From The Living Church-In telling the story of the Good Samaritan my teetotalling headmaster at Sydney Cathedral School would wax eloquent about the medicinal properties of olive oil (“better for your skin than soap”) and wine (“the universal antiseptic”).
In those far-off days no-one would have dreamed that cathedrals might benefit from one or other of the remedies applied to the hapless Jerusalem-to-Jericho traveller. Acid rain, however, is prompting a quest for fresh ideas on how to preserve these ancient stones.
It’s been announced that York Minster, the second-largest gothic church in Europe, may shortly be coated in a layer of fat derived from olive oil. It’s all part of a growing trend of looking to the past for remedies to contemporary problems.
The Minster was built between 1220 and 1470 using magnesian limestone. Apparently the stone masons used to rub linseed oil into the blocks. The effect was to bind the calcium found in the limestone.
More here-
http://www.livingchurch.org/oiling-york-minster
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