Urn upside down, supported by a hook and chain as its base is being drilled out.

Urn resting on work bench. Material strapping wrapped around it. Hoist chains hanginf loose around the urn.

One of the horns from the Urn laying on a worksurface. Reinforcing/positioning rod inserted into base.

New base for the Urn

Urn being lined with reinforcing material. The internal supporting frame made with stainless steel rods is visible in outline.

Urn suspended, through its vertical axis, by chains in the workshop.

Urn's lead liner being positioned within the internal supporting material (now set).

The Urn as currently installed in the garden operates as a fountain. The internal plumbing is show in this image: drain, offset to the left; the water feed for the fountain, in the centre.

The Urn is on a stand; it is assumed that this imge shows it in a (nearly) completed state.

3 photograph albums recording the restoration work on the Urn from Poringland.

This urn was installed in August 2016 in SJB gardens. It was a gift to the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Norwich, by Bishop Alan Hopes from his private garden at The White House in Poringland. It formed the central part of a garden feature which also had four cherubs representing the four seasons.

Although very badly damaged, it was carefully and skilfully restored over several years at Felbrigg Forge. The history of the urn is undocumented and the only information that we have is that it was created between 1904 and 1906 by an artistic plumber from Poringland. It was not cast, but worked from the inside out by a process called 'repoussé' using a product new to the period - High Alumina Cement. This material hardens very quickly so one can only imagine the time it must have taken to produce such a huge and intricate work.

The two animals which are represented are a European Alpine Ibex, a goat, and a Mouflon sheep with curly horns which originated in Iran and is one of the two ancestors of all modern sheep breeds. The bottom of the urn is decorated with a wide variety of flowers, fruit and foliage as well as caterpillars and insects.