Context 159 - May 2019

C O N T E X T 1 5 9 : M A Y 2 0 1 9 19 Building services Conservation philosophy From the outset, it was clear that the project would involve great challenges. How would it be possible to carry out the major repairs and other necessary interventions without destroying the extraordinary character of the site? A com- prehensive programme of repairs was necessary, with full re-roofing and major structural repairs. The whole of the building’s services would need to be replaced and upgraded, the interiors conserved or refurbished, and the future of the densely-packed contents secured. After much investigation and debate, it was agreed to apply a radical conserve-as-found approach to the historic interiors. ‘Conserve as found’ is a familiar phrase in the conservation world and the approach has been pursued on a number of well-known projects. The National Trust’s Calke Abbey in Derbyshire is presented as it was at the time of the trust’s acquisition, to preserve this great house’s faded grandeur. At Brodsworth Hall in Yorkshire, English Heritage took a similar, even more thorough-going approach to the time-worn interiors. A much closer comparison to JW Evans is the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, which includes a former jewellery workshop, presented as an industrial time capsule, with all of its machinery, tools and equipment. But in each of these cases, and others like them, the buildings and their contents have all been through an intensive conservation process. To carry out the major works, the whole of the contents were carefully recorded, catalogued and removed.With the contents removed, access can be readily obtained to allow full conservation, refurbishment and re-servicing of the building interior. Each object has been through a process of thorough conservation, before being carefully reinstated in its original position. In assessing the effect of such an approach, it was realised that applying it to JW Evans would destroy much of the very character that gave the place such special significance. No matter how painstakingly executed, the end result would create a sanitised environment, far removed from the authenticity of the site as it had been inherited. The undisturbed Evans interiors present an extraordinary, captivating atmosphere, with an authenticity which has to be experienced to be fully appreciated. But how does one preserve an atmosphere? The answer is obvious: by leaving it alone. For all of the key rooms of historic significance, the starting point was therefore that everything – the bowed racks full of dies, all the objects piled high on benches and floors, the contents of drawers, the grime, the rust, even the dust – would be left exactly as they were, untouched and in situ. This was indeed an extreme and radical concept, never attempted before on this scale in the UK. The conservation philosophy and ensuing development of the project concept established another key principle. Evans was to be preserved in all of its utilitarian, workaday and often ramshackle character. In conserving Evans, the question was ‘Will it last if nothing is done?’ not ‘Is it attractive?’. The urge to tidy up, or remove modern accretions and blemishes, had to be strongly resisted. That issue applies with particular force to services installations. Services The first principle of the services installation was therefore that all redundant services, instead of being stripped out, were retained. This applied not only to the older, more robust services, such as gas and water pipes or steel electrical Opposite page: One of the stamp shops after completion of the project, with dropstamps and dies (Photo: Historic England) A candlestick gathering dust (Photo: Historic England) Old switch-gear in the main stamp shop