St Francis de Sales Church in Walton, Liverpool, carries a richly stencilled Gothic arch scheme in deep red, olive and gold, with IHS monograms, cross medallions and foliate repeats set tightly within the architecture.
Water infiltration had caused areas of the original plaster to deteriorate and crumble. As the plaster failed, sections of the decorative scheme were lost with it, leaving bare, broken plaster in the middle of an otherwise intact pattern.
The brief was to restore the wall properly rather than disguise the loss: repair the substrate with a compatible material, then reinstate the missing stencil work so the arch reads as one scheme again within the character of the original interior.
Silvano Cioci Faux has also spoken about uncovering historic stencilling at St Francis de Sales that had been hidden under eggshell paint, restored within the budget the Archdiocese could fund so that worshippers could see what the church once looked like.
Water damage and plaster loss
Moisture is the most common cause of loss in historic painted and stencilled walls. Water moving through masonry carries salts to the surface, lifts paint and softens plaster until it crumbles. At St Francis de Sales the damage had reached the point where whole sections of the stencil scheme had gone.
Stencilling cannot be reinstated onto a failed surface, so the first stage of the work was to remove the unsound plaster back to a stable edge, leaving the surviving decoration undisturbed beside it.
Historic stencil decoration restored, St Francis de Sales Church, Walton
Water infiltration had caused plaster loss across a Gothic arch stencil scheme. Lime plaster reinstatement and hand-applied stencilling restored the IHS and cross medallions to match surviving decoration.
Drag the gold handle right to reveal the after image.
Before: Gothic arch stencil scheme at St Francis de Sales Church before restoration, showing plaster loss. After: Same arch after lime plaster repair and stencil reinstatement at St Francis de Sales Church, Walton.
Why lime plaster
The lost areas were made good with traditional lime plaster rather than a modern gypsum or cement based repair. Lime is vapour permeable and flexible, so it behaves in a similar way to the original material and allows the wall to continue to breathe.
Using a compatible plaster protects the surviving historic fabric around the repair and gives the reinstated decoration a sound base. The new plaster was left to cure before any decoration was applied.
Reinstating the stencil scheme
Once the plaster had cured, the surviving areas of decoration were studied closely to recreate the original pattern, scale and colour palette. Repeats, spacing and the relationship between the monograms, crosses and foliage were taken from the original work still on the wall.
The missing stencil work was then reapplied by hand, with colours matched to the aged surrounding decoration. The aim was a repair that blends with the historic scheme and preserves the character of the interior, rather than a bright new patch.
Caring for restored stencil work
Reinstated decoration only lasts if the cause of the damage has been dealt with. Where water ingress has affected a historic wall, we recommend that gutters, drainage and the building envelope are checked and repaired so the moisture source is controlled.
If you manage a church or listed building with failing plaster or fading stencil work, the free survey is the best first step: we can record what survives before further loss.
Outcome
- The Gothic arch reads as a complete scheme again, with the IHS and cross medallions continuing across the repaired area.
- Failed plaster was replaced with a lime based repair that is compatible with the historic wall.
- Missing decoration was reinstated by hand from the surviving pattern, so the restored areas blend with the original work.
- Reference project for parish committees and heritage clients with water damaged stencilled walls in the North West.
Further reading
More from this project
Further stills from this commission.
Gothic arch stencil scheme at St Francis de Sales Church before restoration, showing plaster loss 
Same arch after lime plaster repair and stencil reinstatement at St Francis de Sales Church, Walton
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