Crathes painted ceilings project: successfully completed

Transcript

We are in the process of consolidating paint to make sure that it's secure. Consolidating the plaster on the frieze for decoration that dates back to around about 1600. Just to make sure that everything is in really good condition and is stable and will survive for longer.

We had to consider -- mostly for the other spaces in the castle which had been over-painted by the Victorians -- we had to take into account that we've got two different paint layers and think about how they differ, whether they differ, understand how they can be treated and whether it's possible to use the same materials for both.

It's amazing, in that it's one of the few buildings that still has decoration from the Scottish Renaissance intact. All down the east coast of Scotland, there are bits and pieces of this kind of decoration. Crathes is one of the few survivals, and the Trust are amazingly lucky because they've got quite a few properties like Gladstone's Land in Edinburgh on the Royal Mile and Culross Palace in Fife, where decoration from this era still survives.

I think exciting things like finding orpiment, which is a pigment that would have been used in special situations where somebody has got quite a bit of money. It's arsenic sulfide, so it's quite poisonous. But it is amazing because you can't tell it's there. It looks a bit grey-white. And then when you've consolidated it and the surface is cleaned a little bit, you see the yellow and that's exciting. Finding remains of decoration that pre-dates the early decoration is exciting.

People are fascinated and it's really great to be able to discuss what you're doing. It's been a real experience explaining to the public about what we do and how we're conserving the ceilings and we're not over-painting them. We are making sure they're secure, making sure the decoration survives as long as it possibly can, and that the Trust are caring for the decoration in the property.