Building Skills & Building Community

How one recent graduate served her community whilst gaining professional confidence with limited resources

By Siân Blake

After finishing my master’s degree course in September 2023, I sought local opportunities to build on my experience and professional development. My local church, St Andrew’s in Cambridgeshire, UK, was one historical site I knew of and attended frequently. Nora and Roy Butler, who work closely with events at the church and involve the village community, were figures I had known for many years. I suddenly thought, ‘what about finding preventive care opportunities in historical churches?’

Historical churches and sacred spaces can provide exciting opportunities for conservation practice. They contain various objects—such as paintings, stained glass windows and sculptures—with religious and cultural symbolism. Uncontrolled environmental parameters, frequent congregational meetings and lit candles can impact the interior’s long-term condition.

I contacted Nora to assess whether conservation input would benefit the church's interior and its objects.

She was open and understanding of my career background. As we walked through the South Chapel, three stone memorials were chosen for this preventive study; these memorials had never been cleaned before, which would facilitate improving their condition for public display.

I was conscious of working in an environment without access to a conservation department or related professionals contracted with the church. However, I knew the experience would allow me to gain further experience working with stone objects to build upon my knowledge and skills from surface cleaning large headstones and material theory from my master’s degree. I was interested in performing quality preventive care without access to typical professional museum equipment, such as a handheld HEPA vacuum. Utilising available resources and funding opportunities are also relevant skills for professionals working in private practice or as freelance conservators.

This feature will explore a brief history of St. Andrew’s Church and its environmental conditions, followed by the preventive care of three stone memorials.

A Brief History of St Andrew’s Church

St Andrew’s Church is located in the parish of Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire. The earliest reference to the church is in the Domesday survey of 1086. The north and south aisles were added in the 13th century. Between the 14th and 15th centuries, the church was heavily remodelled with the addition of a tower, spire and roof. The church is a Grade 1 listed building, with many important and interesting features, including the Montagu memorials and the only Tiffany window in a church in England.

The church has long been a key figure in my younger years attending Sunday school and Easter and Christmas services with family. Nora writes ‘The church is still very important to the local community. It's open every day from nine to dusk, and local people frequently call in. In addition to twice-weekly services, the church hosts many community events including, in recent months, a Christmas tree festival, a Lent lunch, a “Save the Children” card and cake sale, an art exhibition and election hustings for the Huntingdon Constituency. An informal community singing group has recently started to meet in the church, and local schools use the church regularly for services and religious education visits.  The church is also a collection point for the St. Neots Foodbank. 

Some problems often encountered in churches, cathedrals, historic houses and other professional institutions include diverse relative humidity levels, temperatures and pollutants. These three tropes are common agents of deterioration, and it is crucial to identify how they impact materials. St Andrew’s Church has faced a history of damp and water ingress.

Smoke and soot particles emitted from lit candles leave a build-up of residue on neighbouring surfaces that darken and yellow over time. Large congregations entering the church throughout the week also contribute dirt, dust, additional moisture and heat to the space. The ability for pests and microbes to thrive in recesses and unlit corners also gives way to deterioration and damage.

While cleaning, I assessed the condition of the three memorials chosen for treatment and reviewed other signs of deterioration. Because the memorials were mounted to the interior walls through fixings and dowels. I performed preventive care in situ at the church on certain days of the week to avoid disrupting services, which worked well, given that each memorial was successfully surface cleaned within a single day. 

The Consuelo Memorial

René de Saint-Marceaux carved this memorial in 1912, and it was dedicated to Consuelo, the 8th Duchess of Manchester. The memorial sits on the south wall of the Chancel, near the pulpit steps.

Before treatment, I had only partially appreciated or noticed its presence, possibly due to the subtle low relief elements. The memorial depicts Consuelo (bottom left) with her arms opened toward two angels (top right) representing her twin daughters who died shortly before her. 

Before conservation treatment, the memorial was dusty. Dirt was held in the crevices, and I found white marks across the top right crown carving. Some white powder had collected on the top edge, which may have been loose plaster from the ceiling above. Underneath the memorial were two iron wall mounts where iron staining and salts had contaminated the bottom edge; high relative humidity and previous water ingress had likely contributed to this.

Conservation Treatment

I cleaned the memorial from top to bottom, using a step ladder to access the top. Initially, I used cotton rags to remove most surface dirt, employing makeup sponges of various sizes to tackle more stubborn dirt and recesses in the relief. The cotton rags were repurposed from a previous project and highlighted how sustainability can play an accessible and prominent role in one’s conservation practice. Similarly, I cut the sponges into smaller fragments to avoid redistributing dirt back onto the surface while maximising the makeup sponges' usage. This method also helped me to monitor the surface's stability and direct further cleaning. The upper left image compares a clean, dry makeup sponge (left) to a used makeup sponge cut in half after cleaning (right).

Some makeup sponges were more efficient than others at removing surface dirt. For example, large circular sponges covered more surface area. However, smaller and more affordable triangular sponges were more suitable for removing dirt from crevices but were not as durable as the larger sponges.

Soft bristle brushes and cotton buds dislodged debris from the crevices, such as the crown emblems in the top corners and details within the figures' hands and hair. These tools proved effective even without the use of a handheld or backpack vacuum.

The makeup sponges and brushes were gentle,  non-damaging, readily available and customisable in size and density. Without access to a handheld vacuum, there was a risk of incomplete removal of dirt and dust as it shifted onto neighbouring surfaces. Therefore, cleaning the same area multiple times helped to remove any kicked-up dirt.

The iron dowel underneath the memorial was structurally stable, and I was able to remove the salt buildup using a bamboo skewer. The staining on the stone from the iron dowels did not pose a risk to the memorial's condition and was left untreated. 

The treatment stabilised the surface and revealed further detail in the wings, clouds and crown on the top right. It was achievable in situ without specialist equipment and within a cost-effective budget.

A Pair of Two-Metre High Memorials

The other objects in need of conservation that Nora introduced to me were a pair of two-metre-high memorials. These were erected for the Countess of Manchester in 1658 (pictured in the far left corner in the image to the right) and Lady Anne Mandeville in 1641 (pictured in the right corner of image, by the window). They both contain a central dark stone plaque surrounded by high relief carving of scrolls, fruit, leaves, flowers and winged cherubs at the midpoint between the top and the plinth. Carvings of faces are situated at the top of each memorial, and the plinths contain raised inscriptions with a crown above.

While the stone is insensitive to light, both memorials contain incised and painted inscriptions across the plaques. The lettering across both memorials is faded in parts but remains legible.

Due to these memorials' intricate and high-relief carving, thick layers of dust and dirt had collected on the surfaces and in many crevices. Dirt had entered through the windows, walkways, radiators and loose ceiling material, contributing to their conditions. For this treatment, I had access to an industrial vacuum with the nozzle able to extend to the top of the plinth at its highest point.

Conservation Treatment 

Due to their identical conditions, the treatment for the memorials was likewise identical. Working from a step ladder and starting at the top of the memorials, I used a bamboo skewer, which does not damage the surface and can target fine lines. I also used a brush to dislodge the dust clumped into the recesses. The video on the previous page shows how thick the dust had become, collecting in these recesses over the years.

For each area, I would then follow up with surface cleaning using cotton rags and makeup sponges. The paintwork across the plaques was fragile. Therefore, only a soft brush was used over this area to prevent damage while removing any adhered dust.

I used the vacuum to remove debris, dead spiders and cobwebs around the plinth. I directed this debris into the vacuum nozzle using a large brush. The position of the memorials and their attachment to the wall through the iron wall mounts meant that surface cleaning behind them was limited in some areas. 

After cleaning, the plinth of the Manchester Memorial exhibited lighter-coloured tide marks down the front, which suggested water damage had occurred in the past.

The challenges and restrictions in treating these two plinthed memorials were primarily due to the length of the vacuum nozzle; this meant surface dirt above the plinth could not be completely removed. However, compared to the treatment of the Consuelo memorial, this method allowed me to use a soft brush and direct dirt into the vacuum nozzle, which proved a more effective cleaning.

Summary

It was a great experience to deliver in-situ targeted treatments to support my local church and community. Institutions that may not be fortunate enough to have an active conservation team can benefit from professionals at any point in their career to provide support, knowledge and recommendations.  It is worthwhile, before any work is undertaken by the conservator, to ask if there is funding or scope within a budget for a specific project, which can allow expenses for materials to be compensated. Understandably, unpaid work cannot be offered by every professional. However, it is positive to see that compromises and opportunities can be made especially when practical experience—needed to secure paid work—is vital in the conservation profession. 

At St Andrew’s Church, I felt challenged to adapt my skills to the environment whilst networking with Nora and Roy, which has hopefully spread the word on what conservation can involve and its impact on the condition and appearance of the objects. After graduating, I found volunteering valuable in bridging gaps in my confidence, which has helped me determine what areas of conservation I prefer. 

Many professional bodies recognise the topic of sustainability, and conservation is no exception; I will be able to point to this project to show that many inert and adaptable materials are inexpensive and adequate replacements when museum equipment, such as a handheld vacuum, are unavailable. As with many aspects of working in conservation, spontaneity or the unexpected in projects can be rewarding. This experience has proven an essential example in my portfolio of varied work, lone working and working at height.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Nora and Roy for allowing me access to equipment and facilitating my preventive care at St Andrew’s Church.

Author Bio

Siân Blake is a preservation technician at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, Cambridgeshire. She holds a master’s degree in the conservation of museum and archaeological objects from Durham University, UK, which she completed in early 2024.

Read the article in the August-September 2024 "News in Conservation" Issue 103, p. 44-50