building materials

 

new oak work

The sharp cornered and squared regularity of modern band-sawn oak lacks the charm of hand–hewn medieval work.

But this qualitative difference is often used by conservation architects to make noticeable distinctions between historic and restoration fabric – which is a tenet of conservation philosophy and an accepted part of their duty.

Yet the relative crudity of modern band–sawn oak can take away from historic character if used in large quantities relative to the amount of original fabric surviving. For these reasons we specified on this occasion that the new machined oak should be subtly overworked by hand –not to the extent of obscuring differences between new and old work, and just enough to retain the nuances that give restored interiors like these their authentic historic character. Since there was no clear evidence that the medieval oak had ever been lime washed in the past we retained this unusual characteristic in this restoration as well.