Comper work restoration - the progress so far. |
Damp has caused some of the Comper wall decoration to get into a very sorry state. Coupled with the accumulation of years of dirt and grime this has meant that something had to be done.
The worst affected area round the statue of St Wilfrid is now undergoing an extensive restoration programme involving cleaning, restoration and reproduction. The entire process is going to take about 6 weeks during which the Church resembles a cross between a building site and an artist's studio!
Hopefully once finished the church will be back to something like its original splendour.Till then here's a few pictures to show what is happening.
As usual, click on the pictures to load a full size version which shows in greater detail what's happening. |
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Picture 1
Before the work started the damage to the wall decoration can clearly be seen to the right of St Wilfrid's statue. The area below the candle was particularly damaged. The degree of grime can also be seen to the left of the statue just above the door into the vestry. |
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Picture 2
The restoration has been such an extensive undertaking that the entire High Altar area behind the Screen has been taken over for the duration! |
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Picture 3
Looking the other way is no better. Dust sheets, scaffold towers, ladders and even temporary lighting is everywhere. |
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Picture 4
The arch around the window has been meticulously cleaned, the paint has been retouched or reproduced, gold re-applied and then the entire area given a "wash" to blend the newly restored areas into the original Comper work.
The arch, being made of stone with a slight texture, was the hardest area to clean effectively and the Restoration team had to resort to using small brushes to get into the texture. |
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Picture 5
The plastered areas in the reveal was smooth and so was much easier to clean. Unfortunately the lower area was very badly damaged and so has had to be almost fully reproduced.
To make sure it is as exact a copy as possible the Restorers take a tracing of the original before any cleaning is done. This tracing is then used to copy a pencil outline onto the cleaned and restored white background.
In this picture the gray swirl pattern has been completed and work is starting on the green scroll work. If you look carefully on the large picture (click on the picture to the left) it is just possible to make out the outline from the tracing.
It's also interesting to see how a simple cleaning improves things. Compare the arch on the left of this picture to the same area in Picture 1. Who says Spring cleaning isn't worth it! |
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Picture 6
After many hours of work the fully restored window can now be seen in all its glory. |
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Picture 7
Who says the Victorians didn't "do" colour? The actual colours (and yes they are an accurate reproduction) are much more vibrant than can be shown by mere photographs. |
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Picture 8
It's not just coloured paint either. The gold leaf widely used by Comper throughout his work in the church complements the bold colours perfectly.
Well it would if everything were as clean and sparkling as the restoration area! |
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Picture 9
Gold leaf doesn't just work with bright colours. The dark green background and a green detail which is so dark that its almost black emphasise the "sparkle" of the gold leaf. |
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Picture 10
The damage to the white panels to either side of the window was in places so bad that almost nothing was left. This meant that everything had to be reproduced and blended in to match the original work. |
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Picture 11
As Eric would say to Ernie, "you can't see the join"?
Well on a photograph you can't! If you look carefully
at this panel in church though, you can maybe see that the join is just below the black candle holder. |
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Picture 12
What's next?
One rather grubby and patchy ceiling. If you want to see just how grubby it is (and have a bit of a preview of what is hidden under all those years of dirt) click on the picture to the left to see the bigger picture. Then look at the test cleaning which is circled. |
