A face-lift for the horse carvings on the North door

As promised, the carved horses which feature on the north facing door of the hall are being carefully restored with great success! Like the house, the door and its ornate carvings are almost 300 years old. Whilst they are in surprisingly good condition for their great age, inevitable exposure to the elements means that maintenance and conservation work is necessary from time to time. In order to extend the life of such distinctive features, Cliveden Conservation Workshop have been carrying out specialised work on this doorway to tackle this deterioration. This maintenance work is generously funded by the Wolfson Foundation. The photos below show the door and one of the horse carvings as they were before conservation work began.

The conservationists ensured that the carvings remained authentic by referring to photographs and other historical records from the National Trust archives throughout the process, and copying the original artists work as accurately as possible.

Firstly they modelled the missing faces in clay...

...Next these clay masquettes were taken to the workshop where they were painstakingly reproduced in the same Tadcaster magnesium limestone from which the original faces were carved...

  

 ...Once they had been carved they were brought back to Beningbrough for the final trimming and fittings.

 Due to the weather conditions at this time of year the area will remain covered by scaffold for a while so that the lime mortars can set, but it won't be long before the horses are back on show and looking their best again. We are sure that it will be well worth the wait!

Natasha

PR and Marketing Intern