Lytham Hall
Tel: 01253 736652
Restoration Projects
Dining Table
The grand Gillow dining table in the Georgian Hall has been restored to its former glory.
The team at Dewar took on the task of restoring the surface of this enormous quality piece of furniture. The table had areas where the varnish had badly worn away, along with milky bleached areas from the sun, stains, ring marks and scruffs.
No doubt there have been many happy times around the table in the past - but it had certainly got too bad for its own good. Glad to say that it now shines once again. It has been away for a total of two weeks and needed a team of men to get it in and out.
Our thanks go to the Friends of Lytham Hall who have sponsored this work. Due to them, it will now grace the room and bring joy to the thousands of visitors that view it set and dressed like it should be! Also a huge thankyou to our volunteer Deborah Durkin who sourced and gathered quotes from numerous contractors.
Hetty Blue Room Wallpaper
We love a good story and this one is no exception!
A few weeks ago we discovered some wallpaper scraps whilst cleaning centuries of debris out of the attics. After some research, it came to light that it was most probably from the early part of 1800s, maybe late Georgian or Regency period.
A very similar pattern is featured in a bedroom at Culzean Castle in Ayrshire which dates to around 1820.
The paper was most likely to have been the choice of Hetty Clifton, the wife of Thomas Joseph Clifton, often refered to as the "tree planter". Thomas Joseph became squire in 1832 and went on a huge spending spree commissioning even more furniture by Gillows, fashionable chinese wares and porcelain, along with oppulent fabrics.
His wife, Hetty, would have no doubt had a say in the choice of the hall's decoration around that period, especially as the pattern is quite feminine and most likely adorned a lady's bedroom.
Only about 25% of the original repeat pattern existed when the scraps were found and put together. This meant we were faced with a huge challenge if we were to try and reproduce it.
Thankfully, our managers Peter & Paul, personally knew John Mark who owns one of the most exclusive wallpaper producing companies in the UK. His company is based not too far away near Leyland, Lancashire. After explaining our predicament, John Mark set about finding an artist who specialised in exactly this field.
The results were nothing short of amazing. The missing pattern had to be hand drawn and after hearing about our charity, this truly talented service was provided at just cost, which was then kindly funded by the Friends of Lytham Hall.
Once the pattern had been created, it was down to John Mark to produce it into actual wallpaper. This is exactly what his team did and now the pattern is alive once again after approximately 200 years.
The team here at Lytham Hall are thrilled to have brought this terrific find back to life via the enormous help of John Mark Wallpapers. We can't thank him enough for all his effort into achieving this amazing result, as well as all his generosity.
Very soon it will be on display in Hetty Clifton's bedroom where visitors can admire it in all its glory.
Pictured are our managers, Peter Anthony & Paul Lomax, taking delivery of the numerous rolls from John Mark (left) and Paul Atherton-Watson (right).
Scroll down the photos to see the original scraps discovered by the building manager of Conservation Services NW, David Parfitt.
Hetty Clifton Bedroom
Hetty Clifton's bedroom is now re-open after an extensive restoration project which sees her wallpaper return after almost 200 years.
Many thanks to John Mark Wallpaper, Warren of Apex Interiors and Peter Burke for bringing this room back to life with all your collective skills.
Thanks also to the Friends of Lytham Hall who financed the artwork and reproduction of this early 18th century wall covering with its bird and floral detail.
Not forgetting our volunteer, Margaret Brown, who has once again made up the rich velvet curtains, which are specifically toned in so as to match Hetty's dress in the painting above the fireplace.
Billiard Room
After weeks of hard work our Billiard Room is finally finished, and we are over the moon with the result.
This room had to be taken off our tour a couple of years ago due the roof lantern being so problematic. Thankfully the roof work was completed last autumn, and the large timber lantern is now repaired and watertight after costing around £19,000.
We couldn't start on the interior of the room until the roof was fixed. Local company 'Finelines' started work on the interior repairing the walls and tackling the huge task of redecoration.
The Billiard Room at Lytham Hall was added in the late 19th century by forming an extension to part of the Jacobean building at the rear. This work was commissioned and completed by John Talbot Clifton (the explorer). At this time, the Arts & Crafts movement was in its early stages, of which is evident in the design.
The room was refurbished once again in the early 20th century by adding the beautiful stain glass windows and perhaps the remodelling of the fireplace. These influences have been vital in striking a balance and creating an interpretation of a gentleman's games room of this period.
The colours were there to be seen, from the green tiles on the fireplace, the green leathers on many of the original chairs, and the green and aubergine colours of the carpet. With careful paint archeology we started to uncover certain shades that had been used in the past.
The colours were matched to the National Trust endorsed 'Little Greene' company paint cards. Every shade used is of exactly the period and supplied by the conservation paint experts 'Little Greene'.
One of the masters of the Arts & Craft movement was William Morris, so it was only right to include some of his fabrics into the equation to help emphasise the architecture and period of the room. The 1901 seaweed pattern was selected to compliment the colour scheme, as well as its theme having links to a seashore town.
The dreadful late 20th century strip lights have also been replaced with brass art nouveau and cut-glass light fittings. These dated fluorescent lights were not just ugly, they were high on our risk assessment, therefore we are so glad to have eradicated them from the equation.
Many thanks to the team at Threlfall electrical contractors for your help in this.
Special thanks to volunteers Peter Burke, Janet Pothecary and Joe Mallabone who have helped enormously, especially preparing the bay windows, and stripping back the original painted brass window fittings.
With around £24,000 being spent in total - We hope you like it!
Wooden repair work
Restoration and repair work to some of the wooden door surrounds is underway. In the past some of these surfaces have failed through the use of incorrect paints and poor relative humidity.
Paint expert, Nigel Leaney, carried out a lot of paint archeology throughout the house many years ago and his findings are so valuable. The evidence gathered demonstrated which paint colours had been used across different eras spanning two and a half centuries The evidence is there to see in the flesh as the different use of dark whites and shades of pale ochre are revealed.
Lots of patience is required - but Peter Burke seems to have it in abundance.
Archive Room
Restoration
NEW ARCHIVE STORAGE, READING AND STUDY ROOM, RESEARCH AND LIBRARY.
After many weeks of hard work, our three adjoining rooms on the top floor are now ready. These rooms were in great need of repair and attention and have been subject to a complete makeover.
Guardian Royal Exchange had converted one of the rooms into staff toilets, but these were in a bad state and not in use. During the painting works to the North Georgian elevation a couple of years ago, the ugly soil pipes were removed from the outer walls, therefore they could never be recommissioned - not that we ever would want to!
The presence of water above areas of significant importance is never a good idea and was the source of many problems and damage in the past.
After a great deal of work these rooms now provide a complete area of archive storage, research and reading lounge, map tables, library and reference books, along with an office.
Special thanks must go to Peter Burke and Janet Pothecary for their huge input in making this happen. This project was funded by Julian Wilde through this summer's single theatre performance along with the Friends of Lytham Hall.
This is a vital space for a very important part of our operation here at Lytham Hall. It is another great achievement and very much part of our programme of continuous improvements.
2nd Floor Lobby
Restoration
Here are a few photos from the recent transformation of the south west lobby on the top floor of the Hall.
The lobby is complete with a few finishing touches, such as oriental ornamental objects, as this was the entrance into the Clifton's old Chinese room.
Chinese Bedroom
Restoration
This is one project we are extremely proud of!
Upon becoming Lord of the Manor of Lytham and Squire of Lytham Hall, Thomas Joseph Clifton (b1788 - d1851) decided to turn one of the bedrooms on the top floor into a highly fashionable Chinese room.
The records in our archives list the inventory of items that Thomas purchased for his new room, including a black ebonised bed with gold detail, numerous large pieces of oriental pottery and the use of colorful fabrics, all of which we have tried to represent in our interpretation.
Our paint archeology showed the second layer of paint to be woad blue which would be very fashionable around the 1830s when Thomas created the room, the earlier layer being a typical beige ochre shade more reminiscent of the earlier georgian style. The colour was matched up to Little Greene paint equivalent endorsed by the National Trust.
We know that the Chinese bedroom survived until the 1960s, this was because certain guests of that time described it in the letters they wrote about their stay.
A huge thankyou to our volunteers, Janet, Joe, Neville, Peter B who have worked under professional supervision, and of course Margaret Brown who once again has made all the curtains from period Chinese fabric.
Georgian Bedroom
Restoration
Our new Georgian Bedroom is now finished and open to the public.
For over a decade this room had been in poor condition after a water tank cracked and leaked in the attic. This caused the collapse of a huge area of ceiling which then had to have an interim repair to avoid further damage and mitigate the risk of falling debris to staff.
After our two small picnic fundraising concerts last August (in-between lockdowns), we were able to hire a conservation accredited master plaisterer for the repair work.
Colin Morris of Natural Finishes was commissioned because of his expertise in this field. Colin completed the repairs over the course of late winter and spring.
The original building methods were used by replacing all the damaged historic reed, and then slowly but surely adding the layers of lime plaster. Step by step at different intervals the layers were built up, ensuring just the right level of moisture to avoid cracking. Certainly not a process that can be done overnight!
The water leak had also caused the ceiling to sag, so Colin had to pin back the ceiling to a level position before the main repair work began. He did a fantastic job, whilst also working on Lancaster Priory and Levens Hall at the same time.
Many thanks to Warren who prepared the rest of the ceiling ready for decoration, you did a super job.
Our huge thanks go to Peter Burke, Janet Pothecary along with others who have worked like troopers repairing and decorating this wonderful new room.
Many thanks to Margaret Brown who transformed a large donation of period material into curtains and bed dressings.
Not forgetting Phil Downie for his fabulous photography.
All the paint used is colour coded to exactly the period of the mid-Georgian era by Little Greene who are endorsed and recommended by the National Trust. These are very expensive products, but the breathability of these paints is essential for this historic listed interior.
Hall Conservation Cleaning
In the Georgian Hall we have lots of beautiful antique furniture, fabrics and plasterworks. One of the jobs that our dedicated volunteer conservation ladies do is the more time consuming and delicate cleaning.
The photos show the work the volunteers have done on the messenger chairs in the North Entrance, cleaning of the delicate ornaments in the Morning room, bringing the copper Clifton fire panel back to full glory in Violet's bedroom and the very big job of cleaning the plaster work on the first floor landing.
Exterior Painting of the Hall
In 2018 we began the restoration of the exterior of the Georgian Hall. We repainted the north, east & south sides in a warm stone ochre colour on its masonry with barley white window sashes and frames. These are the original colours that the Hall was painted in back in 1764 upon its completion.
We are now are undertaking the restoration of the west evaluation, which is requiring very complicated scaffolding and stone restoration where erosion has has taken hold. A successful grant from the Coastal revival fund has helped greatly.
Roof & Chimney restoration
2019 has seen the continuous restoration and maintenance of both the roof and the chimneys. The stacks are extremely tall and required pointing, painting and wire mesh covers placing on top of the pots to discourage nesting birds.
Some trusses inside the roof have been replaced and bespoke metal plates made to ensure strength. The huge Venetian window has been repainted on the west elevation along with a new Georgian style fire escape door.
Painting inside the Hall
Under supervision, many of our volunteers help with some light maintenance and painting. Plainer walls and internal window frames are carefully upgraded whist more decorative and significant areas are done by experienced professionals. Our painting volunteers also do lots of light maintenance on our outbuildings all year round.
Under supervision, many of our volunteers help with some light maintenance and the painting of less significant walls and internal window frames, of which are carefully renovated. More decorative and significant areas are done by experienced professionals. Our painting volunteers also do lots of light maintenance on our outbuildings all year round.
“ Heritage Trust for the North West is extremely grateful to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for their financial assistance in achieving many of our aims here at Lytham Hall. They have been instrumental in funding many things such as detailed architectural surveys of the Hall and grounds, construction of a Conservation Management Plan, many historic parkland restoration projects, project management and volunteer support. “
