Location: Plympton
Work involved: Full restoration of overmantle and ceilings.

The photograph (top right) shows the ornate overmantle at Boringdon Hall, in Plympton, following the full restoration we carried out on it.

The overmantle had suffered from neglect for many years and was in such a terrible state that little of the original work was salvageable. However, by carefully taking moulds of the sound remnants and referring to old photographs we were able to reproduce in clay whole piece. Although it involved a lot of clever and painstaking work. The next step was fibrous plaster casts being made and assembled in sections. The overall panel measures approximately 3m high x 3.6m long.

The photograph (bottom left) shows the 15th Century ceiling that we fully restored at the same time as the overmantle. We used similar processes in restoring the ceiling.

Ceilings in a state of near collapse like this can be held in place by reinforced backing, which is lightweight, but immensely strong. F.H.Crocker & Co are experts in this process.