William Simmonds St Joseph altarpiece restored at St Oswald's Ashton
Conservation of William Simmonds' 1935 Arts and Crafts altarpiece in the St Joseph chapel, restored by Silvano Cioci-Faux for this Grade II* Liverpool Archdiocese church.
St Oswald's Church, Ashton-in-Makerfield · Ashton-in-Makerfield, Greater Manchester
Fine art restoration · Conservation
The Shrine and Parish Church of St Oswald and St Edmund Arrowsmith on Liverpool Road is a French Romanesque landmark completed in 1930, with Harry Clarke glass and fixtures by noted designers including William G. Simmonds.
In the St Joseph chapel, Simmonds' multi-panel altarpiece from 1935 narrates the life of Saint Joseph in an Arts and Crafts idiom. The parish celebrated its recent conservation with a solemnity Mass filmed for the parish YouTube channel.
Silvano Cioci-Faux carried out the restoration and conservation treatment, aligning with other ecclesiastical work across the Archdiocese of Liverpool.
Work carried out
- ✓Condition assessment and conservation cleaning of the 1935 Simmonds altarpiece panels and gilded details in situ in the St Joseph chapel.
- ✓Stabilisation and inpainting where necessary, respecting Simmonds' original palette and the Arts and Crafts character of the scheme.
- ✓Reintegration of the narrative panels (including the Annunciation, Nativity, Temple, Flight into Egypt, Hidden Life of Nazareth and the Death of Joseph) so the cycle reads clearly in worship again.
Outcome
- Altarpiece returned to stable condition for daily Mass and devotions in the St Joseph chapel.
- Parish celebration of the restoration documented on video, with the priest introducing the conserved work to the congregation.
- Reference for other inter-war Catholic interiors with combined architect and artist programmes in the North West.
Official site: St Oswald's Church, Ashton-in-Makerfield
Film and archives
Project film hosted on YouTube and linked below.
Parish Mass celebrating the restored St Joseph altarpiece (St Oswald's, Ashton-in-Makerfield). View on the client site
Project photography
St Joseph chapel altarpiece at St Oswald's after conservation, shown during parish Mass
Similar project?
Request a free survey for gilding, restoration or decorative work across the North West.