PM Transcripts

64/ 007
FOR PRESS: P. M. No. '/ 1963
COMM4ONWEALTH CONTRIBUTION FOR CLEANING OF
sT.-AK-J IS, 3 LONDON
Statement by the Prime Minister9 the Rt. Hon. Sir Robert
Menzieos
The Prime Minister said today that the Commonwealth
Government had decided to contribute fœ 5 000 to the appeal
for œ 150,000 sterling to complete the c.. eaning of the
outside of St. Paulfs Cathedral, London. A request had been
made by the Lord Mayor of London through Sir Eric Harrison,
Australian High Commissioner in the United Kingdom.
The West Front of the Cathedral, including the
famous Bell and Clock Towers had already been cleaned
thanks to the generosity of ? he Ionian Bank of London.
As the Lord Mayor said in his request to Sir Eric " This
good work has not only revealed beauties in Sir Christopher
Wren's design and in the craftsmanship of his stonemasons
which had been concealed for generations by incrustations
of grime, but has brought to light such hidden features as
the Marble surround to the groat West Doors, the Frioze of
of the main Cornice over the Portico, and many other details
of absorbing interest."
The Prime Minister emphasised that St. Paul's
housed in its crypt the Chapel of the Order of the British
Empire and thus had a special significance for the whole
Commonwealth of Nations.
CANBERRA, 28th January, 1964.