Celtic-styled knotwork has been found in 100-year-old stencils at Portaferry Presbyterianxa0Church,xa0during work to transform it into a new arts and heritage centre calledxa0‘Portico’.
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XX[/caption]The decorativexa0feature – a 19th century ‘nod’ to an ancient past – was uncovered by paintxa0researchersxa0this week. The discovery sparked excitement around the site, whilexa0builders were busy renovatingxa0the Greek-style structure.
“We’re thexa0first people to see this decorative scheme in living memory,” saidxa023-year-old student conservator Phillipa McDonnell. “This modestxa0touch of an old art form would have been typical of that age. Rejecting morexa0modernxa0approaches that were coming through, artists and designers often looked toxa0medieval times forxa0inspiration. “
Phillipa was taking paint samples with research fellow Paul Crof who is no stranger to Northern Ireland, having previously undertakenxa0a research exercise on thexa0World War I battleship HMS Caroline at Alexandraxa0Dock, Belfast.
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The Portico heritage centre in Portferry undergoing an extensive refurbishment.[/caption]Floral sprayxa0patterns were uncovered just below ceiling level on the Portaferry building.xa0They alsoxa0discovered that the main body of the church would’ve been painted inxa0darkish shades at the time of its construction in the mid 19th century.
The two ‘paintxa0archaeologists’ are based at Lincoln University and have taken nearly 70 paint samplesxa0from the Portaferry church toxa0examine in detail. They can helpxa0tell a building’s story by examining several layers of paint from just a tinyxa0centimetre-square sample. “Our work helps bring the past to life,” Paulxa0explained. ‘It gives you a sense of howxa0people really did live.’
Theirxa0involvement is part of a £1 million Heritage Lottery-funded project toxa0transform the churchxa0building into a multi-purpose venue, particularly as anxa0arts and heritage centre that will inspire allxa0ages through its variedxa0programme of events.
Ian McDonnell, Chair ofxa0The Friends of Portaferry Presbyterian Church, said: “This is axa0really exciting part of the restoration phase for the building as we beginxa0to piece together just what the buildingxa0would have looked like in 1841 when itxa0was opened.”
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A recently uncovered stencil in the Portico centre in Portaferry.[/caption]]]>
