Obituary Oswin Gibbs-Smith - Trust Annual Report 1969
It was with great regret that we learned in September of the death of Oswin Gibbs-Smith, Dean of Winchester, and one of our Vice-Presidents.
On coming to Winchester in 1961 he soon came to realise that a tremendous task lay ahead of him in providing for the present needs of the Cathedral and its restoration.
The plans were laid with characteristic thoroughness and energy. The target of £405,000 was almost reached in one year. This was a magnificent achievement and the results have soon become apparent in the repairs to the external stonework and the paving in the Close. Inside, the urgently required repairs to some of the nave columns have been completed and the work now proceeds with the paving of the retro-choir and the strengthening of the vaults beneath. Work n the choir stalls has revealed beauties of carving long dormant under thick Victorian varnish.
What more fitting memorial could a Dean of Winchester have? This has been the most important work of preservation in the decade and we are proud that his sympathies should have lain with the Preservation Trust, which has attempted to ensure, and will continue to strive for, an appropriate setting for the centre-piece—the Cathedral.
It is sad that he did not live to enjoy his well earned retirement and to see the work of restoration continuing, but he had the great satisfaction of knowing that the appeal which he initiated was successful.