Dublin Plasterwork - with thanks to Richard Ireland The re-appearance of lime as a building product during the last twenty or so years has clearly brought many advantages especially in the restoration of historical...
READ MORE »Palette of Historic Paints
This article was originally published as "Palette of Historic Paints" in Country Life, 20th February 1992: 56-57. Papers and Paints can be found here: View Larger...
READ MORE »Parsons’ Decorative Finishes (9) – Water Paint
Parlyte' Water Paint Samples - Page One A previous post has already introduced the subject of a most useful work that was published in the 1930s - Parsons' Decorative Finishes. Subsequently I have used it as a...
READ MORE »Soft Distemper
Soft distemper on the walls of this almshouse - Geffrye Museum Soft distemper (sometimes known as Calcimine) is a traditional water-based coating for plaster surfaces. As it allows the wall beneath to ‘breathe’...
READ MORE »Edwinsford, Carmarthenshire
Edwinsford Exterior - From the National Monuments Record of Wales: © Mark Baker Those in the know might be puzzled as to why I have included what is clearly a ruin amongst the buildings that I have worked in. ...
READ MORE »Barnbarroch, Wigtownshire
In the early hours of October 23rd 1941 a blaze began in one of the bedrooms of Barnbarroch House, Wigtownshire. Servants, woken by the noise, raised the alarm. Some jumped from windows, seriously injuring...
READ MORE »Roman Baths, Bath
The reception hall at the Roman Baths and Pump Room site was completed in 1897 as a concert hall extension to the Pump Room. The extension was part of a larger programme of works which was designed to develop the...
READ MORE »Calke Abbey, Derbyshire
In 2007 the World of Interiors magazine commissioned me to write an article on the interiors at Calke Abbey. My words were to accompany a set of wonderfully evocative photographs taken by Lucinda Lambton. One of...
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