An important piece of Tasmania’s heritage is being preserved for the future, with initial works to update Government House’s historic roof recently completed.

The roof of Government House, built in 1857, incorporates slate tiles as well as rolled lead sheets on top of the building’s Police and Clock Towers.

The existing lead roof on the towers had failed, causing leaks inside the building.

The contract to replace the lead roofing was awarded to Architectural Roofing Services, with Government House Building, Assets and Heritage Manager Alan Wiltshire managing other sub-contractors involved in the project.

Before the works could commence, the Governor’s Standard which flies on the Clock Tower was lowered, as was the Tasmanian Flag which flies on the Police Tower.

Visitors to Government House may also have noticed that the clock was also stopped during works, to protect its mechanism from any dust.

Alan and his team also undertook several tasks to prepare before the contractors began the lead work.

They ensured a safe access system and anchor points were installed on the roof and in the towers, repaired and repointed the interior faces of the sandstone balustrades, and also repainted the flagpoles on the towers.

During the project, contractors prepared the lead in the Government House stables, which are currently used for storage.

Before the new lead could be installed over the top of the existing timber board roof, sheets of 12mm marine ply were screwed over the boards. Building wrap and geofabric was fixed to the ply, and new Oregon timber rolls were installed.

Contractors then fixed the top third of each lead bay in place using copper ring shank nails, which hold the bay in place while allowing for expansion and contraction due to weather conditions. Lead capping was then installed on top of the timber rolls.

A crane was used to lift all materials on and off the roof, with the new lead bays weighing an impressive 40 kilograms per square metre.

All lead removed from the roof was recycled, and the new lead roofing should last for 100 years.

Now that the works on the lead roof of the Police and Clock Towers are complete, the Governor’s Standard and Tasmanian Flag can once again be seen flying from the Government House roof.

The slate tiles on the roof are original from when Government House was built. To ensure the roof continues to remain in the best shape for the future, the 1850s slate will be replaced with new slate in the next phase of works.