Day 164 - New Plaster - Old Plaster with Decoration

Week 34 - Day 164
The new plaster was applied today to meet the old plaster that still has the stencil decoration found during the stripping out earlier in the works programme.

New lime plaster applied up to the surviving original plaster
with its surviving wall painting decoration
at George Street Chapel, Oldham.

New lime plaster applied up to the surviving original plaster
with its surviving wall painting decoration in the NE corner of the gallery
floor of George Street Chapel, Oldham.

First coat of lime plaster being applied to the internal wall of
George Street Chapel, Oldham on the west, Jackson Pit side of the Chapel.

Day 163 - Preparations to Preserve Original Wall Painting

Week 34 - Day 163
The section of original lime plaster with its painted decoration is prepared to meet the new lime plaster. This section of plaster has been preserved in the NE corner of the gallery. The decorative frieze would have been located just below the eaves and the original flat ceiling and might have been added to the chapel as part of a series of 'beautifying' events the first of which is recorded in 1825. It would have been carried around the whole building and was still there in 1895 because a section can be seen in the photo showing the first Harvest Festival, which also shows the painted decorations on the facade pipes of the organ were also still visible.

Day 153 - Internal Wall on North Gable

Week 32 - Day 153
The internal wall on the north gable has now been cleared of all the plaster and can be prepared for re-plastering. The fragment of original painted wall plaster can be seen on the right, which is the corner with the George Street elevation. In the middle of the wall is section of lighter bricks suggesting that their had been an inserted fireplace here on the gallery.

Day 150 - Plastering in Cellar

Week 31 - Day 150
The plasterboard and fireproof boarding in the cellar has been plastered to day. damp weather for everything to dry quickly though. At east things have the weekend to dry out.

The Jackson Pit side of the George Street Chapel cellar dwellings.
Plaster drying over the plasterboard dry lining.

Day 146 - First Coat of Plaster to the South Wall

Week 31 - Day 146
The first coat of wall plaster has been applied to the south gable to the side of the two windows positioned either side of where the organ was placed.
Now that the roof is on and the windows have started to be replaced an air blower has had to be brought in to increase ventilation so that the plaster will dry more quickly.
The stone front to the inserted chimney flue from one of the kitchen ranges can be seen in the central section between the windows.

Day 74 - Ply for Strengthening Floor Plus Mortar

Week 16 - Day 74
Stack of plywood being used to strengthen the underside of the chapel floorboards.
Plus sacks of mortar.

Day 63 - First Coating up the Basement Walls

Week 13 - Day 63
The last day of the 13th week. Work continues on the roof, the chimneys, the chapel floor and paintwork, the re-pointing and the cellar floor and internal walls.
The internal plasterwork begins to cover over the evidence of earlier fireplaces and alterations to the rear wall facing Jackson Pit.
The gable wall to David Street starts to look like a proper internal wall again.

First coat of plaster.
Internal wall at the SW corner of the cellar
at the corner of Jackson Pit and David Street, Oldham. 

First coat of plaster.
Internal wall, south gable
looking towards the corner of David Street and George Street.

Decorated Wall Plaster

At the end of Week 3, on Day 14, an area of original plaster was uncovered whilst removing the modern gypsum plaster.
It is located on the north wall at the rear of the chapel on the Gallery.
This decoration would have been hand painted, possibly by a member of the chapel.
At some date the decorated wall painting had been over-painted. Possibly it was considered an old fashioned feature and tastes had changed, or it had just become worn out and the painting had started to flake off the wall surface. It was painted over and lost to view.
The last owner had then applied a fresh skim of modern plaster on top of the over-painted wall.

We shall bring in an expert to analyse the paint and seek advise on whether the decoration is able to be conserved. Meanwhile we will also try to gently remove the modern skim of gypsum plaster and see how much of the decoration survives and if there are any more details to uncover.

Painted wall plaster revealed at the Gallery Floor of George Street Chapel.

Detail of the repeating pattern
Alternating square and rectangular patterns
with a stylised finial design above.

Day 12 - Removal of Gypsum Plaster from Internal Walls

Week 3 - Day 12
While scaffolders continued with the framework around the chapel, internal works consisted of the removal of the gypsum plaster.

External scaffolding at rear of George Street Chapel.

Scaffold framework above the roof of George Street Chapel.

Removal of internal plaster from the George Street Chapel walls.