This original high relief ceiling had incurred some damage from years of slow water ingress and Frank was engaged to undertake the restoration work. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Amanda searched through our archives and identified the Victorian ceiling tile design in an old trade catalogue for Anaglypta. Knowing that it may possibly be Salamander, (a similar relief product containing asbestos for its fire retardant properties), we recommended testing for asbestos before any work began, which came back negative.
It is difficult to put an exact date on this ceiling installation as the house pre-dates the Anaglypta, but given the close proximity to Lancaster, it is quite likely to date circa 1888-1894 whilst Anaglypta was manufactured by The Storey Brothers of Lancaster before production moved to Darwen, Lancashire. Although, from records, we know this design was still in production in 1931.
There is a lot of woodwork in this room, original window shutters, several doors, panelling and the fire surround. Frank cleaned and prepared the surfaces, including sanding and lining the walls, repairing and re-fixing the Anaglypta ceiling tiles. The windows were masked off and floor protected before spray painting the ceiling and all the woodwork. A contrasting deep blue matt emulsion was chosen for the walls. Finally, the plaster rose details were cleaned, repaired, and finished in liquid gold leaf and Frank used the same gold to add detailing to the fire surround to tie it all together.
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