St James the Less

This small late-Victorian Gothic church was constructed in 1880 as a memorial to James & Martha Ingham, a local industrialist family.  It was designed by William Swinden Barber and lavishly decorated with stencilling, gilding and fresco paintings. 

Initial paint research in 2009 revealed evidence for original ornate stencilled paint schemes in the nave of the church, and further gilded and painted decorative schemes in the chancel. 

However, the frescos showed signs of significant deterioration due to accumulated dirt, blown plaster, unsightly fills and faded and missing detail. The stencilled schemes in the nave and chancel had been completely painted over and obscured.

We were commissioned by the St. James the Less Preservation Trust to remove the later layers of over-paint to reveal and record the repeating stencil patterns on the west wall and one of the painted angels in the chancel. This was achieved by:

• Revealing the original stencil scheme by a combination of solvent and mechanical cleaning
• Quantifying colours using a spectrophotometer and tracing the patterns out
• Laser cutting new stencils at the University of Lincoln in order to faithfully recreate the patterns on the west wall

We also provided a proposal for the cleaning and conservation of the four Spirit Fresco murals in the nave.