Synergy News & Blog: Bath Office

Dyrham Park – The Old Staircase

Dyrham Park – The Old Staircase

Dyrham Park Rework’d and is part of the National Trusts plans to reinstate 17th Century elements to Dyrham House, creating an improved experience for visitors to this historic country house and garden.

The Old Staircase project aimed to restore the beautiful black walnut woodwork including the balusters and hand rail carved from solid walnut, which was designed and built in the 1690’s, to how it would have looked during the 17th Century.

Firstly, minor structural works were carried out to the staircase.

Then, the layers of white and gold paint applied in the 1940’s were carefully removed from the wall panels, window shutters, balusters and handrail to reveal the original black walnut and walnut veneer from North America, and the walnut grained panels.

Trials of different finishes were carried out on the walnut and different graining styles were tested on the softwood sections to make them match. The samples were approved by the Trusts historic paint adviser to ensure the right finish for the period. The staircase was then redecorated and the softwood was carefully re-grained to give the appearance of ‘Historic Walnut’ .

During this time, the frame to the painting on the ceiling, ‘Allegory of the Arts’ by Andrea Casili, was re-guilded.

The work took 6 months to completed by a specialist team.  Our heritage team were delighted to provide Cost Consultancy Services on this project.

Photo courtesy of National Trust/David Evans

Posted on 2/6/2020

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