Reassembly of Chapel windows in progress
stAINED GLASS window Restoration complete!
Stained glass conservators Sash & Solder carefully removed all of the Chapel’s stained glass windows from their wood frames and transported the windows to their conservation studio in Portsmouth NH. The wood frames and tracery were repaired and restored and repainted in Essex Green to match the Chapel’s original trim color. At the studio, the team disassembled the windows, cleaned glass, repairing broken glass where needed, and then began the painstaking process of reassembling each window with new solder. See images below. The team reinstalled the restored windows in spring 2024 just in time for the annual May celebration of Walter Scott Dickson’s birthday. This project was funded in part with CPA funds and funds raised by the Friends of Greenlawn.
For more information on this project, contact Patti Kelleher at pkelleher@salem.com
The Friends of Greenlawn continue to fundraise for the preservation of the Dickson Chapel. For more information, contact FOG here.
The Dickson Memorial Chapel was constructed in 1894 at the entrance to Greenlawn Cemetery (est. in 1807) in North Salem. Commissioned by Salem resident Walter Scott Dickson in honor of his late wife, Georgia, the building was designed in the High Victorian Gothic style by Newton architect George F. Meacham. The Chapel is constructed of light-brown granite with olive stone and cream-colored sandstone trim in a polychromatic combination typical of the High Victorian Gothic style. The building features pointed-arch door and window frames, wall buttresses, window tracery, stained glass, finials and other carved ornament. An original iron and glass conservatory was removed in the early 1980s.
The Chapel has served funereal purposes for Greenlawn Cemetery and has been used by neighborhood groups for social gatherings. In 2015, the Chapel and Greenlawn Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. With help from the Friends of Greenlawn Cemetery, the City embarked on a multi-phase restoration of the Chapel in 2017.
Restoration Work at the Dickson Chapel
Recent restoration work at the Chapel included restoration of the stained glass rose window, replacement of undersized gutters, selected stone repointing, structural repairs to the sanctuary floor and site work in the former greenhouse foundation.
In 2021, the City completed project to redesign the Chapel’s conservatory doors. The existing doors were installed when the conservatory was removed in 1982. Despite previous restoration efforts, the doors were exhibiting severe deterioration and no longer functioned properly. New doors installed and painted Essex Green to match the original paint color used on the Chapel.
