Christchurch Cathedral Tile Damage

Update on the running saga of the Encaustic tiles at Christchurch Cathedral that have been damaged following volunteers who have zero knowledge of restoration or conservation ,there is a video showing tiles being hacked with the pointed edge of a paint scraper !! 

Christ Church cathedra l https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2020/0228/1118042-christ-church-cathedral-floor-tile-restoration-underway/

ALAMY

Dublin city council’s conservation officer has contacted Christ Church cathedral over an RTE news report that appeared to show historic tiles being “cleaned” with steel paint scrapers.

The report said the 1,000-year-old cathedral was seeking volunteers to help “restore” its 180,000 ornate floor tiles by removing a shellac varnish applied “several years ago”. Some of the tiles date from the 13th century, although most are 19th-century reproductions.

The Rev Abigail Sines, the dean’s vicar at Christ Church, has described the original floor tiles as a “work of art”. Following the RTE report, which noted that each of the tiles would take two to three minutes to scrape clean, expert restorers and conservators complained to Christ Church and to Dublin city council over what one described as “vandalism”.

Erica Devine, a member of the Institute of Conservator-Restorers in Ireland (ICRI), said she was shocked by the “apparently brutal treatment” of the floor tiles seen in the TV footage. “Removing varnish from encaustic tiles with a steel scraper is highly ill-advised,” she said. “We all know not to clean our ceramic pans with steel wool. The same principle applies here.”

Devine said the varnish should have been softened with alcohol and gently removed with a flexible plastic tool. “This would normally be done only under the supervision of a qualified conservator, following an extensive and detailed condition report highlighting areas of particular vulnerability,” she said.

Steve Sinnott, a tile restoration specialist who has worked on several grade I listed churches in the UK, said the video appeared to show both glazed and unglazed decorative tiles being “hacked” with a sharp metal razor. He questioned whether the cathedral had sought help from ICRI before carrying out the work, and asked why shellac had ever been used to varnish the tiles.

“I am surprised that one of my colleagues over in Ireland has not been contacted [to advise], although the skillset is rare,” he said. Sinnott added that shellac was “not an acceptable finish for any type of tile, and certainly not medieval and Victorian tiles”.

The cathedral said a decision had been taken to remove the shellac after consulting the manufacturer about replica tiles, some of which were installed two years ago. It insists that none of the work affects the cathedral’s medieval tiles, although the RTE footage did show 19th-century tiles being cleaned with a steel scraper. “We appreciate the concerns of conservationists and we understand their assumption that the medieval tiles are included in the cleaning process as it was stated in a very general way on the [RTE] clip,” it said.

The cathedral added that the newer tiles had begun to break. “The manufacturer of the replica tiles advised us that the coating was causing them to retain moisture and explode as they could not breathe,” it said.

The cathedral, a protected structure that was extensively renovated in the 19th century, said it was now “in dialogue” with both the tile manufacturer and Dublin city conservators.

It said that while volunteers had attended the cathedral to help with cleaning the tiles, “no additional nights are planned”.

Dublin city council said it was “aware of the issue”. It said it had “raised the matter with Christ Church cathedral, in order to ensure that the restoration of the historic floor surfaces are undertaken in accordance with best practice”.

The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht said it was a matter for the council.

“The department have been in touch with the council and is aware they are following up on the matter,” it said.

@colincoyle

Colin Coyle

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