SITE SEEN
RECENTWORK
discovery thatmore of the old roof tiles could be re-used than initially thought ensured thatBennie was nowworking underwell existing approved
budgets.Thus, the decisionwas taken to consolidate funds to enable the teamto press straight onwith the internalworkswithin the single contract.Wall paintings conservatorTobitCurteis had identified some very faintwall paintings surviving under the peelingmasonry paint above theChancel
arch.Therewas some debate as to whether this coating could be removed.But herewe were saved by one ofBennie’s team, the former SPAB FellowMikeGrady,who discovered a sensitive but very time-consuming process of removing themasonry paint layers by carefully easing themoffwith his credit card.Has there ever been a timewhen the “flexible friend”wasmore valuable in direct conservation? Gradually, the harsh,whitewall finish gaveway
to reveal beautiful layers of salmon pink limewash, in varying degrees of colour and intensity. The closeness to the surface of these coloured limewash layers suggested thatRichardson had maintained and continued this historic decorative scheme up to the relatively recent past. With the clear glass of thewindows animating
thesewallswithwaterywinter sun light, the effect was ravishing
andmoving.Andwithout a PCC or modern congregation to appease, beauty alonewas reason enough to abandon the conventional practicalities of brilliantwhite. Fortunately the SeniorConservationOfficer of theBedfordUnitary Authority agreed, (overturning the hesitations of his junior) and ListedBuildingConsentwas granted.
CONSERVATORCarlaMarkland ofBenincasa Conservation painstakingly recorded thewall paintings and alsomatched the pink limewash found in the church. Eight sampleswere prepared for review, and as an amusement devised bymy colleague and ex-ScholarKirstieRobbins, the SPAB Fellows and Scholars on a passing day visit were asked to select a
favourite.Almost all of them chose a different
one.CarlaMarkland also conserved the charcoal grey edging thatwas found to awallmonument in the SouthTransept, including splotches of paintwhich had been applied to a
returnwall.This leftMikeGrady to complete the re-limewashing ofwalls, having first replaced hard cementitious renders applied to thewall bases. On the floor of the SouthTransept, the 19th-
century softwood raised platformwas lifted to reveal some earlier clay floor tiles (or pammets). Itwas agreed that the newfloor could bemade of newhandmade pammets, and thesewere supplied
40 Cornerstone, Vol 32, No 3 2011
St Margaret’s was cold and damp. After conservation, interior and exterior (left), were dry and able to breathe again. Below, decayed platforms of the medieval oak pews were replaced with salvaged oak boards from a nearby repair project
by the Cambridge Brick andTile Company, whose clays share a broadly similar geology to East Bedfordhire. The decayed medieval pew platforms and spongy chipboard tower floors were replaced with salvaged oak boards left over from Bennie’s concurrent works at Easton Neston, Northamptonshire, perpetuating the long tradition of churches benefiting from leftover materials salvaged from country houses. Richardson’s
rush matting behind the wall benches set against the back wall of the church (a protection from the dustiness of limewash) was retained and brushed down. A final gesture was the repainting of the tower
clock face in the rich burgundy used by the CCT on its letterhead. This replaced a hard gloss black, and as with all of the reinstated colours at Knotting, has lifted this special church out of the ordinary.
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