Painstaking protection of priceless paintings

Twenty years of detailed conservation

It is said that William Morris’ favourite church was St John the Baptist, Inglesham.

The extensive wallpaintings date from the 13th- 19th-centuries and cover every wall. In some areas there are up to 21 different layers of paint from centuries of change. We have been conserving the wallpaintings for over 20 years.

 

Noble subjects include:

• Angel motifs
• St Christopher
• Scripture texts
• Geometric designs

Over the centuries, layers of plaster, limewash, paint and wax have obscured and damaged the wallpaintings. The project to consolidate the remaining designs has been a Herculean effort that has involved some of the top wallpainting conservators in the country.

Opportunities opened

This project has given the University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Hildesheim, Germany, the opportunity and time to carry out a research study of the wall surfaces, which will be posted here in due course.

In 2010, for the first time, a group of students studying Architectural Conservation at the City and Guilds Institute, London, received on-site training as part of the project.

They were given training in:

• How to consolidate and stabilise wallpaintings and historic plaster surfaces
• The treatment of wax-covered wallpaintings

• 'Grouting’ - a process which uses traditional lime plaster techniques to consolidate areas of historic plasterwork

Read about the 2011 programme of conservation

Find out how you can contribute to work like this in the future

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Find out more about the wallpaintings at Inglesham