Statue back to former glory in Lewes

The spectacular statue of St Michael the Archangel that adorns the tower of St Michael’s Church in Lewes has been reinstated after extensive repair work.

The 2.4m-high work was created by acclaimed British sculptor Harry Phillips who settled in the town in his later years and was a member of the church's congregation. Phillips, who completed numerous large public sculptures in his lifetime, started his career as a wood-carver, furniture-maker, blacksmith and potter. In 1950, he was appointed Head of Sculpture at Leeds College of Art in Leeds and much of his work is now housed in Leeds Museums and Galleries.

The stunning figure of St Michael the Archangel is highly dramatic with the saint suspended in a mid-air pose, arms outstretched with large wings spread behind and a large sword grasped in his right hand. The statue was installed in 1976 and was one of the last works that Phillips completed – he died the same year.

St Michael’s Church applied for a grant from the Sussex Historic Churches Trust in 2024. The statue had started to crack in a number of areas and there was extensive damage to the right arm and adjoining sword where water had got into the sculpture and was rusting the armature inside. Specialist repairs needed to be undertaken as soon as possible. The Trust does not normally give grants for the restoration of monuments and confines its assistance to essential works to the fabric of places of worship in Sussex. However, on this occasion, the Trustees thought that the dramatic nature of the work and its prominence in the Lewes townscape merited the Trust's support.

Scaffolding was erected and the statue carefully taken down and transported to LS Sculpture Casting in Aylesbury, which has provided specialist moulding and resin casting services for more than 40 years.

David Challis said: “We first repaired the surface of the sword and arm to make a mould of it using silicone and fibreglass. This allowed us to cast a brand new arm and sword and we were able to attach this using laminated fibreglass. Fibreglass is just as strong and comes with the benefit of not being able to rust!

“We also cut off the left arm, removed the metal and reattached it using the same method. Other surface cracks and holes were repaired, and we also laminated the back of the wings as we found that these were mostly hollow with numerous holes and it was likely this is where water was getting into the sculpture. Finally, once everything was repaired, we re-patinated the sculpture using chemicals and waxes to achieve the verdigris finish.”

The statue was finally reinstated at the beginning of October. Former churchwarden Andrew Smyth said: “We were delighted and very grateful for the Trust’s grant. St Michael’s has no spare money; we normally have to draw on fast dwindling reserves if we cannot get grants and donations for projects. It was a relief that we covered the costs without needing to. We always look to SHCT for financial assistance and it’s invariably a great help.”