Cleaning wall paintings

[Keithj]

We have some wall paintings - applied direct to the lime render some centuries ago. They are faded and cloudy now: partly because the varnish (or whatever it was) that was put on them has turned dark/cloudy, and partly because of grime etc that has accumulated over time.

We'd like to have them fully restored, needless to say, but the cost we have been quoted is utterly beyond us. The conclusion is that anything that would remove the varnish is "out", but something that would clean off the grime layer may be feasible.

The next step is to get "someone who knows how" to do that job. The first person we spoke to suggested washing them ourselves, with sugar soap and water. I'm tempted to try a small patch on a corner somewhere, but before we do that, has anyone any experience or views on that or on what might work?

Are there any good contacts in Suffolk who might be worth speaking to?

 

[Gareth Hughes]

I assume you've already tried Tobit Curteis in Cambridge?

 

[Keithj]

Thank you! The person who looked a couple of years ago and quoted many thousands of pounds for each panel (of about 20) was in London.
We'll take a look. Meanwhile, the instruction to the painter will be "limewash on the walls, protecting the painted panels".

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Are these in the church, or in your house?

 

[Penners]

Glad to see that you've got Gareth's guidance on this. At all costs those paintings need conserving.

But of course you know that.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

The wall painting that we had upstairs in our house in Walsingham was completely untouched, presumably survived because it was in a deep recessed cupboard. The paintings , said to be above the fireplace in the dining hall, had been covered with a render of some sort . paintings in another house up the road had been painstakingly revealed and then preserved.

 

[Keithj]

These are texts on the church walls, dating from the late 17th century. Here's one:

That's an average-to-grubby one. Some are noticeably cleaner than others. What we can't work out is if the clean ones have been cleaned, or vice-versa.

We decided at the Building Committee yesterday to leave them alone for now. The architect agrees they aren't in any danger.

There is a wooden coat of arms, but that was taken down and cleaned etc professionally a decade or two ago and is in good condition.

 

[steveb]

looking at the bottom panel, I wonder if that has been restored in the past as the inner circle seems very washed out - I wonder if / how many times they have all been completely over-painted?

actually the thing that I find most fascinating is the avoidable use of hyphenation!

 

[Penners]

Yes, it's a bit like the sign that says:

To avoid mistakes it is
essential to plan ahea
d.

 

[Keithj]

There isn't much in the way of records about what has been done to the painted panels in the past, but I don't think they were overpainted and then uncovered. Most of the apparent damage is caused by water running down the walls. We've stopped that, and the place is watertight and in good structural condition. Interior work is next.

Yes, they all show exuberant use of hy-
phens, even in un-
necessary pla-
ces.

One panel is much cleaner than the rest: we suspect it was cleaned some time in the recent past, but none of the living former churchwardens can remember it being done, and there's nothing in the records that we have.

Mind you, this is a rural Suffolk community, and people mostly just got on with doing stuff. The requirement for a "faculty" for any work on the church was very much ignored until 2011, under what is best described as a wide interpretation of the "de minimis" rules. In 1844, the interior was completely changed, box pews replaced with benches, the gallery removed (and more) with nary a notification to the Bishop and his Court. The letter from the then-Rector to the charity that put up the money is a hoot: it seems young lads in the 1840s were very prone to sitting up on the gallery and throwing things at people below. Removing the gallery cured that.

 

[Penners]

this is a rural Suffolk community, and people mostly just got on with doing stuff.

Ass roight, booey. If suffin' need a-doin', juss git awn an' dew ut.

 

[Keithj]

How right you are! With all the faff of faculties and "learned bodies" I'm wishing we'd continued with that approach.