Southwell Minster

Restoration of the historic painted ceiling in the stairwell of The Great Chamber, adjacent to the 15th-century Palace ruins, was undertaken to repair and stabilise its condition.

  • Cleaning the gilded stars

    Cleaning the gilded stars

  • Painted ceiling of The Great Chamber

    Painted ceiling of The Great Chamber

  • Retouching work

    Retouching work

  • Detail of damage

    Detail of damage

The Great Chamber was used by Cardinal Wolsey and King Charles I and restored in 1882 by George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner.

We were commissioned to restore the painted ceiling in the stairwell, as it was extensively damaged by water ingress, causing unsightly staining, tide marks and losses to the painted surface. In addition, some of the gilded stars were missing completely, requiring replication and re-attachment. We achieved this by:

  • Dry cleaning in order to remove dust, debris, and other surface dirt. 
  • Consolidating flaking paint and adhering it back to the ceiling.
  • Removing the effects of water damage through wet cleaning and poulticing through conservation grade tissue
  • Reinstating areas where the painted design had been lost including custom making stencils to help reinstate large areas of loss, with more intricate areas in-painted by hand
  • Removing, cleaning, retouching and reattaching the gilded stars
  • Casting the missing stars in plaster and painting them to match with the existing metal ones.

The final result matched both the client’s brief and conservation ethics; the painted surface was repaired and stabilised whilst ensuring it retained a patina of age, so that the historic ceiling can be enjoyed by generations to come.