The Church of St James the Less, New Mills

Old black and white photograph showing the decorative interior of the Church of Saint james the Less in New Mills

View of the exterior building of Saint James the Less, in New Mills on a sunny day

This project, undertaken on behalf of Cricksmith UoL, included the conservation of four 19th-century spirit fresco murals and the reinstatement of a stencilled decorative scheme located in the Church of St James the Less, New Mills, Derbyshire.

The murals were in poor condition, suffering from surface and structural damage to the decorative surface and substrate. They required conservation treatment to stabilise their condition and restore a ‘unified and aesthetically pleasing’ appearance, in preparation for the building's refurbishment and conversion into a community arts centre.

The murals had been overpainted in the past, and this later addition had severely deteriorated and required careful removal to reveal the original surface beneath. Further treatments included cleaning of the painted surface, consolidation of blown and detaching plaster, filling of cracks and losses, retouching of fills and regilding of detail.

Close up of historic wall painting showing discolouration and cracking

Photograph of a set of three wall paitnings depicting jesus and deciples. Gilded banner across the middle and IHS monograms on the bottom half.

Mural surface before and after cleaning

Close up of historic wall painting despicting Jesus holding a baby on a red background with a gilded halo. The left half has been conserved and the right half has not.

Treatment of blooming

Conservator's hands wearing gloves and using a syringe to inject plaster into a void behind a wallpainting to consolidate it.

Consolidating blown plaster

Close up of historic wallpainting showing a lion with wings holding a book with a circular banner reading saint Mark. It has been recently retored and is clean and without damage.

GILDING

At the client's request, all original gilded details were re-gilded using 24ct gold leaf. The painted lettering and detail on the banners were carefully worked around to preserve as much of the original painted surface as possible. Once the size had fully dried, the gilding was distressed, to prevent an overly new and ‘pristine’ appearance, contrasting with the surrounding naturally aged surface of the murals.

Before and after images showing a religious historic wall painting which has been regilded using gold leaf. The above shows the mural before treatment and the below shows the mural after treatment.

Mural detail before and after cleaning

REINSTATING THE ORIGINAL DECORATIVE SCHEME

The original stencil decoration on the west gable wall (now lost through the water damage and subsequent removal of the plaster) was identified through cross-section analysis. Prior to the complete removal of the plaster, an area of the scheme was revealed and recorded. As part of the month-long conservation project, this scheme was reinstated using a combination of hand painting and traditional stencilling techniques.

Photo showing the inside of the church of saint james the less in New Mills before its restoration. It shows two stained glass windows on the gable wall, white painted walls and two rows of dark brow pews.

Photo of the inside of the church of saint james the less in New Mills after restoration. It shows a stencilled decorative scheme applied to the gabel wall.

Completed scheme