Over £24,000 worth of conservation planned for 14th century paintings at West Sussex village church

The proposed conservation works would take place at St Georges Church in Trotton.

Remains of wall paintings cover the entire church, dating from the early 14th-century to the post-reformation period.

From this latter period date, the Ten Commandments painted on either side of the altar, and visible until at least 1942, since when they have been covered with limewash.

Wall painting schemes dating from the late-14th century have been revealed at the west end of the church, where less damage has been caused by the insertion of monuments.

The west wall is entirely covered by a huge Last Judgement painting: unusually, the Damned and Sins are shown on Christ's right hand, and the Saved and the Acts of Mercy on his left.

Remedial treatment to a wall painting at the church would include:

The removal of dust and cobwebs overall,

A close-up, detailed inspection of all the painted detail looking for lifted paint and/or micro-flaking, then stabilisation of any such paint damage.

Solvent-based cleaning of the discoloured wax coating to remove dirt absorbed since the Baker intervention

Removal/reduction of the whitish bloom affecting the gown of the Good Man and lower Seven Acts of Mercy roundels

Fill the many plaster losses at low level and sporadic losses and crack in the plaster higher up,

Tone down all bright white specs of paint loss: this for both aesthetic and future monitoring purposes.

To view the full application visit the South Downs National Park Authority’s planning portal using the reference: SDNP/23/00531/ECCLES