3d Scanning at St Mary le Wigford

Having now scanned at The Collection and Usher Gallery, Museum of Lincolnshire Life and The Collection's archaeology store, we were looking to expand the Lincoln 3D Scans project by inviting institutions to participate in this on-going proposal to 3D scan sculpture in the city of Lincoln. The project aims to make these scans available to an audience to be reworked and used as a new starting point for works of any nature whether archaeological, artistic or for a general creative purpose. The scans on the website [url=http://www.lincoln3dscans.co.uk]http://www.lincoln3dscans.co.uk[/url] are free of copyright for you to download.

I am hoping in the coming weeks to gain permission to scan at local churches near the city centre. This would be great for transporting the scanner to an area of Lincoln outside of The Collection and Usher Gallery. So far we have received permission from the Rev'd Jeremy Cullimore and started collaborating with St Mary le Wigford to produce several 3D scans on the historic stone sculptures displayed within the church. St Mary le Wigford is a church of great importance to Lincoln's past and an asset to the present community of Lincolnshire.

The scanning commenced at St Mary le Wigford, Thursday 30th January. Maggie and I arranged a meeting before this date to discuss the process, and which stone sculptural pieces would work best with the technology. On Thursday morning I completed six scans on a variety of stonework displayed in the main part of the church.

St Mary le Wigford is a place of Christian worship. Today St Mary le Wigford lies at the main intersection of the High Street close to the train station and other local proximities.The tower of the church is the oldest surviving tower in the city of Lincoln. It was originally constructed from small, cut stones of a re-used Romano-British type, and is of a similar construction to a local church St Peter-at-Gowts (both built in the 11th Century). In the nave of the church above ground level there is a distinct stone embedded into the interior tower arch, reminiscent of an Anglo Saxon tombstone with an interlacing pattern. The pattern on the stonework is beautifully detailed, working well with our 3D scanning technology. It has been said that in the late 10th Century, a timber-framed church previously stood on this site, before being replaced by a stone structure.

The Grantham Tomb (1630) is another remarkable sculpture made from alabaster. The tomb produced an elegant 3D scan of the memory of Sir Thomas and Lady Grantham laying to rest. The sleeping figures provided enough detail for the technology to replicate accurately, despite the historical damage to the tomb. Gervase Holles (1634 -1642) wrote that the effigies of Sir Thomas and his Lady, in terms of proportion, visage and complextion, were “a perfect representation of them as they were being alive, their hands elevated”. 

Near the Grantham tomb, on the north aisle floor, is the extremely time-worn tomb cover of Raneulphe de Kyme, a patron of the church and the nearby friary of the White Friars (where Debenhams stands today). Lady de Kyme is buried in the funerary access of the Chapel. Raneulphe and Lady de Kyme were separated when brought in from the De Kyme Chantry on the White Friar’s site when it was dismantled in 1540. In 1877, the tomb covers were brought into St Mary le Wigford. Both the tomb covers of Raneulphe and Lady de Kyme were scanned on our visit to the church

My overall scanning experience at Mary le Wigford has been truly magical; the spiritual essence of the church and the trust ‘BeAttitude’ helping the homeless is a revelation. I felt extremely welcomed by the staff when scanning at the church. The collaboration with the church and this project has been a real success and has overwhelmed me, as this church is a treasure of the city of Lincoln. It has given me great pleasure to visit and use this technology towards recording some of the most important artefacts in this church and have them form part of the project with Oliver Laric.

The research and information on St Mary le Wigford has been kindly provided by Rev'd Jeremy Cullimore

Many thanks to all of the Staff at St Mary le Wigford for their kindness and support through this collaboration and project.

Contacts for the charity:
BeAttitude
St Mary le Wigford Church
St Mary’s Street
Lincoln, LN5 7EQ
[url=http://www.beattitude.org.uk]http://www.beattitude.org.uk[/url]
info@beattitude.org.uk
tel. 01522 214226

By Laura Ince

3D Scanning Intern

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