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This year has seen a major effort in support of two important schemes for Major Projects department, the conservation of the contents of Down House (see also sections 4.15 and 4.16), and the preparation of artefacts for display in the new museum at St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury (see also sections 4.15 and 4.17). At Down House, Collections Conservation organised the recording, packaging, and storage of all the furniture and Darwin memorabilia before building work started, assessed and prioritised the conservation needs of the collection, arranged for conservation to be carried out against a very tight timetable, and organised the return of the contents to the house. The team also advised on the environmental requirements of the artefacts, the design of the display cases, and the use of appropriate materials for their construction.
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At St Augustine's Abbey, we prepared over 200 objects for display, including the unique lead funerary mitre of Abbot John Dygon, and cleaned a large collection of important architectural stonework. We advised on the mounting of the stones, and on the display of the medieval floor tiles.
Following on from the audit of all EH's collections, we have embarked on a series of detailed thematic audits of parts of the collection where there appear to be particular problems. So far an audit of the works of art on paper (prints, drawings, and watercolours, but excluding photographs) in the South-East Region has been carried out, and an audit of polychromed archaeological stone fragments is planned.
As part of our contribution to EH's training needs, the section organised a symposium at West Dean College on current issues in the conservation of collections for Architects, Inspectors, and Historic Properties Curators. This included sessions on the effects of the environment and insect pests, cost/benefit appraisal, and risk assessment in conservation, and the organisation and execution of the conservation of the structure and contents at Uppark.