01907 Fall 2020 V3

FALL 2020 | 17
A stained-glass window, left, at The Ellingwood
Chapel, below, at the heart of Nahant Cemetery.
PHOTOS: SPENSER HASAK
His buildings grace campuses
from Boston University to Princeton
University to University of Southern
California, Los Angeles, and from St.
Paul’s School to Rice University.
The chapel has a central, square,
Norman-style tower that creates an open
bright space in the center of the building. A
large nave with pews is in front of the tower
and is illuminated with a rose stained-glass
window above the chapel door.
The records and other official items of
the chapel are located in a small chancery
behind the tower.
Like many architects in his day,
Cram was inspired by his travels to the
great buildings of Europe. Cram became
particularly interested in the English abbeys
destroyed during the Reformation in the
reign of Henry VIII. Cram’s book. “The
Ruined Abbeys of Great Britain” catalogued
his visits to these buildings — often
buildings on private land and filled with
wandering sheep.
The Nahant Historical Society’s efforts
to maintain Ellingwood chapel’s original
lighting fixtures and windows, polish the
original pews and repair the stonework
continue Cram’s legacy in building and
preservation.
In 2019, Raffaele Construction Corp.
workers started climbing up and down
scaffolding set up along the chapel's exterior
granite walls.
The $162,000 exterior repair job was
part of an ongoing town commitment to
maintain. Maintaining the stone walls is
crucial to minimizing water damage to the
chapel's interior walls. Weather and time
allowed water to seep into slight cracks in
the mortar holding together the stones in
the exterior walls. Intruding water spawns
salt deposits and moss on the walls.
Raffaele workers carefully matched the
original mortar used in the chapel walls to
preserve the correct hardness, color and even
the "strike" — the specific technique used
by a mason to apply the mortar.
"The object is to keep water out,"
said Nahant Community Preservation
Committee Chairwoman Lynne Spencer.
Nahant Cemetery Committee member
Dave Wilson is happy to see the chapel's
exterior wall work underway. A descendent
of chapel builder Frederick Wilson, he can
recall when the chapel was used for storage
until town activist and historian Calantha
Sears spearheaded chapel restoration efforts
with the motto, "We can do better."
Her initiative led to chapel repairs and
the building's use for concerts, memorial
services and weddings. Wilson and Spencer
said the chapel's interior with its white
walls, stained glass windows and simple
design is characteristic of country churches
in northern France and Scotland. The
ecumenical chapel seats about 90.
"Acoustically, it's very beautiful,"
Spencer said.
Spencer and Barletta said the restoration
project is an example of town residents
protecting a historic building with the
$112,000 appropriated in 2018 by Town
Meeting and combining that sum with
$50,000 in Massachusetts Historical
Commission money.
"The Community Preservation
Act needs additional funding so that
municipalities have the ability to maximize
their dollars and can protect assets like the
Ellingwood Chapel," Barletta said.
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