Disarray, genteel decay and frayed fabrics are no longer acceptable in historic houses that are open to the public.
This was the clear message given at a seminar entitled "Housekeeping in Historic Houses" at Castletown House last Saturday, attended by house owners and administrators of historic houses. Hosted by the Irish Georgian Society and the Castletown Foundation, the aim was to encourage an awareness of the need for care and preventative conservation in all aspects of historic houses. It also coincided with the appointment of a full time in-house conservator at Castletown who will head the conservation of the contents, which has been ongoing for the past 18 months.
A capacity audience attended, which reflects the growing awareness for not only restoring buildings but maintaining them and their contents to a consistently high standard. Experts from the UK, the National Trust in Northern Ireland, the Office of Public Works and private practice shared the experiences and problems associated with maintaining collections.
Christine Lachelin and Frances Bailey from the National Trust spoke of the routine housekeeping of the houses in their care, the handling of objects, protection from light and the range of tools and materials available to their staff. Their aim is to prevent damage rather than repair it. Careful thought, organisation and a strict routine are essential ingredients in maintaining a house and collection to a high standard. Alarming images were shown to the audience of the damage caused by excessive light, humidity and improper cleaning.
The message clearly was that caring for valuable antiques need not be expensive but requires a mixture of common sense and consistency; light levels must be controlled by shutters and blinds or ultra violet film, furniture protected with dust covers and carpets padded by felt underlay.
Colin Piper from the Conservation and Restoration Centre in Letterfrack graphically illustrated how a lack of care and poor handling can reduce furniture to a sorry state. Pollution and humidity encourage mould and woodworm infestation, devalue and destroy at an alarming rate. Equally, the use of silicone sprays, chemical pest eradicants and epoxy glues can do an enormous amount of damage. All the conservators referred constantly to the National Trust Manual of Housekeeping, which, conveniently, was for sale and, not surprisingly, sold out immediately at lunchtime.
Mary McGrath, the well-known paint conservator, showed how old, damaged and dirty decorative schemes could be rescued. By adopting the same approach, old paintwork, papers and fabrics can be revived and restored as could be seen by her work at Castletown, Lyons and Enniscorthy Cathedral.
The dramatic repair work carried out at Castletown since 1994 by D·chas and the OPW was outlined by John Cahill. As senior architect on the project, he showed the careful approach adopted towards this, one of Ireland's most important houses. In place of a rapid repair of the fabric, these State agencies studied how the house was built in the 1720s and developed over 280 years, before proceeding with the enormous repair project. It is now hard to believe just how much of the house was carefully dismantled during the 1990s and the equally elaborate precautions required to protect the original fabrics and fixtures. After the roof and stone parapets were repaired and services installed, the long process of conserving the interiors commenced.
At present the furniture, pictures and textiles and the print room are being or have been conserved. Much remains to be done and it will be many years before the house and its surroundings can claim to be reinstated.
It was generally acknowledged on Saturday that the special relationship between the State, which owns Castletown, and the Castletown Foundation, which owns most of the original contents, is special and highly significant. It is hoped that Castletown in the future will become a role model in terms of conservation and housekeeping, for other public and privately owned Irish historic houses.
