Restoring Historic Church Artifacts After Fire

During the significant fire damage at All Saints Church, one of the irreplaceable specialist content items affected was a 5-foot-tall lectern, which held great importance to the Church and its congregation. While restoration works on the building structure were being carried out by Polygon’s Major and Complex Loss Teams, the lectern and several other contents were also addressed. These included brass candlesticks, a display case containing a commemoration book and diary, a prayer book altar rest, and a brass cross on a stand.

The Process

The Document and Artefact restoration team assessed each item and advised on likely outcomes and costs. Unfortunately, many of the items had multi-material melt deposit degradation, the most damaged items being close to the seat of the fire or in direct line of flame travel and heat penetration.

In the case of the lectern, the soot residue, ash and smoke particles were baked onto the brass, acting like traditional stove enamelling, an incredibly robust but unwanted coating.

The Solution

The Document and Artefact restoration team were able to carefully remove the residue; no abrasive or mechanical tools would be used on such a special piece, and all the work was carried out by hand. Polygon provide an inclusive range of services for any issues due to fire, flood and temperature control situations which gives an unique offering to join up our solutions so whilst our specialist teams are on site, our professional restorers can work on your documents and artifacts all in house to get you back up and running in the shortest time possible and to the highest standard.

The Outcome

100s of years of history were saved by the Document and Artefact restoration team and will be enjoyed for 100s of years to come. And alongside them, Polygon Technicians worked on the building to get the congregation back in the shortest time possible.