A conservator from BBC TV’s The Repair Shop has been working at Salisbury Cathedral to help conserve precious altar frontals.
Salisbury Cathedral gets expert help from one of The Repair Shop’s team.
Rebecca Bissonnet, a familiar face on the TV programme, has been undertaking conservation work on the altar frontals which are kept in the Vestry at the Cathedral.
The altar frontal was made in the 1980s by Jane Lemon and the Sarum Group Embroiderers Guild, who worked on ecclesiastical embroidery in and around Salisbury. These designs were made combining machine and hand-sewn techniques and are part of the current working collection at the Cathedral.
Rebecca was brought in to assess the collection a few years ago and prepare a plan moving forward to keep the frontals in the best kept condition. She has been checking the frontals, cleaned and repaired any wear and tear. This involved a surface clean and a mechanical clean, which involved using make-up sponges to dab off any smoke residue from burning candles and incense that the fabric had absorbed over the years.
Some of the fabric used to make the flame design was beginning to rip, so a technique Rebecca used to repair the fabric, without replacing it, is overlaying, where transparent netting is placed over the fabric to protect it and provide support with minimal intervention.
Rebecca Bissonnet, Textile and Embroidery Conservator, said:
“Salisbury Cathedral has an amazing collection of altar frontals which, as an embroidery as well as a textile conservator I am very excited to be working on.
“These working textiles were in need of a clean, which I did using low-powered vacuum suction to remove surface soiling.
“Next I mechanically cleaned using dry sponges to lift ingrained dirt, so they can continue their very busy working life. “
The Revd Canon Treasurer Kenneth Padley said:
“It’s great to have Rebecca here in Salisbury with such excellent expertise, to help us preserve and protect these beautiful altar frontals so they can be used and enjoyed for many years to come.”
This is part of an on-going conservation project across a wide range of the textiles in the Cathedral, including the cushions and other fabrics in the Quire.
