Contents of this Page
Midlands
and East Anglia
The South East
London
Archaeological work at our Historic Properties falls into several categories: the surveying of landscape features related to our properties, the detailed analytical recording of standing fabric before and during conservation, excavation in advance of repair and presentation work, and the analysis and publication of the results of completed work. Reports from the Midlands and East Anglia, London, and the South-East serve to illustrate the very wide range of work carried out at our properties.
The South East
London
Glyn Coppack, Inspector of Ancient Monuments, East Midlands Region (formerly Eastern Region)
The garden excavation begun at Witley Court, Worcestershire, in 1997 was continued in advance of the restoration of the north parterre of William Nesfield's great garden, where the outfalls for the two fountains were located and the edges of the carriage sweep and paths were defined. At Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire, two major timber buildings of the late eleventh-early twelfth century and a series of associated latrine pits were recorded immediately inside the earthwork bank of the outer bailey on the site of the new entry point, providing the first evidence of William Peveril's original castle. Evaluations for new entry points were undertaken at Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire, and Wenlock Priory, Shropshire, which indicated that there were no significant archaeological deposits at these specific locations. An evaluation of the fifteenth century tile pavement of the audience chamber in the chapel range of the Medieval Bishops' Palace at Lincoln, Lincolnshire, was carried out as part of the Midlands Floor Tile Strategy.
Survey was limited to three sites: the recording of the lavabo at Wenlock Priory was completed, and the results communicated to an international symposium (held at Regensberg) on the use of water in the Middle Ages; in a parallel venture, the early seventeenth century Venus Fountain at Bolsover Castle was recorded in the course of dismantling for repair and re-watering. Research into the original Smithson designs for the fountain and a late eighteenth century drawing of the fountain suggests a more complex development than was first envisaged. The architectural survey of Croxden Abbey, which relates the important architectural and archaeological collections to the standing ruins continued.
Work continued on the publication of the major survey of Goodrich Castle, Herefordshire, where the accepted interpretation of the site's development has been substantially modified, and work was started at Clun Castle, Shropshire, where survey will be extended to include the planned town and Saxon burh. Final reports on the excavation of Walden Abbey and the gardens of Audley End House, Essex, were completed for publication, bringing an early and substantial garden excavation to a close. As well as providing evidence for the development of the close garden, the excavation had revealed good evidence for the form and development of the eastern parts of the church and east range of Walden Abbey, and of the conversion of the monastic buildings by Sir Thomas Audley to form a house which was the predecessor of the surviving mansion. The backlog report on excavations at Sawley Abbey, Lancashire, was completed, and during this work, no fewer than five timber buildings of the foundation period were recorded, providing the first substantial remains of a complete temporary Cistercian monastery to be identified. The results were presented to the International Medieval Conference at Leeds in July 1998. Guidebooks were published for Wenlock Priory, Castle Acre Priory, Norfolk, and Bolsover Castle, all incorporating the results of new research.
A significant move from direct archaeological research to the more holistic management of our historic properties was marked by the preparation of Conservation Plans for sites where major work was planned. Conservation Plans were prepared for Witley Court, Wrest Park, Bedfordshire, the service buildings and kitchen gardens at Audley End House, Bolsover Castle, Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire, and the Medieval Bishops' Palace at Lincoln, and a start was made on researching plans for Goodrich Castle, and Stokesay Castle.
To celebrate the ninth centenary of the foundation of the Cistercian Order in 1098, gazetteer entries were provided for 30 Cistercian abbeys in England (10 of which are our own historic properties) for The Cistercian Abbeys of Britain (London, B T Batsford), a joint publication between English Heritage, CADW, and Historic Scotland. Glyn Coppack's The White Monks: the Cistercians in Britain 1128-1540 (Stroud, Tempus), was also published during the course of the year. This provides the first popular account of the order in Britain written from an archaeological perspective, and has been based substantially on research undertaken for English Heritage.
The South East
London
Jonathon Coad, Inspector of Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings, South East Team
Recording work continued at Dover Castle on the keep and in the area of the Fitzwilliam Gateway, and results indicate a more complex building development than has generally been suspected. Work also started on the recording of the Roman Pharos. At Battle Abbey further work was carried out on the guest range. At Fort Cumberland, recording and conservation works were undertaken on the former military hospital, the Motor Transport Workshop, the Garage, the Cookhouse, and parts of the Officers' Quarters. This was carried out in close collaboration with the Central Archaeology Services as part of the preparations for the relocation of the Ancient Monuments Laboratory to the fort. On the Isle of Wight, recording of part of the former stables at Appuldurcombe House was carried out in advance of the conversion of the building to a restaurant.
Conservation work continues at Dover Castle where the main focus is on Fitzwilliam Gateway. This will become the main visitor entrance to the castle when the car parks are relocated to the valley to the east of the castle. At Drop Redoubt, the current phase of conservation to the scarp walls of the fort has been completed. Much remains to be done both here and at the North Gateway and Detached Bastion, but already the results of the repair work are emphasising the impressive scale and quality of the original work of this vast fortress. English Heritage is working in close collaboration with the White Cliffs Countryside Project and with the Home Office, owners of the Citadel, to ensure a wider public awareness of the whole monument. At Deal Castle, the entrance bastion has had a new lead roof to replace one installed some 40 years ago. At Battle Abbey, the main phase of conservation work on the monastic guest range has now been completed. At Rochester Castle, managed on behalf of English Heritage by Medway Council, a jointly funded programme of conservation was completed on the outer defences of the castle.
New exhibitions were opened at Richborough and at Deal Castles and a further exhibition at Battle Abbey recounts the events that led up to the Norman invasion of 1066. At Dover, the basement of the keep was transformed into a dramatic reconstruction and presentation of the famous siege of 1216/17, the first phase of a redisplay of the whole of the interior of this building. At Northington Grange, the region welcomed the temporary use of both the former Orangery and the main house by Grange Park Opera who presented the first of a projected series of short summer seasons of opera here. There can be few more dramatic opera settings than the ruinous interiors of these two buildings, contrasting with their Elysian surroundings.
Not all the work undertaken by the regional Inspectors and Curators bears immediate and visible fruit. Much of it is on going, focussed some years ahead on future projects or new guidebooks, while chance discoveries can add to our knowledge of particular monuments and their setting. Long-term aims to display better some of the rooms of Walmer Castle have to be preceded by very considerable historic research that will enable the region to take an informed view on such display proposals. This research has already begun, joining similar work being undertaken for Osborne House, Dover Castle, and Fort Cumberland, which are currently the main focus of such activity.
Westminster Abbey
Steven Brindle, Inspector of Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings, Government Historic Buildings Advisory Unit, London Region
English Heritage, as the representatives of the Crown, are the guardians of the Westminster Abbey Chapter House. This masterpiece of thirteenth century gothic architecture was built by Henry III c1245-50 as part of his main campaign of work on the Abbey. It seems from the outset to have been floored with glazed and decorated ceramic tiles, like many other royal buildings of the age. Numerous mediaeval tiled floors survive to some extent in England, but there is no doubt that the Chapter House floor is the largest and best preserved to have come down to us. This is partly owing to its having been protected by timber flooring inserted in the eighteenth century while the Chapter House was in use as a record office for the Exchequer. The tiled floor was uncovered and repaired by George Gilbert Scott, c1870, and replica tiles were made to replace missing ones. The floor is laid out in broad bands running east-west; the motifs include the royal arms of England, fish, rosette, and roundel patterns.
The tiles are susceptible to wear owing to the thinness of the glazed surface, and visitors to the Chapter House are restricted to a carpeted walkway around the perimeter of the room. A photogrammetric survey of the floor was commissioned to the highest technical specification, primarily to serve as an archaeological and archival record of the floor, but also as a tool for its future management: armed with such a survey, any future deterioration and wear can be accurately measured. The fieldwork was carried out by the staff of our own Survey Team in January 1998: 350 stereo images were taken, by flashlight in the late afternoon or early evening. 315 of the images were photo-mosaiced into a single true-to-scale orthophotograph. This is the largest exercise in photogrammetric recording of a mediaeval tiled floor that has yet been undertaken, and it provides an invaluable record of this most important piece of thirteenth century applied art. We hope that it will point the way forward for the recording and management of other medieval tiled floors.
Down House
Nick Biddle, Garden Curator, Down House
The end of the year saw the start of a programme of archaeology in the garden at Down House designed to inform a five year programme of repair and restoration of the garden and surrounding landscape. The programme aims to restore the garden to its appearance during Charles Darwin's period of occupation (1842-82). The orchard was investigated for the remains of paths by non-invasive means whilst the strategy to take account of the presence of grassland fungi was assessed. Results were inconclusive but suggested that a geophysical survey would be worthwhile. The early stages of the archaeology in the kitchen garden which were carried out during this period established that there had been gravel paths there during the mid- to late-nineteenth centuries.
Chiswick
Dave Gribben, Regent's Park Conservation Studio
The conservation of a pair of magnificent gilt carved and marble topped tables is a major three year project undertaken by English Heritage and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. English Heritage acquired the tables from the Mountstewart sale as part of a policy to return original works of art to Chiswick House. The tables date from c1720 and were probably designed by William Kent who was also responsible, with the Third Earl of Burlington (1694-1753), for the design of the interiors of the house. The execution of the tables, with their rich and ornate carving, is attributed to the Italian craftsman, Giovanni Battista Guelfi. For a short period after acquisition, the tables were exhibited in their untreated condition. This allowed time to carry out a thorough survey and conservation assessment.
An initial examination established that the remarkable marble tops were in excellent condition and would require little more than surface cleaning. Unfortunately, the elaborately carved and gilded wooden bases showed many structural faults and had a very dull, dirty, and worn appearance. A conservation report prior to their sale noted interesting results of microscopic sample analysis from the tables' gilding layers. It suggested that the original gilding might still be intact under a number of subsequent coatings. This gave us the exciting prospect of conserving the original eighteenth century finish, provided that there was further evidence that the gilding had survived in sufficient quantity to justify removing the overlayers, and that a satisfactory method could be found to achieve this.
More extensive investigations were required to provide a sound basis for the proper consideration of this option. Many small samples of the gilded layers were removed for examination under a conventional and scanning electron microscope (SEM) The prepared sections confirmed a uniform structure of three gilded layers with numerous painted intervening layers. The SEM analysis showed the chemical composition of the coating and the significant lead content of the paint. Use of x-ray photography enabled us to make decisions during the course of the conservation programme. This allowed us to view the true quality of the carving beneath the layers of paint and gilding and confirmed that the carving had to a large degree been obscured by the accumulated layers. Hidden metal fixings and some old repairs were also revealed.
As well as removing non-original coatings, the other main conservation tasks were to repair the structural damage to joints and replace missing pieces of carving. The basic structure of the table bases posed particular problems. They were not constructed using traditional wooden joints; instead numerous blocks of wood were glued together to form a large mass from which, very much like sculpture, the final form was carved.
After reviewing all the technical data, the Project Board decided in favour of revealing the original eighteenth century gilding. Tankerdale Workshops were contracted to carry the work out, and the project began by carrying out numerous tests to find the most appropriate method of removing the unwanted overlayers. As the original gold had been applied with an oil goldsize, the use of solvents would have been impracticable due to adverse effects on this type of gilding. To overcome this problem, a new drystripping method was evolved using scalpels and a specially adapted electric engraving tool, which proved capable of removing the upper layers of material with the minimum of damage to the carved surface. This painstaking procedure confirmed our assumption that a large amount of original gilding had survived.
This was followed by a series of lengthy repairs, including the carving of replacement pieces such as badly damaged oak leaf garlands and the joining of splits, in preparing the tables for the final treatment to re-gild and integrate the seriously damaged areas with a carefully colour matched gold. The final result will be the return of these unique pieces of furniture to their rightful place providing an invaluable point of reference when considering further conservation issues at Chiswick House.
