Hidden layers of wallpaper unlock the history of the York Mansion House

In a difficult to access corner of the salt room on the first floor, small wallpaper pieces have contributed to unlocking the Georgian past of the York Mansion House.

A GBP is restored in the 300-year residence of the mayor of the mayor, which is about repairing the windows, roof and the conversion.

The workers strüpled the yellow wallpaper from the 1990s and mostly found the walls underneath naked.

For the first time, seven layers of wallpaper on a thin layer of wall showed the decorative story of the room from the 18th century.

Hannah Bellerby, a senior architect from Stammarchitect, says that the salon is one of the key areas that the team looks at.

“We thought we had nothing to do and didn't know where we would go with the works,” she says.

“Then what we found really interesting in the corner of the room was intact wallpaper pieces.”

The team brought an expert to remove 12 rehearsals of the wallpaper before separating and enlarging the layers.

“Each background image was identified as to what kind of paper it was, what pigmentation it would have and which pattern it would have,” says Ms. Bellerby.

“This gave us a really clear idea of ​​the changing styles and the taste of this room, namely information that we have not had before.

“It is a brand new discovery.”

Although there are old black and white photos of the house, the new rehearsals enable the team in the past.

In 2017, an earlier renovation project from the mid -19th century was founded under the planks that would have been printed in white and gold.

The oldest layer of wallpaper from the new sample is a herd paper that consists of a mixture of chalk and lime with a pigment.

According to Ms. Bellerby, a template in a wooden block in paint would have been placed, and then wool would have been put on the extreme.

“We know from the colors that can be seen in this sample that it would have been a red herd wallpaper,” says the architect.

“This type of wallpaper was very popular in the Georgian era in the late 18th century.

“We believe that it was either the first or a very early decoration scheme in this room.”

In addition to wallpapers, the color is analyzed throughout the house to uncover previous color schemes.

Ms. Bellerby points to a wall stain in the hallway, which is also decorated.

“This is one of the mechanical exposure we made,” she says.

“They mechanically reveal the color scheme that we want to achieve and contains cutting in layers of color to return to this level.

“This enables us to get a really accurate color match with the exact scheme that we want to reproduce.”

Below is an olive green color with stencils.

Architects hope to restore the manor house into its original Georgian appearance.

Work follows in the basement areas and original kitchens.

Although the external work will end in December, the house will be accessible to the public again in summer.

“It is always exciting to see this phase, although it looks a bit dusty and everything is covered with leaf and getting in,” says Richard Pollitt, manager and curator of Mansion House.

“Everything will be finished in August and will look pretty new for our Georgian festival in a Georgian year.”