North West Murals has worked with the Archdiocese of Liverpool for more than fifteen years on paintings, statues, fresco programmes, mosaics and decorative schemes in churches that stay open for worship.
Recent parish work includes St Marie's Church, Widnes during its Heritage Lottery Fund redevelopment and the William Simmonds altarpiece at St Oswald's, Ashton in Makerfield.
Altar and sanctuary gilding
Altars, reredos, tabernacle surrounds and sanctuary ornament are prepared and regilded with real gold leaf. Work is planned around service times and access restrictions in active churches.
Toning and patination match new leaf to surviving historic finishes where a unified appearance is required.
Ecclesiastic painting restoration
Stations of the Cross panels, altar paintings and devotional works are cleaned, stabilised and retouched using reversible conservation methods.
Paintings that cannot be treated in situ are removed under supervision, treated in our Warrington studio and returned with condition records for parish files.
Statue and polychrome conservation
Wooden and composite statues with flaking polychrome or damaged gesso are consolidated and inpainted after structural stabilisation.
We document treatment stages with photographs suitable for diocesan surveyors, heritage officers and grant reporting.
How parish committees work with us
- 1. Initial visit or photographs. We assess paintings, statues, gilding or decorative surfaces in situ, or arrange collection when studio treatment is safer.
- 2. Written scope for approval. Condition notes, treatment stages and a fixed estimate for your fabric committee, surveyor or heritage officer.
- 3. Treatment and records. Reversible methods where conservation standards require it, with progress photographs for diocesan or grant reporting.
Related services: fine art restoration, gilding, and portfolio case studies. Free estimate visits are available across Liverpool, Cheshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester.