Britain's most ornate piece of copperwork in decades ready to take pride of place in £33,000-a-year Eton's new £19million complex The enormous 267lb roof ornament, known as an acroterion, has taken coppersmiths eight months to make It will sit atop a gable outside a 300-seat lecture theatre, which is part of the lavish Bekynton Field development Gothic feature made by coppersmiths Michael Johnson and Shelley Anderson from Newlyn, Cornwall Described as one of the 'most intricate pieces of hand-crafted architectural copper-work made in a generation' One of the most ornate pieces of hand-beaten copperwork ever to be made in Britain is poised to add the finishing touch to a new lecture theatre in a huge £19million development at the exclusive Eton College. The enormous 267lb roof ornament, which has been eight months in the making, will sit atop a gable outside the 300-seat hall at the prestigious £34,000-per-year school. The elaborate feature, known as an acroterion, has been made by Michael Johnson and Shelley Anderson and is said to be the most complex example of copperwork made 'in a generation'. One of the most ornate piece of hand-beaten copperwork ever to be made in Britain will be installed in a lecture theatre in a huge £19million development at Eton College The enormous 267lb roof ornament, which has been eight months in the making, will sit atop a gable inside the £66,000-per-year college The elaborate feature, known as an acroterion, has been made by coppersmiths Michael Johnson (left) and Shelley Anderson (right) The pair now have the challenging task of installing the six feet wide sculpture - which they said would cost between £50,000 and £70,000 to make - outside the school's new lecture hall. Mr Johnson said it was one of the most intricate pieces of copper to be made in decades and that hand-crafted work of this sort has not been done since the Second World War. He said: 'It is no exaggeration to say that this is one of the most complex and intricate pieces of hand-crafted architectural copper-work made in this country in a generation.' The two men, who run the Copper Works studio in Newlyn, Cornwall, were commissioned to make the roof decoration by architects working for Eton's new quadrangle-style development, Bekynton Field. The £19m project - which has been worked on by the architect John Simpson, who also designed the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace - includes 40 new classrooms for modern languages, economics and politics, as well as the lecture theatre and exhibition space. It is the latest addition to the sprawling site in Windsor, Berkshire, which is best known for its Gothic-style college chapel, which was part of the original design when it was founded in 1441. They now have the challenging task of installing the six-feet wide sculpture - which they said would cost between £50,000 and £70,000 to make - outside the elite school's new lecture hall Mr Johnson (pictured) said it was one of the most intricate pieces of copper to be made in decades and that hand-crafted work of this sort has not been done since the Second World War The pair said there were a lot of engineering challenges to overcome in making the huge gothic roof feature The pair also had to design a roof structure so the feature could be bolted to the roof The new complex is said to have been designed to blend within the historic environment and will feature conservation-grade brickwork as well as stonework features and brick arches. Mr Johnson said: 'There were a lot of engineering challenges to overcome because it was an exercise in balancing the aesthetic and the practical. There were numerous considerations, such as ensuring it was able to expand and contract in the heat and also drain properly. Then there were issues with how it was to be fixed. Traditionally a piece like this would have been done over wood, but there was no provision in the roof structure to bolt it to the roof so we had to design and build a stainless steel armature which was relatively light and able to flex. With something as complex as this you have to design it with close consideration to how it will function. And all the planning has to be done before a single hammer is swung. Acroterions are a hallmark of Britain's grandest buildings, taking a wide variety of forms from discs and tripods to ornate Gothic statues. A new £19million development is currently being built at Eton College (pictured) which will include the lecture theatre and 40 new classrooms One of the most well-known parts of the school includes the Eton College chapel, which was part of the original plan for the school when it was founded by King Henry VI in 1441 Only a handful are still made in the UK and very few are as large as Michael and Shelley's enormous Georgian-style creation. Acroterions are typically placed on a flat base called the acroter or plinth, and mounted at the apex of the pediment of a building in the classical style. The names derives from the Greek words for extremity and endmost. Mr Johnson added: 'The sort of thing we have made for Eton stopped happening in Britain after the Second World War. 'Intricate hand-crafted copper-work doesn't really get done in this country any more - well it didn't until we started on the acroterion.' Although the pair would not say how much they are being paid, they said a project like that would cost between £50,000 and £70,000 to commision. The £19m Bekynton Field development - which has been worked on by architect John Simpson, who also designed the Queens Gallery at Buckingham Palace - includes 40 new classrooms for modern languages, economics and politics, as well as the lecture theatre and exhibition space. The new complex is said to have been designed to blend within the historic environment at the school in Windsor, Berkshire, and will feature conservation-grade brickwork as well as stonework features and brick arches. The school chapel, one of the most picturesque and well-known parts of the site, formed part of the original plan for the site when the school was founded by King Henry VI as free education to 70 Cambridge-bound boys in 1441. He intended the nave of the chapel - which was to include 18 bays - to be the longest in Europe. But when Henry was deposed by King Edward IV in 1461, construction of the chapel stopped. It was then gradually put together during the remainder of the century. The school then plunged into final difficulty meaning most of the building work was not resumed until Roger Lupton was Provost, around 1517. His name is borne by the big gate-house in the area at the front of the school yard, perhaps the most famous image of the school. This range includes the important interiors of the Parlour, Election Hall, and Election Chamber, where most of the 18th century 'leaving portraits' are kept. Nothing else of significance was built until about 1670, when the school yard was remodelled and completed by Matthew Bankes, Master Carpenter of the Royal Works. The last important addition to the central college buildings was the College Library, in the south range of the cloister in 1725, by Thomas Rowland. In the 19th century, the architect John Shaw Jr (1803-1870) became surveyor to Eton. He designed New Buildingsi in 1844 which were to be used as better accommodation. The very large and ornate school hall and school library were erected by L.K Hall in 1906 as the school's memorial to the Etonians who had died in the Boer War. Many tablets in the cloisters and chapel commemorate the large number of the dead Etonians of the Great War. During the Second World War, a bomb destroyed part of Upper School and blew out many windows in the Chapel. The college commissioned replacements by Evie Hone (1949-52) and by John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens from 1959. In 1959, the College constructed a nuclear bunker to house the College's Provost and Fellows which is now used for storage.