graded and holed prior to installation,” he said.
“The original lath and plaster ceiling, already uncovered during the works, will be retained, and the roof will be insulated, making the Cathedral quieter and more thermally efficient.”
Gutter replacement and high-level stone repairs and cleaning are also included in the works.
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