Building Repairs and the Conservation of the Painted Ceiling in the New Chapel at lghtham Mote

Abstract

Ightham Mote in Kent is an important moated house with a complex architectural development. The sixteenth-century painted ceiling in the New Chapel is especially valuable, but has previously suffered from environmental stress suggested by flaking paint and discolouration.The need for environmental change was acknowledged by all those concerned, and it was as necessary to safeguard the painted decoration from continued deterioration as it was to stabilize the building structure. The identification, tendering and implementation of repairs to the ceiling conditioned the contract for the repair of the whole structure. Careful study has led to further discoveries and consideration of the ceiling's history.