The shock of the old - Medieval colour returns to brighten chapel doors
On St Patrick's Day - Sunday 17 March 2013 St Nicholas' Chapel, King's Lynn revealed its newly restored west doors.
Peter Aiers, Director – South East of the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) says
“We are very excited about the new look doors the bright red and green might lead passers by to wonder whether the decorators got a bit over excited when repainting but in fact the doors look today very much like how they would have done centuries ago.”
The doors unique composition must have been impressive at medieval street level, proving that Lynn was no provincial backwater but on the cutting edge of contemporary design.
After painstaking research and consultation with conservation experts over a number of years the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) decided to return the doors to their original medieval colours. The doors are now ready to be revealed in bright red and green as a result of careful conservation and delicate paint repairs.
The paint repairs were carried out by a team under Tom Organ from Arte Conservation, whilst filigree timber repair and carving were finessed by experts working with Hugh Harrison. The whole project has been overseen by appointed architect of long standing, Canon Julian Limentani, and supported throughout by the Friends of St Nicholas and civic groups from King’s Lynn.
The conservation of the chapel doors forms part of a larger regeneration programme to restore and revitalise the site into a vibrant, high quality cultural venue.
We have almost reached our fundraising target and only have £2,000 left to raise
The Bishop of Lynn, the Rt Rev Jonathan Meyrick re-dedicated the doors for public use in advance of the St John the Passion concert by the King’s Lynn Festival Chorus on Sunday evening.
We are still looking for volunteers to help us keep these beautiful doors open to visitors and the local community, we need volunteer stewards in particular to take part in keeping this fantastic Chapel open, loved and used.