CRICK SMITH RETURN TO SEWERBY HALL
In 1994 Ian and Michael Crick-Smith undertook an eight-week placement at Sewerby Hall, East Yorkshire during the final year of their undergraduate Conservation and Restoration degree. Their placement focused on investigating the history of the house through archive research and the analysis of a series of paint cross-sections. They subsequently advised on the redecoration of the property at that time. Twenty years later Ian and Michael have returned to Sewerby to advise on the re-presentation of the Hall as it would have appeared in its hey-day c.1915.
In the year when they are celebrating 40 years of conservation teaching in Lincoln and twenty years on from their studies as students, Crick Smith are now the tutors. Earlier this month three (Grad Dip) Conservation Studies students spent four days with Ian and Michael at Sewerby Hall to assist in the uncovering of the original paint scheme of the servants hall. They were working under Crick Smith who earlier this year identified a decorative faux ashlar scheme present in the room.
Sewerby Hall is a Grade 1 listed Georgian country house on 50 acres of land It was built between 1714 and 1720 by the Greame family. Many additions were made to the building and surrounding gardens until it’s conversion to a museum in the 1930s. It currently houses the Museum of East Yorkshire, an exhibit on Amy Johnson and the Coastguard Museum. The current refurbishment aims to provide visitors with a sense of the look of the house circa 1900 – 1915 complete with represented historic rooms, an Edwardian nursery and coal-fired kitchen range.
The students involved in the project spent the week in the servants dining hall revealing two sections of wall on either side of the south facing windows. The work was undertaken by scalpel, shaving off paint until the brown faux-ashlar layer was completely revealed. This layer will remain on display to visitors as an original finish while the rest of the room will be decorated to match these two walls. Restoration is due to be completed and the Hall reopened in July 2014.
Graduate Diploma student Catherine Williams spent her summer break in Macedonia conserving Roman Mosaics…
The workshop for Conservation, Restoration and Documentation of Roman Mosaics took place from June 15th to 29th in Stobi, Macedonia. It was a great opportunity provided by the Balkan Heritage Field School (www.bhfieldschool.org) in partnership with N.I. Stobi and New Bulgarian University, for participants from all over the world to gain on site experience with Mosaics. A damaged segment from the North Corridor of the Theodossian Palace had been selected, and 12 participants worked together with the support of the staff to see through the treatment of this piece of 4th century Roman Mosaic.
To begin with, the condition of the mosaic was documented by completing condition assessment forms and outlining each individual tessera.
The removed mortar was replaced with new mortar and a strong aluminium honey-comb backing. After two weeks the majority of the fragments were prepared to be safely returned to the North Corridor after an excavation is carried out.
Due to this intervention, when the Mosaic is replaced the previously loose tesserae will have been reinforced, bulges and depressions due to ground instability will have been levelled out to eliminate the pooling of rain water, and the fragment edges will not be visible. All this
practical experience was combined with lectures about Mosaic Conservation, lectures and tours of the site, workshops on digital documentation, and field trips to the historical cities of Heraclea, Bitola and Ohrid.
The two weeks in Stobi ensured a well-rounded experience in Mosaic Conservation, in a rich environment that also catered for the Balkan Heritage Foundation workshop on the Conservation and Documentation of Roman and Late Roman Pottery, and on-going on site conservation efforts by Earthenware, Glass, Metal specialists and more. Balkan Heritage will be providing archaeological excavation workshops in Stobi from 3-17th August and 18th August – 1st September, and 7 other projects throughout the Balkans this summer.
