Cause for a course

Conservation of the tympanum at All Souls Church, Haley Hill

All Souls Church was built in 1856. It was designed by George Gilbert Scott in his favoured styles of the late Early English and Early Decorated periods.

The dramatic west front is approached up a wide flight of steps to the cathedralesque doorway - with its pointed arch, mouldings, foliage capitals and a tympanum within the arch depicting Christ.

In 2000, this impressive door and arch was the subject of considerable conservation as half of the stone was severely decayed whilst the other half covered in thick, black pollutant deposits.

Nature’s pattern

The areas of deposits and decay reflected the amount of exposure the stone had to the elements. Where it was regularly washed by the rain, the pollutants had been cleaned away and the surface had gradually eroded, but where it was in a relatively sheltered location, the pollutant deposits had built up forming a dense black crust.

So what were the problems?

• The surface of the stone wall surrounding the door had been lost
• The outer course of the tympanum had almost completely decayed – the inner course only marginally better preserved
• Many of the foliage crockets set within the mouldings had fallen off
• The tympanum was covered in hard black deposits from air pollutants
• The capitals were covered in hard black deposits from air pollutants
• Movement of the stonework had resulted in joints opening and cracks appearing – allowing water to enter
• The details of Christ had decayed – for example the angels faces and Christ’s book

How did we conserve it?

Our aim was to remove the soiling but leave the stonework intact and unaltered. So we:

• Pressure steam cleaned the stone after water poulticing areas of particularly solid deposits
• Repaired and repointed masonry - aiming to fill any water traps, not build up the profiles of missing stonework
• Coated the repaired area with a thin solution of lime carefully rubbed into the stone surface - creating protection from erosion and decay that the stonework would otherwise receive

Project team

CCT Conservation Manager: Sarah Robinson (now Director of Conservation)
Architect: Barry Rawson at Overton Architects
Conservator: Nimbus Conservation Ltd

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