6 C O N T E X T 1 1 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 0 University of Arkansas, has been conducting research at Petra since 1990. He has been looking at the insidious impact of increased interior relative humidity from tourist groups entering the chambers. He has found a significant relationship between visitor numbers and chamber humidity after the visits.Wall measurements have shown interior surfaces to have receded as a result of visitor-induced abrasion (such as touching and leaning) by up to 40mm during the 50 to 100-year era of increased tourism in the region. This recession has serious implications for the chambers’ long-term integrity. The aim of the final paper by Karen Morrissey, a senior historic paint researcher for Hirst Conservation, is to bring architectural paint research to the attention of a wider audience. She hopes to provide an opportunity for heritage specialists to appraise the subject afresh. The author sets out the motivation for paint research, the advantages of employing an experienced researcher, the processes involved and the common issues that arise. Such research is now being used more widely as part of conservationbased research and analysis. There have been calls for greater understanding of this specialised field from professionals working within it; many building conservation specifiers of paint research are unaware of the processes involved and therefore miss opportunities to commission enlightening pieces of work. This article should help redress the balance. It should be required reading for those promoting research who have not requested this type of work before. The latest Transactions of the Association for the Studies in the Conservation of Historic Buildings (ASCHB) have been recently published for 2009. They continue to run a year in arrears, but present wellillustrated subjects in great depth. In the opening article, Lee Prosser looks at the roofs of Kensington Palace. The palace was constructed under the supervision of Sir ChristopherWren between 1689 and 1705, assisted by Nicholas Hawksmoor as clerk of works. Its roofs are all forms of modern king or queen post designs. Kensington differs in many respects fromWren’s other commissions by the variations in its roof construction. Over 20 separate structures survive, no two exactly alike. The article explains how these variations probably arose, analyses the residual vernacular techniques of the construction of the time, and suggests interesting possibilities for the source of the timber. Prosser points out that late 17th and 18th-century techniques of roof construction, though revolutionary, have received less scholarly attention than earlier roofs. Kensington is interesting because of its variations. In contrast, at buildings like Hampton Court Palace, once a roof system was established it seems this was applied systematically throughout the building. The author feels that, despite a collaborative effort between architects and carpenters, they had not yet entirely settled into a standard system and were bound by the requirements of the moment. This stimulated diversity, and the evolution towards a perfection of modern roofing technique. Those who did not choose the church of St Martins in the Fields as their tour option at the IHBC London 2010 Annual School missed a highly informative and absorbing morning led by Tim Lynch of Eric Parry Architects.The building and its association with Trafalgar Square might seem almost too well known, but for many its pivotal role in helping the London homeless is less well understood. In the article on the regeneration of the site, Robert Kennett ranges widely over the historical development of the site and the church’s social purpose.The article explores the key elements of the design that won the architectural competition for the scheme, and the negotiations withWestminster City Council, English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund during the approval process. Kennet describes the challenges of the major excavations to extend the crypt and the external and internal repairs and alterations. He emphasises the importance of the conservation plan as a tool to assist the parochial church council plan for the long-term care of the church as in effect a user’s manual. Another Heritage Lottery Fundsupported project has been the repair of the Church of St John and St Mary Magdalene in Goldthorpe, South Yorkshire. One of England’s first substantial concrete buildings, the church was designed by the relatively unknown AY Nutt for Lord Halifax and completed in 1918. By the 1990s, it had suffered so much from the sulphur-rich dust of a local coking plant less than a mile away that it was almost abandoned. Goldthorpe is highly unusual, and the strategy adopted for its repair was equally novel. AndrewWiles, architect for the repairs, explains clearly the decay mechanisms affecting the concrete and the basic processes of analysis and testing which preceded the repairs. It seems that the choice of construction material was incidental to the original design. At Goldthorpe, concrete was a practical means to an end. Fortunately, the wall finish was irregular exposed aggregate, which proved easier to match in colour and texture using traditional raw materials of sand, gravel and cement than would have been the case had a rough-shuttered technique been used. The scheme required a multidisciplinary approach in which the architect acted as ‘a moderator between science and aesthetics’. Despite preliminary surveys and advice from specialists, it proved impossible to anticipate the full extent of the overall repairs. One lesson learnt was an understanding of the potential unforeseen cost of concrete repairs before starting a programme funded by a fixed sum. The works were started in 1999 and completed in 2002. Sufficient time has now elapsed for conclusions to be drawn about the success of the works. The project was awarded the 2007 King of Prussia’s Gold Medal for church conservation by the Ecclesiastical Architects’ and Surveyors’ Association. The work of Ian Bristow will be known to many. His investigations of historic paint finishes at important historic buildings have appeared regularly in the Transactions of the ASCHB since its inception in 1973. Bristow has recently undertaken a colour evaluation of the courtyards and north kitchen at the Sir John Soane Museum, a paint scheme of great complexity. The aim was to establish the sequence and disposition of colours used in Soane’s lifetime, from his initial construction of the courtyards in 1812 to his death in 1837. This was undertaken
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