A carved label stop of Bishop Curle’s head which has been two years in the making was installed at Winchester Cathedral on 30 October.
Cathedral head stonemason Ross Lovett first modelled the design for Bishop Curle’s head in clay two years ago, using a couple of oil paintings of the Bishop as reference.
Bishop Curle was the Bishop of Winchester from 1632 to 1645 and he commissioned the first public archway – what is now known as Bishop Curle’s passage. Before that time, the entrance to the inner Close was through the Cathedral from the north-west entrance.
The Bishop Curle label stop, the technical term for what is often incorrectly called a gargoyle, is part of the decorative and functional moulding around the external window in Curle’s passage. It’s purpose is to throw off rainwater and traditionally ends in a label stop, often with a carved label stop stone.
Ross says: “We had to replace the old label stop which had weathered away. We don’t know who it was who was first featured on the stone – it may have been Bishop Curle himself, but regardless it was suggested that Curle would be a fitting choice for the new label stop.”
The design for the new Bishop Curle label stop has been approved by the Fabric Advisory Committee and Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England.
Bishop Curle’s passage is being restored and is currently shrouded in scaffolding, which is due to come down next summer. More carved stone is in the works.
