Works to repair the Grade I listed Megalosaurus in Crystal Palace Park are making good progress.

The much-loved sculpture has now been bandaged to protect the damaged areas of the jaw from weathering and disrepair, whilst further off-site works take place. The exposed areas of the Megalosaurus have also been cleared of all loose material and treated with a rust convertor to provide a further layer of protection.

Taylor Pearce, the project’s conservator, has appointed Architectural & Heritage Scanning to undertake 3D scanning of the sculpture’s jaw. The scans will be used to produce a replica prosthesis of the fragmented section.

The process is undertaken by reassembling the broken fragments before scanning them using a white light scanner. This produces digital data which is processed to recreate the broken areas of the sculpture. Once complete, the prosthesis will be attached to the Megalosaurus and painted to match the sculpture’s current features.

Councillor Morgan, Executive Councillor for Renewal, Recreation and Housing said “This is highly specialist work and intricate work, with the jaw of our dinosaur patient bandaged whilst the jaw is re-built.  Most of this work is happening away from the park but work to re-attach will take place fairly shortly now.  Thank you to the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs for their continued support, with the grant from the Culture Recovery Fund helping make this possible.”

The scanning and repair works are due to complete in April 2021, with the £24,870 project funded by £19,870 from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund and £3,500 from the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs. The remaining funds required to undertake these works have been provided by the council.

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Editor’s notes:

Images by Taylor Pearce Ltd.

For media enquiries, please contact Andrew Rogers, Communications Executive, on 020 8461 7670 or email andrew.rogers@bromley.gov.uk

Published: 21st March 2021