Ptolemy Dean installed as Surveyor of the Fabric
Friday, 23rd March 2012
Ptolemy Dean, Westminster Abbey’s new Surveyor of the Fabric, was formally installed as a member of College and placed in his stall in the Quire at Evensong on Thursday 22nd March 2012.
The Receiver General, Sir Stephen Lamport, presented the Surveyor of the Fabric designate to the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, for admission and installation.
The Dean said:
The ancient and distinguished office of Surveyor of the Fabric, to which you, Ptolemy, have been appointed, comes with great privilege and responsibility. It is your duty to care for the fabric and ornaments of this Abbey, so that these stones may speak to all of the beauty of God’s holiness.
The Dean led the new Surveyor to his stall in the Quire where he was formally installed as a member of Westminster Abbey’s collegiate body. The Surveyor is entrusted with the task of advising the Dean and Chapter of its responsibility for the fabric and ornaments of the Abbey church and its precincts.
Ptolemy Dean has established a significant reputation as an architect who has worked extensively on historic buildings and churches. He was the joint architect with Richard Griffiths in charge of the Millennium project at Southwark Cathedral. He succeeds John Burton as Westminster Abbey’s Surveyor of the Fabric. Mr Burton resigned in February following 12 years’ service.
