Come and see our conservators at work!

February 2025 Update: If you call into the church between 10 and 4 most working days you will see our talented team of Conservators - Peter, Jay and Oliver of Peter Martindale Conservation at work atop some really impressive scaffolding – 12 tons of it!

The conservators started their meticulous and painstaking work in mid January 2025.  They are making really good progress in carefully cleaning the walls, wall paintings and friezes as well as the stone window surrounds and the string course with its many different paterae designs that run along the length of the nave just below the roof. Archangel Micheal has emerged from his dense shroud of cobwebs, is being cleaned and any detaching paint flakes are being stabilised. Where paint has been lost this will be retouched to match the original. Work on our other two archangels Gabriel and Raphael has also commenced.

We can already see how much brighter the magnificent archangels and walls will be, as well as how the newly cleaned stone window surrounds look almost like new!

The windows are cleaning up beautifully

Peter is also discovering more about the earlier schemes of painting beneath the plain paint, including lettering and other colours - areas of earlier green and blue have been found. There is also evidence of some retouching of the angels - perhaps dating from the 1930’s.

Peter muses on earlier schemes of painting hidden below what we see today

Peter muses on retouching

At the end of February beginning of March the team will move onto the south wall, hopefully completing early April. 

Please do call in and see how the conservation and cleaning work is progressing, and also get an up close view of the conservators working on a screen at ground level. We’re also planning opportunities to meet the conservators and understand the techniques they are using.  The contract is being run on our behalf by Chedburn Codd architects but for questions  please contact admin@discoverchristchurch.org.uk  

We are so grateful to our funders The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Bradford on Avon Preservation Trust, Pilgrim Trust, ChurchCare and community donors who together have made all of this possible. Thank you!