Berney Monument Restoration in St Peter Parmentergate
The Berney monument in St Peter Parmentergate has been carefully restored by the Skillington Workshop over the late months of 2007. The craftsmen and women have done a superb job in bringing this important work of art back to life in all of its original colour and detail. The pictures below give some idea of how good the monument now looks.
The monument was built in 1623 largely of plaster on a wooden framework and is one of only five of its kind in England. It has been saved thanks to a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund who have donated £45,000 to the Norwich Historic Churches Trust to enable it to conserve 20 memorials in the churches in their care. An additional £25,000 has been donated by other bodies including The Pilgrim Trust & the Geoffrey Watling Trust. Half of the funds are being spent on this unique monument.
Work has been extensive and has included strengthening the base of the memorial, cleaning, touching up paintwork and repairing the fingers on the effigies.
Anthony Barnes of the Norwich Historic Churches Trust is delighted. He said "It was looking extremely shabby and was very, very dusty. None of the bright colours were visible and it was very patchy all over, now it's looking wonderful. We're very grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund and to the other donors for allowing us to do this work."
To see what the monument looked like before & to learn more about the imagery and the Berney & Hobart families click here
