RRC metal conservator, Julia Tauber, cleaning a bronze memorial plaque at Charterhouse School, Surrey.
The care and conservation of memorials has been a hot topic in conservation during the centenary of the First World War. Having worked on memorials of all types in the past, RRC was pleased to be able to assist Charterhouse School, Surrey with the conservation of 58 memorial plaques.
The majority of the plaques are in bronze and range in date over the last 150 years. The conservation work consisted of cleaning the plaques to remove all residues and previous wax coating. Active corrosion was then removed manually with fine wire wool and a hot tinted microcrystalline wax applied to unify the patina and provide a protective coating for the future.
Before (top) and after conservation work on the bronze memorial plaque to George Mallory, the mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Everest.
A wall of showing some of the memorial plaques, all of the work was undertaken on-site at Charterhouse.