THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART
DESIGN RESEARCH CLUSTERS

Re-inSpired
01.07.2024


News
The church spire at St Michael’s Parish church, known as the ‘Crown of Thorns’, was designed by Geoffrey Clarke RA and installed in 1964. The distinctive structure made of a wooden subframe had been originally clad in gold-coloured anodised aluminium that had worn back gradually to its original silver-grey finish.  The structure, visible from the M9 motorway and Edinburgh-Glasgow train line, initially dividing local opinion, became a familiar and arguably iconic structure for the town of Linlithgow.

After sixty years of exposure to the Scottish weather and elements, the original wooden substructure needed to be replaced where rot had set in, and the metal cladding had to be removed to enable this work to happen.  Scaffolding was raised around the spire and the wooden substructure was made sound again and the cladding replaced with new bronze alloy metal cladding, at a cost of £400k, £220k of which was raised by those in the town and other sponsors including; Historic Environment Scotland (£90.4k), The Church of Scotland General Trustees (£40k), The Scottish Landfill Trust (£30k) and the Pilgrim Trust (£10k), in a project led by retired architect, Brian Lightbody.

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