Category Archives: Limewashing

Christmas message for 2013 and Happy New Year to all!

12/12/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

It is now Christmas 2013 and we wish to express our thanks to everyone who has been involved in what has been a truly amazing year. Before we depart for the Christmas and New Year celebrations we wanted to reflect a little on the year past. 2013 has been Inspire Conservation’s fifth year and the best yet! It has been the busiest and includes some of the most interesting of our projects. We are .

Conservation services in the UK

15/11/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

We thought we would have a bit of fun and plot some of the projects that Michael Sheppard and Inspire Conservation have completed projects over the last eight years and it turns out that it covers quite a distance…

Winners of an Oxford Preservation Trust Award 2013!

13/11/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

We are proud to announce that Inspire Conservation have won an Oxford Preservation Trust award for our work at Magdalen College, Oxford last year. We were encouraged by the local authority conservation officer to submit our project which was short listed from various projects that were put forward. Out of the 16 nominated projects in the building conservation category we were one of only three projects to receive an award for our outstanding contribution .

We are shortlisted for the Oxford Preservation Trust Awards 2013!

28/10/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

Inspire Conservation are proud to announce that we have been short-listed for the Oxford Preservation Trust Awards 2013 and we will find out if we have been successful in our category later in November. We will of course keep you posted on the outcome. We are a small conservation company who are pleased that we will be placed amongst other much larger and more established conservation companies this year. We are proud that .

Britain’s Empty Homes BBC1 with Michael Sheppard and Baptist chapel conversion

28/10/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

Inspire Conservations very own Michael Sheppard has been part of the Britain’s Empty Homes programme on BBC1 today showing his family home and soon to be Lincoln office as an example of a full redevelopment of an empty building. The show can be seen in the clip below: http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b03gltdq/ Chapel House is a former Baptist chapel which has stood empty for a number of years and is adjoined to another house which will .

Statue conservation and cleaning in Harrogate, Yorkshire

28/10/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

Inspire Conservation have completed a project for another local authority, this time in Yorkshire. We were instructed to clean and consolidate the marble statues that were donated to the town and have been recently situated in the town centre. The statue has been a topic of debate with the locals as some love it and others have their reservations, but I’m sure you agree that there is a massive improvement following the repairs .

We are looking for more suitable sub-contractors and staff!

09/09/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

2013 has been a great year and as we are in a great position and are getting increasingly busy with more project enquiries being put in our direction we are looking for more staff. This is a testament to our current work ethic and commitment to building conservation. As a result we are looking for more sub-contractors who are suitably qualified and experienced in their trade to work with our current staff and .

Inspire Conservation is celebrating its fifth year!

01/05/2013Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

Inspire Conservation is now 5! Michael Sheppard set up Inspire Conservation five years ago after completing a two year project with Payne and Stewart at Cardiff castle. Michael acted as the site manager over seeing a large team of wall painting and decorative surface conservators and specialist subcontractors. The companies humble beginnings started as MJS Conservation for a few years and established itself as a stone conservation company specialising in the treatment of .

Magdalen College, Oxford – Stone Cleaning and Lime washing

07/11/2012Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

Inspire Conservation would like to share one of our main summer projects with you. It was at Magdalen College, Oxford and included selected stone repairs, extensive stone cleaning and lime washing of the cloister walls in a colour matched pigmented limewash. The college was founded in 1458, the cloisters being built in 1474 alongside the old library and other buildings. The buildings are highly decorated with bosses, grotesques and gargoyles and was executed under the mason William Orchard. Famous alumni include Oscar Wilde and C.S Lewis! .

St John the Baptist, Cold Overton, Decorative surface conservation

26/06/2012Michael Sheppard Leave a comment

The small church at Cold Overton in Leicestershire contains some important and rather rare mediaeval wall paintings. The parish council contacted Inspire Conservation to undertake a condition survey of the painted schemes and the surrounding substrates. The condition of the schemes are currently quite poor and there is growing fear of their further deterioration and complete loss. The schemes are a rare subject matter and composition, with only a few other similar examples in the UK. .