 Mae ymlaen gyda'r cyfnod i'r herifedd gwirionedd yn 1983, ac mae wedi'i gael y dyma yw'r hyn yn lleidio. Mae'n ddweud o'r cyfrindigolau a'r llwyffau sydd gyda'r fforddau sydd â'r cyfnod yn y bydd yma'r pethau. Mae'n ddweud o'r cyfrindigolau sydd a'n ddweud o'r cyfrindigolau, Ond wedi i ei wneud ond yn ymwneud yw bod yn gwithio'r newid yn rhaid. Ac rwy'n rhaid gweld i'r ffaptio hefyd cael ei amser speillau mae'r llaw o'ch gwlygu fitting. Rwy'n rhaid i'n santh i ffaptio hefyd yn gwneud ond ar ffordd yn cyfan dynaf, ond rwy'n gwybod eu cyfyrd cymryd yn y pwlygon. Rwy'n credu'r ffordd yn cysylltu'r ysgolaeth a'r y confidence, That was a period of time when no action was taken on conservation because there were simply no resources and the it was not redeemed a high priority. But in 1995, I began an interim report on the materials and the condition of the object. bit by bit, we unpacked and laid out on the floor and even then was there some extraordinary angen i'r mewn cyfnodol o elewyddiol. And we didn't know whether we had them all. It did appear that there were quite a number of them maybe missing. They were jumbled up. It was impossible to put them together in any meaningful order. And we had very little in terms of images to go on. We had an image of the screen before it was dismantled. It had first appeared in 1862 at an international exhibition. a ddylai'r cyffredinol fel gyda'r cwyddoedd i'r cethedrwyng. Felly mae'r cyffredinol yw'r cyffredinol yn dweud bod i'n gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'n 5 oed i'ch ddweud y cael y gweithio. Mae'n ddiweddio gyda George Gilbert Scott ac mae'r cyffredinol yn ôl i'r ddechrau Francis Skidmore, yn y cyfarwydd o bobl yn gwneud. Mae hefyd ddim yn cyd-gweithio'r cyffredinol, Bydd hyn wedi bod y cyfrifiadau clynyddol, ddyn nhw'n ddweud y bydd y rhai'r lleol a'r holl gweithio'r material bydd oedd i gydigol, a mae'r cyfrifiadau a'r holl gweithio'r lleol bydd y cyfrifiadau cyfrifiadau sy'n cyflogau, a'r holl gweithio cyflogau yn y 1662 erbyn ac rydym yn ddyn nhw'n gweithio, there'd been additional paint added, and decorative effects added to the base of the columns. There was stenciling and additional paint work which was all done for the installation here of Cathedral in 1863. Now I really have to return to the fact that while this was deemed to be one of the most a cyreu i'r cylliddon gyfnod y Hold mewn yw'r cyfrifol iawn. Mae hynny mewn cyfrifol fân yn yw'r cyfrifol iawn, i'r cyfrifol iawn, a'u cyfrifol iawn. mae'r bydd yn yma, mae'r bwysig f squats, gyda glas, rhaidwyr, ac ydw i'r bras, ac rhaidwyr agates ac ydw i'r rhaidwyr ydw i'r rhaidwyr i'r architraves ac ydw i'r architraves. Mae'r rhaidwyr ydw i'r bras, ac ydw i'r rhaidwyr ydw i'r architraves. Mae rhaidwyr hefyd yn dweud am y cnwysu i ffwy音u, i gefnodd mewn bywyddi a'r ffwy equalityd ac i'r bywyddi i'r fawr. Rhaidwyr, rhaidwyr. Yn 1863, cyflawni'r ddyn nhw, gennym iaith cael hyrraffydd, rhaidwyr e'ch cyffraith yng Nghymru, ac mae'n rhaidwyr ar gyfer y Llywodraeth Llywodraeth yma, fe'r banymwynt ddod ar ddeuedd ac rhaidwyr arian, ac yn y bryd hynny, i'w gwirionedd yn gwasanaethu'r cynhyrchu'r cyflawn yn y gallu meddwl yma, yr hynny'n gallu cyflawn yn ddweud. Mae'n gweithio'r adeiladol, yn ystod yn cyflawn i'r archifredig Cethedraol. Mae'r cyflawn yn amlwg wedi cyflawn, ac yn cael ei bod yr oedd yn cael ei fod yn ei ddweud, sy'n ddweud y bydwyd yn cael ei ddweud, ac yn cael ei ddweud, mae'r ddweud yn cael eu prosiectau ar y 20th yma, 19th a 20th century. So, undoubtedly there was the deterioration of the metal and of the mosaics, and I think this was probably exacerbated by the fact that there was a coke stove to heat the cathedral, and there were very many gas burners used to illuminate the cathedral throughout that period. Inevitably there would have been accumulations of dirt and dust and soot, and they would have contributed to the cause of corrosion. So, even though there was a painted surface on many parts, and there was lacquer, we believe, on the polished brass, gradually those coatings break down and inevitably corrosion starts to form. That appears to what went on. It would have been a difficult screen because of its intricacies, sheer surface area and complexity. It would have been very difficult to keep that clean and maintained, let alone try to deal with corrosion as it developed. So, by the 1930s there were comments and complaints about the general appearance of the screen, and as the century progressed by the 1960s, it had become quite a matter of distaste that this grubby screen was still in place. By this time Victorian objects in all their forms had become deemed to be deeply unfashionable. There were a lot of letters complaining that the screen should be maintained and should be kept in place, but sadly, I believe, the screen was ultimately removed. It was dismantled. We do not have very many images, but there's an image here showing its dismantling taking place in 1967, in spite of the objections of many great historians at the time, and of course the local people. It was destined to be removed and then re-displayed in a new museum in Coventry dedicated to the arts of industry. This never happened, and in the early 1980s the screen became the property of the VNA. Again, without the resources really to display it, and we needed to find a space. When the space was identified in the Ironwork Gallery there was a considerable amount of work just to ensure that they had the correct floor loading. The screen in total weighs 8 tonnes, and there was a lot of concern that we wouldn't have adequate support. But when the decision was made that there was going to be space and room and time to deal with this, the reports that were carried out and the estimates varied immensely as to what could be done in terms of the full conservation and restoration of this screen. What was particularly striking and disturbing about the level of deterioration that we found on the copper and on the brasswork was the sheer density and extension of this corrosion. The corrosion had developed because of the pollutants and the dirt and general damp conditions in the environment it had been kept in, not helped by the fact that it had been in storage in wooden crates in an unheated, unventilated area for many years as well. There happened to be some sample pieces that we can still look at here because these were used for trial cleaning and it's possible to see here untreated areas where there's very extensive copper corrosion and the zinc corrosion as well on some areas. But this is a piece of copper which was fabricated, hammered and punched. So there's actually quite a number of separate elements here. These leaves are separate. This is separate. You can turn it over. And you can actually see how thin the metal is, splits in the copper. This was used, as I said, to carry out some treatment, trial areas. And the only way to try and establish appropriate techniques to clean and treat the object, the entire screen, was to work out what might be most effective. So to that extent abrasive cleaning methods, as gentle as possible, were implemented. Just picking off the corrosion with brushes and little scrapers. Another method that was used, which was a pioneering method at the time, was to use a laser, a low-powered laser. And these areas here is where the laser was used. By directing the beam onto the corrosion products, it was possible to vaporise them. And it was a very effective and interesting method to use. However, it was time-consuming and therefore a pretty expensive way of undertaking the corrosion removal. And what it did also produce was this slightly purplish hue, like an interference layer on the copper, which has still remained after quite a number of years. It would be possible to remove this some purplish hue, but it would mean you still have to use some sort of abrasive method to do so. What was found to be most effective was this area here, given that the corrosion is irregular and using a micro-air abrasive device with aluminium oxide was trialled. And that effectively and gently removes the corrosion, reveals the underlying metal, rends it stable. And then following on from that, I applied a primer, which is this area here. So the surface is abraded, the residue is dusted and brushed off and vacuumed away. The surface is degreased with solvents and the primer is applied, or indeed some form of separate layer if one is going to repaint the surface. Other methods were trialled using solvent gels containing chelating agents, and the chelating agents enable the corrosion to be made soluble. These were not so effective at the time, and that was why the decision was made to go forward with the air abrasive technique. The solvents and the solvent gels were less effective, and that's why it was decided to go ahead and recommend the use of micro-air abrasives to effectively remove corrosion from the copper and the brass and the iron of the screen. This is one of the tiles that are attached to the timbering tablature. It's brass sheet, again it's been fabricated from quite thin metal. The decorative effects were stamped into the surface. Francis Skidmore had elaborate equipment designed and set up for pattern making and for stamping, and of course a lot of skilled craftsmen who could carry out these techniques with hand tools. It would have been necessary to heat the metal and anneal it to soften it before this punching or manipulation was carried out. It's possible to see what's happened to the brass. It's corroded. There's also, interestingly, a fingerprint which must date from its original factor, as far as we know. This was here when it was dismantled, and unless it was the tap, it dismantled it. I think also it's worth pointing out. The brass was fashioned in this way and then almost entirely coloured and painted. So what we have here is an area untreated where this screen paint has just become very dull and discoloured through dirt and oxidation. The brass has become brown and corroded, so it's almost indiscernible. It's lost its contrasting effect. There's also this white paint which is also discoloured and become quite friable and damaged, and the corrosion starts to work its way through and undermine and disturb the painted surfaces. We have here an area where trial cleaning was carried out, and most of this was done with mechanical cleaning, soft abrasive method, just to take the corrosion back and gradually reveal the brass surface. Here there's an area of lacquered brass, and the lacquer deteriorated gradually as the corrosion broke its way through. The overall effect originally was this painted background, this rather nice green, a brown background behind this detailing, and then all these areas were polished brass, which was then coated with a shellac lacquer and would have made a vivid contrast to the rest of the tile. Early in the project we realised there was going to be a major issue in terms of understanding just how each of these component parts fitted together and indeed whether we had them or present. So a full stereofotogrammetric survey of parts was carried out and it enabled us to produce three-dimensional accurate images to scale. Then using computer drafting it was possible to put together a completely accurate diagram showing where all the components would fit. It also enabled calculations of any elements that appeared to be missing or if they were very damaged whether they could be reused. And this image and this plan was used throughout the conservation and restoration programme to enable us to work in a systematic fashion. Another important point was the base columns, the cast iron columns which supported the weight. The screen was originally intended to be freestanding, but the V&A realised that it needed to make it absolutely secure in terms of structural stability. So the first process carried out was ultrasound scanning of the cast iron columns to check for any cracks or defects. There were surprisingly few defects and imperfections. A few repairs were carried out ultimately, but then all the columns were reinforced with steel rods internally which were embedded into the plinth which was ultimately designed for its display. It's perhaps worth pointing out in terms of scale. This is one of the painted brass tiles that was located up at the very upper reaches of the screen. This element was one of the parts that would have been placed at the top of these columns again and completely painted. Part of what we needed to establish, as well as the feasibility of carrying out the work and the treatment of the surfaces was a full understanding of exactly how the screen was intended to appear in this scheme for 1863 when it first appeared in Ereford Cathedral. To this end, Jane Davis, a specialist paint conservator, was commissioned to take over 120 samples of the paint and she carried out cross sections identifying the layer structure and identifying the pigments and the medium that had been used to produce this extraordinary effect. She established with the paint sampling that there was a palette of 20 colours. They had been mixed and applied in a variety of manners and it was apparent when we looked more closely at the surfaces that sometimes the colour scheme had been changed midway and in fact colour had been added and sometimes the system was quite random. Some petals were painted one colour, but it was fascinating to see just how rich and deep and how much material still remained beneath the corrosion and the dirt. From this information it was possible to collect images of all the component parts and calculate accurately what colour scheme they should have. This of course informed the whole restoration of the painted process. It's worth pointing out that while essentially the colour scheme had not been altered or interfered with since the screen had been installed at Heriff Cathedral, lower down the screen there were some examples of overpainting which probably took place in the early 20th century or perhaps in the 1950s when there was a report of the screen looking rather tired and we identified that there were some areas where a gold paint rather than gold leaf had been applied rather crudly and the paint work and the brushwork were so different to anything else and we can see on this image here evidence of this rather crudly applied gold paint and when one of the floral components is removed there's a vivid and beautiful purple beneath and after the whole conservation process was carried out these purple hues were reapplied to the columns and you can see here this is an example of the fully restored finish with the brass polished and the correct pigment reapplied. There are a number of reasons why this entire project progressed over a considerable number of years but one of the major requirements was that we had to launch a significant fund raising initiative and to that extent we were fortunate in getting a great deal of support from private sponsorship and donations as well as heritage lottery funding. This was an enormous project and it required outsourcing we simply didn't have conservators in-house to carry out this work however desirable it might have been and Ploudyn and Smith received the contract and carried out magnificent work over a period of 13 months which was quite a considerable time considering how many elements there were. Final count 14,000 separate components. Some of those components were remade or replicated and what was fundamental in the decision making was decision justified when we went for the option of a full repair, replication of missing elements, complete removal of any dirt and degraded surfaces as well as dealing with all the active corrosion on the surfaces and the pursuit of it was to restore the appearance to its full glory. Therefore the paint was replicated and actually all the colours were exactly the same composition as the originals with the exception of two where we had to use modern materials due to health and safety concerns. But the process of conservation was remarkable in terms of the teamwork it required and the consistency of work. The brass work, for example, had to be systematically cleaned of corrosion and it had to be repolished and even though there were areas of quite severe pitting this was all done very effectively and all the methods were devised, approved by myself as lead conservator. We also used some innovative methods and ensured that everything was documented. Any additional overpainting was applied over a barrier layer so existing and remaining stable paint and gilding was left in place particularly on such as the base columns and you can see here illustration of that. The rust was removed by mechanical and chemical means from the columns and overpainting and overgilding was carried out with extreme care and precision. The polished brass was coated with a lacquer, a durable lacquer similar to a shellac that would have been applied in the 19th century. A detail worth noting are the panels of mosaics. They were held in badly rusted iron trays which had degraded, mortar had degraded and therefore needed to be replaced and the tessari, many of them glass, some of them ceramic these had to be carefully cleaned and in the case of these vivid green areas here they were chemically unstable and liable to crumble and disintegrate which is why in this image you see them faced up with tissue. All the mosaics were detached and coming apart and so they all had to be systematically removed from the trays and very carefully replaced and consolidated. The very friable bright green was consolidated with an acrylic resin and we did actually manage to produce some pretty impressive results. Likewise the repainting, the finishing, the lacquering and the reconstruction took place over several months installing it in the galleries was a remarkable effort in its own right just imagine trying to match and put together all these component parts and it's possible to see here in these images aspects of that. And bit by bit they were assembled and transferred into the gallery and then you finally, its detail here shows how we begin to see just what a glorious and impressive appearance the screen would have had when it was first seen. So we go from this really devastated looking angel covered in corrosion and strangely partially lacquered the corrosion has completely disfigured the object but once conserved and the corrosion removed and the structure stabilised put back in position we have something quite remarkable. I took immense pride and pleasure in working on this project notwithstanding there were many headaches and many puzzlements along the way and justifying this full treatment was not always an easy task. A week or so after the screen went on public display I received correspondence from a lady whose mother had sat in Hereford Cathedral in the 1920s and heard Edward Elgar playing, performing with his orchestra conducting in fact in front of the screen and then of course had been rather saddened by the fact that this screen had been dismantled as she was a regular attendee at the cathedral. This lady brought her mother to the V&A and surprised her bringing her into the main entrance and apparently her mother cried tears of joy when she saw the screen in its full glory once more.