From Drains to Dynamite: How the Renovation of the Courtauld has Revealed a Hidden Past


Brilliant talk at the Courtauld for members of the Friends discussing the progress with their renovation project, Courtauld Connects.

The talk was given by Stephanie Hall, the project director, who was very engaging and made the subject come alive. She grouped the talk around the materials used from stone to wood looking at how they have sourced new materials where older ones need replacing and things they have discovered by doing that replacing.  She got very excited about the different suppliers she had met.

I was fascinated at the old, reused Palace stones they have found in the walls including the graffiti found on some pieces. Also the excavation work they have done when building the foundations fort a new staircase which have revealed rubbish pits from various era of the site including from whenit was a Saxon port.

Most exciting to a Bloomsbury fan like me was the new Bloomsbury room planned to showcase the collection of Roger Fry of the art and Omega objects. This came in the section on minerals as she was talking about the paint techniques they are trying out the make the space look like a domestic interior.

I can’t wait for the new spaces to open and to look at the detail which I’d have not thought to spot before. Even leaving that night I thought to look down to look at the paving slabs under the entrance arch which are full of fossils. I never realised these silver streaks in them were ancient creatures.

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