Conserving War Memorials Previous Webinar Part 1

Speakers: Clara Willett, Andrew McMaster, Matt Faber.

Clara: And welcome to the first of two seminars, two webinars about conserving war memorials, and this first one is going to look at general principles and approaches to looking after these monuments. The second one on the 3rd of November will look at approaches to stone and metal conservation. So, I'll be reminding if you do sign up for that as well. I'd just like to introduce myself. My name is Clara Willett. I'm building advisor in the technical conservation team at Historic England and before joining Historic England, it was then English Heritage, in 2003, I worked as a stone conservator in private practice. As a senior building advisor, I primarily focus on masonry conservation, including war memorials, terracotta and the Strategic Stone Study, and I'm really delighted that we have Andrew McMaster from War Memorials Trust. And Andrew, would you like to introduce yourself?

Andrew: Yes, certainly. So I started with War Memorials Trust during the centenary of the First World War. And I'm one of the conservation officers, with the trust still. Before joining, I was an architectural heritage consultant out in Shanghai and prior to that, I worked on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage in Ireland. I worked a bit of time with Historic Scotland and with Inverness City Heritage Trust. I hold an MSc in European Urban Conservation from the University of Dundee. And basically my role at the Trust combines an interest and background in traditional building skills and the historic environment and conservation.

Clara: And Andrew, for those who don't know about War Memorials Trust, could you tell us a bit more about what the organisation does?

Andrew: Yes, War Memorials Trust is a national charity dedicated to the protection and conservation of our war memorial heritage. And we offer conservation and repair advice, and we administer grants for war memorials across the UK.

Clara: And before we make a proper start to this seminar, I just want to talk to those of you who are new to Technical Tuesday. We have a technical newsletter that we like to send out and that comes from the Technical Conservation Team. We are a group of technical specialists including Conservatives, scientists and engineers, and we undertake research, and provide advice and guidance on technical conservation issues.

The first link that Matt is going to put in the chat room for you takes you to the main technical advice page on our website where you can find all our technical advice. All our research reports and guidance documents are free to download and the second link will take you to the catalogue, which you can see on the left there where they're all listed. And you will find a plethora of technical information, including a lot on war memorials which we will talk to you more about. Historic England and War Memorials Trust have been working collaboratively for some time now, most recently to commemorate the centenary of the First World War.

The Department of Digital Culture, Media, and Sport DCMS funded a programme to promote awareness and support, anyone wanting to care for war memorials, particularly commemorating those who were killed in the First World War. Working with several other national organisations, Civic Voice, the Imperial War Museum, War Memorials Trust and Historic England worked on several initiatives to help look after war memorials at this significant milestone.

The programme, which ran from 2014 to 2018, had four strands which focused on listing. And then we listed around 2,500 more war memorials on the National Heritage list for England. Public engagement, which included work with schools and universities, giving people the understanding to look after their war memorials, grants to help prepare war memorials and technical conservation training resources for practitioners and much of the information we'll refer to in this webinar was developed during this programme.

And we hope you will find this is a springboard to explore the wealth of information that we have that can be found on both our websites and the other reference resources we’ll reference. So we have just a question that we'd like to put to you just so we can get a better understanding, perhaps of where you're coming from. Matt is going to put a question up for you. We just like to know what your involvement with war memorials is. If one of those options, there best describes what it is you do, and by practitioner we mean hands-on, and by specify we mean someone who's involved in actually deciding and recommending what work should take place.

Matt: OK, shall we reveal the answers, just out of interest?

Clara: Please.

Matt: There you go. So 46% of you are local authority.

Clara: OK, that's really interesting to know, and it tells us a bit more about where you're coming from as well. So that's really interesting. Thank you very much. That's great to know. So in the webinar we're going to give you this afternoon, we're going to follow this diagram, which shows a holistic approach to looking after war memorials, and we call it the War Memorial Care Cycle and all the different aspects feed into a conservation maintenance plan, which is the road map to ensure current and future uptake. And we'll look at each of these areas to explain further. So the War Memorial Care Cycle really starts with undertaking some research and recording details to better understand the war memorial, and this means describing and recording the details of the object or the structure and researching its history, when, how, what, and who was involved in its design and construction. And what past works have been carried out. Andrew, the War Memorials Trust focuses solely on war memorials. Can you tell us a little bit about that, please?

Andrew: Of course, yes. We estimate there to be over 100,000 war memorials across the UK, and to be clear, a definition, if you like, of a war memorial, is any physical object created, erected or installed to commemorate those involved in or affected by conflict or war, and that's a loose definition. And we frequently deal with questions on precisely what a war memorial is, when it's a war memorial and there's more information on that on our website, particular innovation to what we can fund. But the majority of war memorials or what we think of as a war memorials were erected during the 20th century, prior to that there were memorials, of course put up, but they tended to be dedicated to high ranking officials or a victory in battle and that sort of thing.

So the majority of what we think of where were put up in the 20th century and the vast majority of those during or immediately after the First World War. They were often to larger groups and generally focus on a geographical area, a town, village, or a parish church, and that type of memorial became far more common and is the most common type of war memorial we see. Often they replaced temporary war memorials that were put up locally in response to the conflict. There had been a few instances of that during the Boer War where bodies weren't repatriated to the country. And the same occurred in the First World War. So, in the absence of a grave, something locally sprung up, often timber or even the Cenotaph itself was originally a temporary structure of timber and plaster I think. Following the unprecedented loss of men, communities up and down the country, they put these up in a variety of forms as a more permanent memorial, rolls of honour, memorial buildings, clocks, bandstands, stained glass windows and most were masonry constructed memorials, sometimes with metal embellishments and plaques or sculptures and nearly half of these were constructed of stone, with the majority of them located outside.

Now almost a hundred years on, most of them were put up about 1920 and 1921, following discussions locally and a lot of parish minutes give an insight into the discussions that went on to decide what they could use as a permanent memorial. But the memorials remain an important part of our social conscience and the desire for them to be looked after and cared for is a matter of moral as well as of civic pride.

Clara: I think we’ve got some examples here. You were mentioning about the majority of war memorials that we recognise being built from stone.

Andrew: Yes. So we’ve put up some examples here. You can see the various forms that these took. And even within the stone definition, there’s obviously a wide range of stone types that have been used and often those relate to the geographical location of the memorial. Often they would use local stone, but not always. Granite and limestone and sandstone. By and large, you’d have to say that in England Portland Limestone is very common. But it won’t always necessarily be stone. Also metal, timber on surface decorations of bronze and brass. They could be quite complex structures with a number of conservation consideration to be taken into account in relation to the materials used and the combinations of materials used as well. Most of us can think of a war memorial nearby and most villages have one.

They’re everywhere, but are war memorials important? And if so, why should we maintain and repair them? As I said, they were created to provide a lasting tribute to those who had made the ultimate sacrifice, as I said, particularly in the First World War, and subsequent conflicts. In many cases, it was where the bodies couldn’t be repatriated. But individual communities would determine who ultimately was included in the roll of honour, if indeed the names were inscribed on the memorials at all. But, I think as a starting point, a lot of memorials were, in the absence of a grave and somewhere where a community in individuals and families could grieve where there wasn't an internment locally, a grave to visit to lay flowers or wreaths on.

So war memorials resonate with most people now, and they often connect emotionally with them unlike any other heritage assets I would say. And although they had a very specific function when they were put up, they continued to symbolise and commemorate the sacrifice of those in the distant past. As the memorial, the role of the memorial evolves as it moves further from living memory.

Clara: Yes, that's nicely put, and if we want to articulate this from a conservation principles perspective, many war memorials have become a heritage asset, something of the historic environment which holds meaning above its functional purpose.

Current Historic England conservation principles define and categorise these into four different types: communal, historic, evidential and aesthetic.

Communal value comes from the meaning of a place for the people who relate to it or for whom it figures in their collective experience or memory. In other words, who values the war memorial and why? And I hope you'll indulge me here little here. The two images on the left were taken in my hometown. The bottom image was taken of around 350 people gathered at the memorial. Last year to recreate the day in July 1919, when Tring celebrated Peace Day and you can see that image at the top there. So it was a recreation so you can see that the emotions and connections still resonate a hundred years on.

Historical value is the way in which past people, our predecessors, events and aspects of life can be connected through a place to the present. It tends to be illustrative or associative. War memorials commemorate those who lost their lives in conflict. That's why the inscriptions are so important. They record these individuals, and these memorials are of their time. Some of their significance is in the evidential, the tangible fabric, the construction, the materials, the craftsmanship Is evidence of traditional skills and vernacular materials. As we can just about see here on this on the third picture is the War Memorial at Saint Peters Church in Cheltenham, which has details and inscriptions. Engraved inscription panels, which were all originally carved by hand in local Cotswold limestone. I wonder what our emotional response would be to a war memorial, commemorating men, women and children who died over a century ago with a memorial is clearly less than a decade old, may be produced using modern materials and techniques such as 3D printed plastic. How would we respond to that?

An aesthetic value are the ways in which people draw sensory and intellectual stimulation from a place. The example we've got here on the right is of Townley Park War Memorial in Burnley. This was constructed in 1926 by the mayor and the people of Burnley and it's by the renowned sculptor Walter Gilbert. It has Portland limestone sculptures of three over life size figures of servicemen emerging from a wall and the bronze statues are of a mother and wife flanking the central group. And the inscription in the wall commemorates the men of Burnley who died in the First World War and there's an addendum to those who died in the Second.

Designation reflects heritage significance and may influence planning considerations and can sometimes prioritise grant awards. Grading may be determined by a range of factors including quality of design and execution. Subject matter and symbolism, rarity and historic importance. It is determined at a national, not a local level. Grading is designated as 1, 2 or 2 star. Some very old memorials are designated scheduled monuments.

On the left here, we've got Preston War Memorial and this is a Grade 1 which are of international importance and there are very few of these. This is noted for its architectural and artistic value, dated 1926. It was designed by Giles Gilbert Scott and sculptures by Henry Alfred Pegram. And in the centre, there is a grade two star and these are warranted with an above average level of special interests. They may be highly unusual in form or symbolism, or of a high level of artistic accomplishment. The designers, masons or artists do not have to be famous for this level to be achieved. This example of an alabaster angel on a marble plinth in All Saints Church in Milton Keynes is by the firm of architectural sculptures Farmer and Brindley, and Grade 2 covers the large majority of listed war memorials. It is still a reflection of special interest and it should no way be regarded as unimportant. Here on the right, we have a quite distinctive oak, hexagonal obelisk war memorial at Hartwell in Northamptonshire. Andrew, I think we were talking about timber war memorials and this this one is an example. Timber war memorials tend to be relatively rare.

Andrew: Yes, I would say they are, although by virtue of the fact that there are of timber, obviously they are more susceptible to weathering. But there are a number out there and they may be more consistent with what was put up originally in the absence of a grave. We've discussed that and it's fantastic when you get ones like this that survive, they often draw comment. They, in some ways, create a more complicated conservation consideration to safeguard them, but it's terrific to see that there are still some.

More commonly the timber memorials that survive tend to be crosses, but this is something quite unique, and it's nice that it survives. The image also draws to my attention that the context in the setting of memorials evolves with that house sprung up in the background which is quite an interesting juxtaposition. It's great that some of these timber memorials have survived and I don't know whether this one was put up after or whether it was the original put up during the war. It's difficult to say. I'm sure it's somewhere in the minutes, but it's fantastic that it survives. And I’d say, well, while you've got the images there, there's a bit of symbolism there in the middle one. It is more like the traditional triumphal sort of memorial, whereas a lot of memorials we see across the country were a bit of a change from that, and if you look at the symbolism within a lot of the sculpture you have victory, but their heads will be low. And it's fascinating when you start looking at that symbolism, because ultimately it reflects the mood of the time. When people felt that the sacrifices actually in some ways had been necessary, but almost too great a loss of life. So yes, when those images are up there, I thought it was worth pointing that out, there's a lot of symbolism in the memorials.

Clara: Yes, and I think you know we’re beginning to paint a picture that obviously war memorials have a have a whole range of heritage values which make them uniquely significant in ways that other memorials and listed structures aren't.

Andrew: Absolutely.

Clara: Saying that, most war memorials aren't listed, but this doesn't mean they aren't significant. When many war memorial plaques, which are often located within churches, are covered under ecclesiastical jurisdiction. And works to these will often need a faculty through the regional DAC (Diocesan Advisory Committee). During the 19th century there were a lot of plaques to individuals, and these are often brass, so of the examples we put up here, none of them are listed. Obviously, some of those plaques are interiors or are within churches, but you've got on the left there the RAF War Memorial, a Second World War Memorial at Booker, which looks like a large lump of granite, but actually it's got a lovely propeller of a Tiger moth incised into it, so some of these are, they have fantastic artistic value and significance for the local community.

So in terms of resources for researching war memorials, there are some really good online sources. War Memorials Online is a searchable database of UK war memorials and individuals can add photographs and condition surveys to that, and so we encourage anybody to do that. Also it alerts War memorials Trust to any war memorials which have been identified as in urgent need of some care. The War Memorials Register is a more formal inventory of all the war memorials in the UK and it's very useful for clarifying inscription details and names.

Also, you have the National Heritage for lists for England, so if you want to look up if a war memorial is actually listed, there will be some details within that. It's not an exhaustive detail that you'll find within the National Heritage list.

Also, the Historic England Archive is very good for looking for historic images, and this is really important when you're trying to understand what perhaps our war memorial originally looked like and how it might have changed. And on the right here you can see a 1920s postcard of a war memorial in Rainhill in Merseyside, and this was shared by a parishioner, Gerry Chatsworth, whose grandfather, William Chatsworth, is commemorated on the memorial. So local knowledge is invaluable and it really helps to see what the original intentions are. Andrew, we were talking about postcards and the usefulness of them for historic images, weren’t we?

Andrew: Absolutely, and there's a lot of them out there. Especially with online resources, eBay, for instance, seems to throw up a number of historic photographs or postcards rather, and as you know from an archival standpoint, it's fantastic that they're out there and we were so grateful when people put them up on War Memorials Online, as an added resource on War Memorials Online. We at War Memorials Trust administer that website and what it allows us to do is, even if the memorials in pretty good condition, you can add the condition to it. Over time, with the advent of digital photography, now we're building up a really good record even since the year 2000. Memorial settings change and we can see the condition 50 years ago and see if there's accelerated stone loss or have a record over time of how the condition has changed, and the new pressures that are presented how the context and setting have changed and even relocation that we might not have been alerted to.

Clara: Yes, for sure. So understanding the significance, the construction materials, and the history including past works, if you can, is a really good baseline from which to then inspect and assess the condition of a war memorial. A condition survey should be done and regularly reviewed, ideally, every year. This can be a straightforward inspection, and as we've just said photos which can be referred to see if there have been any changes. Andrew, War Memorials Trust’s view on condition surveys, what would you say about those?

Andrew: Yes, I mean we're obviously looking at the audience. We've got a lot of professionals, and local authority specialists I imagine, in amongst them as well so what we can offer is some degree of technical advice on more standard concerns, levels of cleaning, whether or not inscriptions need to be sharpened and deepened. Those sorts of repointing. I'm principally focusing on stone there, but for that bit of technical advice or suggestion we can give some advice, but for more complex memorials or issues, that will probably require some professional input and a material specialist or conservator might be needed. We actually also provide professional advice grants, and that's something I can discuss a bit later if people are interested too. So yes, these professional advice grants to help you get a conservation professional on board at the start and make sure the projects taken in the right direction but that tends to be for more complex issues. But obviously, condition surveys are vital in understanding the memorials issues.

Clara: And there are organisations who support conservation qualified and experienced practitioners, so the likes of RIBA and RICS have conservation accreditation. There's also the Conservation Accredited Structural Engineers (CARE) as well as the Institute of Conservation. There are experienced and accredited Conservators, some of which are identified as being particularly expert in war memorials. It's really key to getting. If you do need a condition survey done, getting someone who has that expertise right from the start. And Andrew, as you said, it sets people off on the right track.

Have I jumped? I'm sorry if I've moved on too quickly. Sorry. Yes I did. Sorry just is just to say something about key information within a condition survey. Obviously structural and surface condition, but also a discussion about the causes of deterioration and the options for any interventions are essential. Identifying the nature of the material is really important. The type of stone metal evidence of corroded fixings, all these aspects that should have been identified and may need the expertise of a specialist or further investigation.

We mentioned about complex cases and the need to explore the range of conservation options. There are often several options in terms of repair, and weighing these up is a really useful exercise to deciding the most appropriate solution. For example, there are different ways of treating an inscription. Resharpening may be an option, but in some cases there may be an argument for inpainting and a rationale why a particular option is the most appropriate. It really helps grant providers or local authority to understand why these options are favoured. Providing guidance on what the work will cost is really useful at this stage. It helps the custodian know what funds will be needed so they can pay for work or apply for a grant. And a method statement should outline what the practical work will achieve and the methods and the materials which are to be used and explaining the objectives can also help manage the custodians expectation of what is appropriate, so really giving as much technical information as you can at this stage really helps everybody involved understand what the options may be. And when it comes to practical interventions, treatments are generally based on some fundamental conservation principles, but these in reality can be challenging when it comes to war memorials. So we're going to have a look at what each of these three principles mean in relation to war memorials. So Andrew, if you want to talk about minimum intervention.

Andrew: As it sounds, minimal intervention is in in line with best conservation practice and it means that we look to do as little as possible to rectify a concern. And whilst taking action, ensuring that we minimise any loss of original fabric, and essentially the least invasive methods are used. This, as Clara touched on, can be a bit challenging, and this is where the options appraisal comes in. And it can be particularly difficult where war memorials are concerned because, as you'll be aware, I imagine a lot of the public feeling towards memorials is that they ought to be presented almost in a like new manner. And this is something that we deal with very often and to some extent this is one of the reasons that we are so involved with Historic England, because we in some ways straddle the position between the custodians of war memorials and the public expectation that they be presented in a pristine state and best conservation practice. Often communities feel very strongly that that if the memorial is not in a like new condition, then they're not honouring the fallen in the way that they should. So in heritage value terms, communal value almost overrides the aesthetic and evident values. But I think what we try to do is take a pragmatic approach to it and think about the various options and approaches that that might be appropriate in each case and try to explain the principles of best conservation practice, minimal intervention, being one of the one of the overriding ones, So not just leaving it to manage decay necessarily, but looking at what conservation based steps might be taken to improve the condition of the memorial without minimising that.

Clara: The next principle of reversible or re-treatable interventions. Again in reality interventions are very rarely reversible, but those which can be successfully repeated or retreated in order to maintain the war memorial are a sustainable option.

It's also important to use materials or techniques with a known performance from past use. This doesn't just mean traditional materials like limewater and natural stone, but modern ones which have proven performance. So what we would say, like a lot of heritage assets, war memorials are not generally the structures to try out new materials on. And the use of like for like materials for repair, and especially replacement is particularly important. Compatibility isn't just a visual criteria, because different materials will weather and age differently. For example, matching replacement stone types is really important because even though they may look the same as the original stone when first put in, they will often weather very differently and can even exacerbate decay in the original stone.

So we're going to have another look now to see how these principles work in practice.

One of the most common activities, cleaning, is often carried out with such frequency on war memorials that it's almost seen as an annual routine. And as we said, communities wish to see their war memorial looked after and cared for, clean with the names of those commemorated legible. And the memorial is evidence of this loss and the present community hasn't forgotten.

But such regular cleaning isn't usually necessary to make the memorial presentable, nor the inscriptions legible. And as we said, there's often a feeling that if a memorial looks worn or old, it's a slight on those commemorated and a war memorial should look like new as if the newer it looks, the greater the remembrance. But Alternatively, too much maintenance, or rather restoration, which we’ll come to shortly can almost result in a brand new war memorial. So there is a need for a war memorial to look cared for, but restoration can set up unsustainable presentation, which is costly and inevitably damaging to the historic structure.

Dirt and soiling should only really be removed when it's causing or accelerating the rate of deterioration to the fabric. But here again, the community’s feeling to present something that transcends time overrides the historic evidential values. So there's a balance that needs to be struck here. So on the left or we can see this image. The inscription is virtually illegible because of microbiological growth, a complex biofilm of algae, bacteria and fungi and some lichen which can cause physical and chemical damage. And I would argue that, perhaps on another monument with different heritage values, this wouldn't justify cleaning. But in this case, I think cleaning would be justified to make that inscription legible and on the right image you can see copper sulphate staining beneath the bronze sculpture. Unfortunately, this is quite common, and once it occurs it's extremely difficult to remove. It's unsightly, but it isn't causing any damage to the stone. However, it could be prevented if the metal work was properly maintained. And the central images show a war memorial, which has been sensitively cleaned. You can see at the top before, and then afterwards, you can now read the inscription, but it's not been overcleaned. I would encourage you to sign up for Part 2 of this webinar series to hear more about stone and metal work conservation. Andrew, what approach does the War Memorial Trust take towards cleaning?

Andrew: Thanks, Clara.

Yes, it's one of the most common inquiries that we get: to clean or not to clean and again as it ties into this idea of how the memorial ought to be presented to reflect the community's feeling towards the memorial. But, obviously, the majority of them are getting towards a century old, and so it does require that level of due consideration. And sometimes we say if the cleaning might improve the legibility of the of the memorial, then It is justified. But already we can see memorials that were cleaned during the centenary, sometimes as part of a larger scope of works, we can see they’re starting to fade to fade and the community are already saying, oh that we need to clean it again.

Some of them receive grants and so we can, and they come back to us and we say, Well, look, you have to be realistic. There's only a finite number of times you can clean and you need to really manage the public expectation there. We, as a starting point, say there's maybe a presumption against and then the minimal intervention.

So whether hands clean is a starting point or steam cleaning, with Doffer Thermotech for instance, and consideration might be given as to whether or not the cleaning might be localised. So maybe the image on the left hand side is an example, whereby the detailed carving you might just accept that that it's got a patina of age, but that you want to. Ensure that the inscription can be read in the names.

It's often a strong narrative that the inscriptions and the names should be legible, and so you might think about localised cleaning. Instead of cleaning the whole memorial. And yes, and this is as I say, where you need to have a degree of pragmatism. Managed decay isn't necessarily an option at this stage, anyway, for war memorials. Accepting that, as you say, they are some of them nearly a hundred years old and absolute external environment they're going. And maybe this is round about the time when we need to start thinking that even if people will say just, Well, they've always been cleaned every ten years or five years or whatever it is. And I think putting a maintenance plan in place that takes into consideration, the fact that we can't just keep cleaning them indefinitely is a pretty wise move.

Clara: Repair is defined as work beyond the scope of maintenance to remedy defects caused by decay, damage or use, and it includes structural cracks and deformations, repointing, repair or replacement of damaged or deteriorated elements. As we've said, inscriptions on war memorials are a fundamental component and it's essential that they are legible. General weathering of the surface causes the loss of detail, incised inscriptions lose precision, but this doesn't usually prevent them from being read. Where inscriptions are painted or infilled or replied lettering can have more impact as you can see in some of these images here, you've got a bronze 5 in 1945 that has disappeared, so the legibility there is lost. And then you've got lead lettering which the stone will erode from road back. And then the lead letters fall out.

I really like this quote by Sir Edwin Lutyens, one of the principal architects for the War Graves Commission, who was involved with the creation of many wars, who said and this is his quote: Inscriptions may be carved in stone for many uses, but the monumental inscription is usually designed to be a record for those who care to search for it, rather than an announcement to the world. Not so much an advertisement as a confidence. And I think that's really talking about the understatement of these inscriptions. But the fact is that they are there. We mentioned compatible and like for like materials for repair and Andrew, what examples do we have of why it's important to consider this?

Andrew: I know we're trying to avoid talking just about stone, so you can apply the same principle if you like. If we take the example of a timber Calvary cross. Where, for instance, one of the sections has become rotted or has been damaged by impact damage. It might not be necessary to replace the whole crossing, but hopefully not, and so you would have a pretty honest intervention whereby you would cut out a section across, assuming it doesn't compromise the structural integrity of it and replace it with timber, which is compatible, hopefully. In most instances it's going to be a seasoned timber and that can be spliced into the position of the area. It's cut out and we see the same the same thing with stone quite often on stone steps on war memorials where rather than removing the whole step, it might be easier just to have an honest indent as an approach, and certainly that honours the minimal interventionalists approach that we would encourage. So just cutting out a small section rather than replacing a whole area, whether it's timber or stone. Sorry Clara, did you?

Clara: No, no. I mean we we’re just going to talk about microcrystalline waxes as well as protective coatings.

Andrew: Yes, obviously, we talked about like for like and but there are often I there often sacrificial protective elements or methods that can be used to protect. And provided they are tested, microcrystalline waxes are something which are commonly applied to bronze elements, particularly after cleaning and stabilisation of the surface, and I think you'll get more of that in the second part of this and in a bit more detail, but microcrystalline waxes or it might be a limewash even where there hasn't been a limewash previously, just to perform a sacrificial protective coating and slow rates of decay and certainly where that's appropriate it's absolutely fine to consider. So those are those are the kind of considerations that conservation professionals might be able to advise you on.

Clara: Yes, and we should make a plea for paving. We mentioned the context, but the landscape around war memorials is often overlooked and although they perform a municipal function and they have to provide accessibility, they contribute to the setting and the impact of the memorial and its heritage significance and these may well have changed overtime, so it's worth consulting historic images to see the original context. Historic England actually has a guidance publication specifically on the conservation of war memorial landscapes.

Andrew: Yes, they were often given quite a lot of consideration at the time, and as we discussed earlier, they evolve and change and sometimes the memorials themselves are put up in fields and then after the Second World War, elements to the context were added.

Clara: That's really interesting. And now we come to examples of inappropriate repair, and we know over the decades that techniques and processes have changed. Many war memorials have been subjected to what we can now see as inappropriate treatments, which, at worst, may have been ineffective and sometimes can cause irreparable damage. Some of these are often well intentioned. For example, on the left there just wiping a brass plaque has resulted in the removal of the lacquer. So it's really important that anyone wishing to clean or repair a war memorial really understands what they're doing. No matter how well intentioned, interventions such as entirely painting, or applying waterproofing materials to masonry wall memorial are rarely an appropriate solution. And you can see on well the image there the gleaming white war memorial that's been painted with masonry paint and on the left lower image there is there a bronze statue that's been painted as well, and you could hopefully see that that paint is beginning to wear off. It's incredibly difficult, then, to have to remove that traps water within it. So, as I say, it's highly unlikely that these memorials were originally painted and it's going to cause further deterioration. Restoration is defined as returning a building or a place to a known earlier state. With regards war memorials, it often takes a war memorial back to as new. The example on the right shows a war memorial. You've got two pictures here, one in 2005 and then after cleaning in 2015. Now I would suggest that this war memorial has been restored, so as well as cleaning there seems to have been some stone replacement. Again, I would say that this is a presentation. The way it's been done has set this war memorial up as almost a new war memorial. Andrew, what's War Memorial Trust’s view of restoration?

Andrew: Well certainly it’s something that we discourage custodians to aim for. The purpose of a conservation project is just that to conserve rather and to restore and the terms are used flippantly. And it's the way that sometimes vocabulary is used or misused. But I would tend to agree that the image on the right shows a memorial, that's probably an over the top level of intervention and it’s crossed that line from conservation into restoration as you see it. It's like new, and I've no doubt that it drew quite a lot of praise locally in terms of in terms of the presentation of the memorial. But what we don't know, and I genuinely don't know, is the extent to which this this was a maximum rather a minimal intervention, and so we would rather not see memorials restored. But often we accept that people will see an image like this and think, Gosh, wouldn’t our memorial looks so fine, if we did this to it sort of thing. You know we can't. We can't tell what methods were used for cleaning and so on, but certainly that's an example where it's almost a restoration and what I would say is, and this refers to all the images here on this slide is that they're generally well intentioned. The one that's being painted well, it's somebody said oh, it used to be gleaming white limestone and why don't we just paint it and it will give the same impression. First of all, I wouldn’t agree. But anyway, as Clara said, it's got the propensity to trap water under the surface of the paint. Assuming some plastic paint and it's been done for all the right reasons, but it's why these projects need due consideration. Likewise, the cleaning of the brass. Nobody's done this out of malice. It's well intentioned. But these are historic memorials now and we need to ensure that people are aware of how best to approach conservation and repair.

Clara: Yes. So, Andrew, War Memorials Trusts are very much involved in amending and adding new names to war memorials. Do you want to talk a bit about that?

Andrew: Yes, I will. I'll try and keep it brief because I know that time is wearing on but one of the most common inquiries that we receive is in relation to the addition or alteration of names. Often it has to do with misspellings and that does happen. But then with a bit of investigation you can find out that it was a misspelling on a birth certificate. So the family name has two ‘l’s’. The name of the fallen soldier, for instance, isn't the same as everyone else. So often they are a bit of a historical record in that way and I can understand why some people feel that it is disrespectful if the name is wrong and there were genuine typos made.

David Hodges and Claire and I were involved in Cheltenham war memorial, where there were a number of misspellings. There were screens of names and so it's hardly a surprise that there were some misspellings and there was an effort to put those right. And it can be justified, but what I would say is it requires a level of research that that isn't always obvious. In terms of adding names, there were legitimate reasons for names not being on memorials. Sometimes the community decided, as I touched on, just to include those who didn't have a grave locally. and so. And so only those who weren't repatriated were included, and in other communities they decided to put everybody who went off on a roll of honour. Everybody who was involved in the conflict in any capacity is included in the war memorial, so these decisions were taken locally. As with so many aspects of war memorial design and so on, there was no authority on it as such, but it was up to local communities to determine what they wanted to include. And what I do say about the errors and names. Generally these were put up about 1920, 1921. After a due process of consideration as to what name should be included, and often with a book open. And sometimes I've come across at least two instances where we've had applications to add names. And when we looked into the parish minutes of the time that it was parents of the fallen who had asked that they not be included for whatever reason, sometimes because the memorial was in a churchyard and they wanted it to be secular and there's any number of reasons.

It's not that we're saying, Don't add, but there might be considerations that you need to take into account before deciding as a community that you want to add names to the memorial. And the other thing is that people moved around, especially, wives and mothers and so on moved to nearby towns. And so quite often you expect to find a name because the fallen had been registered. It had X address. But when the family moved to another village after the war, that's where the name was added. So all these things are worth consideration and we would always ask that that level of investigation was undertaken before you decide. And the last thing I would say, is that if you do decide to add a name, it's worthwhile going out to the community and making sure that there isn't some private input on it, and also that there aren't other names that might be added. But really, I would always say, be realistic. It's unlikely that they accidentally missed off twenty names, and so we would encourage custodians to uphold the decisions taken at the time in terms of who was added and use that, but ultimately the decision lies with the community.

Clara: Yes, it's a complex issue, but it needs thorough investigation to understand what and why it can be done.

Andrew: Yes.

Clara: We've got another question here for you. We would just like to know what issues you have faced with war memorials. So Matt will put it up, it's multiple choice, and we would just be interested to know what issues have you faced with war memorials?

Matt: Just to make people aware, this is a multiple answer question so you can vote for as many as you like. I do note that we are going to run over today, so many apologies for that. To those of you who have to leave for other commitments, we will continue until the end, and obviously include the Q&A for the purposes of having it recorded. And if you have to leave today's webinar to attend other meetings and so forth. Then many apologies, but you will be able to catch up on the Q&A at the end of the webinar by viewing the recording. OK, let's reveal some of these. Let's reveal these results. There you go.

Clara: Yes. So there's going to be a good percentage of that, but it's interesting that actually adding new names comes quite high up on that as well, so that's interesting. We do have a guidance document coming out on timber war memorials, hopefully, in the next few months. Although it's rare, timber is one of those materials that is often quite problematic, and it seemingly people do come across it. That's really helpful. Thank you very much for that. We'll move on. So if you've done your research and the war memorial is designated, it's essential to acquire consent from the relative relevant authority. So it's the local authority for Grades one, two and two star, Historic England for scheduled monuments and grade one or a faculty for the DAC for memorials covered under ecclesiastical regulations. Now we're not going to go into great detail on getting consent, it's just to make people very aware, obviously, that certain works will require consents. And non-designated war memorials may also still need planning permission. But also, as we’ve mentioned, a war memorial, even if it isn't designated in its own right, may be within the curtilage of a listed building, and so should be treated as if it was under that designation. What guidance does war memorials trust give about this aspect, Andrew, in terms of getting or gaining consents?

Andrew: What I would always say is I presume that there will be some level of consent required even if it was just consultation with the community. But yes, with so many of them now listed and there might be a conservation are. They might be in a in a listed church and in which case, you will still require permission through a faculty. So what we say is it's best to talk and we're happy to offer advice on that, If you came to us. But whether you're coming to us for advice or whether you're going to your local authority or a diocesan committee, provide as much information as you can in terms of what you're doing and what your approach is, why you're doing this and that gives them something to come back to you on. I always say that planners don't necessarily want to have to provide listed building consent and minimal intervention cleaning generally wouldn't require that. For instance, even localised sharpening and deepening of lettering may not, but if you provide that level of detail and provide something of a narrative around what you're doing and why. Then I think that's the kind of advice I try to give people when they're looking to ensure that they have the right permissions.

Clara: So, essentially, people could contact War Memorials Trust. Obviously, you’re the specialists in this and also local authorities. Just it's better to check.

Andrew: Absolutely. Sorry, absolutely. So we don't. We're not here to give permission. Generally that lies with other bodies. But we're happy to try and advise on how you'd approach gaining permission.

Clara: Yes, starting that conversation before you crack on with any work.

Andrew: Precisely

Clara: So ideally you've got your consent, if you need it, for the works, and you can start thinking about commissioning the work. So we've just got a few guidance top tips that we would say. If you've got a method statement then getting estimates for work is much easier. Otherwise you're comparing apples with pears. If contractors differ in what is included in their estimate and also we would always recommend getting more than one quote. It's really important to seek estimates from suitably experienced practitioners. There are several professional bodies which membership demonstrates expertise, but I also strongly recommend that even if you approach a member from one of these that you're assured of their experience by looking at previous work and talking to previous clients. There's the conservation register run by the Institute of Conservation, so that has, as I said before, accredited conservators in a variety of materials. There's also the Stone Federation Heritage, where you can search for companies with expertise in conservation and memorials. There's also the National Association of Memorial Masons and the British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons, so there are there's quite a few people out there, but again, it's feeling confident that you've got the right people with the right expertise and experience to work on your war memorial. Funding is often one of the most critical aspects of conservation projects and war memorials is no exception. Andrew, here's a nice opportunity. War memorials Trust give out grants. Could you tell us a bit about bit about those, please?

Andrew: In brief, yes, we administer grants for conservation repair projects to war memorials. We don't have quite the levels of funding that we had during the centenary, but we do still have pots and we do administer these grants across the UK. They are given on a priority basis. They are not available for maintenance, so just cleaning and maybe minimal repointing and that thing would be considered lower priority, but where there's a wider set of works, certainly something that we will consider and the grants application can be made. That process starts using either War Memorials Online or using our own websites, War Memorials Trust, and all those links I think are to be provided. You can make a pre application and in that you would provide a couple of images of the memorial suggestion as to what you were thinking of in terms of the conservation projects, the pre app will receive a reply and we will encourage you to go out and get two or three quotes depending on the size of the project and make sure that those are incomparable. Then, then you'd make a full grant application. We're trying to move as much of it as we can online to make it easier, but we do have other routes if necessary.

Clara: Great, thank you.

Andrew: And the grants are from up to a maximum of 75% and I think the cap is 30,000.

Clara: Nice figures there. So in an ideal world again you've got your funding which is available and you've got your contractor appointed. Works can be implemented, and again, we've just got a few top tips that we would put to you and encourage. We can't emphasise enough to appoint a suitable contractor, but it's so important that even if you think you’ve found a good contractor, that the people who are actually doing the work are experienced specialists. For example, letter carvers who are involved in lead lettering. They tend to get booked up months in advance. Talking of project time timing, Andrew, what would you say about the timing of projects?

Andrew: I think for everyone in the conservation industry, timing of the project is really important. Don't leave it until a couple of weeks before Armistice Day to get the work done. The whole process, whether or not you're having funding will always take will always take a bit longer than you expect, and we do get so many calls in the lead up to November just because suddenly somebody thinks something should be done and that's when hasty decisions are made in terms of cleaning and so on. Give yourselves nine months to here to get a whole project done and make sure it's done well. And there are other anniversary conflicts which might be appropriate to commemorate locally anyway. And we hear of lots of rededication services at the end of conservation and repair works of a war memorial. So they offer all sorts of opportunities in terms of fund raising, for instance as well.

Clara: And also recording works is something that's often overlooked, so it's really important that these are recorded by the contractor and maybe the custodian to some extent and they can be archived by the custodians. Again, War Memorials Trust are very keen on record keeping as well and would you say, War Memorials Online, is an opportunity again for people to upload images and details there.

Andrew: Yes, I mean I couldn’t advocate that enough. It's been such a useful tool to have a record even over a small time frame. It's great looking at a photograph from 1920 and then one from 1970 and then one in 2000. But actually the most valuable one in some respect is to have is to have recent records every five years. For those who are interested in becoming contributors to War Memorials Online, I can promise you it becomes a bit addictive once you've signed up and you will not be able to pass a memorial without checking the condition and it so easily becomes a. bit of a hobby. So that comes with a warning as well. But yes, these photographic records in particular are invaluable, and if it's your own memorial then, then try and just keep an eye on what the condition is and if you are having work done, as Clara says, keeping a record of the works and again that can be done using War Memorials Online. You just add the information that says what was done and when.

Clara: We haven't actually mentioned maintenance, but we've left this to the last because it's really important point and really, maintenance is just reducing deterioration and to some extent, as Andrew just said, monitoring any changes. So regular maintenance is also casting an eye and keeping an eye, and that's when people do notice if something's changed in a memorial. Yes, routine maintenance. What would you say about that, Andrew?

Andrew: I think that's the most important thing. Sometimes it’s not necessary to take drastic action. If you can just keep an eye on your memorials and avoid loose debris, leaves, litter, loose bird droppings and vegetation. Just keeping an eye on those things and making sure they don't build up and overhanging vegetation some mosses and things can be removed quite easily with the hard bristle brush and a bit of water. I think that sort of low level maintenance is really important and that can avert the needs for drastic works.

Clara: It's a bit like when you may be cleaning your patio driveway. Sounds a bit like that.

Andrew: Yes, apart from as you say, no pressure washers out around war memorials. You can use them on your driveway if it's appropriate, but, obviously, joking aside with the pressure washers, we do unfortunately see extensive damage done with people very well intentioned, taking a pressure washer and trying to clean up the memorial the day before a remembrance service.

Clara: Yes, that central image we've got there. You could just say that it's gun shading. You get it because it's very high pressure and they haven't been able to get that even clean. It's actually sometimes people who are cleaning the pavements, then are just asked, Oh, while you're there, could just give those steps a bit of a clean as well? With the best intentions.

Andrew: Absolutely. In a lot of instances it's irreversible really, because you lose a lot of the definition. The stone, especially where there are intricate carvings. It's heart breaking, some of the cases that we've seen. And even steam cleaning in the wrong hands. It's all about how they're used. We see doff cleaners on the wrong setting or too close to the stone and so on and irreversible loss of fabric and definition.

Clara: Yes. Another plug for the second part of this series, there will be more focus on cleaning stone and the pitfalls and the options to get that done in an appropriate way.

Andrew: Absolutely.

Clara: Andrew, what about wreaths? There are some quite useful things to say about.

Andrew: We do have a help sheet on the website that might help with that, but ultimately it's up to individual communities to determine how long wreaths remain on the memorial. In this country, obviously most of those are laid in November, heading into wintry conditions, and so it's a good idea to have a policy in place as to how long the wreaths are left. Lots of people don't want to move them because they think it's disrespectful. First of all, it starts to look shabby and unkempt, but more significantly, the long term damage that can be caused, we see they often have a plastic basin. They're laid flat on the on memorial steps, the water is trapped underneath on the surface of the stone and, in the best case, discoloration of the stone, but in the worst the water trapped there with a bit of freeze thaw action sees the stone face break up. And in the image on the right, you can see the water’s been trapped. First of all, the water is being pressed against the stone. And if it's caught in that cycle freeze and thaw, then that poses a threat. But also wire is very common that people, again so well intentioned, to stop the resplitting about it, put a metal wire around as just a temporary measure, but the wreaths disappear within six months, but the wire is left there rubbing against the stone, and unfortunately that that's the type of damage that that is very difficult to redress. So I would encourage communities to try and implement a policy of how long they should be there. Just take a firm decision and say, Look, we leave them there for the month of November but they should be removed thereafter.

Clara: Yes and thinking about maintenance, what is war Memorial's view on maintenance and the role of the community in this?

Andrew: Yes, going back to the earlier comments, those levels of maintenance are quite easy for communities to undertake, and I'd say it's a bit evolving. With direct action, the trouble is, it's fine saying within that natural hard bristle brush and chemical neutral soap and warm water you can achieve quite a lot, but each memorial is different. Maybe a granite memorial might be able to take a bit more of an aggressive treatment, but it's kind of evolving. I think at one time we would have encouraged a bit more hands on in terms of cleaning, but now we’re a bit reluctant to say, Have a go, because one thing leads to another and then before you know it, somebody's got the pressure washer. I think the most important thing is to make sure that the debris doesn't build up on the stone. Make sure that list her is removed. Have a policy on wreaths. And by all means as well, improve or the setting with planting if that's appropriate. And there are things that can be done to improve the overall appearance, without taking drastic action and leading to a restoration project.

Clara: Yes, we just have one final question for you. We just wanted to know which of these aspects that we've talked about, do you struggle with finding practitioners with suitable expertise? Oh gosh, I saw it go up to 100% for funding then I was like, Oh my word. But this is of great interest to know what issues people do find.

Matt: Again, this is a multiple answer question, so please vote for as many as you like. I know that means everyone is going to vote for everything on this. OK, let's reveal the results. There you go. Funding seems to be a firm favourite.

Clara: Yes, funding. Then there’s finding suitable practitioners to undertake maintenance work for conservation work. That's quite interesting. I think we would say that maintenance is an unsung hero, and there are very basic things that people can do, but perhaps a slightly higher level of maintenance work is something that could be explored, but people struggle to find that. So that's really helpful. Thank you very much for that.

Andrew: Absolutely, and in terms of funding, as I've said, we do administer these grants for the reason that people do find it difficult to have to find sufficient funding. And with that, hopefully we can offer some best conservation advice.

Clara: Our final slide here really is just to emphasise again there is a lot of help out there. I would urge you to have a look at our technical guidance, which has a whole lot of information and videos, guidance documents and case studies all about different aspects of War Memorial conservation. From cleaning through to structural repair. Please don't forget to sign up for the technical conservation email and Part 2 of this series, and we put some links up there, obviously to the Historic England website, but also War Memorials Trust and I hope that obviously you've got the message that there is support out there for people to ask technical questions to War Memorials Trust, but there's a wealth of information out there. So that really concludes and I've seen some questions in the chat room and if we have a little bit of time, it would be nice just to have a look at some of these questions.

Matt: Clara and Andrew, thank you so much. Absolutely fascinating presentation. Yes, I know people will need to be leaving us, but we will obviously answer the question, so that's on the record as it were. I'm also going to add in here for those of you who are able to stay with us. This is a little Q&A window. You'll notice there's a little text bar at the bottom of that window. Please feel free to populate that with any questions you have and we will field those questions as they come in. Also, we have here some links for you, so if you actually click on the title webinars for example. You'll be able to that'll give you the URL to the Historic England webpage that lists all future webinars, and indeed recordings for previous webinars, advice and guidance on the Historic England website as well. And if you want a copy of today's slides, just click on the on the word slides and you'll see the URL at the bottom there. Please be patient with the slides. I haven't actually uploaded them yet and I'll be able to do that in the next hour or so. Let's have a look at some questions that have already come in through the chat. A question here: 'I live in Lympstone. The Commando Training Centre for the Royal Marines is next door. They have an Iraq and Afghanistan memorial by Saint Blaise, would you break the thirty year rule if the site was closed?'

Clara: So by the thirty year rule, that's War Memorials Trust, isn't it? Andrew, we didn't explain that.

Andrew: I think I should. I should probably go on a bit and say a bit more that it isn't a hard and fast. We always deal with everything on a case by case basis, but what we see is what we have to avoid doing is funding memorials which have been put up recently and haven't been erected with due consideration in terms of how it's going to be maintained. You know we are happy to look at any case. We do look at things on a case by case basis so it's not a hard and fast rule, but it's in terms of priority, conservation and repair are what we're here for, and memorials that are less than thirty years old might not necessarily be the priority on that round of funding, but we'd look everything on a case by case basis.

Matt: OK, thank you. 'What is your approach to the relocation of a modern war memorial to a location that is more prominent and seen within a town? I ask because we have an organisation that are trying to explore this'.

Clara: Relocation is always a difficult one because not only obviously is it is an intervention. I mean, but it's modern. It's a modern war memorial and it's just moving it to a prominent location, so I mean, depending on your definition of modern. I mean, obviously we've been talking about the heritage significance, applying significance to war memorials helps you understand what it represents and then really it’s about deciding for this alternative location, the why and the effect on that significance. Andrew.. I mean, they do quite regularly come up, relocation, don’t they?

Andrew: Absolutely we do get quite a lot of inquiries about relocation and we comment on planning applications concerning relocation, but firstly if it's a modern war memorial, we're unlikely to take a position on it, but there are good reasons. Roads get widened, and so on. But sometimes the reasons for relocation are what I would say temporary and so they were usually put up in a certain place for a good reason. Yesterday Clara and I were talking about memorials in hamlets that were hamlets surrounding London and in some sense in some respects they’re the last physical representation of what was a hamlet which has been swallowed up by a bigger city, and so on, and so people say, Well, that looks a bit odd. We should move it to the park. But actually that used to be the centre of a hamlet. And so those sorts of considerations are important, but we seldom fund relocation, only when it's at threat. When it's at risk, and so I think it's again on a case by case basis. I mean if the community feel that it's appropriate to relocate it, then ultimately that might be where the decision lines.

Matt: What if it was a listed memorial?

Andrew: Well, it would require the due permissions. Yes and they would have to demonstrate a process by which they've arrived in order to obtain those permissions. There would be a due process to follow.

Matt: Indeed. Thank you, another question. We have a 1920 erected memorial in a central position that is now in effect a traffic island. So it has modern ‘keep left’ road markers around it. Should the modern additions be included in the condition survey? And then it goes on and we have an issue with people resting bikes against the fence around the memorial and sitting near it, having coffee etc leading to much grumpiness and people putting signs up on it. Does the War Memorials Trust have a magic bullet to deal with such things?

Andrew: Well, first of all, it's not a unique problem. Often they are the centrepiece of a picturesque village, and people drop in and admire the village from its centre and they find themselves having their ham sandwiches on the War Memorial without due consideration of for what that memorial represents to the community, and leaning bikes against it. We're dealing at the moment in Scotland with the one on the Royal Mile, which is looks, unfortunately, like a bench and it's right in the middle. Not this year but in previous years with the festival on and so on and they were coming at trying desperately in Edinburgh Council to come up with a design. Address that issue, to ensure that they don't alter the design too much because there is a feeling. Well why should we change it? So traffic management issues are a problem across rural England and Britain. More widely, so it's not unusual. We would generally, as a starting point, have a presumption against relocation, but where they're at risk and, unfortunately, memorials regularly enough which are knocked over by reversing HGV's or drunk drivers or whatever because sometimes they're at that a crossroads and people don't even realise it gave way and they just panic and fly into the war memorial. There are some interesting images of Minis in the like mounted on top of war memorial columns. And it is a problem, because then we think, Well do we do we move the memorial? And again, I keep saying this, but it's on a case by case basis.

Clara: And you mentioned modern additions. I'm not quite sure which bits they were talking about, but should they be included in the condition survey? Well I think again it's about describing the memorial and the context. And obviously you would describe the location of that. But again if you take a heritage significance approach to describing and assessing the significance of that memorial, then you'll probably find that some of these modern additions may or may not. Enhance that or detract from it, and I so I think it's worth mentioning, but they probably don't bring an awful lot of heritage value to that war memorial.

Matt: OK, thank you, I think we'll draw this session to a close at that point. So thank you everybody for sticking with us. The last thing I have to say is I’ve put a little window in on your screen if you'd like to join our mailing list please tick yes. You will start receiving email notifications regarding all things pertaining to technical conservation. That said, a huge thank you to Clara and Andrew for their wonderful presentation. I hope you all found it as informative and interesting as I have. I've certainly learned plenty today. And thank you, all of our guests, all of our attendees for taking the time to join us today and I hope you join us for War Memorials Part 2. I can't actually remember when we've scheduled that for, Clara?

Clara: 3rd of November. It's always a Tuesday.

Matt: Always a Tuesday. Great so if you're on the web and our mailing list then you will be receiving invites to register for that shortly, so it's just for me to say thank you very much for your time today. We will mute our microphones now, but we’ll leave the room open just for a couple of minutes. So you've got time to copy some of those links out of the chat room and wishing you all a very good afternoon. Thank you for your time. All the best. Take care.