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Historic Campus Preservation at Berwick Academy
Fogg Tower Repairs and Stained Glass Window Restoration
More about Berwick Academy Historic Preservation projects.
Fogg Tower Repairs
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Russell Wright applies new copper to the Fogg dome. In recent years the Academy has undertaken the restoration of many historic features of these buildings, and some of the most interesting projects were underway in 1998. In Fogg, the entire bell tower was removed for extensive restoration. Last year the bronze bell cast in London in1894 by trustee Horatio Twombly, partner in William Fogg's worldwide shipping enterprises, was lowered to the ground by a crane after structural defects due to leaks were found in the tower. This isn't the first time the Fogg tower has been in trouble. The building's first square granite tower developed cracks and was replaced by the wooden dome-topped feature in 1910.
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| On May 4, 1998 this tower was removed by Aarron Sturgis of Preservation Timber Framing, Eliot, Maine. The dome was trucked to Waterboro for rebuilding by Heritage Roofing. Then, on the hillside in front of Fogg throughout the summer, the rest of the tower was disassembled, repaired and rebuilt using traditional timber-framing methods, mortise and tenon joinery, and copper metalwork, retaining as much original original architectural detail as possible. The tower was returned to place with a freshly gilded dome, and the bell was ready to ring for classes again in the 1998-99 school year. |  |
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Keith, Arron and Dan work on the tower. |
Stained Glass Window Restoration
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Fogg Memorial's centennial restoration project has also brought repairs to masonry, roof, interiors, and stained glass windows throughout the 1990s. The stained glass project has been made possible by the donations of Berwick Academy families and supporters of campus preservation who have "adopted" windows. Fogg's 100 stained glass windows are being restored by the Neely Studio of Falmouth, including a valuable collection by Sarah Wyman Whitman (1842-1904). |
| Whitman was an early supporter of Radcliffe College and figure in Boston's art and
literary world. Her windows adorn the original Fogg library and in a math classroom on the
second floor where originally there was a large lecture hall. Sarah Wyman Whitman's link
with Berwick Academy was her close friendship with author Sarah Orne Jewett, who graduated
in 1865. Whitman, a graphic artist who designed book jackets for Jewett's publisher, also
created significant stained glass windows at Harvard and at Trinity Church in Copley
Square. Her Fogg Memorial windows are her most significant collection of stained glass
outside the Boston area.
In June 1995, restoration was begun on the second floor Whitman window that Jewett donated in 1894. This soldiers' memorial window in the math room displays a dove of peace, a trident and spear, and a verse from Emerson's poem, "Sacrifice." The glasswork includes "jewelled" pieces and the characteristic heart designs that were the artist's trademark. Restoration of windows in the faculty library and French room followed. |
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The student library windows now being restored were supported by donors of the 1999 BAPA Auction. These windows were originally made by the Boston firm Phipps Slocum, which also created windows for the Mother Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, built around the same time as Fogg Memorial. Installed in Fogg when it was built in 1894, the stained glass window collection has received little maintenance and attention in all this time. In the Neely studio, many windows have to be completely disassembled and re-leaded in order to preserve their original stained glass. Once restored, they will be in good shape for another century. |
For more information please call (207)384-2164.