Monday, May 15, 2017

A New Quest for the Welsh, Frond Finial

The roofers finished this morning. It's now lunch-time and I'm at home. The new roof looks great!

BEFORE
AFTER
MORE AFTER
We really like the color as it is close to Welsh slate with a slight greenish tone.

Here's what we were going for:


Above is the view from out our garret window in the BYU House where we lived in the Cathays District of Cardiff for a month last summer. You can see the slate roofs and there is a special detail I would like to add to the house.

This next one is a zoom in on the roof crests across the street. Google has identified the item as a frond roof finial and apparently, you can still find these.




















The website I found says they are ceramic, which makes sense. I first thought they might be rusted cast iron based on the Victorian industries around South Wales.

As I don't think I'm going to make it to Wales this summer, I'm going to ask my BYU professors to keep an eye out in antique shops or architectural salvage yards for one of these. It would fit in in a carry-on backpack. (Come on, guys!)

I have three peaks on my roof that could host one of these. The holy grail would be a piece like this:


Oh, yeah! That would most definitely fulfill the quest!
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Addendum, 4 July 2017

Sometimes your dreams come true!

My children got me a wonderful gift for my birthday/fathers' day.

Yes, I now have a dragon (draig goch) on my roof! This is not a gargoyle. There is no water spout. this is a finial or decoration for the peak of the roof. It's not the top of the roof, but the most prominent spot on a peak near the front entry. Oh yeah, I like this!



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