St. Stephens Episcopal Church Rose Window Restoration: A
Carpenter’s Extraordinary Journey
Submitted By Fr. Curtis Metzger
A
few years ago St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Pittsfield began
to notice that the woodwork holding its rose window in place was
deteriorating and probably hadn’t had much attention since it
was installed in the 1860’s . A rose window is a circular
stained glass window typically at the back of the church near
the main entrance. This type of window is usually found in large
churches or cathedrals. St. Stephen’s window is one of a few in
the immediate area. It is unusual in its design because most of
the glass is actually painted. This is fairly common and still
considered stained glass. The window is mostly shades of brown
in a geometric design with fleur-de-lis and incorporates some
brilliant blues and reds at its center. The side windows all
would originally have been translucent letting in light to read
the prayer book and hymnal (some of these side windows are now
other beautiful examples of stained glass). The light from the
altar windows at the front balanced by the light from the rose
window in the back sets a very special mood in the sanctuary.
The design and balance plays off the wooden walls (all American
Chestnut) and gives a warmth to the space. The sanctuary would
be stark and unwelcoming without those sources of colored light.
Having discovered this problem with the window, St. Stephen’s
approached Neil English of Epsom to discuss the restoration of
the rose window located above the vestibule on the gable end of
the building facing Main Street in Pittsfield. Work was begun
this May and has recently been completed. The way this
restoration was done has its own unique story, including some
architecture and woodworking sleuthing, refined crafting by
skilled carpenters, and use of equipment that was similar to the
machines used to create the original framing.
The
project was a collaborative effort between Neil English and
Jason and John Witham of Witham Construction in Barnstead. In
May a wooden scaffold was erected above the vestibule to provide
a safe working platform and a sample of the decayed moldings was
removed. It was then necessary to have shaper knives ground in
order to reproduce those circular moldings in Witham’s shop in
Barnstead. Shaper knives are custom made blades incorporated
into machinery to get the correct shape of a wooden molding.
English sought the advice of Alden Witham (uncle of the Withams
of Barnstead) at Contractor’s Millwork and made the trip to
Alden’s shop in Sharon Springs, New York, molding samples in
hand. Alden runs a window and sash shop that utilizes vintage
equipment to produce his work. His shop is located in the old
Sharon Springs train station and all the woodworking equipment
in that shop is powered by leather flat belts reaching down from
a massive main shaft mounted on the ceiling. His oldest machine
is from the Civil War era while his newest machine was
manufactured in 1910. Alden recommended that English contact
Bob Knourek at Woodworkers’ Tool Works in Melrose, Wisconsin for
the desired knives.
Bob
said he could certainly help and requested that a sample of the
moldings be sent to his firm so that knives could be ground to
the actual molding profiles. Woodworkers’ Tool Works, in
business since 1907, prides itself on quick turnaround and
offers shipping within 24 hours of receiving an order. English
shipped the molding samples and began the wait. Ten days later
he called Bob to see if he had a tracking number for the package
that English assumed had been shipped and was now lost somewhere
in the mail only to have Bob inform him that he could not fill
the order. The shaft size on the shaper in the Barnstead shop
was too small and would not be strong enough to remove the
amount of wood needed to produce the moldings without the
molding head flying apart in the process. For safety reasons, he
could not fill the order. He suggested the English go back to
Contractor’s Millwork in Sharon Springs to have the moldings
made up there on the vintage equipment that would certainly be
heavy enough to do the job. So English called Sharon Springs and
asked Alden to confer directly with Bob and discuss shaper shaft
and molding head sizes so the knives could be ground that would
properly fit his vintage equipment. Once the knives were
manufactured, Jason would travel to Sharon Springs and produce
the moldings on his uncle’s equipment. Another week went by and
English called Wisconsin to check on the progress of the order.
Woodworkers’ Tool Works informed him that it was currently out
of the particular tool steel needed for the knives and that the
steel was currently on back order.
In
the meantime, English and the Withams’ constructed a layout
table at the shop in Barnstead and set to work cutting out the
western red cedar blanks for the eight foot diameter moldings.
Three sets of moldings were needed so three separates sets of
templates were created and closely fit to the scribe mark etches
in the surface of the layout table. Those templates were then
transferred to the cedar planks and the blanks were sawed out
with a band saw and finish sanded.
Eventually the knives were produced and shipped to the New York
shop. Five days later Jason left for Sharon Springs on a Sunday
morning. English expected that Jason would run the moldings on
Monday and be back on Tuesday but there were a few more glitches
on the horizon. By Thursday he had still not heard from Jason.
It seems that Uncle Alden really wanted to use a particular
double shaft shaper that was in his warehouse and not currently
installed in his shop. In fact, that shaper was in the far back
corner of a very packed warehouse that actually required a day
of work with a forklift l to empty the ware house in order to
retrieve the shaper. Once it was outside the warehouse, Alden
went home and moved an antique tractor to the premises in order
to power the shaper via flat belt. Jigs then had to be made to
hold the more delicate molding blank before it could be run
through the shaper. Jason got back to Barnstead on Friday but
not until after he had helped Uncle Alden pour a concrete
foundation for his camp in return for all the time that his
uncle had consumed on the St. Stephen’s Church project. So much
for all the careful scheduling and the month of May and the
first part of June that English had set aside for the project
but like they say, “A way will always open.”
The
rose window has now been restored to its former glory with new
western red cedar moldings, new sheathing boards, a new
Plexi-glass storm covering and two coats of fresh paint on all
surfaces. The new yellow paint was matched from a sample of the
original un-oxidized paint found beneath the original moldings.
The church is not open very often during the week, but the
Sunday service is at 9:30 and all are welcome to join our
service, or stop by after (10:30-ish) to see the window. The
cost of restoration is mostly covered, but if you care about
preserving local historic art and architecture, donations are
always welcome.