Funding for Cutty Sark restoration confirmed with work to be completed in time for 2012 and creation of ‘Royal Borough of Greenwich’
019/10
4 February 2010
Issued on behalf of the Cutty Sark Trust, Greenwich
The historic clipper Cutty Sark will be restored to its former glory following news today that the final parts of the £46 million funding package are now in place. Conservation of Cutty Sark will be finally completed at Greenwich next year.
Final funding to finish the project in time for Olympic and Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 has been provided by a £3 million grant from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Cutty Sark’s mast and spars will again tower over the World Heritage Site, now to be celebrated as ‘The Royal Borough of Greenwich’.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said:
“Everyone was shocked and saddened as we watched those terrible images of fire on the news. People wondered then whether Cutty Sark could ever be brought back to its former glory. Well, today’s announcement means that the historic clipper - that much-loved part of our maritime heritage since it was installed at Greenwich more than 50 years ago - will once again be open to the public – and in pristine condition – in time for the Olympics: yet another jewel for visitors in 2012 to enjoy.”
Culture Minister Margaret Hodge said:
“The £3m grant from my department is the final link in a chain that has included magnificent donations from the Heritage Lottery Fund, The London Borough of Greenwich, The Greater London Authority and thousands of private donors.
“Lord Sterling’s work in leading the campaign to raise funds has been really successful and it is thanks to all his efforts that we have reached this happy outcome. I am also grateful for all the work Councillor Chris Roberts has done at Greenwich to provide such significant support. I look forward to welcoming Cutty Sark back as an integral part of the Greenwich World Heritage Site when we play host to visitors from all over the world in two years time.”
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Cllr. Chris Roberts, Leader of Greenwich Council said:
“In Greenwich we are tremendously proud of our heritage, of which Cutty Sark is an iconic symbol. After the fire it was clear that our sense of place was shared by people across the world. We are proud to play our part in restoring and conserving the ship for generations to come. I would also like to pay a personal tribute to the Late Chairman, Maurice de Rohan OAM, who was such an inspiration to everyone involved in this project.”
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said:
"Since entering her dry dock in Greenwich in the fifties, the Cutty Sark has been as synonymous with a proud maritime heritage as it has with the borough of Greenwich. I am thrilled that the reconstruction and restoration of the world's last surviving tea clipper is progressing with speed since the damaging fire in 2007, and proud that the Greater London Authority is playing its part in putting this wonderful landmark back on the map. Fundraising is never easy, especially during a recession, but Lord Sterling and his team have done an exceptional job and I join them in their passion, dedication and commitment to this worthy cause."
Interim chairman of the Cutty Sark Trust, Maldwin Drummond said:
“As custodians of the ship, my trustees and I are hugely moved by the enormous generosity displayed by so many to ensure that this ship is preserved for future generations. Undeniably, it has been a very difficult year for us, but particular thanks are due to the energetic efforts and persuasive skills of Lord Sterling and to Cllr Roberts, Leader of Greenwich Council, in closing the funding gap.”
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Background Note Cutty Sark has weathered many a storm and mishap in her long life – from losses of masts and rudders to murder and suicide. Sold to the Portuguese at the end of the 19th century, she was first saved for the nation in 1922, by Captain Dowman of Falmouth. Then in the 1950’s she was rescued, largely through the efforts of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh and Frank Carr the then director of the National Maritime Museum, and placed in a purpose-built dry dock at Greenwich.
She was undergoing major conservation works when Cutty Sark’s troubles returned with the disastrous fire in 2007. This could have been the final chapter if she had not been de-rigged and stripped as part of the works programme. Although the fire was a major set back and caused localised distortion, it also revealed major problems of corrosion of the lower frame. Therefore, a good deal of strengthening was required. However, ninety percent of the original ship remains, and will be once again able to inspire another generation.
Cutty Sark’s consultants suggested suspending the ship above the dry berth to even out the strains on the hull. The approved scheme not only allows the public to admire the ship’s lines for the first time, and appreciate the reasons for her success in carrying cargo under sail, it also frees up the dock below to be used for education, exhibition and entertainment purposes.
The plan for conserving the ship, showing her lines and using the space below appealed to many generous supporters who subscribed to match the great assistance and imaginative support of the Heritage Lottery Fund. This ‘iconic scheme’ received the enthusiastic backing of Greenwich Council, soon to be the ‘Royal Borough’, under their leader, Councillor Chris Roberts.
The London Borough of Greenwich has long realised that the setting of the ship in Cutty Sark Gardens was not only for Cutty Sark, but as a key arrival point and gathering place for people visiting the World Heritage Site which comprises a feast of historic buildings, including the old Royal Naval College, the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory. The new vision for Greenwich includes improvements to Brunel’s Greenwich Foot Tunnel under the Thames, and to make the pier into a proper ferry port. In due course, there is to be a cruise terminal for ocean liners a little further down stream.
The conservation of Cutty Sark in this splendid new setting will not only allow Hercules Linton’s beautiful design of the ship to be in public view, but will also contribute new life to Greenwich itself. The public will once again be able to see and touch Cutty Sark, which has inspired so many seamen, past and present, when she is once again one of the jewels of the crown of the Royal Borough.
This has all been made possible by the Heritage Lottery Fund, enthusiastically supported by the London Borough of Greenwich and private donors. Additional funds have been pledged by the Greater London Authority and the DCMS, led by the Minister, Margaret Hodge, with the backing of the Prime Minister himself. This has enabled the £46 million project to be fully funded and to be a major attraction in time for the Olympic Games in 2012.
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Notes to Editors
The Location
Cutty Sark Gardens was created as the setting for the Cutty Sark and a major strategic gateway for the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site.
It is the main visitor arrival point for the DLR and river transport links, a local open space with River Thames frontage and part of a major national cycle network and river path. It is flanked by Grade I listed buildings in the historic town centre and leads to all the major local attractions including the National Maritime Museum, the Queens House, Old Royal Observatory and the Old Royal Naval College.
The clipper Cutty Sark acts as a distinct and highly visible arrival point to the World Heritage Site. Her masts, visible up and down the river, command Greenwich Reach, Canary Wharf and the Docklands development on the north bank of the River Thames and when the ship is re-opened she will be raised a further three metres above her current position, thereby making her appearance even more dramatic
With improvements to Greenwich Pier and facilities for the reception of cruise ships, this marine gateway will be of increasing importance to tourism, with Greenwich becoming ever more important as a destination.
A redesign of the layout of Cutty Sark Gardens is being planned to assist this transformation.
The Ship
The ship’s fame and performance comes ultimately from her shape. The importance of being able to see Cutty Sark’s under water shape was recognized by Frank Carr during the restoration of 1953. He originally proposed that the ship should be drawn up on wooden ways on the hard at Greenwich, rather than her exquisite hull being concealed in a dank dock. He saw that this would enable visitors to wander around her to see her lines from every angle, much as they would have been able to do when she was being built in Dumbarton at Messrs. Scott & Linton’s yard in 1869.
Historic ship conservators have long pondered the best way of conserving a ship out of the water. It has been recognized that a large vessel tends to “sit down” on her keel over time. The shores that supported Cutty Sark in her 1953 dock had cut into her hull planking and the keel was stressed.
The Conservation Project
Cutty Sark is one of the most famous ships in the world, the last of extreme clippers which were the most elegant form into which the sailing ship evolved. The conservation project has been formulated now because of the ship’s deterioration over the past half century but also because of the damage she sustained in the fire of 21st May 2007.
The plan is not simply to sort out the physical problems of the ship, not simply to make sure that she has a sustainable future, but to give her the setting that she deserves as an icon of maritime enterprise, an icon of London and an icon of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site.
One of its most ambitious aspects is to raise the ship by three metres, opening up the dry berth and revealing one of the greatest views in the world.
Where else in the world can you stand, walk, dine or dance under a three masted sailing ship, let alone one of the most beautiful ever built?
Everyone who has ever written about Cutty Sark has commented on her beautiful lines. What we want to do is create the opportunity for everyone to see exactly what they mean. She has the most fabulous, knife blade shape, which will now be revealed with this elegant solution.
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The project provides an integrated package for addressing issues of conservation, learning, access, interpretation and income. They are:
- To halt the degradation of the ship’s fabric and prevent its future recurrence, through a combination of mechanical cleaning, preventative coatings and selective repair, and the replacement of the main deck, keel and sheathing, so that no further major conservation work is required for the next 50 years.
- To improve the support for the ship and the environment of the berth by raising her nearly three metres in the air.
- To create a vastly improved visitor experience, through better access to the dry berth (where the ship’s fundamental significance, her shape, can be appreciated), proper interpretation, reinstating the original means of boarding and introducing lifts inboard and outboard.
- To re-present the ship in the landscape not as a ship marooned in a dry berth but a vibrant structure that makes a positive contribution to the world class architecture of the Greenwich area.
- To use the conservation project as an opportunity to develop a centre of excellence for the maritime heritage sector and create a wide range of training schemes, for the benefit of a wider community.
- To revolutionise the ship’s facilities for functions and events so that she has a sustainable future and becomes a stronger community asset by building a service tower containing food preparation areas and toilets, and creating partitioning systems to allow concurrent uses of the ship and berth.
Impact on the Local Economy
Current estimates undertaken in partnership with local stakeholders indicates that the project has the potential to generate spending equating to some £10 million in the local area over and above any on site expenditure at Cutty Sark itself.
This project will create one of the most exciting public spaces in London.
When London is showcase to the world in 2012, Cutty Sark will be a landmark which will attract huge public interest, not least as the only listed Grade I structure to have won a race!
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Funding Breakdown
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has supported the Cutty Sark Trust over a number of years with awards totalling £23m.
| |
Amount pledged £ |
| Stage 1 Costs |
|
| HLF |
1,251,750 |
| CST reserves |
417,250 |
| TOTAL |
1,669,000 |
| |
|
| Stage 2 Costs |
|
| HLF |
21,748,250 |
| Private donations raised by CST > £1m |
7,610,000 |
| Private donations raised by CST between £100k - £1m |
2,195,512 |
| Private donations raised by CST between £20k - £100k |
593,864 |
| Private donations raised by CST between £10k - £20k |
186,505 |
| Private donations raised by CST between £5k - £10k |
61,000 |
| Private donations raised by CST < £5k* |
360,975 |
| Insurance |
1,400,000 |
| Michael Edwards Foundation |
1,000,000 |
| Section 106 contributions |
2,000,000 |
| Contributions to the cost of works to the dry dock from the Cutty Sark Gardens Public Realm Funding |
2,000,000 |
| Greater London Authority |
1,000,000 |
| The London Borough of Greenwich |
3,000,000 |
| The Department for Culture Media & Sport |
3,000,000 |
| TOTAL |
46,156,106 |
*This total includes contributions from some 20,000 members of the public – school children giving pocket money; senior citizens dipping into their pensions and tourists and enthusiasts from around the world.
For further information please contact:
- DCMS – Toby Sargent 0207 211 6276
- Cutty Sark Trust - Richard Doughty 0208 858 2698
Press Enquiries: 020 7211 6052/6277
Out of hours telephone pager no: 07699 751153
Public Enquiries: 020 7211 6200
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