Rosalind WhitehouseConservation of paintings
Rosalind Whitehouse

Hatchment Collections

Conserved hatchment from Powerstock Church, Dorset: a square framed heraldic panel with a griffin crest, scarlet and cream scrolling mantling, and a black shield bearing silver lions and gold roundels

Paintings in Churches

Many Churches house hatchments and Coats of Arms, but many more have been lost from decay and neglect. Damp walls and fluctuating environmental conditions take their toll, over hundreds of years.

Any PCC considering conservation of their pictures must first obtain a ‘Faculty’ from the Church authorities, details of which can be found on the Churchcare website www.churchcare.co.uk. Here you will find guidelines on working with conservators, and see the nature of the Conservation Report that a PCC must commission from a Conservator.

This studio has carried out surveys, written conservation reports and carried out conservation treatments for projects where funding has been both raised locally, and also obtained from the Heritage Lottery Fund, or from the Woodmansterne Conservation award.