INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

FOREWORD

The papers presented at this conference have brought together some of the perennial debates related to the care and conservation of industrial collections. Whilst the debates are familiar - conserve or restore; use or not use; when does the history of an object stop - what is more unusual is the context, a conference in which restorers, conservators and curators have participated on equal terms.

Debates run and run because there are no easy answers. It is possible to list the advantages and disadvantages of any argument, but in the process new issues are thrown up which themselves are worthy of debate. Can we, in the process of conserving material culture, also conserve the skills of the workers who are so critical to any industrial process? As new issues such as these arise they could be used as pawns in the established debates, but it would be a tragedy for them to be sidelined.

The skills of the operators or maintenance technicians are intimately linked with the function of an item. Yet when these operators become museum interpreters and the winding engine becomes a moving display have we really preserved the original function? Are we sacrificing the working parts through wear and tear to achieve a working object almost devoid of its original context or meaning? Defining industrial collections and deciding what role an item has in a museum is a central issue which must be addressed.

The maturity of the papers given reflect the way that such debates are located in the broader issues relevant to all those who work in the museum and heritage sector. The professional ethics and theoretical base developed in any element of museum work must be relevant and applicable to any other. Similar issues to those raised in Cardiff would echo around any gathering of individuals with responsibility for the care of collections, whether they be musical instruments, stately homes or contemporary art. The values of access, accountability and standards that have been developed should be seen not as weapons to throw at restoration minded engineers but as tools to finding common solutions.

Compromise can seem alarming, but does it inevitably lead to a drop in standards? The Health and Safety standards required for those museums which operate in industrial conditions can be seen to have positive benefits rather than as a threat to collections care. Equally, standards of interpretation, access, accountability and training can all be seen as beneficial for the conservation of industrial collections. When grappling with the complex, and sometimes heated, debates in industrial conservation we should make every effort to resolve issues by referring to the broader standards. Even working with the best intentions mistakes can be made, but how serious will the consequences be? Detailed and accurate documentation can ensure that the reasons behind the decisions and the precise actions taken are preserved. Papers in this publication outline how this process can be further improved by opening up the debates to the scrutiny of colleagues, trustees and even the public. At the very least let our children learn why we made our choices and leave them the information to retrieve what they can from the situation.

1 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

The community interested in conserving our industrial heritage operates in a climate which may not always be favourable but is very dynamic. Currently we have an opportunity to combine traditional skills with advanced analytical techniques and modern equipment and materials. We can predict an object’s tolerance to the strains of operation in a heritage environment and can happily, or gloomily, forecast the future. We also have a potential to alter that future. Industrial collections are more than just big shiny machines. There is so much sentiment that they can evoke, whether through an underground experience or by witnessing the last ever spitfire. The public care about whether these collections survive and we should harness this to our cause.

The conservation of industrial collections is beset by difficult debate, but whilst the scale of industrial collections is unique, the issues rarely are. We should all operate to widely held standards and open up the issues to debate and scrutiny. An informed public, that wants access to the collections, is surely the future for us all.

Jane Henderson

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The editors of this volume would like to thank the following individuals and organisations for their support in ensuring the success of the conference: Francis Leonard and Andrew Durham for their efforts on the conference committee on behalf of UKIC; Dr Dafydd Roberts, Keeper, Welsh Slate Museum, National Museums and Galleries of Wales (NMGW), May Cassar, Environmental Advisor, Museums and Galleries Commission (MGC), and Alex Hayward, PRISM Fund for chairing the conference sessions; Anna Southall, Assistant Director, NMGW, for welcoming delegates to the reception hosted by NMGW and for sponsoring the slate industry tour; Jon James for his sterling work in the projection booth, Mark Lewis and Joel Taylor for their stalwart assistance as ‘runners’ during the conference; the MGC for the reception at which Larger & Working Objects: A guide to their preservation and care was launched; Frank Thackaberry, Sharon Walters, and Jacqui Day for their administrative support; and finally, Bersham Ironworks and Heritage Centre, the South Wales Miners Museum, Swansea Maritime & Industrial Museum, Big Pit, the Welsh Industrial and Maritime Museum, NMGW, and the Welsh Slate Museum, NMGW, for facilitating the programme of conference tours.

Diane Dollery

2 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

RHAGAIR

Mae’r papurau a gyflwynwyd yn y gynhadledd hon wedi dod â rhai o’r dadleuon diddiwedd ynglyn â gofal a chadwraeth casgliadau diwydiannol ynghyd. Er bod y dadleuon yn gyfarwydd – cadw neu adfer; defnyddio neu beidio; pryd bydd hanes gwrthrych yn dod i ben – beth sydd yn fwy anarferol yw’r cyd-destun, cynhadledd lle y cymerodd adferwyr, gwarchodwyr a churadwyr ran gyfartal.

Mae dadleuon yn parhau byth a hefyd gan nad oes atebion hawdd. Mae’n bosibl rhestru manteision ac anfanteision unrhyw ddadl, ond yn y broses bydd materion newydd yn codi sydd yn haeddu trafodaeth eu hunain. A allwn ni, wrth gadw diwylliant materol, hefyd warchod sgiliau’r gweithwyr sydd mor angenrheidiol i unrhyw broses ddiwydiannol? Wrth i faterion newydd fel y rhain godi, gellid eu defnyddio fel teganau yn yr hen ddadleuon, ond byddai’n drasiedi iddynt gael eu hymylu.

Mae sgiliau’r gweithredwyr neu’r technegwyr cynnal a chadw yn perthyn yn agos i swyddogaeth eitem. Eto, pan dry y gweithredwyr hyn yn ddehonglwyr amgueddfaol, a’r peiriant weindio yn arddangosfa symudol a ydym wedi cadw’r pwrpas gwreiddiol mewn gwirionedd? A ydym yn aberthu’r rhannau gweithredol trwy draul er mwyn cael gwrthrych gweithredol heb ei gyd-destun neu ystyr wreiddiol bron? Mae diffinio casgliadau diwydiannol a phenderfynu beth yw rôl gwrthrych mewn amgueddfa yn fater o bwys mae’n rhaid ei drafod.

Mae aeddfedrwydd y papurau a gyflwynwyd yn adlewyrchu’r modd y lleolir dadleuon felly o fewn materion ehangach sy’n berthnasol i bawb sy’n gweithio yn y sector amgueddfaol a threftadaeth. Mae’n rhaid i’r foeseg broffesiynol a’r sylfaen ddamcaniaethol a ddatblygir mewn unrhyw agwedd ar waith amgueddfaol fod yn berthnasol ac yn gymwys i unrhyw un arall. Byddai materion tebyg i’r rheiny a godwyd yng Nghaerdydd yn debyg i unrhyw grðp o unigolion â chyfrifoldeb dros ofalu am gasgliadau, boed yn offerynnau cerdd, plastai neu gelfyddyd gyfoes. Dylid gweld gwerthoedd megis mynediad, atebolrwydd a safonau a ddatblygwyd fel modd i ganfod atebion cyffredin yn hytrach nag arfau i’w taflu at beirianwyr sydd â’u bryd ar adfer.

Gall cyfaddawdu ymddangos yn frawychus, ond a yw’n anochel yn arwain at gwymp mewn safonau? Gall safonau Iechyd a Diogelwch sy’n angenrheidiol ar gyfer yr amgueddfeydd hynny sy’n gweithredu mewn meysydd diwydiannol fod o fudd yn hytrach na bod yn fygythiad i ofal casgliadau. Yn yr un modd, mae’n bosibl gweld safonau dehongli, mynediad, atebolrwydd a hyfforddiant fel pethau o fudd i gadwraeth casgliadau diwydiannol. Wrth fynd i’r afael â’r dadleuon dyrys, a chwyrn weithiau, mewn cadwraeth ddiwydiannol dylem wneud pob ymdrech i ddatrys materion trwy gyfeirio at y safonau ehangach. Mae’n bosibl gwneud camgymeriadau wrth weithio gyda’r bwriadau gorau hyd yn oed, ond pa mor ddifrifol fydd y canlyniadau? Gall dogfennu manwl a chywir sicrhau bod y rhesymau y tu ôl i’r penderfyniadau a’r gweithredu penodol yn cael eu cadw. Mae’r papurau yn y cyhoeddiad hwn yn amlinellu sut y mae’n bosibl gwella’r broses hon ymhellach trwy agor y dadleuon i gydweithwyr, ymddiriedolwyr a hyd yn oed y cyhoedd eu

3 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION harchwilio. O leiaf gadewch i’n plant ddysgu pam y gwnaethom ein dewisiadau a gadael y wybodaeth iddynt adennill yr hyn a allant o’r sefyllfa.

Mae’r gymuned sydd â diddordeb mewn cadw ein treftadaeth ddiwydiannol yn gweithredu mewn hinsawdd nad yw bob amser yn ffafriol, ond mae’n ddeinamig iawn. Ar hyn o bryd mae gennym gyfle i gyfuno sgiliau traddodiadol gyda thechnegau dadansoddol datblygedig a chyfarpar a deunydd modern. Gallwn ragweld i ba raddau y bydd gwrthrych yn goddef straeniau gweithredu mewn amgylchfyd treftadaethol a rhagweld y dyfodol yn hapus, neu yn drwm ein calon. Mae gennym hefyd y gallu i newid y dyfodol hwnnw. Mae casgliadau diwydiannol yn llawer mwy na pheiriannau mawr disglair. Gallant ennyn cymaint o deimlad, trwy brofiad tanddaearol neu drwy fod yn dyst i’r ‘spitfire’ olaf un. Mae o bwys i’r cyhoedd a fydd y casgliadau hyn yn goroesi a dylem gymryd mantais o hyn er mwyn ein hachos ni.

Mae cadwraeth y casgliadau diwydiannol yn llawn o ddadleuon anodd, ond er bod graddfa casgliadau diwydiannol yn unigryw, prin bod y materion yn unigryw. Dylem oll weithredu gan goleddu safonau a gydnabyddir yn eang ac agor y materion i’w trafod a’u harchwilio. Yn sicr, cyhoedd deallus, sydd am gael mynediad i’r casgliadau, yw’r dyfodol i ni oll.

Jane Henderson

CYDNABYDDIAETH

Hoffai golygyddion y gyfrol hon ddiolch i’r unigolion a’r sefydliadau canlynol am eu cefnogaeth wrth sicrhau llwyddiant y gynhadledd: Francis Leonard ac Andrew Durham am eu hymdrechion ar bwyllgor y gynhadledd ar ran yr UKIC; Dr Dafydd Roberts, Ceidwad, Amgueddfa Llechi Cymru, Amgueddfeydd ac Orielau Cenedlaethol Cymru (AOCC), May Cassar, Ymgynghorydd Amgylcheddol, Comisiwn Amgueddfeydd ac Orielau (CAA), ac Alex Hayward, Cronfa PRISM am gadeirio sesiynau’r gynhadledd; Anna Southall, Cyfarwyddwraig Gynorthwyol, AOCC, am groesawu’r dirprwyon i’r derbyniad a gynhaliwyd gan AOCC ac am noddi taith y diwydiant llechi; Jon James am ei waith rhagorol yn y bwth taflunio, Mark Lewis a Joel Taylor am eu cymorth diwyro fel ‘rhedwyr’ yn ystod y gynhadledd; y CAA am eu derbyniad pryd y lansiwyd Larger & Working Objects: A guide to their preservation and care; Frank Thackaberry, Sharon Walters, a Jacqui Day am eu cymorth gweinyddol; ac yn olaf, Gwaith Haearn a Chanolfan Dreftadaeth Bersham, Amgueddfa Glowyr De Cymru, Amgueddfa Diwydiant a Môr Abertawe, Pwll Mawr, Amgueddfa Diwydiant a Môr Cymru, AOCC, ac Amgueddfa Llechi Cymru, AOCC, am hwyluso cynllun teithiau’r gynhadledd.

Diane Dollery

4 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

Contents

1 Foreword & Acknowledgements. tion and disposal. 91 M DAVIES. Contents & list of contributors. 5 The NMGM approach to ship and A perspective on the nature of boat conservation. 9 industrial collections. 101 J KEARON. SIR N COSSONS. Managing outside in Bristol. Controlled operation or 109 A KING. 17 wrecking? The use of objects from The National Railway Documentation for treatment: Museum’s Collections. how much is enough? R GIBBON. 119 D RISS.

Learning through conservation: Identifying factors causing 27 the Braddyll locomotive project. damage to Welsh coal mining M R BAILEY & J P GLITHERO. collections. J HENDERSON & The new Art and Industry gallery 129 C THOMPSON. 41 at the National Museums of Scotland: a case study of Maintenance of working objects conflicts between two disciplines. at Big Pit Mining Museum. K NISSAN & C STABLE. 139 P WALKER.

Les différents intervenants et leur Ontario Hydro’s corporate rôle dans la conservation, heritage. 51 l’entretien et la maintenance des D CUMING, J SIMONTON & S collections industrielles. 155 MALTBY. B ROLLAND-VILLEMOT & C FORRIERES. The textile factory Müller as an example of conservator Rust and the working surfaces of consultancy. industrial artefacts. 159 K GÖTZ. 59 G PRYTULAK. Conserving scientific and Oily rags or cotton buds? industrial heritage: a pragmatic S CANE. approach. 65 H NEWEY.

The 73 ethics of acquisi

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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

Michael R Bailey MA John P Glithero MSc, Ceng President The Newcomen Society; Member The Newcomen Society Trustee The Museum of Science and London Industry Manchester UK UK Kornelius Götz Simon Cane Restaurierungsberatung Collections Services Officer Oettingen The Museum of Science and Industry Germany in Manchester Manchester Jane Henderson UK Conservation Manager The Council of Museums in Wales Sir Neil Cossons OBE, Dlitt, FSA Cardiff Director UK The National Museum of Science and Industry John Kearon London Head of Shipkeeping UK Industrial and Land Transport Conservation David J Cuming RPP, MCIP, MRTPI National Museums and Galleries on Principal Consultant Merseyside Unterman McPhail Cuming Associates Liverpool Ontario UK Canada Andy King Maurice Davies Curator of Industrial and Maritime Assistant Director History Museums Association Bristol Industrial Museum London Bristol UK UK

Claude Forrieres Susan Maltby Directeur d’Arc Antique Conservator Laboratoire de Restauration Toronto Nantes Canada France Hazel Newey Richard Gibbon Head of Conservation Curator of Engineering Collections Science Museum National Railway Museum London York UK UK Kim Nissan Artefact Conservator

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National Museums of Scotland Jean Simonton Edinburgh Consultant UK Unterman McPhail Cuming Associates Ontario George Prytulak Canada Conservator, Industrial Collections Canadian Conservation Institute Charles Stable Ottawa Artefact Conservator Canada National Museums of Scotland Edinburgh Dan Riss UK Conservator National Parks Service Ceri Thomson Harpers Ferry Centre Researcher Harpers Ferry Glamorgan Record Office USA Cardiff UK Bénédicte Rolland-Villemot Conservateur du Patrimoine Peter Walker Service de Restauration des Musées Mine Manager de France, Chargée des Collections Big Pit Mining Museum Ethnographiques et Industrielles Blaenafon Paris UK France

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INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

8 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

A PERSPECTIVE ON THE NATURE OF INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS

Neil Cossons museums, and the nature of the Industrial collections occupy a unique collections they contain, pays scant if largely unrecognised place as acknowledgement to the concurrent material evidence of the nation's processes of industrialisation. It has history. Their significance derives been only in recent years, during the from the fact that Britain was the first period of Britain's deindustrialisation, industrial nation and industry held a that widespread attention has been pre-eminent position at the heart of her paid to preserving remnants of economic success for some five industrial culture. This movement is generations. It is arguable too that the reflected in the rapid development of overwhelming threat of industrialisation industrial archaeology from the mid and, in particular, the effect it had on 1950s and the creation of new society and the landscape, prompted industrial museums in the decades widespread interest, especially during following. What has been caricatured the nineteenth century, in archaeology as a ‘feeding frenzy’ of collecting and antiquarianism, in rural values, since, say, 1970 might be more and in the protection of great buildings accurately portrayed as a rescue and landscapes. mission, albeit unfocussed, of the residual evidence of the age of So, we view the period that in Britain industry. has come to be called the Industrial Revolution with ambivalence. On the We need I believe to see our industrial one hand the economic and social collections within the historical context changes that it brought about created not only of the phenomenon of immense wealth and prosperity which industrialisation itself but in the light of in turn sanctified many of our great the development of museums over the institutions. They also gave birth to last two centuries or so. We need to the English middle class, a powerful see them too as the late arrivals on the cultural elite who have finally achieved museum scene; perhaps cuckoos in political recognition. At the other end the nest might be a more accurate of the spectrum the new urban, analogy. But we must remember that working classes experienced by and industrial collections are, in essence, large appalling working and living no different from those of other conditions. Industrial collections in cultures. Although they present new museums need therefore to be seen in and often intractable problems from a broad cultural context. Their the point of view of their conservation messages and metaphors are as yet they are essentially material evidence unexplored but they lie much deeper in and should be viewed as such through the national subconscious than a the same eyes and using the same simplistic taxonomy of machines might criteria with which we understand the lead us to believe. remains of pre-industrial periods. Increasingly, we are beginning to The concept of the preservation of understand the true archaeological things of archaeological or historical and archival value that much of this value is well established in the pre- material holds so our duties towards it, industrial era and the pattern of our as curators and interpreters, are no

9 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION different from the responsibilities that was to ‘increase the means of we have for all types of archaeological industrial education and to extend the and historical material held in influence of science and art on museums. productive industry’. Its plans included ‘museums by which all classes might Let me examine first what lay at the be induced to investigate those root of this instinct to collect industrial common principles of taste which may artefacts. It is something of a paradox be traced in the works of excellence of that the first museum in Britain to pay all ages’. specific attention to the preservation of things industrial assumed that role In other words, the South Kensington almost by accident. The Science Museum, out of which grew the Museum in London owes its origins to present Victoria and Albert Museum the movement in the middle years of and the Science Museum, was the nineteenth century to improve concerned more with education and scientific and technical education. It ensuring the future through a came into being in the aftermath of the scientifically literate population than Great Exhibition of 1851, the profits with preserving evidence of the past. from which were used to purchase Those objects that were acquired for land lying south of Kensington Gore. the South Kensington Museum were This area was laid aside for institutions concerned predominantly with concerned with ‘the useful arts and instruction and included models of manufactures’, with education and machinery and industrial plant, instruction. One of these, which collections illustrating foods and opened in 1857, was the South animal production, examples of Kensington Museum. structures as well as educational material - books, models and The driving force behind the Great apparatus for use in primary education Exhibition, Prince Albert, set out ‘a - that would help in maintaining general plan for the buildings it is Britain’s pre-eminence as an industrial proposed to erect on the newly power. Some of that material has of purchased ground at South course assumed historical importance Kensington’, including what were in its own right with the passage of described as ‘Museums or Schools of time. But although during the 1860s Science and Industry’. The other and 1870s collections of important immediate outcome of this movement, historical material were acquired, most also urged by the Prince, was the notably from the Royal School of Naval setting up in 1853 by the Government Architecture and Marine Engineering, of the Science and Art Department. the South Kensington Museum was Lyon Playfair, chemist and scientific predominantly concerned with administrator, was appointed Science contemporary science and engineering Secretary. He was among those who and with demonstrating the recognised that Britain's world fundamental principles of both. leadership in industry was due both to her natural resources and her head The credit for establishing the pre- start, but that she would ‘recede as an eminent collections for which the industrial nation, unless her industrial Science Museum is now recognised population became more conversant worldwide, goes to one man, Bennet with science than they are now’. The Woodcroft, Assistant to the aim of the Science and Art Department Commissioners of Patents from 1852

10 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION and founder of the Patent Office Library. Woodcroft had been Woodcroft was a relentless but apprenticed as a silk weaver and spent selective collector. At first the idea of his first forty or so years in the north of a patent museum was linked with the England, apparently devoting much of models submitted as part of the his time to inventions in fields as process of patenting, as was the diverse as textile machinery and established practice in the United marine propulsion. In 1845 a screw States. But it is clear that it was the propeller to his design was fitted to I K historically significant invention and the Brunel’s new iron steamship Great educational demonstration of Britain which had just completed its principles that were his prime first return passage to the United concerns. In this farsightedness States. Woodcroft was clearly well Bennet Woodcroft occupies a position regarded by his engineer of profound importance in the origins contemporaries, notably Fairbairn, of the Science Museum’s collections Eaton Hodgkinson, Whitworth and and in our wider understanding of the Nasmyth, and in 1847 he applied importance of historic machines as the successfully for the professorship of material evidence of industrial culture. the Mechanical Principles of Engineering at University College, It was at Woodcroft’s insistence that London. In recommending him both Puffing Billy and Stephenson’s Graham, the Manchester chemist Rocket were preserved. He pursued wrote, ‘he is extensively acquainted and successfully captured Symington's with the history and uses of machines’. marine engine and, in 1864, arranged It was not a statement that could have for the contents of James Watt’s home been made of many engineers then or workshop to be acquired. Finally, in now. 1884, some five years after Bennet Woodcroft’s death, the collection of the From University College Woodcroft Patent Office Museum passed to the became, in 1852, Assistant to the South Kensington Museum. To quote Commissioners of Patents and the official history, ‘the Museum might effectively head of the first office for then be said to have begun to assume handling the technical side of patents the form of a National Museum of to be established in England. In this Science and Industry’. In collecting capacity Woodcroft became involved celebrated machines, and thus in the debate, after the 1851 immortalising their inventors, Exhibition, on the setting up of a Woodcroft made a major contribution museum. When he arrived at the to the development of museums. At a Patent Office he had already a large time when Britain was not only the collection of ‘models’ - later reported world's leading imperial power but was as numbering some 900 - and in 1856 widely seen as ‘workshop of the world’, they were described as forming the Woodcroft had established the value nucleus of a ‘National Collection of and validity of acquiring machines as Models of Invention’. This was the historical evidence. Thereafter the Patent Office Museum, essentially a South Kensington Museum had two private and wholly unofficial venture of strands to its work. One was the use Woodcroft's own making, and it found of models and demonstrations to a home in buildings adjoining the educate in the principles of science newly opened South Kensington and engineering; the other was the Museum.

11 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION preservation of the great works of term ‘masterwork’ in the Museum's title scientists and engineers. provided the criterion by which historical objects were selected. The By the end of the nineteenth century laying of the Museum's foundation the collections of the South Kensington stone by the Kaiser was symbolic. If Museum, embracing art as well as Germany was to be seen as a major industry, had outgrown their buildings world power then, like Britain, she and the decision was taken to needed a national museum in which to separate the two, a stinging denial of display her industrial achievements. Albert's vision of art and industry united for the common good. A new Across the Atlantic developments in art museum, to be known as the Germany and Britain were being Victoria and Albert Museum, was keenly observed. Although the opened by King Edward VII in 1909. It Smithsonian Institution had acquired was now time to build a home for the some industrial material, partly ‘non-art collections’ as they were resulting from the 1876 Centennial initially known. Work started on a new Exhibition in Philadelphia, it had no building on Exhibition Road in 1913 museum devoted specifically to but with the coming of the First World science or engineering. Despite the War and the years of austerity fact that it had opened in 1881 the Arts following it construction was slow and and Industries Building it was still felt the Museum was not opened until that this gave an inadequate picture, to 1928. the American population and to the rest of the world, of the new-found It is, I believe important to place the industrial prowess of the United development of the National Museum States. By the 1920s a vigorous of Science & Industry in Britain in its campaign had gathered momentum in broader international context. We which it was stated that the nation think of museums as being places of needed ‘a South Kensington and culture, enlightenment and education. Deutsches Museum rolled into one as But the role of museums of science befits it size and wealth’. The and industry in the early part of this proposal, for a National Museum of century was perceived to have deeper Engineering and Industry, might well political and even strategic have come to fruition but for the Crash significance. The developments in of 1929 which killed it outright. Had it South Kensington had not gone been built it would have been the unnoticed in Germany where Oskar largest museum in the world, then and von Miller, a civil engineer and now, and a more than adequate government administrator who had demonstration of the industrial and organised trade fairs in Munich and manufacturing authority of the Frankfurt as well as visiting Paris and twentieth century's greatest world London, founded in 1903 what was to power. be called the Deutsches Museum von Meisterwerken der Naturwissenschaft It was not until 1976 that the und Technik (German Museum of Smithsonian Institution added a Masterworks of Natural Science and museum to its portfolio that adequately Technology). A central feature was reflected at least one aspect of the Ehrensaal (Hall of Fame) in which American scientific and technological portraits of famous German scientists pre-eminence - flight and space and engineers were displayed. The exploration. The National Air and

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Space Museum opened in bicentennial year, coincidentally only a few months These first industrial museums had after the opening of its direct reached maturity, and perhaps even equivalent here, the National Railway showed the first signs of senility, by Museum in York, Britain’s own the time the second generation was museum devoted specifically to a born. Beginning in the 1960s and national achievement the reaching a crescendo by the 1980s, consequences of which ultimately the desire to capture the residue of spread throughout the world. industrial Britain before it was swept away led to the establishment of Before completing this brief historical innumerable new museums which review let me refer to two other reflect an entirely different impetus and aspects of what might be called the philosophy. As the industrial first generation of industrial museums. landscape changed, first with post-war Both, in their own way, had modernisation and renewal, followed immortalisation as their creed. The some thirty years later by the virtual first, the Henry Ford Museum in extinction of the traditional industrial Dearborn, Michigan, reflects the desire base on which much of Britain’s of one man to pay tribute to his friend nineteenth century prosperity had and mentor, Thomas Alva Edison, by been founded, so grew a widespread creating a universal repository of popular desire to collect and preserve. important machines. The museum he At its height, this movement had all the opened in the late 1920s holds characteristics of a frantic rescue collections that are by far the most mission; save everything at all costs, significant in their field in the United before it is too late, and sort out the States and stand only behind those of consequences later. It has been this South Kensington and Munich in the phenomenon that colours our world. At the same period, in Britain, contemporary view of industrial Newcastle-upon-Tyne opened its own collections in museums and, I suggest, museum of science and industry in a lies in part behind the reasons for the pavilion on the Town Moor, a remnant holding of this conference. of the exhibition of 1929. Here was housed an outstanding collection Distinct trends can be traced in the reflecting Tyneside’s extraordinary structure of the new generation of achievements in shipbuilding and industrial museums. They might be engineering, a collection that stands categorised as: today as one of national and international importance. Birmingham i) the preservation in-situ of iconic too felt similar urges and in the years places: Coalbrookdale and the after the Second World War the Ironbridge Gorge, Cromford, New Birmingham Museum of Science & Lanark, Industry grew to present to an enthusiastic audience the evidence of ii) the recreation of ‘living the city’s worldwide importance in landscapes’ of industry: Beamish, manufacturing and engineering. All Blists Hill, the Black Country Museum, three of these museums in their own way have fallen victim to another iii) the extension of existing influence which is felt with peculiar museum collections to embrace acuteness in the industrial industrial material: Leicester, Bristol, preservation field. More of that later. Bradford,

13 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

the shoulders of a large, well- iv) the creation of new free- established, academic elite. standing museums with regional industrial history as their theme: It is all too easy to caricature the Birmingham, Manchester, extraordinary explosion of interest in industrial preservation as the eccentric v) single theme technophilia: behaviour of people whose narrow innumerable steam pumping stations enthusiasms overwhelmed their and much of the transport preservation common sense. It would be at least as movement, accurate to suggest that the uninhibited and uncoordinated rush to vi) the local history of extinct set up new industrial collections and industrial communities: Uffculme, museums was an indictment of the Ruddington, inflexibility and unresponsiveness of the museum establishment in a period vii) the preservation by landscape of rapid social and economic change. management of industrial areas: the Neither view stands up under close Trevithick Trust/National Trust in West analysis. Almost inevitably museums Cornwall, the National Trust in South of longstanding become introvert and Wales. self-obsessed. Their concerns are focused on survival and the wellbeing There are of course numerous variants of what they already have rather than and sub-species within and across the challenge of uncharted territory for these groups but, almost without which they have little established exception, these projects have a interest or understanding, no number of characteristics in common. expertise, and perhaps scant regard. Generally speaking they stand outside To those whose passion drove them to the framework of museums as it has frenetically collect when they saw all become established over the last that was familiar in their community century or so; they are predominantly disappearing, we owe a great debt. operated by trusts or societies fuelled Sustaining that view will be difficult, for by strong, often locally-based, their legacy provides one of the enthusiasms; they have acquired more biggest generic challenges faced by stuff than they find they can now look museums in the next twenty years. after; the average age of their core adherents is increasing; and the There is, I suggest, no magic to the interests of their audiences, which technology of conservation. We all initially they shared, have moved on as know what has to be done. The issues the generations change. They are, like are more to do with establishing a Newcastle, Vienna or Dearborn before rational framework of support and them, strongly ‘generational’. This is management, of reinvigorating the endemic in museums of this genre vision and energy of these collections, and, in particular, in areas such as of ensuring that disposal - when, industrial history and archaeology inevitably, it occurs - takes place in an where the academic and scholarly orderly manner. For professional base, beyond the museums conservators the management of mass themselves, is weak or non-existent. preventive conservation, perhaps By contrast, the extraordinary success based on large climate-controlled of archaeological preservation rests on centralised stores, will be of greater long term strategic significance than

14 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION the important, but infinitely more structures of independent governance captivating, challenge of conserving by that brought these museums into being remedial conservation the new will survive intact. They are too materials so frequently found in dependent upon a finite - and perhaps twentieth century industrial machines diminishing - supply of people with and products. passion as well as experience. Equally, the structure of national and The age of industry, as it became local authority museums is ill-placed to established in Britain, is over. Within offer more than token support. While twenty years the last generations who professionals pondered the new remember and were part of it will have museology, with its emphasis on gone. The collections and museums messages and meanings, a parallel they created, sometimes through generation, driven by the imminent simple motives of nostalgia, more extinction of landscapes and machines often with more cerebral beliefs and at once both familiar and reflective of a visions, we will need to accommodate new world order, took into captivity all within the museum culture of the new they could. The dilemma for the rest century. It is unlikely that the of us is what do we do with it all.

15 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

16 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

CONTROLLED OPERATION OR WRECKING ?

THE USE OF OBJECTS FROM THE NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM’S COLLECTIONS museums find themselves today. R Gibbon Using museum objects as income generators does not necessarily mean Abstract that they must be operated, but it can Controlled Operating or Wrecking - The do. National Railway Museum believes that a small part of its two hundred and eighty This is in marked contrast to strongly vehicle rolling stock collection should be held views of curators in the 1980’s demonstrated under controlled conditions, so when operation of some museum that the operating machines can be seen and enjoyed by the widest possible audience. exhibits was unthinkable, and only indulged in by those who had not got The assessment process that goes into their volunteer support bodies under deciding which objects can be considered for control! 2 possible operation is discussed as part of a much wider collection categorisation scheme which the Museum has devised and found There are several stakeholders who useful. hold strong views over whether objects from the National Railway Museum’s The curator who bears responsibility for Collections should be operated or not. keeping the object in ‘as received’ condition is Each of these groups holds different often in direct conflict with the large and frequently vociferous body of railway levels of influence. In any museum enthusiasts. This body, given the right which strives to increase its visitor incentives and direction, can provide the numbers, it is the role of the curator to solution to the long term care of large railway juggle the various influences without objects, using the huge volunteer labour compromising the care of the resource that they have at their disposal. collection with which they are charged. The paper uses case studies which show how mechanical engineering imperatives cut Figure 1 sets out the various across good museum practice, and how the influences on the NRM’s rolling stock curatorial dilemmas are resolved. collection and which way they pull. It is interesting to see how the influence Introduction has swung over recent years so that decision making is more than ever ‘In the current financial climate, all determined by the Museum’s need to museums and galleries are forced to market itself, and can be strongly find more and more of their own influenced by sponsors. It becomes funding, and for most of us, it means more important than ever for curators hiring out museum spaces or using our to be sure of what is acceptable use of museum objects as income generators. their collections. It becomes etc.’ 1 progressively more difficult to say ‘thanks but no thanks’ to a sponsor bearing gifts which might provide the means to salvation for hard pressed This was the summary on the flier for a budgets. It is interesting to see the seminar run by the UK Registrars decision-making processes moving Group in March 1997 and gives a feel from the curator alone, to the curator for the changing climate in which having to take account of the

17 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION marketing department, customer destruction suggested by Mann, are satisfaction, and the sponsors well satisfied. 3 themselves. Curiosity plays an important part in this Why operate technology argument. We feel as curators we collections? must rise above the temptation to use the device because of the potential I would like to break away from my damage we might inflict, but it is that specialist subject to engage in an very same curiosity that burns within exercise with you, which I hope will our visitors and causes them to want convince even the most hardened to find things out! ‘Unlocking the sceptic, of the value in choosing to magic’ within our collections and operate certain artefacts. sharing it with our public is a major part of our task. Being a curator in a In the case of technology collections I technology- based museum makes me believe that we need to examine very feel privileged to be able to use my carefully the relationship between the ability as a professional engineer to way the artefact appears to us, and the communicate complex mechanical way the function of that artefact concepts to our users. It is not enough appears to us. to merely have knowledge about the object to enthuse today’s visitors. A I would like you to try and imagine you deep and thorough understanding of had no prior knowledge of how things the principles on which that object work. For example we can examine a operates, together with the ability to pair of scissors and we can easily demonstrate it, is often enlightening. imagine their function. Also a hammer is unlikely to produce any surprises The NRM has no problems of when it is used. But if we look at a conscience in being proud to operate referee’s whistle with a pea in it, a certain parts of its collections. Surely mechanical musical box, or a weaving no-one would question the long term loom, it is hard, if not impossible, to operation of examples like Stalybridge judge and appreciate fully what each Station Clock, platform ticket item does, without actually operating it. machines, replica locomotives Rocket The NRM has taken this argument to and Iron Duke, and the Museum’s its extreme position by sectioning a original locomotive turntable, in the steam locomotive and then motorising Great Hall. All of these objects bring the remains. As an interpretative tool demonstrable pleasure to our visitors, and an attractive exhibit, this object is and enhance the public understanding one of our most important icons. It of railways. satisfies the curiosity of those who wonder what is inside a locomotive, The argument described above must and serves as a teaching aid to be used with caution however. I think experienced operators who need it is vital that a further constraint be detailed knowledge. We recognise of imposed that relates to the type of task course that this particular locomotive the device was designed to type is well represented on the accomplish, and how stressed the preservation scene; there are no fewer machine is when accomplishing that than nine extant examples which task. For example, aircraft (during means the criteria for partial take-off), firearms, lifting equipment and say light bulbs, are all designed to

18 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION operate near to the point of failure, A potential sponsor approached the whereas sewing machines, bridges, Museum with a view to restoring the looms, telephones and railway 1907 classic passenger express equipment, (even whistles!) were locomotive Lode Star to steam on the invariably designed to perform many main-line. The deal included the millions of cycles without distress. removal of large quantities of asbestos That is why it is perfectly proper for the as part of the plan, which was kitchen ovens at Hampton Court to be attractive to the Museum. It was lit, and used, on special occasions. 4 I decided however, not to proceed with suppose the best examples to illustrate the scheme, as everyone agreed that the non-operational argument in this the locomotive in its ex-Swindon group would be a Christmas cracker or Works condition, represented a railway fog detonator. important unique surviving features that would be destroyed for-ever by Collections care & operation at NRM restoration.

Let us return to the NRM’s rolling stock This gave us the confidence to collection. It consists of some two develop our categories for future care hundred and eighty vehicles, one of the vehicles which are shown in hundred and twenty on display at York, Table 1. They take account of rarity of eighty on loan, and a further eighty the vehicles, robustness, storage stored in various locations in varying conditions and the NRM’s willingness conditions. to loan such items. The conditions for agreeing to return the vehicle to The collection ranges from the extant operation are set out clearly, and remains of Stephenson’s Rocket, hopefully will dispel for ever, the idea through to Queen Victoria’s saloon of that the National Railway Collection, is 1869, on to an example of the modern a queue of locomotives waiting to be coal hopper wagons that work in restored in rotation, or a ‘toy box’ into ‘merry go round’ trains feeding which preserved railways can dip! Britain’s power stations. The care that is afforded to each item in the Each of the first four categories is collection varies widely. Not all subdivided to obtain a ranking within vehicles need to be kept indoors for the category. Each rank will demand example. its own care regime, will determine whether the vehicle can be operated or Six of our steam locomotives, seven of loaned, by whom and under what the diesel locomotives and eleven of circumstances. the passenger/freight vehicles are operated from time to time. Whilst the Table 2 shows examples of how we individual arguments for each case have categorised the collection. had been articulated separately, it was These rankings can be adjusted, if decided two years ago that the necessary, as knowledge of the object Museum was in a position to draw up a increases. Also there will be cultural categorisation scheme which would differences between institutions as to inform our reaction to requests for a appropriate rules. I noted with some particular item to be allowed to surprise that the Boulton and Watt ex- operate. This came about in a curious Whitbread Brewery steam engine of way. 1784 is steamed 364 days per year at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney,

19 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

Australia. Those totally opposed to resources were unlikely to be allocated running museum machinery will draw by NRM (because there was another cold comfort from the following extract better vehicle elsewhere) were gifted from the visitor’s leaflet; to registered museums. These museums were able to make the ‘A major conservation decision was commitment to restore the vehicle for made as far as possible to retain the operation or display, which they would external appearance of the engine never have felt able do as part of a while using modern components to loan agreement. This way the vehicle avoid wearing out its unique internal survives because we have disposed of parts. This philosophy has proved it! An example of this procedure is the highly successful. The only assembly disposal of vehicle number M30272M to which it was not applied was the air- from the National Collection. The pump where signs of wear were vehicle is a travelling Post Office which detected in 1990. The affected piston was declared surplus to the National and valves have since been replaced Collections, and is now being restored and the originals will be conserved for at the Nene Valley Railway. future displays.’ 5 The benefits of operation

Even I would have had this as a There is a presumption generally that category 1 exhibit, and doubt whether museum objects will not be operated. the changes that have had to be made However, as I intend to show, there is to use ‘modern components’ are truly an overwhelming public benefit from reversible. the operation and demonstration of certain types of artefact which can Active disposal as collections care over-ride that presumption.

Category 5 provided us with a There is of course no text book answer surprising amount of food for thought. to the question of whether we should The title of this paper suggests that by or should not operate an artefact, but operating a part of our collection we for the sake of those who are to follow might be risking wrecking it. The truth us in caring for the collections we of the matter is that by having a larger leave behind, it is important that the collection than we can appropriately arguments that lead to the answering store, and by keeping valuable of that question are well thought vehicles outside in all weathers, we through, sustainable and properly are certainly wrecking certain items recorded. It is reassuring and clear without them even being considered that this process has been followed for operation. This led us at the NRM thoroughly in the 1784 steam engine on to a policy for active disposal, which example given above. took into account the ‘wider national collection’. That meant any vehicle Thus there are items at both ends of which duplicated another similar one in the categorisation scale where there is a registered museum that could be likely to be general consensus, and it earmarked as the type-example, is the middle ground over which the should be considered for Board of most careful arguments must be Survey (Disposal). pursued. Let us take the example of the Great Western Railway’s City of The surprising effect of this move is Truro, Britain’s first machine ever to that vehicles for which scarce travel at over 100 mph in 1904. 6 It is

20 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION strongly built and capable of operation curators all suggested ‘potential without damage under sensible damage occurring’, and the conditions. Indeed, it has operated in enthusiasts all expressed approval. I preservation for at least 25 years with do not believe that any quantifiable no apparent harm, and yet it is an icon damage was being done at the time of with the same sort of standing as HMS the photograph. We must however Victory or the Bleriot Monoplane. Are distinguish between a very limited we to encourage the return of this number of controlled runs, and regular locomotive to Britain’s main line everyday use. railway network in the year 2004 so that the Centenary of the first 100 mph It is important to remember that the can be celebrated? One thing is youngsters of today are growing up in certain, there will be a high proportion an age when travelling by rail is an of rail fans out there who would want unusual activity, and that the steam to see the locomotive try and do the locomotives they do see potter about record-breaking run all over again. on preserved branch-lines. The sight, sounds, smell and feel of a powerful The hapless curator, swelled with self steam locomotive working hard but importance by having agreed to allow well within its capacity, hauling heavy the 100 year old locomotive to be trains on the trunk routes of Britain, returned to steam, finds nothing but can still be made available for those abuse and scorn when the maximum youngsters to sense, and allow them speed for such a venture is limited to a to better appreciate, one of Britain’s perfectly reasonable 60 mph! most truly interactive inventions. The NRM believes it has a part to play in This is where the control of what goes that interpretation. on is essential, and where a good technical understanding of what is Conclusion actually happening inside the machine from both an engineering and I would like to conclude by suggesting museological standpoint is necessary. that there is another slightly less A steam locomotive is in fact a self- tangible but nevertheless very limiting machine, with smooth steel significant factor in our assessment of wheels on smooth steel rails. In the how we can enjoy interpreting the event of being overloaded the wheels operation of old machines. I have will slip on the rails. It is far more likely picked a subject outside my own to sustain damage through ignorance sphere of activity, deliberately to try and abuse than through over fast or and neutralise my own preferences. hard running. Let us take the example of the Supermarine Spitfire, displayed in a I have a fine photograph taken with a museum, awkwardly sitting on its powerful telephoto-lens camera, wheels like a swan out of water. Yet showing a steam locomotive in once airborne, the true excellence and preservation, working hard with a beauty of this fine machine comes to heavy train, breasting the summit of assail our emotions. We all know how the Settle and Carlisle line at Ais Gill. I unreliable elderly machinery can be, showed the photograph to three but a power failure through even the museum curators, and three railway smallest fault can have catastrophic enthusiasts, asking each of them what effects on an aircraft. We know, I am the picture suggested to them. The sure, of the destruction of the last

21 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION remaining Bristol Bulldog, Bristol 6. Tuplin, W A, Great Western Saints Blenheim and recently the Mosquito, and Sinners, George Allen and Unwin whilst in preservation. At least land Ltd (1971) p 125. based objects generally come gently to rest when they break down, rather than falling out of the sky!

If you were the curator of the museum with the last airworthy spitfire, would YOU ever allow it to be flown again? Can I make the dilemma worse by suggesting your museum might be in deep financial trouble and a potential benefactor has offered a massive bequest which will sort things out for the foreseeable future. His only condition is that the Spitfire is flown on his sixtieth birthday . . . ?

Acknowledgements

Angela Anning, University of Leeds Andrew Scott, John Moore, Helen Ashby, Sarah Norville and other colleagues at the National Railway Museum, York

References

1. United Kingdom Registrars Group, The Use of Collections for Commercial Purposes, UKRG (1997). 2. Mikesh, R C, Aircraft preservation, International Association of Transport Museums Yearbook, IATM (1980) p 64. 3. Mann, P, Working exhibits and the destruction of evidence in the Science Museum, The International Journal of Museum Management and Curatorship (1989) pp 369-387. 4. Hampton Court Palace Official Guide, Historic Royal Palaces Agency (1996) p 12. 5. The Boulton and Watt Engine, Trustees of Museum of Applied Arts and Science (1991) p 2.

22 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

Figure 1

Influences On Decisions To Operate Items In the National Rolling Stock Collection

THE VALUE OF THE OBJECT AS TRADING OFF BETTERMENT AN ICON NOT TO BE TAMPERED WITH AGAINST HARM DONE IN OPERATING

MUSEUM CONSERVATORS COVERED STORAGE AND CARE EXERCISING ‘GOOD PRACTICE’ FACILITATED BY LOANS WHICH IN THE FACE OF COMMERCIAL INCLUDE OPERATION ATTRACTIVENESS

MORE NEEDY OBJECTS IGNORED CONTROLLED OPERATION AT AS RESOURCES ARE DIVERTED REGISTERED MUSEUM TOWARDS OPERATING

RESTORATION PROCESS REVEALS UNDISCOVERED KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE OBJECT

THE ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGE OF NATIONAL ATTRACTING A NEW GENERATION RAILWAY OF MUSEUM VISITORS WITH OBSOLETE MUSEUM’S TECHNOLOGY COLLECTION

PUBLICITY BENEFIT TO MUSEUM THROUGH MAIN-LINE RUNNING GROUPS HIGH PROFILE OPERATIONS WANTING MOTIVE POWER TO PULL TRAINS

MUSEUM’S FRIENDS GROUP MAXIMISING POTENTIAL SPONSORS INCOME BY BASING EFFORTS AROUND WANTING TO PLAY TRAINS OPERATING

OPERATION ATTRACTIVE FOR PUBLIC NOSTALGIA FOR CORPORATE PARTNERS HIRE AND MEMORY OF STEAM HOSPITALITY

DESIRE FOR MAXIMISING INCOME RAILWAY ENTHUSIAST FROM OPERATING PRESS SEEING COLLECTIONS AS A TOY BOX TO BE PLAYED WITH

RAILWAY PRESERVATION SOCIETIES WANTING LOANS FOR LOCO OPERATION

23 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

Table 1

Locomotives and Rolling Stock in the National Collection Definition of Status Categories

1.1 a. Precious object Not to be loaned long term. b. Icon Needs environment suitable for wooden c. At risk from operation components/thin rusty metal. d. At risk from poor environment 1.2 a. Nationally significant object Could be loaned with special conditions. b. Requires special care Needs special environment. c. At risk from operation d. Unique and not to be restored 1.3 a. Nationally significant object To be kept under cover when not operating. b. Could be operated under Operation under NRM supervision. special conditions c. Unique and restored 2 a. Important link in story of To be kept under cover. railways b. Object not necessarily to stay in York c. Could be loaned out for static display 3 a. Enhances story of railways To be kept under cover. b. Could be loaned/restored/ operated without compromising object 4 a. Interesting but not unique Could be lent for betterment. b. Could be loaned/restored/ Could be stored outside with care. operated 5 Should not be in National Collection

24 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

Table 2

Locomotives and Rolling Stock in the National Collection

Date Description Inv.No Location Status

1813 Wylam Colliery 0-4-0 ‘Puffing Billy’ 1862-5 ScM 1.1 L

1847 LNWR 2-2-2 No 3020 ‘Cornwall’ 1975-7026 Crewe 1.2 L

1857 Wantage Tram 0-4-0WT No 5 ‘Shannon’ (formerly ‘Jane’) 1978-7013 Didcot 1.3 L

1945 SR 4-6-2 Battle of Britain Class No 34051 1978-7042 NRM 2 D

1951 BR 8 Ton Cattle Wagon No B893343 1978-7111 NRM 3 D

1941 LNER 20 Ton Goods Brake Van No 246710 1994-7392 NYMR 4 E

1950 BR 12 Wheel Well Wagon No KDB 901601 ‘Trestrol’ 1992-7293 ELR 4 L

1955 BR China Clay Tip Wagon No B743141 (fitted) 1995-7146 NRM 4 D

1952 BR 30 Ton Bogie Bolster C No B943139 1978-7112 NRM 5 PD

Definition of Location Categories

D On display at York or required for display in York L Mutually agreed loan to outside body E Extraordinary loan e.g. enforced by closure of Motive power depot / vehicle store, e.g. Kineton, ELR O Stored outside at NRM, Hessay, Foundry Lane PD Proposed disposal Table II

25 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

26 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

LEARNING THROUGH CONSERVATION : THE BRADDYLL LOCOMOTIVE PROJECT

M R Bailey and J P Glithero technology museums. Many of them Abstract were re-built, sometimes more than An unrestored 1840-built locomotive, Braddyll, once, during their working career, and at the Timothy Hackworth Museum in Shildon, thus present latter-day materials and County Durham, provided a special construction practices. The exception opportunity to learn about materials and was the locomotive, known as workmanship of the time. Largely unrebuilt as Braddyll, built circa 1840, which a locomotive, Braddyll was modified for use as a snow-plough in the 1870s, for which duty remained unconserved until the 1995 some components were removed and others project which is the subject of this added. paper. Although an incomplete artefact, Braddyll’s main components, A feasibility study began with a survey of especially the boiler, remained largely 1 component age and condition. The largely as built, and the conservation project original wrought and cast iron components varied from remarkably good to badly was a remarkable opportunity to learn corroded. The study considered the ethics about early locomotive materials, and techniques for conservation and long-term construction and repair practices. display, leading to the objective of conservation of surviving materials without It is most likely that the locomotive, replacement of missing components. largely of wrought and cast iron Techniques for cleaning, surface preparation, construction, had remained in the open conservation and painting were each carefully air since the 1870s, when it had been considered, as was the strengthening of converted into an unpowered vehicle insecure components. A slurry-blast fitted with a snow-plough. In 1948, technique was adopted, which was new to conservation of historic iron-work, and which after being abandoned for many years, did not harm it. Cleaning revealed many it was recognised and retained as an original and mid-life features, the nature of historic artefact, but, pending which were not recorded in contemporary arrangements for its long-term care, it engineering books. remained in the open until December Some traces of paint-work were recorded, 1994. The only protection it received colour-matched and the components during that time was the occasional correspondingly re-painted. Other application of coats of road tar to the components have been painted in a easily accessible exterior components. sympathetic colour scheme, which also aids the visitor not familiar with early locomotive practice. Braddyll was acquired by the Timothy Hackworth Victorian and Railway The Museum and Galleries Commission Museum in Shildon, County Durham, Standards for Larger and Working Objects in 1978. Funding difficulties led to (1994) were followed, and a comprehensive delays in considering the locomotive’s survey record, both textual and photographic, was taken. 2,3 future. Its deteriorating condition gave rise to the possibility of it being

scrapped and efforts were made by

the Museum Manager to secure its Introduction long-term conservation. At the same

time, the authors of this paper drew For many years the world’s oldest the attention of the wider museum surviving steam locomotives have world to the research and display been in the care of transport and

27 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

opportunities that would be made In 1994, the authors were consulted on possible by its conservation. This Braddyll’s condition and, following a initiative came in the wake of their thorough survey, reported accordingly experience gained through to the Timothy Hackworth Museum consultancy work which preceded the with recommendations for its conservation of the similar but more conservation. 5 The locomotive looked complete locomotive, Samson, in poor condition through lack of retained in the Museum of Industry, attention, and showed structural Nova Scotia, Canada. 4 The Braddyll weaknesses that would need urgent conservation project, undertaken by attention. It was clear that the authors on behalf of the Timothy conservation of the artefact was well Hackworth Museum, was funded by merited, and that it would make a grant-aid, including Science Museum worthy display for the Museum, (Plate PRISM funding. 1).

Known history of the locomotive The several coats of tar applied to the accessible exterior parts, which had Braddyll was a strong and sturdy offered protection over the years and steam locomotive of the Hackworth deterred surface deterioration, were, in school, well-suited to heavy trains of the absence of recent applications, chaldron wagons of coal and other breaking up and allowing water minerals, hauled at modest speeds, in ingress. The less accessible parts had the north-east of England and not been coated at all and had elsewhere. In the absence of any suffered varying degrees of corrosion. provenance, circumstantial evidence In particular, some areas of the bottom suggested that the locomotive may of the wrought iron boiler barrel had well have been made under Timothy wasted away, whilst the steel springs Hackworth’s direction at his Soho had corroded badly beyond any works in Shildon. There is no other function and the boiler support example of a Soho works-built brackets had become weakened. As locomotive in Britain, although another presented, therefore, the locomotive locomotive of the Hackworth school, was a hazard and the Museum was Derwent, made by W. & A. Kitching in advised that, prior to any move under Darlington in 1845, is on display in that cover for the conservation work to town’s Railway Centre and Museum. commence, an internal support strut should be installed to carry the weight Braddyll was one of possibly four of the boiler. locomotives first employed at the South Hetton Colliery in County The two buffer beams, of substantial Durham, and was converted there into timber baulks, had deteriorated badly a snow-plough in the 1870s. It is in the absence of any treatment, and possible that the locomotive is that their wrought iron cladding reduced in known to have been named, by 1841, thickness from corrosion. The cast after Colonel Thomas Braddyll, the iron wheels, water pumps and other founding proprietor of the South Hetton smaller components had shown Colliery. remarkable resistance to corrosion and were largely unaffected, as were the Condition of the locomotive few remaining brass and copper components.

28 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

A number of prominent components locomotive components in order to were missing, notably the cylinders, restore the locomotive either to its as- the drive and valve motions and the built 1840 condition, or its 1870s, end- chimney. It is most likely that these of-service condition, had been removed in the 1870’s during the snow-plough conversion. ii) a complete dismantling, repair, This conversion had required the conservation and re-assembly of all installation of substantial wrought iron components, without replacement of brackets and bracing, both at the front- missing components, end for the plough, and at the rear for an additional buffer beam. Although iii) conservation of all components the plough itself had been removed in situ, without replacement of missing about 1948, the brackets, bracing and components. buffers remained. Although there were strong arguments Following acceptance of the authors’ to replicate missing components report and recommendations, (option (i)) to assist in the arrangements were made to make the interpretation of the artefact for the boiler secure by the installation of the benefit of Museum visitors, this option recommended internal boiler support was turned down on three grounds, strut, which had been prepared by namely: arrangement with the National Railway Museum. Once fitted and made  the extent of replication required, secure, arrangements were set in which would detract from the hand for the locomotive’s removal from artefact itself, outside to inside the Museum’s 1830- built Soho engine shed. The move  the design of the replicated was carried out in December 1994, components would be speculative, using the resources of the Territorial in spite of the good understanding Army’s Royal Engineers Tank of their fixing and geometry which Recovery Unit. To avoid undue strain was derived from the artefact itself, on the locomotive’s weaker components, Braddyll was lifted on a  re-conversion to a locomotive would length of track, which was itself require the removal of the snow- supported by two rolled steel joists. plough components, which Two cranes lifted the combined load themselves form an important part with spreaders and slings onto the of the story of the artefact. RSJs, and turned it through 180°. Option ii) was turned down on the Conservation programme grounds that dismantling would require surgery to separate corroded Consideration was given to the several components, resulting in a loss of options for stabilising Braddyll’s original material, a weakening of the condition and preparing it for long-term structure and the requirement for display. The options included: additional stiffening members. Option iii) was therefore pursued, and i) a complete dismantling, conservation work was undertaken removal of the remaining snow-plough with the strict objective of stabilising components, conservation of the the condition of all surviving vehicle and replication of the missing components and preparing them for

29 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

long-term display. This included the diesel driven air compressor (3.5 m3 straightening of distorted components per minute at 8 bar). The authors and the introduction of a few support wore water-proof clothing, hard hats brackets to stabilise hazardous or and visors. The requirements of the weak fittings. COSHH Regulations were followed. 6

The next part of the conservation work The slurry blast equipment was fast was to clean out the half tonne or so of and effective in removing the tar and accumulated debris from within the loose rust from plain surfaces such as boiler and its support brackets. This the sides of the boiler. Great difficulty was done with hand tools, a powerful was experienced with angled surfaces, vacuum cleaner and a high pressure such as those on the wheels. The washer. Special tools were made to slurry splashed back over the operator reach into less accessible areas, such and obscured his vision totally, as between the fire tube and boiler requiring his colleague to hose his shell. The material removed included visor with water to keep it clear. A secondary artefacts which fell into long lance with an angled nozzle was three broad categories: made up to reach into inaccessible areas. The parent metal was revealed i) boiler components, probably without erosion, and the blast was dropped by the boiler-makers during controllable to allow some small areas construction, or repair of the of residual paintwork to be revealed locomotive. These include the stub- from under the tar coats. ends of taper screwed copper repair plugs, bolts and rivets, Nine days of slurry-blasting, using just over two tonnes of calcium carbonate, ii) boiler scale in four different were necessary to complete the forms, surface cleaning inside and outside the locomotive. About 98% of the tar had iii) sundry iron pieces, such as been removed at the conclusion of this colliery track spikes, nuts, bolts, phase. broken castings (one weighing about 15kg), and some iron rods. Together The locomotive was washed over with part of a ‘stone’ mineral water thoroughly and allowed to dry before bottle and general litter, these were being winched back into the engine probably tossed into the boiler by the shed for final surface preparation. colliery staff or others during the Although some of the corroded iron locomotive’s many years as a snow- was removed by the slurry-blasting, plough, or when subsequently parked significant quantities of hard rust in a siding. remained, both on the surface of the boiler barrel and fire-tube and, The tar-coating and some of the particularly, in compacted form within compacted debris and de-laminated the boiler support brackets. iron were removed by slurry-blasting with water and grains of calcium Over the years water had penetrated carbonate, (Plate 2). The grains were some of the wrought iron plate edges medium-grade (0.30 - 0.70 mm, 3 on and de-laminated them. It was the Mohs hardness scale) and the therefore necessary to remove the blast pressure was between 1 and 1.4 corroded layers to minimise moisture bar. The plant was powered by a traps. Due to the varying stages of

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penetration, considerable time and steel brackets were inserted to support effort was necessary to remove, with the vulnerable boiler feed pumps and hand and rotary power tools, the brake cross shaft. residual compacted debris and corroded layers of iron. Judgement To ensure that future museum was required regarding those layers management and students of Braddyll that should be removed, and those are not misled, the new brackets and that should be left for the long-term bolts have been stamped ‘THM 1995’ benefit of the component, and the (Timothy Hackworth Museum 1995). locomotive as a whole. This practice has been carried out in accordance with the MGC Guideline The locomotive’s wheels, with their 5.23. 7 complex castings formed of multi- faced segments, were cleaned with a The cast iron exhaust pipes posed a compressed-air needle gun. Tar still problem. Cleaning revealed that the remaining, particularly on the corroded right hand pipe had cracked right foot-plate patches, was burnt off with a through and was in a dangerous blow lamp or removed with a soluble condition. Mild steel reinforcing bars, degreasing solvent. All surface areas bent to shape, were put inside the pipe were given a final wire-brushing to and the void was filled with expanded prepare them for acid treatment, and rigid structural foam. the vacuum cleaner was again used to remove residual debris and dust. A On completion of the surface further 50kg of debris was removed preparation, all iron and steel was during this phase, making a total of treated with two coats of tannic acid, some two-thirds of a tonne since the and then given two coats of zinc commencement of the project. phosphate/zinc chromate undercoat. Two coats of alkyd gloss top coat, Treatment and presentation of the mixed with a clear matting varnish, locomotive were then applied. The wooden buffer beams were treated with a suitable The timber of the rear buffer beam had preservative. The copper and brass mostly rotted away and was replaced, components were polished and coated with the added advantage of stiffening with a clear varnish. up the rear end of the locomotive. The front beam, though partly rotted, was It was necessary to paint all surfaces left as it was because it was playing no for their protection against moisture structural part. and the consequent risk of deterioration. This requirement raised Several wrought iron components, the question of a colour scheme which notably foot-board and footplate would be both sympathetic to brackets and a brake standard, Braddyll’s history and satisfactory for required straightening. The the understanding of museum visitors. appropriate part of each component This introduced a novel problem, was brought to a dull red heat with an because the internal surfaces of the oxy-propane torch and then bent by locomotive had not been painted hand force, clamping or cooling with a during its service years. A rust-brown wet cloth. Bent plate edges and a tear for the interior of the boiler barrel, and in the dome hole were carefully ash-grey for the firebox interior were straightened cold with hammers. Mild selected, in order to blend with and not

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detract from the main external colour construction methods used in scheme. Braddyll’s manufacture and periodic repairs, as well as the design The small areas of external green and concepts. Indeed, something of the red paint-work, revealed during the history of the locomotive could be slurry-blast cleaning, were identified as deduced from the archaeology. The being similar to the livery of the former evidence showed that some North Eastern Railway, namely light modifications had had to be carried out green with red trimming. The top- to correct design faults. The pumps coats were carefully matched to had initially supplied feed water to the reproduce the same colours, and the boiler through short pipes connected base colour proportions recorded in into the front tube plate. These pipes the Conservation Report for future were short and awkward to fit, and had reference. The top coats were applied been replaced by longer pipes fitted to without any rubbing down, in order to the boiler barrel. The footplate had preserve the rugged, work-horse begun to sag and an additional support appearance of the artefact, rather than fitted. a smooth, gloss finish suggestive of a well-preserved ex-service locomotive. Modifications had also been needed because of changes in service The outside of the boiler itself was requirements. Large, square buffer painted in North Eastern green even pads, bolted to the front beam and though, in service, this colour would braced with forged iron bars bolted to probably only have been applied to the the smokebox sides, had been added boiler’s outer wooden lagging. to match the buffers of main line Lacquering was not considered to be wagons. At some time more power adequate for the long term protection had been required, or an attempt of this element. The smokebox was made to compensate for reduced painted black in keeping with normal steam pressure due to the condition of locomotive practice (Plate 3). the boiler. Stepped keys and marks left on the axle by set screws show To help the museum visitor distinguish that the valve gear eccentrics had between those components which been set at different angles. After were part of the locomotive, and those several attempts, some more logical which were fitted in the 1870s for the than others, the eccentrics were snow-plough conversion, the latter returned to their original positions! were painted in a darker shade of green which blended with but could be When Braddyll was converted to a distinguished from the main colour snow-plough, the rear springs were scheme. The new support brackets, taken out and crude brackets made bolts and washers were painted brown from old railway lines bolted in their to signify their separate identity. place. These brackets supported a buffer beam taken off another locomotive, the arrangement to take the thrust being ingenious. Brake gear from another rail vehicle was fitted to Learning about the artefact the rear axle. The snow-plough, fitted to the front end, was made from The conservation work revealed much second-hand plates, probably by the evidence about the materials and colliery blacksmith.

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loose because of the racking strains Evidence of the repair work on imposed by the cylinders mounted on Braddyll was very clear. The boiler the smoke box. shell at the front had been ‘stitched’ with 12mm taper-screwed copper The stubs of broken-off fittings and plugs and there is one small patch on fixing bolts found in the boiler shell a bottom plate. However, it does not revealed the precise locations of each seem as if any boiler plates had been boiler fitting, including the regulator, renewed as was the case with water gauge and drain plugs. Every Samson. The fire-tube must have hole was matched with all known boiler been a continual worry. It is of fitting requirements. All the rivets flattened circular section, about 0.9m (apart from the countersunk heads wide and 1.8m long, made of wrought under the cylinders) were of the same iron plates joined together with conical shape, except for those used Adamson-type anti-collapse flanges. on the repair patch. String packing The roof of the tube was further found in the feed-water pump glands stiffened by four girder stays. These was a particularly noteworthy find. must have been inadequate as an additional stay had been added later. Identification stamp and punch marks This too was insufficient, and the roof of different styles were found on a bellied about 15mm between the stay number of components. All were bolts, giving a ‘quilted’ appearance. carefully recorded and photographed. Repairs had been carried out to the flanges by ‘stitching’ with copper plugs, Several things had thus been learned and some of these repairs were, in from the conservation programme. A turn, covered by copper patches, good idea of the original appearance (Plate 4). The boiler working pressure of the locomotive was gained, and was probably reduced in the later something learned of the craftsmen years of operation. The underlying who built and maintained it. It was cause of the problem might have been particularly rewarding to see their the hard water, as the 10mm thick repair techniques, such as stitching layer of scale found on top of the flue with taper screwed copper plugs, and tube would have caused overheating. changing the valve timing with stepped Regular cleaning might have keys, such detail not being recorded in prolonged the life of the boiler. contemporary literature.

It was apparent from minor differences Conservation report in the castings of the wheels that some had been replaced during the working The standards and practices contained life of the locomotive. Indeed, no two in the document ‘Standards in the were exactly the same, and some Museum Care of Larger and Working contained small flaws, such as blow- Objects’, were followed throughout the holes and a displaced rib. Other project. 8 A detailed photographic and maintenance work included replacing written record was made, which, at the some of the axle boxes, which have conclusion of the project, formed the different shaped oil reservoirs. conservation report and its appendices Hammer marks round some of the that were sent to the Timothy rivets on the smoke box indicated that Hackworth Museum 9. This included a they had worked loose and had been full description of procedures that were tightened. They might have worked carried out, with details of all suppliers,

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specifications and materials. This construction and maintenance document will be available to curatorial practices for early locomotives. These staff in future generations, should practices were, in their time, the further remedial work be necessary. preserve of the tradesmen who passed down their skills to succeeding Detailed drawings were produced for generations and who rarely committed the conservation report. They show them to paper. The conservation the size and location of every hole, techniques adopted worked rivet, plate edge, nut and bolt, etc. particularly well, and they may well find Using these, conjectural views of the application with other projects for locomotive as built and as modified conserving historic machinery and were constructed. The exact structures. inclination and fore and aft position of the cylinders, were deduced from the Safety holes in the smoke box sides. The lateral position was determined by Specialist operations, such as heavy (computer) calculation and confirmed lifting and component straightening by measuring the width over the crank with an oxypropane torch were carried pin bosses. Figure 1 shows the out by appropriately trained locomotive as now conserved, whilst contractors listed in the Figure 2 is a view of Braddyll as it acknowledgements. probably looked during its later years in service. The conjectural view has Both the acid and paint were been based upon contemporary accompanied by the manufacturers drawings of North East colliery data sheets, covering the Health and locomotives, for such items as the Safety requirements for use. These chimney top, coupling rods, and the were closely followed to meet the dome top. recommended ventilation and personal protective equipment requirements. It will be important for the long-term stability of the locomotive’s ironwork, Acknowledgements to maintain a satisfactory temperature and level of humidity in the Soho The authors gratefully acknowledge Engine Shed, which houses the the help given by the management and locomotive and other historic artefacts. staff of the Timothy Hackworth The Museum has taken steps to Victorian and Railway Museum, and preserve and monitor the correct also the following organisations: environmental conditions, as laid down in Section 3 of the Museum and  The Territorial Army Royal Galleries Commission Standards. 10 Engineers Unit (Catterick) carried out the lifting, Conclusion  The special bolts for the rear buffer beam and the support brackets for The Braddyll project has been an the pumps and other parts were unique undertaking in the recent provided by Cleveland Bridge history of locomotive conservation. Company of Darlington, Not only did its condition call for new  The paint was provided by techniques to be adopted, but the Courtaulds Coatings and Sealants conservation programme has added Ltd. (Aerospace) of Shildon, much to our knowledge of materials,

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 Blue Diamond Machine Tools Ltd of 4. Bailey, M R and Glithero, J P, The Shildon straightened the footplate ‘Samson’ and ‘Albion’ Locomotives, brackets and flattened the rear An Assessment of Current buffer plates, Condition and Recommendations  D. J. Camp Ltd and Dunn’s for Restoration, The Nova Scotia (Shildon) Ltd helped with handling Museum of Industry (1992). materials, 5. Bailey and Glithero (1994) op cit.  British Flowplant Group Ltd gave 6. Health and Safety Commission, support in operating their slurry Control of Substances Hazardous to blast equipment, Health Regulations 1988, HMSO,  The steel struts for the front of the London (1988). boiler were provided by the National 7. Paine (1994) op cit. Railway Museum, 8. ibid.  The North of England Museum 9. Bailey and Glithero (1995) op cit. Service provided environmental 10. Paine, C (1994) op cit. monitoring equipment. Materials References 1. Jizer soluble degreasing compound. 1. Bailey, M R and Glithero, J P, The Deb Chemical Proprietaries Ltd, ‘Braddyll’ Locomotive and ‘Collier’ Belper UK. Class Tender, An Assessment of 2. Tripor 100A compound. Trident Current Condition and Foams of Stockport UK. Recommendations for Restoration, 3. Tannic Acid. Fertan Chemicals The Timothy Hackworth Victorian and High Wycombe UK. Railway Museum, Shildon (1994). 4. Alkyd gloss top coat, specification 2. Paine, C (ed), Standards in the PP607/216. Courtaulds Coatings and Museum Care of Larger and Sealants Ltd. (Aerospace) Shildon UK. Working Objects, MGC (1994). 5. Clear matting varnish. Courtaulds 3. Bailey, M R and Glithero, J P, The Coatings and Sealants Ltd. Locomotive ‘Braddyll’, (Aerospace) Shildon UK. Conservation Report and Survey, 6. Clear varnish. Roncraft Ltd The Timothy Hackworth Victorian and Sheffield UK. Railway Museum, Shildon (1995).

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Plate 1. Braddyll before conservation.

Plate 2. Slurry blasting.

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Plate 3. Braddyll after conservation.

Plate 4. In service repairs to the flue.

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Figure 1. Braddyll Side view as now.

Figure 2. Braddyll Conjectural side view as at end off steam service

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39 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

THE NEW ‘ART AND INDUSTRY’ GALLERY AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUMS OF SCOTLAND: A CASE STUDY OF CONFLICTS BETWEEN TWO DISCIPLINES.

K Nissan and C Stable

Abstract Traditionally, conservation work for the A new gallery opened at the NMS in May 1996 two departments has been carried out displaying objects from two different curatorial by the artefact and engineering departments. Traditional artefacts and conservation sections respectively. engineering objects are displayed side by side, Prior to the employment of a and an artefact conservator was employed to conservator to work on this project, carry out all the conservation. This paper presents a number of case studies of conservators from both sections carried engineering objects conserved for the gallery out condition reports and proposed and examines the differences in ethics and conservation treatments. Differences in approach which emerged between the two approach soon began to emerge: from disciplines. the engineering section, there were recommendations of replacement, Introduction repainting and restoring to a working condition, whereas the reports of A new permanent gallery, Art & Industry artefact conservators proposed Since 1850, opened at the Royal consolidation of existing features and, Museum of Scotland, the largest predominantly, a policy of minimum museum of the National Museums of intervention. Scotland (NMS), in May 1996. The gallery aims to illustrate ways in which Although every treatment proposal is art and design combine with the specific to a particular object, and not manufacturing process to shape based solely on the ethics of the everyday objects. There is a very large profession, it could be suggested that range on display including: small the main differences in approach come household objects, transport and about primarily as a result of differences communication artefacts and shoes - in training. Take, for example, the issue almost everything, including the kitchen of repainting the original surface of the sink! object: when faced with an artefact with a flaking paint surface, the priority and This is the first time since the Victorian possibly the only consideration of the period that an inter-departmental gallery artefact conservator would be to has opened at the Royal Museum. preserve that layer as part of the history Objects were selected from the of the object. It would not be an option collections of two curatorial to remove that layer or to cover it with departments, History and Applied Art another paint layer, regardless of the (HAA) and Science, Technology and originality or date of the existing paint Working Life (STWL); the intention was surface. However, it may be argued to put on a display which would cross that, since most industrial objects are over and draw together two diverse regularly maintained during their disciplines. Visitors would be working lives, such maintenance should stimulated to consider aspects of art not necessarily stop because the object and design encountered in their becomes part of a museum collection. everyday lives by the juxtaposition of art In the conservation of artefacts, on the and engineering collections. other hand, practice dictates that from

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the time the object enters the museum, discipline. The aim initially had been to history stops and preservation begins. treat the technological and industrial Replacement of parts, in the view of the objects in the same way as historical artefact conservator, should occur only material, that is, to retain the history of when required for structural rather than the object. But the difficulties resulting aesthetic reasons. Even if the part from this approach, and the differences requiring replacement is not completely between the two disciplines, soon original, it is still part of the history of the became apparent and the conflict object. insoluble. It was necessary, eventually, to adopt the curators’ and engineers’ In the case of the new Art & Industry viewpoint. gallery, treatments were proposed very early on in the development of the Summation and comment project prior to the design of the gallery being established and were In the case of the Art & Industry gallery independent, on the whole, of curatorial and the conflict of views that developed, input. As the design brief evolved, one can examine the reasons and individual objects were inspected by might suggest a route for avoiding such curators and designers and treatment a situation in the future. Of course, this proposals had to be modified to take would represent an ideal, which it is account of the requirements of the brief. rarely possible to achieve because of Conflicts between conservation ethics the constraints of practicality and the and curatorial/design needs arose, way in which projects tend to evolve, mainly due to the curators’ desire to but experience may help to prevent a show the objects as they would have similar situation developing in the future. looked when new. To show the objects as they appear now would not In a gallery such as this, where the effectively present the curators’ picture, public is being offered an opportunity to although it would comply with the see the evolution of design over a given intention of the artefact conservator, period, the curators’ desire should be who would regard restoration to the paramount. It does not make much original state as the loss of an object’s sense to display an object dating from history. and representing the 1950’s with a 1970’s addition which would confuse Before these differences in approach the viewer as to the contemporary between artefact and engineering appearance of the object. This point of conservators had been fully appreciated view correlates very neatly with the in a practical context, it had been traditional approach of the engineering decided to employ only one conservator conservator or, more accurately, for this project in order, theoretically, restorer whose ethical standpoint that the same approach could be embraces the original function of the adopted for all the objects in the gallery. object. An artefact conservator was selected: the gulf between the artefact It is probably fair to say that, though a conservator’s view and the engineering broadly-multilateral approach unifies conservator’s view turned out to be conservation disciplines, each discipline unbridgeable. The decision to employ has its peculiar requirements, which are only one conservator was made for defined by the historical purpose of the financial reasons; it was not feasible to object and its social and cultural employ two conservators, one in each context.

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were made to improve appearance. In the opinion of the authors, the ideal Treatments had to go beyond minimum as far as constructing a new gallery is intervention and work, on occasion, had concerned, in this and other similar to be carried out by local contractors. contexts, would be that because of the understandable differences in approach K2 Telephone kiosk - T.1989.64 between conservators in a variety of disciplines, the objects particular to The K2 telephone kiosk was the each department should be treated by winning design of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott the appropriate conservation sections in a competition launched by the Post and contributed to the pool of objects Office in 1924 and judged by the Royal chosen for inclusion in the new gallery. Fine Arts Commission. The K2 was A problem that could arise as a result of made from cast iron and produced by this might be a discernible difference in the Carron Iron Company. 1 final appearance of objects or the inability of the conservators of certain Condition classes of objects to adhere to the On the whole, the kiosk was in good requirements of the design/curatorial condition, although it had been received brief, either from an ethical or a as a shell without any telephone technical point of view - again, we are apparatus. There was some minimal back to purpose and training - perhaps corrosion of the ironwork mainly around the endless and archetypal dilemma of the base and areas where protective the museum conservator. coatings had not been applied, for example the top ventilator grills. Object case studies At the base of the kiosk the cast iron The case studies presented here appeared to have been broken at one feature objects from the STWL corner and subsequently repaired by collections. Some of the objects have seam welding. Welding repairs also been in the collections for a appeared to have been made to the considerable time whilst others were exterior of a lower side panel. specifically acquired for inclusion in the Gallery. Glazing in the panels had not been finished properly. Putty work had been It was proposed that in most cases, a left unpainted and in most areas it had policy of minimum intervention would been built up too high and was clearly govern the conservation treatment of visible from the exterior above the the objects, and they would not be beading. required to be in working order. This seemed the most ethical approach to The paint work on the kiosk was on the carrying out the work as consideration whole in a good condition. There were had to be given to time constraints and only minor areas where there was the limited experience of the artefact evidence of deterioration of the paint conservators dealing with the industrial finish. However, this finish could be collections. described as dull.

The majority of objects selected for the Treatment and ethical considerations gallery were in good condition. From a conservation viewpoint, the Problems did arise where objects were main concern was to treat and stabilise in extremely poor condition or requests iron corrosion occurring around the

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base. Some cosmetic work was  the object is visually more appealing required, mainly trimming back the putty to gallery visitors, work and painting it to match the rest of  objects were regularly maintained the kiosk. during their working life, for example, parts replaced and surfaces A request was made by the curatorial repainted - why stop once an object team that the kiosk should be is in the collection? completely repainted despite the paint work being in reasonable condition. Although the repainting improved the The dull appearance was considered to aesthetic appearance of the kiosk be neither aesthetically pleasing nor dramatically, an existing paint finish had adequate for presenting to the public. been lost and, as artefact conservators, we felt that the recording of it was not The repainting would be in complete wholly adequate and our ethics had contradiction to the minimum been compromised. intervention policy, raising ethical questions. A case was made for a Arnold-Benz motor car treatment that precluded repainting of the kiosk. It was felt by the The Arnold-Benz car was gifted to the conservators that ‘dull’ or ‘thin’ paint Museum in 1922. The car was could not be considered to be severe constructed in 1897 at Paddock Wood, damage or deterioration of the object Kent. The single cylinder horizontal and in gallery conditions the paint would engine was manufactured in Mannheim, be under minimal threat from any Germany. 2 further deterioration. The majority of the body work on the Recording of this finish could only be car, including side panels, engine cover, achieved by photography as only a thin mud guards and flooring was made of paint film had been applied and it was wood. The car had a steel chassis. not possible to obtain samples. Fittings and engine components were manufactured from a wide range of Despite the alternatives proposed, the materials including: leather, copper kiosk was repainted. Paint was applied alloy and rubber. by brush rather than sprayed. The existing paint layer was rubbed down Condition and used as a key for the new paint. The Arnold-Benz was structurally very The work was carried out by outside sound although, over time, it had contractors, who although not suffered from some physical damage, professional private conservators, had general neglect and poor storage had considerable experience with conditions. architectural iron work. It was evident that the car had Arguments for repainting the kiosk undergone repairs, with sections of the included the following and could also be wooden body work being replaced. applied to other case studies discussed Many parts were missing, most here: noticeably the seat bases, part of the braking mechanism and smaller  it gives an impression of the original components such as nuts, bolts and look of the object and suits the brackets. conceptual philosophy of the gallery,

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The metal elements of the car had August 1959, and was one of the suffered badly from corrosion affecting earliest to be produced at the plant. 3 surface finishes: nickel plating peeling from the steering column and black Condition paint from the wheel rims and cooling The Mini was received in good tanks. In addition varnishes were condition. There was very little peeling from the original wooden evidence of corrosion, and paint carriage work. appeared sound on the exterior body work. There was some deterioration on The rear folding foot plate (used as a the chrome work and chipping of foot brace when the engine was being enamel on the front grill. cranked to start) was covered with rubberised canvas. The feet of the The interior was in reasonable condition vehicle’s users had worn this away, although there was natural wear and revealing the wooden base. tear as would be expected on an object that had been in regular use. Treatment Conservation treatment of the vehicle However, the car had undergone was limited to adequate stabilisation modifications; wheel arches, sills and which would allow it to be put safely on the undersides of the body work and open display. The rarity and age of the bonnet had been over-painted with a vehicle greatly elevates its status in Hammerite-type metallic blue paint. 4 motoring history, therefore to carry out more physical improvements would The carpets had been replaced with a require long careful consideration, rubber foam-backed household carpet. recording and research. The time This was stuck down but not properly available to complete the car for its fitted; edges were loose, poorly adhered inclusion in the new gallery certainly and badly frayed. precluded this. The engine was in worse condition than Treatment carried out included other areas. The components were vacuuming the car. Major areas of iron very dirty, paint finishes had flaked and corrosion were mechanically cleaned there was substantial corrosion on and the metal protected by application some parts. Rubber components and of a microcrystalline wax in white spirit. seals had also deteriorated slightly.

There had been considerable loss of Treatment paint, particularly on the copper alloy As the Mini was in very good condition, cooling tanks. The surviving paint which it was agreed that remedial was badly flaking was consolidated conservation would be kept to a using 10% Paraloid B-72 in acetone. minimum; this involved light cleaning of the body work and interior with Teepol L Morris Mini Minor - T.1990.28 detergent. Chrome work was polished with Solvol Autosol proprietary metal The Mini is a classic car designed by Sir polish. Alec Issigonis. This particular model, the de-luxe version, with a Clipper Blue Upon discussing treatment with the paint finish, was purchased by the NMS curator, additional work was requested. in 1990. It was assembled at the The blue metallic sills were to be Cowley production line, Oxfordshire, in repainted the original Clipper Blue finish

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to match the rest of the body work and pump, corresponding to various oil that the interior carpet would be company liveries. Red, yellow and removed and replaced with replicas of black paint were clearly visible from original carpets. samples of the flaking beneath the most recent white finish. The pump had also The main argument for carrying out been covered with ‘BURMAH’ adhesive these purely cosmetic treatments was labels. to give more of an impression of the original look of the car as it came off the There were areas of very severe production line. To emphasise this, the corrosion on the panels, particularly at car was displayed alongside other the bottom edges where sections of the contemporary objects for example a metalwork were missing. The panels petrol pump and a dressed mannequin. were also badly dented, cracked and fitted poorly to the iron framework. Like the telephone kiosk, the additional work was felt to go beyond minimum The dial faces were very dirty, badly intervention; the Hammerite paint was corroded and had flaking paint. Plastic neither deteriorating, nor was it causing signing had been obscured by deterioration. As received, the Mini’s remnants of old adhesive labels and replacement carpets and metallic paint lettering had flaked away. finishes reflected its use and history, similar to the wear and tear seen on The interior pump mechanism and the the Arnold Benz. As such, it was felt supporting framework was equally that the preservation of these features corroded with most components would have been justifiable. covered with a thick crust of iron corrosion. Again, the requirements for display purposes took precedence over pure The globe from the top of the pump and preservation. The exact Clipper Blue the dispensing hose and nozzle were paint could not be obtained, so a close missing from the pump. approximation of the colour was formulated using a two-part epoxy car Treatment paint system, with British Leyland colour Due to the fact that the pump was a swatch cards as a reference. The very late addition to the gallery, there information about the fittings and paint was limited time to carry out a finishes that were preserved when the comprehensive treatment. For vehicle was acquired by the NMS were exhibition purposes, therefore, the recorded in the treatment report. emphasis was on restoration of the exterior shell and a minimum of work to Avery-Hardell Petrol Pump T.1996.40 stabilise the interior framework and pump mechanism. Condition The petrol pump, dating from 1959, was It was proposed that the panels be purchased by NMS in 1995; it was in dismantled and the read-out displays extremely poor condition. The panels removed. All existing paint work was to had been over-painted numerous times be stripped back and corrosion and much of the paint was flaking off removed mechanically from the panels. due to poor priming or the presence of New patches were to be welded onto corrosion products. A number of colour structurally weak and missing areas of schemes had been applied to the the metalwork and dents and kinks

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removed. The panels were then to be decision-making very difficult. For this primed and repainted in an appropriate gallery, the major influences on the colour scheme. Replacements for the treatments adopted were the theme of globe, hose and nozzle had to be the gallery and the design concept. sourced and fitted once the pump had been reassembled. As artefact conservators, we have a primary objective to preserve as much The pump had originally been situated information as possible on an object; at a Shell garage in Musselburgh, our ethical standpoint may often be Edinburgh. The underlying paint layers compromised when an object has been found on the pump were indicative of collected specifically for display the Shell company liveries. 5 Two purposes, or when the theme of the schemes were identified; red and gallery demands it. yellow, and black and cream. The red and yellow scheme was the chosen Constraints of time also governed the option, as this would be contemporary way in which treatments were with the globe which dated from the late undertaken. Most treatments were 1950’s. carried out to comply with the requirements of the curator’s philosophy The dial faces were to be cleaned and for the gallery and as such were the paint stripped from particularly appropriate in this case. deteriorated areas and then primed and repainted. Some of the original signing From the authors’ perspective, the would have to be replicated as it was longer term preservation interests of the very badly deteriorated. objects, particularly the petrol pump, were not considered thoroughly It was realised that comprehensive enough. There is potential for these treatment of the pump could not be objects to be brought back to working completed in time for the installation order in the future and in the haste to deadline and therefore compromises have the object in displayable condition had to be made. The internal working this potential may have been lost. mechanisms that were removed from the pump were placed in storage as it Conflicts of interest often arose through was not feasible to conserve them the contradictory approach to the satisfactorily within the time constraints. remedial treatment of each object and It was considered that, for display the inconsistencies of the conservation purposes, these components were not policies that were adopted. essential for ‘reading’ the object and so Discrepancies started to occur such as were not a priority for remedial with the treatment of the Mini and the treatment in the conservation Arnold-Benz; very little was done to the programme . latter and it was considered acceptable to be displayed in an incomplete but Conclusion stabilised form. However, the Mini, Carrying out conservation on industrial which was already in an excellent objects for the Art and Industry gallery condition, had to be cosmetically altered raised many ethical questions. It due to the additions made during its demonstrated that ethical working life. considerations and approaches to treatments can be dependent on many The petrol pump was received into the outside influences. This can make museum in such a deteriorated and

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incomplete state it was questionable nausea. Therefore goggles, protective why it had been registered. The clothing and an appropriate respirator treatment of the object from an artefact should be worn. There should also be conservation viewpoint was interventive adequate ventilation/ extraction and it was felt that the ethical dilemmas provided in the working area. faced with this object could have easily been avoided if the object had not been Acknowledgements accessioned but perhaps registered as a display prop. If indeed there was very The authors would like to express their good reasons for accessioning the thanks for the continued support and object into the collections (rarity, guidance of the Engineering provenance, etc.) there would have Conservation section at NMS been less acceptance to carry out the throughout the work on the gallery. We treatment described. Many spare parts would also like to acknowledge the were sourced for the pump and assistance of staff of the Body Finishing accessioned individually until the object Department, Stevenson’s College, almost became a ‘Frankenstein’s Edinburgh in the colour matching of Monster’ and it is hard to think of any finishes and supplying appropriate other area of conservation where this paint. Special thanks go to Alastair would be considered acceptable. Dodds, Curator of Transport, NMS, for provision of information on object In conclusion, it was found that in many history, and to Jane Hutchison for her of the cases it was difficult to square the help with editing this paper. orthodox ethical views of artefact conservation with those of engineering References conservation and curator-ship. For instance, the engineering definition and 1. Aslet, C and Powers, A, The British perception of minimum intervention Telephone Box - Take It As Red A differed greatly from our own and Thirties Society Report, Thirties treatments such as repainting were Society (1987) p 29. readily accepted, whereas we viewed 2. Anonymous, Original object such proposals with trepidation, even description, NMS QUIXIS database. after recording the object before 3. Golding, R, Mini, Osprey (1979). treatment. 4. Hammerite is a proprietary metal paint which imparts a metallic We found that during the course of the hammered finish to metalwork. conservation of these objects we 5. Dodds, A, Curator of Transport, became more and more dependent NMS, personal communication. upon maintaining object record files to accurately document changes made to Materials and Suppliers the objects. It was often the case that the concept of preserving historical Contract work on Petrol Pump: information in situ on the object was a Garvick Services luxury no longer afforded to us. Dunfermline Fife Safety Contract work carried out on telephone kiosk: Two-part epoxy paint systems can WH Banks & Son Ltd cause irritation to eyes, skin and Duff Street lane mucous membranes and cause Edinburgh

47 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

McQuilkin & Co. Colour Swatches, Colour Map 21 Polmadie Avenue Referencing and Car Paint: Glasgow Stevenson College Bankhead Avenue Solvol Autosol Edinburgh Available from most hardware and auto shops. Teepol L - Biodegradable non-ionic detergent

48 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

49 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

THE DIFFERENT CONTRIBUTORS AND THEIR ROLE IN THE CONSERVATION, CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS

LES DIFFERENTS INTERVENANTS ET LEUR ROLE DANS LA CONSERVATION, L’ENTRETIEN ET LA MAINTENANCE DES COLLECTIONS INDUSTRIELLES

B Rolland-Villemot and C Forrieres The widening of the cultural world to Résumé include the new sectors of scientific, En France de plus en plus de musées technical and industrial collections has conservent des collections industrielles not occurred without forcing the world appartenant au domaine des transport ou de of conservation-restoration to address l’industrie (machines). Ils souhaitent, dans un soucis de velorisation, les présenter au public; new questions. In fact, ‘museum’ type il les conservent et les restaurent. Les conservation is a new discipline; man machines sont alors présentées soit de façon has been repairing, renewing and statique soit en mouvement, la remise en rebuilding for centuries. Now when an mouvement est souvent estimée la plus object comes into the museum, to satisfaisante pour le public. Si ce choix de remise en fonctionnement est décidé dans un restore is not to repair. Under these cadre muséal, alors vont se poser de conditions, faced with such complex nombreuses questions: and varied collections, it is important to  les conditions de la remise en identify all the skills which may have fonctionnement vitesse, fréquence, relevance to a given object. The  les acteurs de cette remise en fonctionnement agent du musée, anciens parties involved in the conservation- ouvriers, restoration field are therefore  la maintenance de la machine en necessarily diverse. This diversity fonctionnement, condition, fréquence coût, must be met by an interdisciplinary  les acteurs de la restauration, de l’entretien approach. et de la maintenance; les conservateur, les restaurateurs, les ingénieurs, les anciens d’un métiers, les bénévoles et les Definition of the field associations. Mass produced industrial objects are Cette communication se propose d’analyse le what we are used to today. rôle de chaque intervenant et sa place dans la conservation des collections industrielles dans ‘From Antiquity to the industrial era, le cadre d’une institution patrimoniale:  définition d’une méthodologie, numerous factors have fundamentally  rôle de l’etude préalable, changed in relation to production  définition d’un cahier des charges, methods’. 1  suivi des travaux et encadrement,  le rôle des savoir-faire. Under pressure from technological advances - the harnessing of sources Dans cette méthodologie, la communication of energy and the perfecting of insistera sur l’interdisciplinarité et la complémentarité des intervenants. Ces production techniques, the discovery propos seront illustrés d’exemples pris dans of new operating and functional les musées français relevant de la tutelle du principles - the centuries-old Ministère de la Culture: Musée de la Mine de handmade object has given way to the Lewarde, Musée du Textile (Cholet), industrial object. By expanding Écomusée de la Grande Lande. aesthetic categories, twentieth century art rejects the conflict between objet Introduction d’art and industrial object (Le

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Bauhaus). The industrial object has their own museums such as the Textile become the foundation of aesthetic Museum in Lyon. anchored in contemporary reality. It is becoming the ‘representation of a Until the post-war period, these language’ and therefore enters into the museums were still part of an world of the museum. 2 Thus we have economically living environment; there ‘the endless museum’. 3 The fact that was no break between the use of the the industrial object has entered the object and its exhibition. There was no museum means that it is also entering real action taken to conserve, still less another semantic sphere and its to restore. It was the acceleration of restoration therefore takes on a industrialisation during the ‘Glorious completely different dimension. Thirties’ in France which brought about a decisive break with the nineteenth Of course, collections of technical and century and the entry of the industrial industrial objects existed before the object into the cultural world. twentieth century. In a letter written in 1675 Liebniz suggests that ‘some But what is an industrial object? people whose interests extend to fine curiosities and above all to machines According to Leroi-Gourhan’s technical have agreed to make public shows of classification, an industrial object can such objects’. 4 Liebniz uses the term be described as follows: show in this instance in the sense of a theatrical production; his idea was to  a manual tool used by a craftsman: enhance the value of these collections. hammer, saw, In fact, later on he specifies that the  an automatic machine: drilling exhibition will be made in such a way machine, that ‘everyone would be charmed and  a machine tool: lathe, excited and the venture could have  a programmable tool: jacquard consequences as amazing and as machine, 5 important as one could imagine’.  an automatic tool: assembly robot.

Following the creation of the National This classification is pertinent from a Museum of Technology, technical technical point of view and should be museums multiplied in the nineteenth taken into account in an act of century, under the influence of restoration but other criteria from the universal exhibitions and exhibitions of cultural world must be added. industrial art under the Second Empire. For example, in 1848 an Scientific collections industrial museum was created in Lille. Part of the heritage of the curiosity The machinery room of the 1889 cabinets of the eighteenth century universal exhibition has significant (Wunderkammer): museological heritage. Industrialists, like the Schneiders at Le Creusot or i) collections that illustrate the the Meuniers at Noisiet, created history of a discipline like the Lavoisier 6 exhibition areas in their factories. Exhibition Room at the National ‘The Cathedral’, in Noisiet had a Museum of Technology. gallery where important visitors could assist in the grinding of cocoa beans. ii) collections used for teaching 7 This was the ‘museum in the factory’. purposes such as the Physics Chambers of Commerce also created Exhibition Room at the Victor Duruy

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Grammar School classed as an was destroyed due to the cost of historic monument. maintenance which was considered to be too high. Technical collections These are often collections of models So what do we preserve and why? used for technical research or for the purposes of demonstration or the Conservation in the sense that we use transmission of skills. The most today is a new discipline. In fact famous example is the collection according to Littre (1863) ‘to preserve’ created by Vaucanson, exhibited at the means: Mortagne Town Hall in 1782. It was then taken to the National Museum of  to preserve from destruction, Technology. 8 In the same spirit, one  to maintain in a certain condition, can cite the Clair Collection kept at the  to prevent loss. Crozatier Museum at Puy and at the National Museum of Technology. The three accepted meanings of the Pierre and Alexander Clair term describe a continuous process manufactured models and measuring between the object and its instruments intended for the practical environment. The object is not instruction of pupils in Arts and Crafts ‘restored’, but repaired, renewed or Schools. 9 rebuilt as are machines in an industrial context which demands that they Industrial collections produce the highest possible output. These are linked to a branch of The act of preserving, according to its industry and represent the whole current meaning, is the consequence operating process from extraction, of a ‘hidden break’ between the object through manufacturing to the finished and its working life. 11 There is a need product. They cover all fields of to assimilate the past. industry. The curatorial assessment of the Collections concerning transport object and communication Although belonging to the service Restoration takes on a critical and sector from an economic point of view, historical dimension. Conservation- they enter into the cultural world as restoration is there to help to give a industrial collections: automobile, current picture of the past. It is aeronautical, maritime, railway, space essential that the industrial object to be and telecommunications. restored is studied beforehand and understood in all its aspects, although The industrial object is distinguished one aspect may be favoured later for by its nature, its technology and also technical or museological reasons. It by its size; it can reach gigantic is very important to identify the proportions. 10 The gigantic distinctive criteria for each object. proportions of these objects - both These are often multiple and moveable and immovable - impose intermingled; a few are listed below: limits on the options for conservation. For example while the Uckange Scientific or technical history furnace was saved, in spite of its size, For example, ‘pascalines’; Pascal the same did not apply to the Gusro calculating machines, even if several crane in the port of Saint-Nazaire; it copies exist, are all evidence of the

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progress in mathematics and object. One example, recently calculation techniques. But the one restored, is the 001 prototype of the kept in the Museum of Arts and Crafts, Concorde preserved at the Museum of with its dedication by Pascal to the Air and Space at Bourget. Chancellor Seguier is also a unique historical artefact. As this object is Mass produced objects polysemic (the historical and technical This category is self evident, for evidence of an emblematic man), one example a car or a machine. must ensure that any treatment respects all these criteria. These criteria must guide and influence the conservation options. Technical criteria Preserving a furnace like the Uckange How to conserve and restore? furnace presupposes that a complex technical process, such as metallurgy, The treatments carried out will depend can be made intelligible. on a combination of criteria, in accordance with the message that the Socio-economic criteria object must transmit. In fact, one must Dedicating a museum to the sugar not reduce restoration to its technical industry at Stella Matutina on the dimension only. Reunion Island is evidence of the importance of this activity to the social Treatments must be carried which and economic life of the Island. respect the tangible and intangible integrity of the object. Therefore it is Aesthetic criteria necessary to define beforehand the Is it possible to have a garden of function and value of the object. 12 machinery like a sculpture garden? The level of restoration will necessarily What difference is there between a follow on from this, from simple Tinguely Metamechanism, and a conservation in current condition to working weaving loom in the Cholet reconstruction. Textile Museum? The difference lies in the original purpose of the object. These different levels of treatment require diversified but complementary In parallel with these criteria skills. consideration needs to be given to the rarity, both in production and in Archaeological conservation- survival, of the artefact. restoration An example of this is the autochenille Unique object (caterpillar tracked vehicle) which Preserved as a single artefact. For crossed the Sahara. This is at the example, in the field of fairground Saint-Jean d’Angely Museum and was heritage, a single example of a restored in 1994. The aim of this roundabout or a model produced by a restoration was to retain the vehicle in specific engineer. the condition in which it arrived: passivation of metallic parts, Prototype consolidation of the rubber on tyres Unique by definition since the different and tracks, whilst retaining traces of versions of a prototype are different wear and tear. Today this vehicle has because they are used in the for us the emotive value of adventure, development of the mass produced the first Citroen expedition. In the

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same way, static restorations have restore them as they are or return been carried out on vehicles belonging them to sailing condition. The skills of to the National Car Museum at a marine carpenter are therefore Compiegne. This type of restoration is necessary and complement the skills carried out by a restorer. of a restorer of wooden structures who contributes their knowledge of Technical conservation-restoration materials and restoration methods. The technical message of the machine is favoured here. Treatments carried In the same way, the National Museum out aim to make the technical of Arts and Popular Traditions intends dimension visible, without necessarily to restore a Bayol roundabout from the making the machine work again. beginning of the century into working Thus, machines in the Earthenware order. This process will require Museum at Sarreguemines were collaboration and assistance from a restored in a static fashion, whilst travelling showman. A conservator will interpreting technical features of the draft the specification and manage the manufacturing process. At the Clair treatment process. In fact many Collection of the Crozatier du Puy trades have disappeared because they Museum, restoration has allowed have become obsolete; it is hard to technical and mechanical features to preserve these dying skills. Knowledge be seen and has even reinstated is therefore being lost. artefacts into working order where the museological project provides for this. Curators must concern themselves with the collection of these skills as Operational restoration technical knowledge of an object and In this type of treatment, it is decided as a legacy of the past; a legacy to restore the object to working order necessary for maintenance in the within a museum context which is future. But these cannot be artificially fundamentally different from the maintained in a sterile way, separated machine’s original environment. The from their original context. Inevitably safety requirements of a public these skills become modified in a institution may modify the appearance museum environment. It is necessary of the machine. How should one make to keep using this functional a loom operate? At real speed or knowledge as an aid in the reduced speed? Using which conservation-restoration procedure in frequency? Who is going to work and an historic approach and a critical maintain this machine? Who is going interpretation of the object. When to restore it? In fact the skills of reinstating to working order the skills industrialists and the expertise of and knowledge relating to a particular workers are indispensable to carrying machine are indispensable. out this type of treatment properly.

These considerations lead to the Ethnological conservation- problem of the preservation of skills restoration and the role of people with these skills This is a holistic approach which in the restoration process. For conserves the material aspects of the example, the Latin Sailing Museum at object as well as the intangible Barcares has a collection of seventy dimensions surrounding it (message, boats with a view to the creation of a skills, archives) to give all the floating museum. The choice is to authenticity and integrity back to the

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object. 13 There is still time to collect  collection of archives and skills the skills necessary and useful to the relating to an object. restoration of our industrial heritage by means of investigation or reference to This process will culminate in the archives. This type of conservation drafting of a treatment specification. allows one to define the parties involved in conservation-restoration Some examples of this methodology and their role. Their degree of are given below: involvement will depend on the museological aims of the project for i) the restoration of the 001 the object or the site under prototype of Concorde at the Museum consideration. This type of treatment of Air and Space, restored between is close to the approach used for 1993 to 1995. This involved contemporary art. 14 conservation and restoration to allow its display in a hanger, the justification Towards a methodology for the treatment. The treatment was preceded by a preliminary study It is the opinion of the authors that a carried out by two student engineers at specialised restorer in the industrial the Sevenas Polytechnic as part of field does not and should not exist. In their military service. The study fact, it is impossible for a single person analysed the aeroplane from every to possess all the necessary skills. In angle; a trip was made to England to addition, restoration is compare it with the two English characteristically an interdisciplinary prototypes. At the same time, a procedure; this is even more true and documentary, historical and archival essential for industrial heritage. The study was carried out. A restoration restoration of our industrial heritage strategy was developed and the must therefore be approached through treatments carried out with numerous the collective skills of an partners (Aerospatial, Air France) but interdisciplinary team: curators, under the control of an engineer restorers, technical, industrial and employed as Project Manager by the ethnographic historians. Museum of Air and Space.

This approach could be based on that ii) the salt stove at the Museum of of a design department such as in Salins-les-Bains. A preliminary study architecture. The chief architect of was carried out before restoring this historical monuments has already salt stove to determine the feasibility of attempted to define this concept. the treatments and their cost. It included a technical and historical The team must have within it study. experience in the following areas: iii) at the Sarreguemines Museum  writing a condition report, of Earthenware, a preliminary study  identifying conservation problems, was carried out in order to learn about  selecting the appropriate treatment, the manufacturing process of  identifying the role of each earthenware factories. In order to specialist, carry out this study effectively, former  maintenance and servicing, workers were interviewed. Restoration  preventive conservation, was carried out by restorers.

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Diversity of skills is a great benefit in References the restoration of our industrial heritage. It can be analysed as 1. Larroche, H and Tucny, Y, L’objet follows: industriel en question, Paris édition du regard (1985) p 15.  ‘active’ skills: restorers, 2. Dagonet, F, Le Musée sans Fin, industrialists, craftsmen, workers Syessi Champs Vallon, Paris (1984) p and their expertise, 40.  ‘theoretical’ skills: curators, 3. Dagonet (1984) op cit. historians of technology and 4. Dagonet (1984) op cit p 110. restorers, 5. ibid.  disappearing skills and expertise, 6. Catalogue of the exhibition, Les  skills to be rediscovered, by means Schneider le Creusot, une Famille, of oral investigation and archive une Entreprise, une Ville (1836- research because they have 1960), Fayard, Paris (1995). disappeared. 7. Vaillant, E, Le musée dans l’usine, Le Patrimoine Industriel Pour Quoi Conclusion Faire?, National Symposium, Tregastel, 5-7 October 1994, CILAC The development of advisory and (1994) pp 207-210. training activities can only be carried 8. RMN (ed), Exhibition catalogue on out within an interdisciplinary context Vaucanson and his collection L’âme which includes all the parties involved. au Corps, Paris (1994). In fact, the conservation-restoration of 9. Emptoz, G, Pierre et Alexandre Clair our industrial heritage, just like constructeurs de modèles, La Revue, preventive conservation, is a working Musees des Arts et Metiers, Paris framework and a philosophy, not an (1993) p 6. initiative taken here or there by one or 10. Monier, G, Problèmes et limites de two individuals. la protection des très grands édifices industriel contemporains, Le To develop this working framework, it Patrimoine Industriel Pour Quoi is necessary to determine objectives Faire? National Symposium, and perspectives. Initial steps were Tregastel, 5-7 October 1994, CILAC taken by the Symposium of Company (1994) p 49. Museums, in 1991 and by Sylvie 11. Philippot, P, personal Vincent’s study, within the context of communication. the National School of Heritage, on the 12. Cuisenief, J, L’art Populaire en restoration of the machines of the France, Office du Livre Paris (1995) Mulhouse museums. pp 26-28. 13. Faye, C, Rolland-Villemot, B, The following themes are emerging: Rostagno, B, and Vassai, F, Les objectifs de la conservation et de la  drafting of an inventory of restauration des collections d’art collections, forain, Proceedings of ICOM  continuing the investigation into Committee for Conservation 11th expertise, 15 Triennial Meeting Edinburgh 1996,  evaluating the requirements of our ICOM, James and James, London industrial heritage in the field of (1996) pp 622-627. conservation-restoration.

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14. See on this subject the problems 15. Cuisenief (1995) op cit. raised by the preservation of the Tinguely Icyclops, in the Milly forest.

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RUST AND THE WORKING SURFACES OF INDUSTRIAL ARTEFACTS

G Prytulak

Abstract These are all valid points and they Most industrial artefacts designed for outdoor reflect a sane, practical approach to use have working surfaces of polished bare dealing with industrial collections. Yet steel. These surfaces begin to rust when the there is still one question that is almost machines are left idle. Museums face a never asked, and that is, should we number of problems when they acquire these leave the rust intact? This is where artefacts. A polished steel surface is unstable in most conditions, so it requires constant ethics come into the discussion. And care, whereas a rusted surface, if left this is the question that will be outdoors, must be cleaned regularly or painted addressed in this paper. over to prevent serious corrosion pitting. If a museum brings the machine indoors for Basically, museum professionals do display or restoration, it is obligated to tolerate the rusted surfaces, because a working polish not like rust for two reasons: 1) they cannot be artificially recreated. This paper will believe it is harmful - that it threatens address how museum professionals can the well being of the artefacts, and 2) develop a more appreciative eye for both they believe it is inappropriate and it polished working surfaces and historically will give museum visitors an inaccurate appropriate rust; recognising the rarity and interpretative value of the former and judging picture of what the artefact looked like when it is ‘industrially correct’ to leave the during its working life. The time has latter intact. come to take a closer look at both of these assumptions. Introduction Assumption No.1: rust is harmful The subject of this paper, ‘Rust & the Working Surfaces of Industrial Rust is almost everywhere in the Artefacts,’ may seem inappropriate industrialised world. In fact, it is often under the category of ‘ethical issues’. difficult not to see rust; step outside After all, if there is one thing that and rust will be somewhere in one’s conservators, curators and the public field of vision. There is no question all agree on, it is the fact that rust is that rust is a form of deterioration, but disgusting and unsightly. Rust is a its destructive powers are greatly sign of neglect and deterioration. It exaggerated. Rust does not signal the has no more place in a respectable complete destruction of an artefact museum than mould or carpet beetles. except in extreme conditions and over a long period of time. Furthermore, the working surfaces of industrial artefacts are the parts that Consider industrial artefacts. Most are kept free from rust by operating the industrial artefacts spend their working machines. Rust is scoured away by lives outside. Their working surfaces friction, or it is prevented from forming are attacked by, abrasion, fluctuating altogether by heat or regular temperatures, wet and dry cycles, lubrication. What could be more contact with damp soil, aggressive straightforward than removing the rust salts and acids, and a combination of to make a machine look operational or, water, oxygen, airborne pollutants and failing that, painting the parts to make dirt. Yet in spite of this, the machines the artefact look cared for?

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survive for many years of operation. objects. They act like a corrosive One reason for this is their design. poultice in wet conditions, and this invariably leads to deep pitting of the The working parts can tolerate rust underlying metal. This is most because in order to function properly, noticeable with horizontal surfaces, they have to be made from thick and partially buried areas like wheel sections of steel; thin sheet metal rims. The surface rust itself is only a would crumple under the same contributing factor in this situation conditions, and because of its thinness because it can hold salts that absorb it would be perforated by the same moisture. If the rust is kept free of amount of rust. A second reason for salts (sulphides and chlorides), the the high survival rate is the materials. corrosion will virtually stop. Working parts from as early as the 1880s are usually made from alloy In a sense, rust provides a protective steel. Alloys like nickel steel or oxide layer for the underlying metal. It manganese steel can withstand is not in the same league as the oxides corrosion much better than low carbon of copper, aluminium or chromium, steels. because it only offers protection in a clean environment. Iron oxide signifies Another thing to bear in mind is that stability, in that a plateau has been atmospheric corrosion is a surface reached. Instead of judging rust to be reaction. It proceeds rapidly at first, in harmful until proven otherwise, it isolated patches on exposed metal, makes more sense to judge it until the entire surface is covered; then harmless until proven harmful. it levels off to a steady plateau. On a graph of oxide formation against time, There really is no sound physical the reaction starts out as a straight reason to remove rust. If it is diagonal line but quickly flattens out. A removed, the exposed metal will be continuous straight line only occurs vulnerable to rapid rusting until it with very reactive metals like sodium reaches a stable condition again. and potassium; they oxidise violently until all of the metal is consumed. By This brings one to the second contrast, oxide formation on bare steel assumption, one of aesthetics and comes to a virtual standstill. interpretation. It is the assumption that rust is inappropriate for museum If it were just a matter of oxygen and artefacts. water reacting with the metal, an artefact made out of steel would Assumption No.2: rust is probably last for many centuries. Steel inappropriate has only been used widely for a little over a century, so it is difficult to push When one thinks of exposed steel this theory. On the other hand, many surfaces, one tends to picture a shiny, rural areas are littered with abandoned silver coloured metal. In reality, machines which are almost one though, exposed steel is more often hundred years old, and most are still in brown than silver; it is normally sound condition. covered with iron oxide. Shiny, bright steel is an aberration. Its existence is The real problem is not so much the brief and fleeting. Outdoors, it can not surface rust as the airborne pollutants exist without regular human and surface dirt that settle on the intervention in the form of applied

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petroleum coatings or constant polishing. If museums and The same situation occurs with the interpretative sites want to present tracks. Every locomotive, whether on industrial artefacts accurately, they display or in operation, sits on a length should consider rust as an asset, not a of track. In a sense, it is one half of liability. It is an original and genuine the machine. The steel rails respond surface that exists everywhere in the the same way as the tyres. Anyone working world. can tell which tracks have been used recently. When trains run, the track is The challenge is to develop an polished by friction; no trains, and the appreciative eye for rust, or rather, top surface is covered with rust. The protective iron oxide. sides of the rails, the tie plates, the fasteners and the angle bars are This requires a new mind set. One of permanently rusted. The ballast is the best ways to cultivate this cleaned occasionally to keep corrosive appreciation is to observe industrial mud and weeds from accumulating, artefacts and modern machines in but in general, the tracks are worn out action, both at interpretative sites and and replaced long before they rust in the working world. Conservators away. and curators should both build up collections of slides, so they can An ethical dilemma confronts educate museum directors and the conservators and restorers here: the public about how industrial artefacts shiny metallic condition on wheels and ought to be presented. tracks is impossible to recreate artificially. For one thing, it is rarely an There are three major areas dealt with even finish; there are subtle variations in this paper: railways, agriculture and all over the metal surfaces. The tracks heavy equipment (construction, road have longitudinal lines where the wear building, etc.) is lighter or heavier. Even one of a pair of rails may be worn more than Railways the other. The same uneven wear occurs on the wheels. Wear patterns Railway collections present some simply can not be faked. Too much interesting problems. When a train depends on genuine historical criteria: operates, the wheels (i.e., the tyres) of the amount of travel on the rails, the the locomotive and rolling stock are number of curves, type of train, the polished by pressure and friction to a weight of the locomotive and so on. brilliant metallic finish, as bright as Museums should make a serious effort chrome plating. It is a sight that only to collect this kind of information and seems to exist in the working world; it communicate it to the public in some rarely, if ever, finds its way into a fashion. museum. Sitting idle, these surfaces quickly rust. The plateau of oxide Conservators should be alerted to any formation is reached and rust slows wheels and tracks about to come into down. When the train runs again, the the collection with a genuine working rust is worn off and so on in a polish. The finish is rare, and repeating, predictable cycle. There is perishable under most environmental an entire range of intermediate stages, conditions, so preventive measures or degrees, of oxidation between will be required even before the chrome brilliance and dark brown rust. artefact arrives. If at all possible, the

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wheels of a new acquisition should be work season, with a predictable - and coated with a rust preventive tolerable - loss of metal. Equipment compound the moment they stop deteriorates and depreciates year after turning. year until the worn part or the entire object has to be replaced. Once the working polish is lost, one has a very limited choice of surfaces: Implement dealers often display used either oxide or paint. A painted implements outside. The working version of polished steel, using surfaces are uniformly rusted. This is aluminium paint, is a poor not a major issue with potential buyers; approximation of the real thing. Black they know the surface rust will be enamel paint is not much better, scoured clean the first time the because it does not represent a implement is used. working or an idle appearance: it is strictly a museum or city park As with railway artefacts, a genuine condition. To be fair, it is often the land polish rarely finds its way into a only practical course to take against museum. Again, it should be sought dirt and pollution outdoors because it after by acquisition committees. Once is a low-maintenance solution. On the located, every effort should be made to other hand, it is a strong argument for preserve it and get it into a museum not displaying industrial artefacts collection intact. outside, because it requires creating an unreal appearance that never Agricultural machines have many other existed in the object’s working life. kinds of working steel finish. One is a belt polish, found on the face of pulleys For indoor display, it is better to leave and flywheels. The friction from the working surfaces covered with an contact with an endless moving belt of authentic layer of compact surface leather or rubberised canvas keeps the oxidation. It is an original surface and oxide smooth and compact during if it is kept clean, corrosion will not operation, or wears it off completely, advance deeper into the metal until such time as the machine is idle substrate. again.

A minor working surface can be found A similar finish to a belt polish is found on the couplers of railway equipment. on the hand wheels of threshing Like wheels, tracks and crosshead machines, tractor steering wheels and guides, these parts come into moving starting cranks. Continuous rubbing contact with other metal parts, so they by human hands ensures a compact are alternately rusted and rust-free. surface. The chloride contamination from perspiration is negligible and it is Agricultural Equipment washed away by rain; these parts are never noticeably corroded. Hand- Agricultural machinery and implements wheels are also found on railway present a whole range of working freight cars and artillery pieces. surfaces. In use with the soil, the metal is scoured clean and polished to Another kind of working polish occurs a bright ‘land polish.’ This shiny on cutting implements, like the blades surface is very reactive and it will of mowers and reapers. begin to flash rust overnight. The cycle is repeated daily throughout the

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One of the most conspicuous finishes A final category is exhaust systems. is found on the wheels of agricultural This is the only area which does not equipment. Depending on the involve friction. The exhaust conditions of use, the wear can be manifolds, mufflers and tailpipes of limited only to the high points (the machines with internal combustion lugs) or it can cover the entire outer engines reach extremely high face. The finish can range from solid temperatures during operation. Most brown to a dull form of silver land paints are burned off within a few polish. The wheel comes into slow hours. The steel surfaces rust when rolling contact with the soil rather than the machine is idle and cools down. rapid sliding contact; it is more of a Surface rust is unavoidable, especially slow grinding action than polishing. when morning dew condenses on the cold metal. Again, this rust is Restoring this kind of machine to a accepted as part of the machine’s like-new condition presents a problem working state. for a museum, because no one really knows what the machines looked like In many cases, these surfaces are when they left the factory. Trade blasted to white metal, then painted literature indicates that the faces of the with silver-coloured aluminium paint for wheels were left unpainted, but the museum display and photographs in illustrations are hand-coloured and coffee table books and calendars. their accuracy is questionable. Working machines are easier to The exhaust manifolds of automobiles approximate because they can still be present the same authentic rust. They seen in action at plough matches and should never be painted. Historically, steam shows. The best way to these finishes were burned off before develop an eye for genuine surfaces is the vehicle left the assembly line. definitely to observe and record the machines in action. Heavy Equipment: excavation, road- building and road maintenance A related finish is found on the steel equipment tyres of wooden-wheeled vehicles, like farm wagons, carriages and A land polish can be seen in any stagecoaches, as well as artillery modern excavation or road building pieces. As before, the finish could operation: on buckets and shovels, vary with use and conditions, and caterpillar treads, bulldozer blades and records of these machines in action the blades of graders. Sitting idle, the should be kept, with close-up shots of machines rust. The machines are only the tyres. The tyres should not be painted when they are new on the painted under any circumstances. dealer’s lot. Sadly enough, most museums would probably opt for a Another working surface is found on showroom appearance over the used gear teeth. All too often, they are condition, although the latter is much covered with paint on museum more informative and interesting. artefacts, even indoors. The effect is disturbing. It does not suggest a non- Snow-ploughs are a special category operating machine; it suggests one of heavy equipment, where the steel of that never moved and never will. the plough is in sliding contact with ice and snow and grit. The ploughs are only painted when they are new or

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possibly when they are laid up for the wear that can exist on industrial summer. In use, they show a artefacts. They should aim to bring combination of polished and scratched only genuine appearances into display steel, painted areas, and patches of areas. They should ask themselves rust: a whole spectrum of working the following questions: Is the surface surfaces. How often does this genuine? Did it ever exist in the real condition find its way into a museum? working world? Does it exist there And how would the public respond to now? Or is it a strange hybrid created it? by museum staff and volunteers? Finally, rather than faking or painting a Several other working surfaces occur working surface, one should consider that are similar to those found in leaving it rusty. A genuine rusted agriculture. They include: surface is much better than a fake polished one. One should be guided i) wheel finishes, the best by the image of two diverging railway example being found on road rollers, tracks, one polished, the other rusted. ii) open gear teeth on very old There are really only two legitimate graders, paths to choose between: a real iii) exhaust systems. working surface and a real non- working surface. The odds of Conclusion capturing and preserving a real working surface are extremely low. So In conclusion, conservators and one shouldn’t shy away from the curators should be aware of the rusted alternative. multiplicity of finishes and states of

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OILY RAGS OR COTTON BUDS?

S Cane always been conflict between Abstract conservators, restorers and scientists The treatment and operation of industrial and across the disciplines. Conflicting working objects has never sat comfortably ethics are probably most clearly within the established professional defined in the attitudes towards the conservation structure. As a discipline it treatment of industrial and working appears to be under represented and poorly objects. The protagonists in the researched and there are few if any recognised training courses. There is potential debate are suspicious of each other’s for misunderstanding between the discipline motives and each can present and the establishment caused by fundamental convincing arguments. Is there a differences in attitudes and approaches disparity in how we interpret and apply towards the treatment of museum objects. ethics in different areas of The conservation of industrial and working objects probably involves more volunteers who conservation? I believe there is work directly on museum objects than any common ground and it is time to other discipline. Is the operation of industrial reassess how and why we apply ethics and working objects an acceptable practise, in this area. Is the practice of considering the move towards preventive and operating industrial objects passive methods of conservation? There is a need for those involved with the treatment of acceptable? Is it a matter of industrial and working objects at a professional interpretation of ethics or is a double level to establish and improve methodology standard at work? and standards of documentation and to address the problem of lack of reference One has to question why this area material through publication, promotion and participation in recognised professional seems under developed and relatively structures. neglected when 32.3% of museums in the UK hold industrial machinery and 1 Introduction transport collections.

Is it possible to reconcile conservation The Conflict ethics with the conservation and operation of industrial objects? Conservation is not an exact science. It requires a wide range of abilities and In this paper I will examine the knowledge. It is also a new profession complex issues in the sometimes so it is no surprise that there are controversial area of the treatment and conflicting opinions when it comes to operation of industrial and working the issue of ethics. Debate is not objects and consider the potentially confined solely to this area of conflicting needs of the object, the conservation, it continues between all visitor and the museum. The levels and disciplines, as illustrated by conservation profession has difficulty Caroline Keck: in accepting that objects may be returned to an operational condition, I am dismayed by the foolhardy waste as this appears to conflict with the in the continued bangling between ethic of preservation. If an object is research and applied scientists. operated then it will eventually wear Stripped of its trappings this is no more out. The problem, I believe, lies deep than the age old antagonism between in the professional psyche. There has investigators of materials and bench

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workers. Each sees each other as a This perception does not encourage dispensable villain. The majority of our people involved in the treatment of colleagues share basic intelligences industrial and working objects to and yearn for co-operation among our participate in the professional forum. varied expertise. 2 Equally, those involved with the treatment and restoration of industrial The established professional structure and working objects must of conservation has developed from acknowledge that to some extent they the disciplines of fine art and have excluded themselves from the archaeology. I suggest that this professional forum and must realise creates the potential for fundamental the advantages of participation. misunderstanding between the established profession and those The net result of division is that mutual involved in the treatment of industrial misunderstanding is increased, the and working objects. chances of open debate and discussion are reduced, and the Why is there such misunderstanding? narrower profile of the profession is As I have suggested part of the maintained. Conservation is a problem lies in the fact that the multidisciplinary profession and the conservation profession covers an membership of professional bodies incredibly wide range of disciplines. should reflect this. The range of disciplines obviously require different types of training: Conflicting Ethics those involved with the treatment of industrial and working objects require The conservation profession generally good engineering knowledge and aspires to the ethics of minimal skills. intervention and reversibility. If an object is to be returned to a working Is it the word ‘engineer’ that poses the condition, any conservator could find problem? Mechanical engineers have themselves in conflict with these always been regarded as blue collar in aspirations. Immediately we see that if the United Kingdom and I suggest that we subscribe to ridged and absolute this ingrained view of engineers, and ethical guidelines then we are going to engineering in general, is at the heart have trouble, a point acknowledged by of the problem. It is an anomaly that Andrew Oddy: conservators employed at national and local government levels are treated as So what do we get for the meaning of white collar. This positioning rightly a ‘code of ethics’? We get a code reflects their level of qualification, relating to the distinction between right though organisations sadly place and wrong. But, in conservation, what conservators below administrators and may be right for one customer may be curators. I am not suggesting that wrong for another. So the concept of anyone involved in the treatment of ‘right’ and ’wrong’ is too restrictive, industrial and working objects is with one proviso: ‘nothing should be overtly excluded from the profession, done to an object which compromises but the conservation profession any original part of it’. Thus I believe promotes and presents itself in a way that we should abandon attempts to which exacerbates the problem. ‘Oily write ‘codes of ethics’ and instead Rags or Cotton Buds’ could easily read construct ‘codes of practice’. 3 as ‘Blue Overall versus White Coat’.

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Defining compromise in the treatment Thus, it appears that the only of industrial and working objects is successful long term solution would to difficult. Objects are important but be to deposit the aircraft in a they do not represent an end in waterlogged anoxic environment such themselves, they reflect the world as the bottom of a freshwater lake, or people lived and live in. What the in a bog, fen, marsh or object does or did could be as mire. 4 important as what the object is. It is a matter of judgement and interpretation This suggestion, by Chris Caple was whether the object should be operated. tongue in cheek, but preventive Returning an object to a working conservation strategies are accepted condition may require compromise. as economically prudent and ethically Compromises may be forced by issues sound. of uniqueness, the availability of skills and parts, health and safety or the Can operating an object qualify as a context of display. What is important strategy for preservation? is defining the parameters of compromise. We must make informed If exhibits are operated to the highest and recorded decisions. standards, under controlled conditions for defined periods, by trained If curators wish to contextualise or personnel and maintained correctly, interpret objects by returning them to their working life can be extended and working order, the role of the the objects can be enjoyed and conservator should be that of facilitator interpreted. Policy and procedure and advisor. I am not advocating that should be developed and implemented conservators should be excluded from for each object that defines the the decision making process, far from parameters and standards of operation it. Conservators need to listen and states at which point the object carefully to the demands of their should cease to operate. The policy customers and be prepared to be and procedure may take into account flexible and negotiate with them. If such factors as significance, originality, they fail to communicate the issues, rarity etc. Several systems have been the customers may choose to developed to categorise these. The disregard their advice, to the detriment most recent example is that proposed of the object, the museum and the within the Designation process, a part visitor. of which was drawn from systems such as the Conservation of Industrial It should be possible to maintain any Collections Forum proposed national object in an operating condition using grading system for industrial and passive measures such as transport relics and the National environmental control and Aviation Heritage Committee, National maintenance programmes. As Register of Historic Aircraft.5 resources come under pressure, the likelihood of implementing full We must accept that working objects programmes of passive maintenance carries risks and may bring us into is reduced. Alternative approaches conflict with the credo of conservation. and strategies towards preservation It is our job as caretakers and are being considered. guardians to assess and reduce the risks and to balance the triangle of the needs of object, museum and visitor.

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Unfortunately the same could not be A Double Standard said for all those involved in the treatment of industrial and working Is a double standard at work: are objects. My personal observation is standards applied and judged that the methodology and standards of differently in the area of industrial and application and documentation applied working objects? to industrial and working objects are variable and may fall short of what I I see very little difference between, for would consider is required both example, reconstructing a ceramic and ethically and professionally. filling and colour matching a missing area or the cleaning, retouching and Ethical considerations may be too re-coating of an oil painting (both easily discarded when returning an regular practices in modern object to working condition. There conservation) and taking a broken seems to be a penchant for making up down, rusty piece of industrial one complete example from the pieces machinery and returning it to a working of several others. Changing condition. Ceramics and paintings are specification and design elements may treated in this way to preserve them be necessary to achieve the desired and to allow interpretation and result. But sometimes this seems to enjoyment. Exactly the same occur for no other reason than to argument can be put forward for the improve on the original. The problem machinery and the vehicle. On the is compounded by lack of face of it there seems to be little documentation. Museum objects are difference, but there are significant used as reference points and we differences and it is these that are at should be confident that we are being the root of the ethical conflict. The honest with our customers. Otherwise, differences are in the methodology, we might as well fill our museums with documentation and application of replicas. Originality is important and standards; not necessarily the quantifiable. Examples such as the F- standards of the finished product, but 86A-5-NA 48-Sabre 242, recently how it was achieved. restored for the American Air Museum with the wings from a different The ceramics and painting specification Sabre, an F-86F, ‘sans conservators will have been formally fences and with painted lines trained. In their training they will have representing the F-86A’s leading edge considered the philosophy and ethics slats’ is not the exception. 6 Any of their disciplines. They will have museum involved with industrial and considered their methodology, decided working objects will contain similar on the correct course of treatment and examples and much worse. recorded the whole process in meticulous detail. They will have Volunteers are valuable and can offer preserved as much of the original as otherwise unaffordable skills and possible and where new materials expertise. Invariably people volunteer have been applied they will have on projects that represent their attempted to use reversible materials. personal interests and though they can In short they will have applied a offer excellent subject knowledge and recognised level of professionalism. specific skills they can be unaware of the broader issues. The challenge for museum professionals is to create

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structures that educate and inform standards, to influence young volunteers and provide the support to conservators and curators and change help them understand and achieve the attitudes towards this area if no required standards. reference material is available?

There is room for much improvement The Museums and Galleries in the methodology, and standards of Commission recognises the need to application and documentation applied improve and implement standards by in the treatment of working and the publication of ‘Standards in the industrial objects. If we are willing to Museum Care of Larger and Working improve our standards of Objects’ 8 and the complementary documentation and operation we will publication ‘Larger and Working find that we are able to provide objects: A guide to their preservation evidence to support our arguments for and care’. 9 As I suggested earlier, the working of objects as a these publications recognise that the preservation strategy. problem is not lack of technical ability, but with methodology and application The conservation establishment does of standards. not always get it right and eventually even the most revered and respected The emphasis on managing museum bodies can admit to mistakes. Oddy collections is shifting towards care and described the controversy over the prevention; this necessarily challenges British Museum’s treatment of the traditional attitudes and approaches Coppergate Helmet as, ‘a classic towards the treatment of industrial and example of a failure to communicate working objects. I believe that there is between the curators and the still a place for demonstrating and conservators’. 7 The point is that the working objects. But if the views and whole process is recorded, published opinions of the discipline are not fully and available for reference so that the represented within the recognised same mistakes may be avoided in the professional structures, there is the future. possibility of industrial collections being overlooked in the funding and It is of course true that different objects resource debate at both national and have different needs. It is my opinion local levels. that it is not necessarily helpful to judge the area of industrial and The professional structures for debate working objects by the same code of and communication already exist. The ethics as paintings. However there are challenge for those involved with the basic methodologies, standards of care, management and treatment of documentation and reference that can industrial and working objects is to easily be adopted. establish a professional identity within these structures. This conference, Conclusion organised jointly by the United Kingdom Institute for Conservation There is a dearth of reference material (UKIC) and The Council of Museums available on the philosophy and ethics in Wales (CMW), is perhaps an of the treatment of industrial and indication that the establishment working objects for which the recognises that the area is under profession must take responsibility. represented. I personally would not How can we expect to improve support the idea of another specialist

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group; they can encourage exclusivity 1. Corfield, M, Keene, S and Hackney, and discourage broader debate. S, The Survey: Conservation Instead we should all look to fit in with Facilities in Museums and Galleries, existing structures. For example, the UKIC (1989). Metals Section of UKIC would seem to 2. Keck, K C, Letter to the editors of be the most obvious place for most Studies in Conservation, IIC Bulletin conservators concerned with the No 6 December 1995, IIC (1995). treatment of industrial and working 3. Oddy, W A, The Forbes Prize objects. Participation in such groups is lecture to the IIC Congress, IIC mutually beneficial, lends credibility Bulletin No 5 October 1996, IIC and encourages debate. There is (1996). common ground: the whole profession 4. Caple, C and Forder, N (eds), is concerned with the preservation of Grounded for the foreseeable future, cultural heritage. That heritage comes Stopping the Rot: Proceedings of in many shapes and sizes and the Seventh BAPC Annual Aviation requires many and varied solutions. Conservation Conference, (unpublished). In 1988 at the UKIC 30th Anniversary 5. Guidelines for Designation, conference Mike Corfield summed it Museums and Galleries Commission up, (1996). 6. F-86 f No 5 October AAM An open debate on methods and Aeroplane Monthly January 1997 attitudes is a sign of a healthy (1997) p 5. profession, a backstairs debate is a 7. Oddy (1996) op cit. sign of a group of individuals who have 8. Paine, C (ed), Standards in the not come to terms with their Museum Care of Larger and responsibilities. 10 Working Objects, MGC (1994). 9. Ball, S, Larger and Working It is time to get off the back stairs and Objects. A Guide to their get into the forum. The field is full of Preservation and Care, MGC (1997). qualified, talented, informed, literate 10. Corfield, M and Todd, V (eds) and articulate individuals who have a Conservation Today: Pre-prints for lot to offer. So let’s hear from you. the UKIC 30th anniversary conference, UKIC (1988). References

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THE ETHICS OF ACQUISITION AND DISPOSAL

M Davies 1 Introduction Abstract The Museums Association’s Ethics Acquisition is the process of Committee has published its first two obtaining legal title to an item with Ethical Guidelines. These cover the intention of using it for museum acquisition and disposal. They are purposes. Accession is the act of intended for all types of museum formally including the item in the collections, but include much that is pertinent to industrial collections. permanent collection and recording it in the inventory in the permanent Acquisition:- Should museums ‘rescue’ collection (accession register). items that would otherwise be destroyed - even if the museum does not have These guidelines have been adequate resources to care for the item? prepared by the Museums Is it acceptable to acquire an item, but Association Ethics Committee. delay accessioning it - perhaps for several They aim to help museums and years - until the museum can decide their staff apply ethical principles whether it really wants it? when acquiring items for the permanent collection. They include Should museums acquire items with the intention of using them for spare parts or basic principles, which are derived for operation - even if that means that the from the Museums Association’s item will eventually be destroyed? ethical codes and also underpin the Museums and Galleries Disposal:- How should museums decide Commission’s registration scheme. whether to keep or dispose of an item? These basic principles should What is more acceptable - explicit disposal always be upheld. of an item, or gradual ‘disposal by neglect’, when an item slowly deteriorates because The guidelines also include some a museum cannot care for it? more flexible advice. You will need to use your judgement in applying Are there alternatives to disposal? these suggestions in specific situations. If you are unsure about The following text has been a proposed course of action - or extracted from the Museums feel that it may breach these Association Ethical Guidelines Nos guidelines - you are encouraged to 1 & 2 (June 1996) by kind seek the (confidential) advice of the permission of Maurice Davies, Museums Association in advance. Assistant Director, the Museums Association. The original The Museums and Galleries guidelines contain further Commission supports these information and should be guidelines and joins the Museums consulted before any decisions Association in commending them to relating to acquisition and disposal museums (although the guidelines are made. are not a formal part of the Museums and Galleries GUIDANCE ON THE ETHICS AND Commission’s registration PRACTICALITIES OF ACQUISITION scheme). Many of the points here will already be embodied in your

71 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION museum’s acquisition policy; it may in acquiring items. Co-operative prove useful to incorporate others. collecting agreements between related institutions are encouraged. The guidelines do not aim to give detailed advice on the law or on the The museum may also have a documentation standards. more detailed programme or strategy for implementing the 2 Basic principles acquisition policy. This need not be a public document. These basic principles should always be upheld by museums and 2C A museum should acquire and those who work in or for museums. accession an item only after Further guidance on their thorough consideration of its long- interpretation can be found in term value. The museum should sections 3,4 and 5, below. intend to retain the item in perpetuity. It should believe that it 2A A fundamental purpose of a can provide adequate and museum is to acquire and preserve continuing care for the item and items in a permanent collection for public access to it (without the public benefit. jeopardising care of and access to the existing collection). 2B A museum should collect under an acquisition policy which should 2D The long-term resource be a public document. The policy implications of proposed should be part of a collections acquisitions should always be management policy that also considered before taking the final addresses issues of access, decision to acquire. Staff should conservation and disposal. These inform the museum governing body issues should always be seen of any conditions attached to a within the context of the museum’s proposed acquisition as it will be overarching purposes and aims. responsible for complying with The acquisition policy should set them. out the museum’s principles of collecting and relate to the existing 2E Acquisitions outside the scope collection. It should lay down the of the acquisition policy should be criteria for future acquisitions, made only in exceptional including the subjects or themes circumstances. and the time periods and geographical areas. 2F Museums should not acquire an item if they know or have reason to The policy should take account of believe that the current owner does the benefits of preserving items in not have the right to transfer title to situ and the moral rights of the museum or that the item has individuals, groups, societies or been exported from, or acquired, peoples to hold items. It should sold, or otherwise transferred in, its take account of the acquisition country of origin (including the UK), policies of other registered or any intermediate country, in museums collection in the same or violation of that country’s laws or related geographical areas, and any national or international other public organisations (such as treaties. archives) with a legitimate interest

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2G The museum should have situ even if acquiring for a museum agreed procedures (possibly within collection. the acquisition policy) for taking the final decision to acquire an item. 3I The interests of other registered museums and other public 3 Selecting items to acquire institutions (such as archives) which may have a legitimate Museums should discriminate interest in acquiring the item. The carefully in selecting items to be item may be better housed acquired. Because of the costs of elsewhere for reasons of collection care and access, no collections care, public access, acquisition is free, and the decision use, or context. Take account of to acquire must be taken with the desirability of co-operative caution. acquisition between registered museums within a region or If you are thinking about whether to covering the same subject area. acquire an item for a museum’s permanent collection consider all of 3J The quality of documentation the following: associated with the item, particularly information about its 3A Whether the item falls within the context. criteria set by the acquisition policy. 3K The item’s provenance: 3B The relevance, importance and long term value of the item. i) Take reasonable steps to confirm the legal title of the present 3C How the museum will use the holder of the item and the right of item. the holder to transfer title to the museum. 3D The condition of the item. ii) For the acquisition to be 3E The price of the acquisition ethically acceptable, the museum (including: purchase price, plus must also make reasonable efforts VAT, if applicable, transport costs, to satisfy itself that the item has not immediate conservation costs, been exported, acquired, sold or documentation and research otherwise transferred in costs). contravention of:

3F The museum’s ability to provide  UK law, long-term care and access and the  If applicable the law of the cost of providing such care and country of origin of the item and access. the law of any other country through which the item has been 3G The moral rights of individuals, passed, groups, societies or peoples to hold  International law and the item. international conventions on the protection or export of cultural 3H The possibility of preserving the property or natural history item in situ; in some cases it may conservation (whether the UK be appropriate to leave the item in government is a signatory to the treaty or not).

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iii) You should report it to the 4.1. For all types of acquisition appropriate authorities if you know or have reason to suspect that an i) Ensure that the decision to item has been illicitly obtained. acquire the item has been made appropriately within the procedures iv) Under some laws and of the museum and that no one conventions there may be exceeds their powers. procedures to give museums consent to acquire an item that ii) Obtain unambiguous contravenes the law or convention. evidence of the original title to the In such cases it is vital to obtain item and of the transfer of title to such consent before acquiring the the museum. Take particular care item. when acquiring items from minors that they have the legal right to v) It is unacceptable to acquire transfer title to the museum. It is antiquities of unknown provenance. normally best to obtain the written agreement of the person’s parent vi) It is sometimes acceptable or guardian. to accession an item of unknown provenance found on museum iii) Attempt to acquire copyright premises or offered by another and other rights in the item. Note museum or public institution. that these may not belong to the However, attempts should be made owner of the item but to the ‘author’ to ascertain the ownership and (artist, photographer etc.). Also provenance of the item, as the see 5.vi, below. museum may not have the legal title. iv) It is important to avoid any risk of conflicts of interests during vii) Except in exceptional an acquisition. No person or circumstances it is advisable to organisation with any possibility of refrain from acquiring an item if financial or personal gain from the there is any reason to suspect that acquisition should be involved in it has been removed insensitively making the decision to acquire the from its original context (also see item. Where a conflict of interests 4.2C Fieldwork below). might arise, the public interest should prevail and a written viii) Do not acquire any item that declaration of interest should be has been disposed of unethically made and kept on record by the by another museum unless this is museum. the only way of keeping an important item in the public domain Purchasing items from a member (guidance on ethical disposal see of staff or a member of the the Museums Association ethical governing body is discouraged. If a guidelines on disposal). museum does nevertheless decide to purchase an item from a 4 Acquisition procedures member of staff or a member of the governing body, then it should not Once a decision has been made to pay more that the price the acquire an item, the following member of staff paid for it. procedures are good practice.

74 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION v) Anyone collecting on behalf of a museum should apply the With prior agreement from the same standards of behaviour as donor (etc.) it may be appropriate would the museum itself. to accession only a selection of the items offered, if necessary 4.2 Extra considerations for accepting others only on the specific types of acquisition condition that the museum does not have to retain them. Such 4.2A Gifts and bequests items should not be accessioned and there must be no suggestion i) Unwanted offers: A museum that they have been part of the is under no obligation to accept an museum’s permanent collection. offer of a gift or a bequest. If the Consider imposing a condition to items offered do not meet the this effect on the new owner, if they criteria set out above in section 3, are passed on. the museum should refuse them, firmly and tactfully, explaining its ii) Conditions: Make very clear reasons why. Note that a museum to the donor (etc.) the terms on that does not wish to accept a gift which the museum is willing to or bequest must refuse to do so in accept the item. To prevent further writing; if this is not done it may misunderstanding, stress that the inadvertently become the legal item may not be on permanent owner by default. public display and that title will be permanently transferred to the Unwanted, unsolicited gifts should museum. be refused in writing and returned, even if the museum has been If the donor (etc.) wishes to apply advised that they need not be conditions to the gift, the museum returned. However, if the museum must carefully consider the is unable to trace the owner of the resource and other management item it may be legally obliged to implications before deciding take care of it. whether to proceed with the acquisition. The governing body Consider informing the intending should agree in advance to accept donor (or the donor’s executor) any conditions as it will be about other registered museums responsible for ensuring that they that may be interested in the are carried out, often in perpetuity. unwanted items, or suggest that The wishes of the donor (etc.) they may wish to offer them to should be recorded and registered museums in general; for administrative mechanisms should example, via a notice in Museums be put in place to ensure that they Journal. Alternatively suggest that are complied with. the donor may wish to offer the items to other organisations such It is wrong to lead a donor to as schools or reminiscence groups. believe that conditions attached to a gift are perpetual when they may Do not forward the item to another not be. Donor’s conditions can be museums (or organisation) without perpetual only when they are in the receiving prior permission in writing form of a charitable trust. If the from both the museum and the museum is willing to accept intending donor. perpetual conditions it should

75 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION suggest to the donor that the gift is is purchased under the private- made under a deed that constitutes treaty-sale system). the item with charitable status. iii) If an appeal is made to raise iii) If appropriate, agree the funds to purchase a proposed form of acknowledgement that acquisition, the appeal document should be made to the donor (and should specify the use that will be ensure that it is made). made of money raised if the acquisition is not made (for iv) If a donor seems ignorant example if it proves impossible to about the financial value of a raise enough money, those funds proposed gift it is fair to suggest raised will be put towards other that he or she seeks an future acquisitions, collection care, independent valuation. or public services). v) It may be appropriate to iv) If grants or other outside suggest to the donor that a funds, including funds from a financial donation would be friends’ organisation, are used to welcome to support the long-term purchase an acquisition, any costs associated with the conditions should be approved in acquisition. advance by the governing body, and recorded. Administrative 4.2B Purchases mechanisms should be put in place to ensure that they are complied i) A museum should attempt to with. purchase for the lowest price possible in cases when the item is v) If an item purchased for the on open sale. This includes items collection is accompanied by other offered by private galleries, dealers unwanted items (for example, a and auction houses, and at all mixed lot at auction), these should types of public sale. not be accessioned into the permanent collection and do not ii) However, if an item is have to be retained by the offered for sale directly to the museum. They may be offered to museum by an individual member other museums or sold. There of the public, the museum should must be no suggestions that they make it clear if it does not intend to have been part of the museum’s pay the full market price. It is good permanent collection. It may be practice to suggest that the seller sensible to impose a condition to seeks an independent valuation if this effect on the new owner. they have not already done so. Although the widest public interest 4.2C Fieldwork would be served by paying the lowest possible price, against this Great sensitivity must be exercised must be balanced the duty to deal when acquiring items from fairly with individuals. This will fieldwork. Always consider the enhance public confidence in the desirability of recording and museum. (Note that there may be preserving items in situ. Do not financial benefits to both the acquire an item if there is cause to museum and the vendor if the item believe that collecting it damaged

76 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION the natural, historic, cultural or social environment. viii) It is good practice to report all acquisitions to the governing 5. After acquisition body, even if it does not formally approve them. This will enable it to Once an item has been acquired, be aware of the long-term resource the following procedures are good implications and to satisfy itself that practice. the acquisition policy has been adhered to. It is best practice for i) Confirm that transfer of title the governing body to receive documentation has been regular reports of what has been completed and that the museum acquired, how each item meets the intends to retain the item in objectives of the acquisition policy, perpetuity. Accession the item into the resources required to acquire the permanent collection. the item and the estimated long- term cost of the acquisition. ii) Obtain and record information about the item and its content. GUIDANCE ON THE ETHICS AND iii) Display or store the item in PRACTICALITIES OF DISPOSAL appropriate conditions. 1 Introduction iv) Make the item and related documentation publicly accessible Disposal is the permanent removal as soon as possible, consistent of an item from a museum's with any reasonable research and permanent collection. (This is publication work. sometimes called deaccessioning). v) If the item was a gift, send a These guidelines have been letter of acknowledgement to the prepared by the Museums donor. Association Ethics Committee to help museums make decisions vi) Record information about about disposals and recommend copyright. It is particularly procedures to follow. They include important to attempt to obtain such basic principles, which are derived information if the museum has not from the Museums Association's acquired any copyright along with ethical codes and the Museums the item. There may also be a and Galleries Commission’s need to take account of other registration scheme. These basic rights, such as any arrangements principles should always be upheld. with third parties in respect of reproduction rights in the item. The guidelines also give some (For more information on copyright more flexible advice. You will need see Museums Briefing no 6, to use your judgement in applying Museums Association 1994; these suggestions to your specific Museums Briefing no 11, circumstances. If you are unsure forthcoming; and Spectrum). about a proposed course of action - or feel that it may breach these vii) Update the museum’s guidelines - then you are records. encouraged to contact the

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Museums Association for specific will be preserved in perpetuity. (and confidential) advice. The Museum governing bodies must act public reputation of museums as a as guardians of the long-term whole is harmed if a museum public interest in the collection. carries out unethical disposal. One of the key duties of a governing body is to balance the The Museums and Galleries duty to provide services to today's Commission supports these public with the duty to ensure that guidelines and joins the Museums the collection is maintained and Association in commending them to enhanced for future generations. museums (although the guidelines As a key function of a museum is to are not a formal part of the preserve a collection in perpetuity, Museums and Galleries there is a strong presumption Commission’s registration scheme against the disposal of any item or a substitute for a disposal from a museum's permanent policy). Many of the points here collection. will already be embodied in your museum's disposal policy; it may 2B However, there are prove useful to incorporate others. circumstances in which disposal may be appropriate. For example, The guidelines are also certain items might be better commended to other public transferred to another museum for institutions that hold collections of reasons of care, access or context. artistic, historic or scientific In such circumstances, the disposal importance. would be in the public interest.

The guidelines should be followed 2C Every disposal must clearly as far as possible when a museum demonstrate long-term public service is closed down completely benefit. Decisions to dispose must or partially. be based on clear, published criteria. A museum should develop These guidelines do not give its disposal policy as part of a detailed advice on the law and are collections management policy that not intended as a substitute for also addresses issues of legal advice. acquisition, conservation and access. These issues should always be seen within the context of the museum's overarching 2 Basic principles purposes and aims. Disposal must be carried out according to These basic principles should unambiguous, generally accepted always be upheld by museums and procedures, which should be those who work in or for museums. incorporated in the disposal policy. Further guidance on their interpretation can be found in 2D Wherever possible, public sections 3, 4 and 5 below. collections should remain in the public domain. Priority should be 2A Museum collections often given to offering items by gift to represent the generosity of past registered museums (this is generations. Acquisitions are sometimes called transfer). If this made in the expectation that they is not possible, gifts to other public

78 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION institutions should be considered. all categories of item (as set out in (This paragraph excludes an item paragraph A-G of, section 4, below) that is damaged or dangerous or is being returned to its place of origin 3A Before detailed enquiries are outside the UK). made that may lead to the possible disposal of an item, it is advisable 2E Disposal should never be for the governing body to take a undertaken principally for financial decision in principle that staff reasons (either to raise money for should investigate the disposal, if it any purpose or to reduce has not previously done so (for expenditure). Selling an item from example by approving a a museum's permanent collection programme of collections out of the public domain always management that includes the risks damaging public confidence in active investigation of disposals). museums and is, therefore, a course of action that the Museums 3B Determine whether the museum Association Ethics Committee is legally free to dispose of the would never recommend. In item. addition, society benefits from the long tradition of mutual co- It is good practice to have operation between museums, documented the legal status of all Selling, rather than giving, items to items in the collection. (However, other registered museums some museums have not done this; jeopardises this tradition and is see undocumented items below). therefore not recommended. The freedom to dispose of an item will vary from museum to museum 2F However, some museums do and item to item. In particular, undertake disposal by sale. We do some museums are regulated by not endorse this. In the exceptional acts of parliament, or hold circumstances when money is collections (or individual items) that raised as a result of disposal, it are subject to charity law. These should be solely and directly guidelines, in their generality, are applied to the museum's collection. believed to be compatible with the legal obligations that arise from that 2G Decisions to dispose should be status, but museum governing taken by the governing body, acting bodies should consider the special on the advice of staff with legal implications of such a appropriate expertise and taking disposal. Preliminary guidance into account all legal and other about legal aspects of disposal can attendant circumstances. be sought from your area museum council, but it may be necessary to 2H To reduce the likelihood of take specialist legal advice. disposal being necessary in future, acquisitions must be made only 3C Opinions on the proposed with great care and according to an disposal should be sought from the acquisition policy following:

3 Making the decision to dispose  Someone with specialist knowledge of the item. This will The decision-making process normally be the member of outlined here should be followed for museum staff with appropriate

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specialist knowledge. It is also advisable to obtain an  Inform the donor only if the item independent outside opinion, is being destroyed or leaving the public domain,  Organisations that grant-aided the acquisition, if applicable,  Do not contact the donor at all.

 Organisations that grant-aided Some museums set a time limit, conservation or display of the only attempting to contact donors item, if applicable. who have given items within the past 10 or 20 years, for example. Note that there may be a legal requirement for money to be repaid If the original donor is dead, some to grant-giving organisations if the people suggest that descendants item is disposed of. This may should be contacted and that if exceed the amount of the original descendants cannot be traced, it grant. may be appropriate to place an advertisement in a national 3D If applicable, the governing newspaper to ascertain whether body may wish to seek the opinion there are any successors or of the donor of the item. Opinions descendants. However, another vary about the necessity of this. school of thought argues that no Some museums feel that even in attempt should ever be made to cases where they are legally free to contact descendants as the do as they wish with the item, it is museum is ignorant of the state of advisable to attempt to seek the relationships within the family. permission of the donor, for reasons of courtesy and to protect The above points may be extended the public reputation of museums. to cover cases in which the item In contrast, others believe that if an was purchased at a price unconditional gift has been made, significantly below the market the donor has knowingly given value. away all rights in the item. (Museums must, of course, always In all cases, it is vital to be sensitive take account of any legal in any dealings with donors. In the restrictions as a result of a donation final analysis, a policy that takes or purchase.) into consideration the wishes of the donor through a transparent The range of options is: process of consultation will pay long-term dividends for the  Seek the permission of the museum and hence be one of donor before making any enlightened self-interest. decision to dispose, 3E Consider, too, the potential  Seek the opinion of the donor public and media response to the and consider it as part of disposal. It may be necessary to deciding whether to dispose, plan the way the disposal is to be presented. Be particularly careful if  Inform the donor once a disposal the disposal could harm public has taken place, as a matter of attitudes to museums as a whole. courtesy, A decision to dispose needs to take

80 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION account not only of what the The following types of item can museum believes to be in the usually be disposed of without public interest, but also of what ethical problems: members of the public themselves may perceive to be in their best  An item too badly damaged or interests. deteriorated to be of any use for the purposes of the museum in If the museum has a friends’ the opinion of the member of organisation, ensure that they museum staff with specialist understand the reasons for the knowledge of the item, disposal, otherwise they may become reluctant to raise money  An item that poses an for future acquisitions. unavoidable health and safety risk or unavoidable serious 3F The final decision to dispose conservation threat to other should be taken by the governing items in the collection. body, acting on the advice of staff with appropriate expertise. The Badly damaged or dangerous items decision should not be taken by an should normally be disposed of by individual acting alone. Some destruction. However, there may governing bodies require a two- be circumstances in which thirds majority (or a unanimous consideration should be given to decision) in favour of the disposal. the possible interest of other registered museums (and other The process by which the public bodies). It is therefore governing body approves a advisable to take account of the decision to dispose of an item will procedures laid out below in vary from museum to museum, but section 5, although it will not in all cases it should take full always be appropriate to follow account of the requirements of the them all in detail. Museums Association Code of Practice for Museum Governing If an item is to be destroyed, the Bodies, these guidelines and the following procedures should be Museums and Galleries followed: Commission's registration scheme, and should consider fully all  The governing body should take opinions expressed about the independent outside specialist proposed disposal. advice (for example, from another museum) about the The governing body may wish to appropriateness of the proposed defer final approval of disposal of destruction, an item until the future ownership of the item has been fully  The disposal should be investigated. This will necessitate witnessed and records of the carrying out some of the circumstances of the destruction procedures in section 5. should be kept, together with other appropriate records (see 4 Categories of items paragraph 5G below),

4A Items for destruction  The item's documentation should be retained.

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in improvements to the care of the item or to public access to it. 4B Return of cultural property If an item is to be returned to its 4E Archive material place of origin outside the UK then The management of archive it need not be offered to other material requires special facilities to registered museums or public provide access and care. If the institutions in the UK, so some museum cannot provide these, the procedures in section 5 will not material is best housed in a public apply. Attitudes to the return of archive or record office. The cultural property vary widely and material can be offered as a gift, in the Museums Association intends which case the procedures in to issue some guidance on the section 5 apply. subject. Specialist guidance on the return of human remains can be Alternatively the material can be found in guidelines from the placed on deposit, in which case Museum Ethnographers Group. ownership of the material will remain with the museum so a 4C Duplicates formal disposal will not take place. It may be appropriate for a museum to dispose of an item that 4F Other unwanted items is a duplicate of another item in the This category includes accessioned collection. However, in many items that are regarded as cases the term 'duplicate' is open substandard or irrelevant to the to question. For example, items collection. If such items are not may differ in provenance or be accepted by another registered natural history specimens. museum or other public institution Therefore, a museum may have then ethical problems can arise. good reason to retain items that are apparently identical. A museum's aims and activities should be linked to its existing If disposing of duplicates, follow all collections. It should endeavour to the procedures set out below in make use of all types of item in the section 5. collection, whether or not they are being actively collected under the 4D Items better owned by museum’s current acquisition another museum policy. Some items may he more appropriately housed in another It is important to be aware of the registered museum. For example, risks of making a decision based if a museum owns items that it is on short-term considerations. unable to make publicly accessible Museums have a long-term or care for adequately, it should purpose. Staff and members of consider giving them to another governing bodies should take registered museum. In addition, account of the intentions of their certain items may be better in predecessors in developing future another registered museum for priorities. Be aware, too, that reasons of context or use. The future uses for items may not be procedures in section 5 should be foreseeable now. In particular, followed. The disposal must result advances in technology may create new techniques for examining

82 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION material that may give it a new If a museum obtained items with purpose and value. the intention of keeping them for a temporary period, they will not If a museum nevertheless intends normally be accessioned into the to dispose of items covered by this permanent collection. category it is vital to follow the procedures laid down in section 5. 5 Disposing of the item

4G Internal disposal This section applies to items in This category comprises items that categories C,D,E and F. It should are to be included in a also be taken into account for handling/loan/education/working categories A, B and G. It is machinery/ demonstration recommended that if a museum is collection. Museums have different considering following alternative ways of administering these procedures, prior advice is sought collections; there are two basic from the Museums Association and approaches. the Museums and Galleries Commission. a) If the item that is being placed in a handling (etc.) collection remains Once a decision (or an ‘in principle’ on the permanent collection decision) has been made by the accession register, a disposal is not museum governing body to dispose taking place; rather the museum of an item, these procedures has made a decision to apply a should he followed to determine the particular standard of care to an future of the item. item in its permanent collection. Questions of disposal do not arise It is desirable to keep all items that at the time the item is placed in the have been accessioned into a handling (etc.) collection. museum’s permanent collection in (However, they may arise in the the public domain. An item should long term if the item becomes badly be first offered to registered damaged, and there may be ethical museums, preferably by gift. This issues about collection care,) may be done by ‘Open’ disposal (a general offer to all registered b) If the handling (etc.) collection is museums) or ‘Closed’ disposal (the separate from the permanent offer of the item to a single collection (so the item is formally registered museum or a selection removed from the permanent of registered museums). collection accession register) then this is effectively the disposal of the 5A Open disposal item and consideration should be The item should be offered, given to the possible interest of preferably as a gift, to all registered other registered museums (and museums by means of a notice in other public bodies). It is therefore Museums Journal (and other advisable to take account of the specialist journals if appropriate; procedures laid out below in ensure that they are circulated section 5, although it will not throughout the UK), The notice always be appropriate to follow should include the number and them all in detail. nature of the items. At least two months should be allowed from the 4H Items held temporarily

83 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION date of publication for registered offered by open disposal to all museums to express an interest. registered museums in the UK.

If archive material is to be offered 5C Unsuccessful open disposal by open disposal the offer should If no registered museums want an be made in the Society of item that has been offered as a gift Archivists mailing to heads of by open disposal, then the repositories as well as in Museums following options can be journal. considered:

5B Closed disposal  Retain the item in the ownership A museum may choose to of the museum, but transfer it undertake a closed disposal and so out of the permanent collection offer the item as a gift to only a to, for example, a separate limited number of registered handling or demonstration museums. Consider all registered collection (also see paragraph museums likely to have an interest 4G above), in the item. For example, a museum may have a local  Offer the item as a gift to a connection or a strong collection of public research, educational or that type of item. Consider in related institution (possibly particular: subject to conditions about the future disposal of the item; see  The role that the item plays in a paragraph 5E, below), regional context. If it is the only item of its type in a region,  In cases where the item was consider the benefits of offering donated recently (within the past it only to registered museums 5-10 years, for example) it may within the region. The area be appropriate to offer it back to museum council may be able to the donor. However, proceed provide advice, with caution as this may lead to requests from donors for the  The role the item plays return of items that the museum regionally or nationally within its wishes to retain. specialist area. It may be best to offer it only to registered As a final resort, consider either: museums with a particular interest in the subject.  Offering the item outside the public domain (but see 5D It may be appropriate to offer the below), item to an overseas museum. In this case the museum will not be  Destruction (see 4A above). registered by the Museums and Galleries Commission, so it is Never give an item to a registered important to be satisfied with the museum or any other organisation standards to which the museum is without its prior agreement in run. writing to accept the item.

If a closed disposal proves 5D Sale unsuccessful, the item should be Decisions to dispose should never be made principally for financial

84 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION reasons (either to raise money for Ensure that legal title to the item is any purpose or to reduce transferred to the receiving expenditure). institution (or individual). A gift could be made under a deed that The sale of items from museum provides a right of pre-emption in collections is not recommended, favour of the donor museum if the even if the sale is to a registered receiving institution itself decides to museum. Society benefits from the dispose of the item within a period long tradition of mutual co- of, say, 10 years. operation between museums. The sale of items to other registered The transfer document should museums jeopardises this tradition. ensure that where possible any rights in the item (such as Selling an item from a museum’s copyright) are transferred to the collection out of the public domain new owner. The receiving always risks damaging public institution may want to make confidence in museums and is, enquiries if there is no record of therefore, a course of action that who holds such rights. There may the Museums Association Ethics also be a need to take account of Committee would never any arrangements with third parties recommend. in respect of rights (such as reproduction rights) in the item. In addition, decisions are normally made with more clarity if there is no In some cases it may be consideration of possible income appropriate to transfer the item from disposal. together with any special conditions attached to it. This may require However, some museums do specific legal permission. undertake disposal by sale. In the exceptional circumstances when Guidance on the transfer of title money is raised from a disposal it can be found in Spectrum. should be solely and directly applied to the museum’s collection. 5F Long loans This normally means the If another registered museum acquisition of new items for the wants the item, but for legal collection, but may exceptionally reasons formal transfer of extend to improving the care of the ownership is not possible, it may be remaining collections. Prior advice appropriate to consider a loan for a should be sought from the finite but renewable term. Museums Association and the Museums and Galleries 5G Records and documentation Commission if this is planned. For openness and accountability, records should be kept of It is particularly bad practice to sell disposals. They should include the items from museum collections on reasons for the disposal and the museum premises, for example in opinions and advice considered in a museum shop or at a special making the decision to dispose. auction. The records should be made available to members of the public 5E Transfer of title on request. Records should be to

85 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION the standards laid down in Spectrum.  Outside the public domain, except in exceptional Proper arrangements must be circumstances. made for the preservation or transfer of the documentation Undocumented or relating to the items, including the unaccessioned items preservation of photographic records where practicable. a) Undocumented items A museum should make exhaustive 5H Conflict of interest enquiries if it wishes to consider It is important to avoid any risk of removing items of unknown conflicts of interest during disposal. provenance. Poor documentation No person or organisation involved is not in itself a reason for disposal. in advising on a proposed disposal Documentation about the items or in making the decision to may come to light in future. They dispose should benefit financially or may turn out not to be the property personally from the disposal. of the museum and could be Where a conflict of interest might reclaimed by the legal owner at a arise, the public benefit should later date. Alternatively, they may prevail and a written declaration of in fact be in the accession register, interest should be made and kept but not recognised as such on record by the museum. because, for example, they are not labelled. 5I Unacceptable reasons for disposal Furthermore, some items that are (This paragraph does not apply to effectively part of the permanent items in category 4H) collection may not have been formally accessioned because of From the above it is clear that it is an administrative oversight or a unacceptable to dispose of an item: documentation backlog. It is advisable to ensure that the  Primarily for financial reasons collection is fully documented (whether to raise money for any before considering disposal. purpose or to reduce expenditure), b) Unaccessioned items To avoid confusion, the term  On an ad hoc basis (i.e. other ‘disposal’ should be applied only to than as part of a long-term the removal of items that are part of collections management plan), a museum’s permanent collection. The procedures and principles  Without considering expert outlined above in sections 2-5 do advice from someone with a not need to be followed strictly specialist knowledge of the item, when removing other types of items, such as ones in a separate  If the disposal would adversely handling or loan collection. affect the public reputation of However, the guidelines may prove museums, useful because they are sensitive to the possible public reaction and  If the disposal would not be in take account of the fact that the the long-term public interest, items may be of interest to another

86 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION museum. (Note that some handling unwanted offers for the collection or loan collections may contain or unclaimed opinions), although accessioned items, which for the legal position will vary from disposal purposes should be museum to museum. treated as part of the permanent collection.) Definitions

Legal note on unaccessioned A registered museum is one items: provisionally or fully registered under the Museums and Galleries i) in law there may be no Commission’s registration scheme. distinction between accessioned and unaccessioned items so any A museum governing body is the legal restrictions on accessioned principal body of individuals in items may also apply to which rests ultimate responsibility unaccessioned ones, for policy and decisions affecting the governance of the museum. ii) the museum may not have the legal right to remove unwanted items that it does not own (such as

87 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

THE NMGM APPROACH TO SHIP AND BOAT CONSERVATION

J Kearon procedures to deal with the complex Abstract structures involved. National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside (NMGM) has three important The Collection collections of larger objects that span maritime technology, industrial and land transport. At Merseyside Maritime Museum Caring for and conserving objects that range (MMM) the collection of ships and from horse drawn carriages to steel trading schooners calls for a range of expertise not boats represents most vessel types, usually found in the average conservation with particular emphasis on craft from, department. The conservation of ships and or associated with, the North West of boats in particular, both of wood and metal, is England. There are two steel ships, a relatively new area of conservation that can Edmund Gardener, the last Liverpool require often innovative procedures to deal with the complex structures involved. Such Pilot Cutter and De Wadden, the last objects have traditionally been dealt with in a Irish sea schooner to trade. Both restoration context, often involving the ships are permanently dry-docked at continuous use of the vessel on water. the museum. There are also two associated steel ships at the museum At NMGM the approach to dealing with the that are run and maintained by a ship and boat collection is one of conservation first, with restoration undertaken only if the preservation society that is part of the structural integrity of an object demands it. volunteer group Friends of Merseyside This approach has seen a move away from Maritime Museum. They are the restoring and floating small boats, to caring for Liverpool tug Brocklebank and them much as other accessioned museum Wincham, a local motor barge. These objects. Likewise, the manner in which we deal with large ship conservation is somewhat vessels are afloat in working order and different from the usual approach of are used to promote the museum maintaining and restoring them, as if they were locally and at ports around the British in commercial use. This paper will deal with Isles and Europe. several very different vessels and examine how and why each was dealt with in a specific way. The Edmund Gardner, which was built in 1953, is a fine 700ton vessel

powered by twin diesel engines that Introduction drive generators to power the main

electric motor, which drives a single The National Museums and Galleries screw. Her structure and interior on Merseyside (NMGM) have three layout is representative of several ship important collections of larger objects that span maritime, industrial and land types, from conventional cargo to transport technology. Caring for and ocean liner. When in service, she conserving objects as diverse as patrolled the Mersey estuary, acting as horse-drawn carriages and trading a pilot supply vessel to ships entering schooners demands a range of the river and its ports. expertise not usually found in the The De Wadden is a three masted average conservation department. The conservation of ships and boats in steel schooner, built in Holland in particular, both of wood and metal, is a 1917. She was involved in the Irish Sea trade from 1922 to 1961 and for relatively new area of conservation that can require often innovative most of her working life was a regular caller to Liverpool and other Mersey

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ports. The Edmund Gardner is open damage through rot, shrinkage and to visitors from April to October and distortion. the De Wadden is open as on-going work programmes allow. The approach at NMGM with both large steel ships and wooden craft is to There are some seventy five wooden conserve as much original material as boats in the collection that range in possible and replace only where size from a 2m Victorian folding canoe structural integrity demands it. While to a 10m sail fishing boat. The boats this is a standard conservation aim, cover a variety of types, and forms of the structural complexity of the objects, construction in wood, and are broadly particularly the ships, requires the representative of small work and specific craft skills associated with the pleasure craft of the area. objects in addition to conservation expertise, to deal with these objects in Through the 1980s and early 1990s, a fully rounded manner. Not only is as part of museum policy, some of the there a requirement to care for and boats were regularly used on the conserve, but also to replicate water, in particular the 11m steam components and even full size craft in launch Birdie of 1904 and the 7m original form. sailing cutter Sunbeam of 1925. However, the museum changed its To care for the collections, there are policy on using vessels in this way seven staff who share knowledge, because of the damage that was being experience and expertise in the care, done to these very special boats by conservation and restoration of ships, constant use and refurbishment. The boats, industrial and land transport boat collection is now land based and objects. In addition to conservation housed indoors. qualifications or experience staff have expertise in other areas including; ship Caring for the collection and boat building, rigging and engineering. Staff manage and are Caring for and conserving such a assisted by an active volunteer group, diverse collection of vessels can be a who have been closely associated with challenge, not made easy by the two the Department since the founding of large steel vessels being permanently The Maritime Museum in 1980. Work in the open. The care of the collection on the ships, boats and other large as a whole can be a conservators objects is carried out in a workshop nightmare, with a wide range of and in two graving docks at The materials, including wood, metal, Maritime Museum. fabric, rope and plastic being part of a vessel’s structure. Wooden boats in The steel vessels particular can be difficult objects to deal with when taken permanently While work within the department is from the water. With many built-in spread across all three collections, the stresses, and designed to float on and greater emphasis is on the care of the be supported by water, there can be two steel vessels, primarily because problems when they are out of their they are in the open. Work on these natural environment. These range vessels is long term and combines from corroded fastenings and their continuous maintenance with effect on surrounding wood, to restoration and conservation measures.

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were not original, had extensive rot The De Wadden and had insufficient strength to support The De Wadden is undergoing a major themselves and the rigging. In short, programme of work that aims to they were beyond saving, given their conserve as much of the vessels’ hull structural requirement. However, the as possible and to replicate the vessels’ mizzen mast, is being masting and rigging in original form. conserved as research has shown it The hull is being stabilised, and plating was originally from the schooner that has degraded is being renewed in Cymric, a ‘q’ ship of the World War 1 areas where structural integrity and is probably the only such mast to demands it. For example the bulwark survive. on the starboard side to which the masts’ standing rigging is fixed was The conservation and replication of badly degraded. The need for sound structural components, the production fixing points for the shroud chainplates of new wooden masts and booms, resulted in the degraded bulwark being rigging and the many fittings needed replaced by making new plate requires the close collaboration of sections, using the original plates as several disciplines. From research of templates. Bulwark stanchions had the subject to inspection and also degraded and despite searching, acquisition of materials and the steel to match the original section type forming of many associated was not available. To ensure components, all is undertaken within conformity, a wooden template was the department. made of an original stanchion and new stanchions were cast in malleable The Edmund Gardner steel. All plating was fixed with hot While the Edmund Gardner is rivets to match the original fixing structurally sound and in good process. condition, she still requires considerable care. Routine The approach with other components maintenance is carried out throughout that have degraded and have a the year, usually running in parallel structural importance is to remove the with specific work programmes. original for conservation and replace Wooden decks need constant attention with an exact replica. The bowsprit as do masts, rigging and the ships’ location box, used to house and external coatings. Our wet winters can secure the bowsprit to the fore-deck, make any kind of outside maintenance had badly degraded and had difficult. Because of this, outside work insufficient strength to support the new is carried out in the main throughout bowsprit. The old location box was the summer months and the interior of removed, a replica of it was formed in the ship is worked on during the the same manner as the original, winter. As with the De Wadden, the including riveting, fixed in place, and approach is to conserve where the new bowsprit fitted. This process possible and replace only when is entirely reversible, meeting a necessary. conservation ideal, even with such objects as large ship components. Last year leaks were found in the sun- lounge saloon deck-head. This was The vessels’ masting and rigging is unsettling, as the deckhead was of also being replicated. The masts in steel plate, overlaid with a 70mm place when the vessel was acquired caulked and payed wooden deck. The

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removal of some deck planks standard and in the event make money confirmed that parts of the underlying for their employer. Conservators face steel deck had corroded where water similar constraints but there is more had found its way between the wooden consideration given to the long term and steel decking. An area of wooden effects of their intervention. In deck approximately 16m2 was carefully essence the long view instead of the removed. The steel deck was fine grit short view is taken by the conservator. blasted, both to remove rust scale and This statement does not diminish the to provide a clean surface to which skills of the commercial worker but is both paint and repair material would used to emphasise the different bond well. The specific pierced areas approaches taken by people who may were sealed and repaired using seem to be doing the same job. ‘Thistlebond’ two part epoxy resin, backed with glass fibre matting, Wooden boats: three case studies allowing retention of the original steel under-deck. The area was then Work on small boats and other objects coated with several coatings of is driven by exhibition requirements Hempel’s ‘Hempadur’ 1531 epoxy and by the individual needs of the metal protective paint. The wooden boats or objects themselves. The deck sections were in the main sound, treatment of wooden boats can differ though some underside surfaces had widely, depending on the type and degraded. To deal with this, condition of the individual boat. There approximately 25mm was removed are three basic approaches: conserve from the bottom of the affected and restore, conserve only, and planking. Full thickness was made up conserve and create a replica. To by gluing on pieces of iroko, using illustrate this, we will consider three ‘Cascophen’ resorcinol resin adhesive. very distinct boats: The deck planks were then re-laid, following cleaning and treatment. This i) the Morecombe Bay nobby process allowed retention of the great Daystar of 1894, majority of the wooden deck and did ii) the pulling gig Ladies Gig of not alter the visible portion in any way. c.1880, iii) the Bond dinghy of 1932. The work carried out on both De Wadden and Edmund Garner The nobby Daystar: conserve and extended beyond the standard that restore would be achieved had contractors The nobby Daystar, the oldest been involved who are steeped in surviving vessel of its type, was taken commercial practice and have little into the Museum collection in 1974. In knowledge of conservation. In the very poor structural order and with authors opinion the difference in extensive wood/metal interaction and approach between the craftsman rot, she had been altered somewhat working commercially and the during her working life, mainly by the museum-orientated craftsman- addition of a deck-house instead of a conservator revolves around the level standard open cockpit, and by of attention paid to detail. installation of an engine. The vessel Commercially operating craftsmen in had been worked hard over its life and general approach a task with the was poorly maintained. During her knowledge that they must achieve a latter years she was stored in the certain amount of work to a reasonable open, in a boatyard and neglected.

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The reassembly followed standard The vessel was in such poor condition wooden boat building procedures, but that planks were literally hanging from with the added attention to detail of the the frames. The steel fastenings had conservator. The vessels’ ‘backbone’, corroded extensively, affecting both comprising keel, keelson, stem and the planking and the framing in their stern timbers, as well as the lower vicinity. Following a detailed frames and futtocks had not been examination, it was decided to remove dismantled, as these could be treated all the wood that was beyond saving. effectively in situ, leaving the basic This proved extensive, given the structure intact. Original frame structural condition of the vessel. sections were repaired or consolidated Almost all the framing and hull and retained where possible. Where planking, from the waterline to deck required new frames were formed from level and including the deck beams the oak crooks using the frame and deck, were beyond repair. Years templates. The majority of the lower of salt water around unprotected steel frames and floorings of the boat were nails and bolts had done its work well, saved, with top-timbers and turn-of- with fastenings corroded to the-bilge sections largely replaced. needlepoint between planks and The after-section of the vessel had frames and surrounding wood fared worse, where some five destroyed. Left unused over a long complete double-frames were needed. period and without maintenance fresh water had permeated through the All original wooden components were decks, beams and frame tops to add to scraped clean, with hull plank-edges the problem. Rot was extensive, with repaired by handplane. The wood was wood largely de-natured following treated throughout with ‘Xylamon’ years of immersion and neglect. wood preservative. ‘Xylamon’ wood hardening, a popular consolidant at the The approach taken was to dismantle time, was used for treating soft and the vessel into its component parts; degraded areas. With all the frames save and treat what could be saved, reassembled and faired, the and reassemble using new materials replacement of the planks began. where required. All restoration was Approximately 20% were treatable, carried out using similar materials these in the main being from the lower following the original form. Before the portion of the vessel. Planks were vessel was dismantled, wooden reassembled from the garboard up, templates were made of all the frames. continuing in new wood where the Oak crooks from which to form the originals had to be replaced. The new frames were acquired, as well as counter of the vessel, the internal the relevant boat-nails and bolts. The transom, deck-beams, decks and vessel had been planked with larch covering-boards, were all replaced, and pine, with repairs done over the effectively replicating the vessel from years using whatever timber was the waterline up. The original format available. Larch flitches were bought of the vessel was recreated by forming and some pine, recovered from the the double-round-ended open-cockpit roof beams of the then just demolished synonymous with the Morecombe Bay Wapping Dock warehouse, were used nobbies. The completed vessel was for hull and deck planking. then given an additional coating of ‘Xylamon’ wood preservative, followed once surfaces were thoroughly dry by

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International Yacht Paint ‘Interlux’ possible, and replace only where International metallic wood primer. structural integrity demanded it. A detailed survey was carried out that The Daystar is in reality more a included analysis of the woods from restored vessel than a conserved one. which the boat was formed, of its However, when it was treated, in the coatings and the fastenings used. The early 1980’s, wooden boat coatings analysis showed that the conservation was in its infancy in the vessel had originally been varnished UK. The fact that so much was externally with a clear varnish and actually saved and conserved was an painted at a much later date. The achievement at a time when the main paint was an inferior house paint, used emphasis was to renew everything and primarily for when the boat had been put the boat back on the water. displayed at Lord Newborough’s private museum at Fort Belan, Ladies Gig: conserve only Caernarfon. Little remained of the A contrasting approach is the way in interior coatings, a grey paint that in all which the 8m clinker pulling gig Ladies probability was original. The structure Gig was conserved. Presented to the of the vessel was largely original with Museum by Lord Newborough in 1986, just two secondary planks fitted at the the gig was in very poor condition. All turn of bilge on both sides, and an the lower timbers on the port side were internal transom fitted to give strength damaged or missing. This had caused to the original. However, there had the port garboard plank to separate been a great loss of cohesion because from its housing. Two thwart knees on the many of the timber sections that the fourth and fifth thwarts had virtually transverse the vessel were missing. disintegrated due to woodworm. The loss of transverse connection coupled A decision was taken to remove the with the separated garboard had outer coatings and return the surface caused the boat to come apart along to its original varnished state, but to its centreline. retain the interior coatings and as much of the vessels’ structure as As the boat was a long and slender possible. structure, very lightly built, care in movement was paramount. However, The outer hull coatings were removed the vessel had to be worked on in by the application of ‘Peel Away’, a every plane, a fact that in normal sodium hydroxide paint remover. This circumstances would mean man- process worked extremely well, with handling and moving the boat a lot and the manufacturers’ instructions would certainly result in further followed to the letter. The interior of damage. This was resolved by the boat was brushed and vacuum designing and making a revolving cleaned to remove surface dust and support frame that would enable the debris and then cleaned several times vessel to be turned at will, while using clean water and cotton cloths, reducing the damage potential followed once dry, by a final clean with enormously. Not only that, the vessel white spirit. could be turned to any plane by one person. The port garboard plank was pushed back into its rebate along the keel by The approach with the gig was to encircling the boat with web-clamps conserve as much original material as and tightening gently. Spreaders were

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fitted across the gunwales between the The process had an effect far beyond straps to prevent crushing. Minimum just producing another boat. To start replacement of missing timbers then with, the lines of the dinghy were lifted took place to reintroduce transverse and line and construction drawings connection. The two badly degraded produced. The vessel was then thwart knees were removed and ‘lofted’, that is, drawn full size to allow replaced by new ones in the original templates to be made of the various form. Locally degraded areas and components. Wood was then components were consolidated with selected: oak for the stem and timbers, Paraloid B72 in solution with mahogany for the planks, transom and trichloroethylene. seats. Building started in earnest and extended over two years. Given that Repairs to various plank shakes, and the project was a low priority as it was in particular damage to the plank lands a replica and not an original that was at the turn of bilge on both sides, were being worked on progress was carried out using pressure from the dictated by other priorities. Several web clamps and custom made metal boat-building classes were given using clamps, with sets and wedges used the building of the dinghy as the locally. The parted surfaces were source of the course. The ‘students’ glued together, with Cascamite ‘One could then be brought through the Shot’ UF resin. whole process from lifting and drawing lines, to seeing how the various parts On completion of the structural were shaped and lifted. consolidation and repair, the outer hull was coated with Jotun ‘Royal Ultra’ The dinghy will be launched in May clear Alkyd varnish, while the inner (1997), when trials will give us all the surfaces were coated with a similar but information we need on its matt finish varnish. A customised performance. Our gain is a detailed metal support base, with fitted wooden survey of the original boat and chocks, was formed to support the research data of its history. In addition vessel in the long term. we have line and construction drawings for our archives and a replica Bond: conserve and create a vessel that can be used, without fear replica. of damage to the original, which can Our last vessel to examine is a small rest assured of its long term care. We clinker sailing dinghy of 1932, built by also have a full and detailed record of Bonds of Rock Ferry, and probably the its building. Of equal importance is the only example of its type from this well fact that several dozen people were known Merseyside yard, which closed taught not only the basics of wooden in the early 1960s. The dinghy is in boat building but the importance of good condition and is structurally conservation as well. Perhaps this is sound; however, we have no real idea an ideal way forward when dealing of how it handles afloat and under sail. with unique or very special larger To do something positive about our objects. Save and protect the originals exhortation to ‘replicate if you want to and slowly but steadily replicate them see how a valued accessioned object and in the process keep associated works’, we did just that: we built a skills very much alive. replica of the dinghy. Conclusion

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Conserving large objects, be they B46 1JT. Available from manufacturer planes, boats or trains, is an area of or most ship chandlers. conservation that is relatively new and 2. Hempel’s ‘Hempadur’ 1531 epoxy challenging. The traditional approach metal protective paint. Hempel Paints with these objects has been more to Ltd, Llantarnam Industrial Park, restore than to conserve, often with the Cwmbran, NP44 3XF. Available from emphasis on keeping the objects in manufacturer or most ship chandlers. use. This is particularly true of boats 3. Cascophen Resorcinol resin wood and trains. However, the inevitable adhesive and Cascamite ‘One Shot’ outcome of doing this is to loose more UF resin. Borden (UK) Ltd, North and more original material from objects Baddersley, Southampton, SO52 9ZB. that have usually lost considerable Available from manufacturer or most material anyway. Our dilemma is not ship chandlers and builders with the old boat or locomotive of merchants. which there are several of a type. It is 4. Xylamon wood preservative, with objects that are unique or that Xylamon wood-hardening and Paraloid have a particular significance. Do we B72. Conservation Resources, Units continue to sail the boat and steam the 1-3 Pony Road, Horspath Industrial train that is perhaps the only survivor Estate, Cowley, Oxford, OX4 2RD. of its type? There is much sense in 5. International Yacht Paint ‘Interlux’ the quote ‘If you use it, you loose it’. I International metallic wood primer. would add to that ‘If you want to use it, International Paints Ltd, Stoneygate replicate it’. Lane, Felling, Gateshead Tyne and Wear, NE10 0JY. Available from Safety manufacturer or most ship chandlers. 6. ‘Peel Away’, sodium hydroxide paint The relevant Health and Safety and remover. Langlow products Ltd, PO COSHH regulations apply to the use of Box 32, Asheridge Road, Chesham, the listed products and should be read Bucks, HP5 2QF. poultice. Available and applied when using any of the from most DIY stores. materials referred to below. Specific 7. White spirit. Marine (Chemi- product Health and Safety guidelines Technics) Ltd Bury Lancashire. and recommendations for safe use 8 Trichloroethylene. Oakes-Eddon should be requested from the Ltd, Scientific House, Dryden Street, manufacturers or suppliers. Liverpool, L5 5HH. 9. Jotun ‘Royal Ultra’ clear Alkyd Materials varnish. Jotun-Henry Clark Ltd, 142 Minories London EC3N 1LS. Available 1. Thistlebond two part epoxy resin. from the manufacturer or specialist Ferguson and Timpson Ltd, Unit 65, painting and decorating outlets. Station Road, Coleshill, Warwickshire,

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96 INDUSTRIAL COLLECTIONS CARE AND CONSERVATION

MANAGING OUTSIDE IN BRISTOL

A King and the slow evolution of a Abstract maintenance regime. There is an inevitable need for certain exhibits to stay outside - in our case, 3 small ships, 4 Origins and growth electric quayside cranes, a Scheduled Ancient Monument steam crane, and almost a dozen The origins of the industrial collections railway wagons. at Bristol are similar to those in other local authority museums in the UK. It These require constant care and maintenance. With the shortage of staff and money how began in the early 19th century when does one cope with this? ship models and industrial art and contrivances were amassed in a small Bristol Maritime Museum has seen the way - items with which to inspire the evolution of a volunteer team, and a artisan to greater things, in the spirit of philosophy of regular operation, which in itself is an excellent way of monitoring decay as well the V&A. In the 1920s and 1930s the as presenting another aspect of an exhibit to Museum Committee Chairman, the the visitor. last Director of the coach building firm of Fullers, arranged for the Museum to There is a need for a maintenance inherit the company’s collection of programming taking into account the variability of volunteers’ skills and attendance. This also historic vehicles, among the first large leads to the involvement of outside agencies, items to arrive. for example, boiler and lifting gear inspectors who would not be needed for static exhibits. After the war, a number of industrial machines were collected by Miss Joan The paper ends with a critical assessment of our success (and failure!) and my aspirations Lillicoe, first curator of the Bristol Folk for the future - better training, better record- Museum at Blaise Castle House. In keeping and fuller integration of volunteers into her time, Bristol’s first outside exhibit the Museum’s structure and culture. was acquired, a complete water mill rescued from a reservoir development. Introduction This was intended to start Blaise Castle on the path of emulating The Watching things like Star Trek on the Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagans, television has introduced me to the but Stratford Mill proved to be the only concept of the parallel universe, a uprooted building to arrive. At the concept borne out by many of the same time, a Reading-type gypsy conferences I attend. I sit open- caravan was acquired that was mouthed with astonishment through wheeled out for the summer months. presentations about museum projects The caravan quickly deteriorated in where conscious policy-making, Bristol’s temperate maritime climate strategic planning, resource and was later moved to display inside identification, smooth management the City Museum, where it still stands. and quality assessment take place and Stratford Mill has presented huge seem always to have done so. In management problems ever since it Bristol, coping with our large-scale was acquired, and is currently closed, outside exhibits owes rather more to much vandalised and semi-derelict. serendipity, opportunism, happenstance, the crossing of fingers

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In the early 1960s industrial collecting Ever since the 1960s, the Museum was encouraged as part of a plan to had been particularly keen to acquire a construct a new museum with room for ship. This would probably have had to some very large exhibits. Despite the remain outside and afloat. In 1981, scrapping of this project in the late the Museum finally acquired its first 1960’s, large scale exhibits continued ship, the derelict steam tug Mayflower, to be collected. Fortunately, the bulk built in Bristol in 1861. Little thought of them could be housed inside, but in appears to have been given at the time 1973, the first definite outside exhibit to the problems that its maintenance was acquired, the Fairbairn steam would entail. In the early 1980’s, I crane of 1875. This passed to the joined the staff and with my Museum from the Port of Bristol background in china clay and worsted Authority in working, if somewhat textiles, was considered the ideal dilapidated, condition. The decision to person to bring Mayflower back to pass the crane to us was at least what the press always call her former partially influenced by the impending glory. Looking back, I am sure that my Health & Safety at Work Act, 1974, ignorance of what was involved helped which would have made commercial us to achieve the result. Had I known operation of the crane impossible what I was letting myself in for, I would without expensive guarding work. 1 have been anything but confident. Six The crane was situated in the heart of years later, we had a working vessel the City Docks, which were and a team of volunteers competent to themselves running down take on the restoration and ongoing commercially as they began a tentative care of a string of outside exhibits. progress towards leisure use, and the crane was a prime vandalism target. Caring for the collections To combat this, Dorothea Restorations were contracted to make the crane The problems of caring for the weather and vandal-proof, effectively collections with limited resources mothballing it, except for a few became apparent about thirty years demonstrations, until full restoration ago when the then Curator of was possible beginning in 1988. Technology adopted the imaginative approach of lending out some of the In 1977, Bristol Museums acquired a Museum’s exhibits for others to restore dockside building to develop as an and use; prime amongst these were Industrial Museum. Opened in March three locomotives. As Bristol had no 1978, the new Museum was only means of displaying them, there was 100m from the Fairbairn steam crane, sense in this decision - certainly, the which was operated for the opening, team of one curator and one along with the restored locomotive conservator was hardly likely to Henbury. Henbury settled down to an achieve much themselves. The results occasional programme of brake van of the policy were, however, variable. rides along the quayside to the S.S. In all three cases it meant moving the Great Britain, staffed by volunteers. engines from undercover Thus by accident were the seeds of accommodation into the open air; one our current operations sown - loco was totally restored, one returned operational exhibits manned by a decade later exactly as it had left, volunteers entertaining and, we hope, and the third, having been dismantled educating the visitor. for restoration, was the victim of scrap thieves who stole most of its

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brasswork. The lesson learned from outside exhibits, Mayflower and the this was the importance of close Fairbairn steam crane, are unique supervision of any work left in the enough internationally to have justified hands of others, including, later, our acquisition with only an inkling as to own volunteers. where their future funding would come from. In 1997, our collection of exhibits that must remain outside numbers three Having reached the dizzy heights of ships (the 1861 steam tug Mayflower, two curators and one and a half the 1934 fire boat Pyronaut and the conservators in the late 1980s, the 1935 motor tug John King), the Industrial Museum staffing now stands Scheduled Ancient Monument steam at one curator and half a conservator crane, over a dozen railway wagons, (shared with Social History), lower and four electric quayside cranes. than it has ever been. The annual These are the items for which there is expendable budget has decreased in no likelihood whatsoever of covered real terms for each of the sixteen years accommodation, even in winter. Of I have worked in the city. None of the the four thousand items in the outside exhibits has ever had a budget collection, these twenty or so items specifically for it, relying for their require by far the greatest efforts to restoration upon the promise of 50% preserve, in the most basic sense, and grant aid from the Science Museum are very demanding of my time. Three and PRISM funds and the prayer of of them are afloat, exposed to the sponsorship, public support and additional erosion of slightly salt water. windfalls. All bear the brunt of sou’westerlies throughout the winter, the constant Working people, working objects ravages of small children and drunks (who insist on climbing onto them), Working people pigeons and cormorants, and our own The major resource for any project is staff and volunteers moving them people. Wages and salaries drain any about. budget with remarkable speed. Finding people with the right skills at Were we ever ethically correct in the right moment is in the lap of the acquiring these expensive objects gods; and there is considerable knowing the burden they would place opposition to the appointment of more upon our successors? Even in the staff. Because of these factors, we heady days of the early 1980s, there cannot but look to volunteers to assist were indications that the relative with the restoration and care of our affluence of staff and resourcing that exhibits. At first, in the early 1980s, museums were enjoying was going to the idea of volunteers was looked on be very temporary. The argument that with alarm or distrust by almost is invoked for almost anything from everyone, but their involvement is now The Three Graces to yet another accepted almost universally. To use railway engine is that, if the object is them effectively takes an immense important enough, one should save it amount of work but if one is successful first and then find the resources to deal the result repays the effort many times with it later. There is logic to this, as it over. does at least allow the later reassessment of the object in calmer The main advantage that I have found circumstances. Certainly two of our with volunteers is that they want to do

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the work; at times, this enthusiasm has and upkeep funds and developing needed firm control, but by working further volunteer interest. alongside them as frequently as possible these occasions have been Regular use means that decay is seen rare. To attract the volunteers in the more quickly. Engine drivers and crew first place required some sort of aim, members go into places for operational and it was immediately apparent that reasons that one would never no-one was very interested in toiling conceive of going into under normal on a project which had a stuffed-and- circumstances. The familiarity that the mounted future envisaged for it. Even crew members develop with the the vague aim of making Mayflower exhibits is, I submit, greater even than work again, for occasional that of a conservator working over a demonstration tied alongside the quay long period on a single object. was sufficient to fire the interest of a Problems get dealt with quickly. Small number of competent and adaptable problems quickly sorted do not individuals. Their hard work, ingenuity become disasters. and sheer commitment resulted in Mayflower’s restoration to full working Maintaining the exhibits order, her regular trips to Gloucester and even as far as Worcester and her Despite this constant inspection, regular steamings in Bristol Docks, regular use still requires a giving delighted ‘punters’ a trip round maintenance regime. Our operational the bay. season ceases in November, and the first weekend after the close is usually Working objects a time of bustling activity. The exhibits Our philosophy of regular use stems are stripped of all their portable bits, from a number of roots. One of the particularly those made of wood or major driving forces remains the need canvas, which are stored indoors for to finance the outside exhibits. Thus, the winter, each removed item being although the original idea behind inspected and treated over the next charging for rides on the railway was few months. This is predominately to cover the cost of fuel, the income damage limitation, to lengthen the now pays the wages of a sub- lifespan of these parts by protecting contractor who is engaged to maintain them from the worst of the weather; and repair the track and to develop the interestingly, these parts are also railway’s revenue-earning capacity. It those most likely to be non-original is undeniable that the best way for the components anyway. Engines are public to see any sort of machine is in cleaned, drained, and treated with action, doing what it was meant to do, commercial corrosion inhibiting another spur towards working our compounds. The cabins on the boats exhibits. In addition, it would be and the vans on the railway are impossible to staff the three boats and scrupulously cleaned and lockers crane safely. This would be necessary opened up for over-winter airing. to make them reasonably accessible to casual visitors on a regular basis. We The list of all the regular jobs is stored have thus developed a season-round on disc, and is printed out and posted programme of weekend operations of at the start of each winter. The one or other of our exhibits as the only programming of these tasks is my practicable way of showing them to the responsibility, and has to take into public, as well as raising maintenance account the varying skills and

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availability of volunteers. The list gets steam crane, two railway locomotives longer each year, but the repetition of and several wagons, in addition to a tasks annually means that each year few exhibits normally kept indoors. they take less time. There are other, Through their efforts, we are able to less frequent but much more arduous put on a programme for working jobs, like three-yearly dry-docking for exhibits throughout the summer which the vessels, which we begin to plan for incidentally helps to ensure that in the year before docking is due, and problems with these items are seen ten-yearly inspection of boilers. early and dealt with. The efforts of Mayflower’s is due this coming winter, these individuals earns sufficient when the boiler will be lifted in and out income for the Museum just about to of the tug by the steam crane. cover the maintenance costs.

Boiler inspections are one of several On the minus side, we can never areas which involve outside agencies generate sufficient income from who would not be needed were the operating to fully cover the costs of exhibits static. On occasion, the dry-dockings, major boiler overhauls, requirements of boiler inspectors and and so on. others involved in ensuring safety regulations are met give one cause for In addition I certainly have cause to ethical thought; are their needs leading regret not recording in more detail to unacceptable changes to the fabric those things that have been altered, of the exhibit? This is always a difficult repaired or replaced as restoration and balance to strike, but I think with ongoing maintenance has proceeded. exhibits kept outside, the pendulum We keep reasonable photographic swings so far away from pure records and the majority of the people conservation ethics that a more lenient involved in the earliest restoration work attitude deserves to be taken here. are still with us, so if we start now we We deal on a regular basis with boiler should be able to record most changes inspectors, lifting inspectors, marine we can remember. It will, however be safety officers, the HSE Railway a long haul. Inspectorate, the City Council’s own safety team and others, and have What does the future hold? developed good working relationships by proving that the volunteer staff who Sooner or later the generation of allow us to operate all these exhibits volunteers from whom we recruit most are competent, conscious individuals people will pass into dotage and we who work well in teams. will be faced with being unable to work the exhibits unless we can attract new How well have we done? blood. Running the level of activities that we do requires the involvement of In hospital terms, ‘as well as can be about forty people. Sooner or later, expected’. On the plus side, I think the ships in particular will become too one can be proud of the development expensive to maintain in the water and of a committed team of volunteers who a decision will have to be taken about expect to be told what they should do their long term future. I am certain that and seldom do anything to give us the quality of work that we have cause for concern. These people have always maintained will delay this for been responsible over fifteen years for some considerable time. the restoration of three small ships, a

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In the shorter term we must look at ago removed and they have not ways of generating revenue from the functioned since the late 1970s. Their outside exhibits which do not entail height (about 40m) adds a further any more maintenance work than we dimension to any maintenance work. I are already doing. We are currently am optimistic enough to believe that investigating hiring out members of the we will find some enthusiastic climbers volunteer team to private collectors with an interest in industrial machinery; who need assistance with their the right sort of person has always projects, playing upon the expertise turned up in the past. Nevertheless, and experience of our people. This ensuring the survival of these may generate income to allow us to structures is going to be our biggest buy in trades that we lack - we have no test so far. competent joiners or shipwrights on the team at the moment, for instance. These objectives are going to require I also hope to be able to develop the the strategic planning, resource training that we are able to give to our identification and quality measurement volunteers, although the continuing that I identified at the beginning of this shortage of funds is not going to allow paper had not been apparent at Bristol us to hire in professionals. Rather, I hitherto. I am confident that the hope to encourage the team to share experience we have gained on the their existing skills with their rather haphazard progression this far companions in a self-help form of will have given us a secure footing on competence development. which to build.

We are also faced with the problem, or References rather four problems, of the electric quayside cranes. These are very 1. The Health & Safety at Work Act much part of the scenery, being the 1974, HSC, London (1974). last remaining in the City Docks and something of a public monument. However, their power supply was long

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DOCUMENTATION FOR TREATMENT : HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH

D Riss documentation would also be desirable to Abstract make historical comparisons with:  earlier states of the equipment In the past, the repair and restoration of  alternate designs machinery and vehicles has been less the  related classes. province of conservators and more the province of craft workers such as mechanics, boilermakers, millwrights, and machinists. The Introduction important task was to keep the equipment in working order, even in museums, and any Conservators may often be the first to modifications needed to keep things moving deal with an object, and be in a were made, often with little concern for documenting the changes. As a result, we position to help answer questions have a substantial body of machinery and others may ask of objects, questions vehicles that are now altered in various not necessarily directly relevant to the degrees from their as-built condition by task of stabilization and preservation. modifications and repairs made during their For instance, of a steam engine, are all working life as well as during their less taxing museum life. the boiler tubes the same size? Not relevant if we are concerned with As conservators become more involved with preserving the engine for static these collections, new questions arise in the display; of much relevance if we are light of their concern for the object-considered- concerned with the history of engine as-an-historical-document. Any treatments they perform will of course require design. As long as he has the documentation. The question becomes, how machine apart, should the conservator elaborate should the documentation be for also be measuring boiler tube sizes? these often complicated objects? The question becomes to what level of I propose to outline several levels of detail do we carry out our usual documentation. I suggest we pay particular attention to: examination and treatment documentation? Is the result any good

 what is to be changed (by the treatment) to anybody else? My concern in this  what we see that will be hidden after paper, then, is with the nature of our treatment routine examination and treatment  what we see that is different from what was documentation, and how and when it expected. might be made useful to others.

In addition, we should take note of: First let us look at documentation in general. After that, let us look at what  materials constitutes routine documentation and  dimensions and tolerances  configuration and methods of construction what is beyond.

 finishes Purposes/functions of  operating parameters. documentation

Total documentation is not really required for Artefacts undergo a peculiar change of most treatments or repairs, but may be state when they cease to be useful desirable to establish a baseline if previous documentation is sketchy or to provide enough objects and are taken up by museums data for part replication. More complete and historic sites. They become valued less for what they can do than

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for possessing the almost holy properties of information and evidence. Initially, objects come to a museum The worshipers at this altar are: primarily for acquisition or loan. Paper curators who keep the artefacts and and electronic systems are used to make them available; conservators track custody, shipping, and who try to make them last; and ownership. Usually the process is historians who try to pry stories from called accessioning. them. Information about the object itself It is not enough to say that the purpose constitute the item documentation: of documentation is to store measurements, descriptions, photos information. Beyond that, the purpose and histories. Conservation of documentation is to explain. The examination and treatment records are newspaperman’s who, what, when, a type of item documentation. where, why, and how are also the historian’s questions. An historian of Control documentation will record the technology may be less interested in location and any movements of the the fact that a piece of machinery is object in the museum, from display to 5.85m long, than the fact that it took storage for example, or out for three men to operate, and that the conservation or loan to another design remained unchanged for institution. Many of the activities of seventy five years. collection managers are in this phase.

On the other hand, restorers of Types of documentation machinery, even today, seem to have a tendency to do whatever it takes to Another way to look at documentation, get the device working and worry in contrast to the functional about documenting their actions later, classification above, is to consider the if at all. They seem less to be means of creating the information. generators of documentation than to Table 1 (below) is meant to be be consumers, who need for example, illustrative, not definitive. accurate dimensions to make new parts. Photographic documentation captures on film or ccd plates (for digital cameras) relatively neutral visual A documentation system aspects of objects.

It may be useful to place conservation Observational documentation is the documentation in the context of an result of human observation overall museum documentation (sometimes under low power system. In museums, there are magnification) resulting in descriptive generally three classes of narratives or checklists of key documentation: initial, item, and descriptors. control. 1 These are instituted for different reasons. All three are needed to properly account for, identify, and manage artefacts in a museum. Documentation Type Direct Result Photographic Photo: day, UV, IR Observational Words: Narrative, checklist

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Instrumental Numbers, photos, graphs Pictorial: i) illustrative Sketch, rendering, painting ii) dimensional Numbers, drawings Table 1 The goal is to do a lot better and come Instrumental documentation arises up with a definitive descriptive label: from sample analysis, x-rays, SEM ‘second generation Blanchard photos and the like. The results take gunstock lathe.’ Associated with this the form of numerical descriptions of would be the usual feature elemental compositions, graphs, descriptions in narrative text or a micron scale photos, and so on. checklist.

Pictorial documentation, created ‘by Beyond the descriptive level, we are hand’, comes in two forms: faced with a variety of choices. We can do some, all, or none of them. In i) dimensional - various kinds of brief, the choices are: numerically annotated drawings which attempt a calibrated pictorial depiction  photos, of the artefact.  drawings,  physical/chemical analysis, ii) illustrative - sketches, paintings,  history, shaded perspective drawings,  operational experiments to diagrams. determine capacities and performance. Levels of documentation. In addition to all of the above, which We all have a sense that some apply to information about the documentation reports are more particular object or machine, there is a elaborate or complex than others. secondary level we can call the What constitutes the complexity? It contextual level. This is where we can would be easy to answer: ‘more.’ tell the story of the artefact in the full Well, more of what? context of history and society, finding its place in the web of culture. 2 Let’s re-sort the kind of data included in documentation, as outlined in the Let’s simplify the above scheme, and previous section, and get some sense see how the levels appear: of general levels of complexity. i) descriptive. Considering only objects themselves, ii) pictorial, analytical, historical. at the most simple level, for the iii) contextual. purposes of inventory and accountability, we may only count Each of the levels can be done more things. A preliminary site survey may or less elaborately, as we choose. Is only record that a shop had fifty four there any guidance? machines, of whatever nature. AIC guidelines and commentaries One step up, and we identify the general class: ‘here is a lathe.’ With the above as background, it will be easier to bring some order to our

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sense of what is routine recommended that photos include a documentation for conservators and grey scale, a light direction indicator, what is not. One approach, is to look and a colour scale for records made at how documentation is specified by on colour films. Drawings would need others, for example, The American size scales to be complete. Institute for Conservation. A rather concise set of Guidelines for Practice Exceptions can be made for such are in turn supplemented by a series of situations as dealing with emergencies commentaries. 3 The Commentaries or large numbers of similar objects. set out to define both a minimum level of practice, as well as a more When it comes to the documentation elaborate recommended level. of treatment the Commentaries provide particularly pointed guidance For any type of documentation, the in specifying what to include. In Commentaries state that at the addition to the object data, one is minimum level, records need to: encourage to provide documentation indicate their purpose, the name of the of: writer, the date of the record, and enough object identifying information i) procedures, to uniquely identify the object. Whereas the Guidelines merely ii) materials added, require descriptions of structure, materials, condition, and relevant iii) materials used, history ‘as appropriate,’ the Commentaries are more specific. iv) removed materials, Examination reports will have: observational data, parts and v) materials obscured by associated elements will be noted, treatment, examination methods will be recorded and present condition described, vi) new information about objects including evidence of past treatments revealed during treatment (including and the situation that appears to features hidden by assembly), require treatment. vii) changes in the artefact as a The Guidelines mainly refer to written result of treatment, including its state documentation. They specify the after treatment, addition of pictorial documentation only ‘when appropriate.’ Not much viii) deviations from proposal. guidance there. This is familiar territory for The Commentaries state that at the conservators, so we need not discuss minimum level, pictorial documentation much of this scheme in detail. Point is required only in those cases where (vi) however, is more open-ended and treatment will alter the appearance of leads to issues I would like to explore the artefact. However, recommended further. practice is to include pictorial documentation ‘necessary to illustrate The Commentaries recommend that condition and relevant details we document any new information accurately,’ whether appearance is to about the object which is revealed be altered or not. It is also during the course of treatment. This

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would include such things as marks treatment could wait until a later time previously hidden by grime or because the object is, in effect, ‘self- corrosion. I would add that, in my documenting.’ By that I do not mean view, this also implies documenting to that the object records itself, but that it a certain extent features hidden by embodies its features and assembly (or reassembly). Since measurements. It will more or less industrial equipment, machines, and always be available for future engines can be endlessly complicated, documenting by those who desire to documenting the disassembled do so. artefact could be quite time consuming and involve a lot of effort not directly In truth, these considerations need related to the task of preservation. This evaluating whether or not the object information however could be of much needs disassembly to reveal the use to historians or mechanics who hidden. Many important features are need to have access to the insides of right out in the open. things. Potential users If a conservator is not working directly with others who may want this If we decide that our situation is such information, the conservator has to that we are going to have to provide consider whether the needs of others some level of documentation for other could also be accommodated while users, we need then to be clear on treatment proceeds. To help make the who the other users are, and what use decision, conservators should consider they are going to make of the a couple of factors: information we provide. Our level of effort depends on it. We may not be i) can the object be disassembled able to accommodate all potential again relatively easily when others users. need access? If so, then documentation need be only as deep Collection managers may want only to as the need to document the treatment store the object. In that case, they itself. If it is too time consuming, may only need a set of rough overall costly, complicated, or damaging to dimensions of the object or of each of disassemble the artefact again, the its dismantled parts. No precision is conservator should make plans to called for. A picture would be nice, so complete additional documentation. as to tell one object from another.

Ii) is the object a wasting resource Restorers, mechanics and engineers or not? Equipment outside, for may have more complicated needs. example, is notoriously subject to They may want to make a machine erosion by the elements as well as by work again (or keep working), or they visitors. Important parts can be may need to replicate a part for thinned or perforated by corrosion, or another machine. In either case, they removed entirely by vandals. must have very detailed information Vulnerable objects will need more about the part. But, in other cases, complete documentation. measurements will have to be made, to quite high precision for parts which If the object is fairly well protected, one ‘mate, slide, rotate or mesh and must could decide that any documentation do so accurately for the machine to beyond that needed for recording function properly.’ 4 Disassembly of

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structures will often be required. This gets into machinist territory and a The historian needs information from knowledge of tolerances (for example, the conservator at two levels. At the ±.0002m) and fits (for example, first level, the concern is with the running, locational, sliding, and force), details of the machine, equipment, or and other craft details. This may be engine: how the parts are organized, more than many conservators can the nature of the finishes, how it handle, and so their usual operates, and so on. Good clear documentation may not be of much photos are a start. But, to go the extra use to the craftsman. mile, good drawings are ideal, whether they are dimensioned like shop The study of machines drawings, or merely pictorial, to show the arrangement of parts, or even As we are finding out, the question of schematic, to show process. With how much documentation is enough technological artefacts of the last can only be answered in reference to century and a half, we may have, with the kinds of questions people ask any luck, original drawings to start with artefacts to answer. For the historian and compare. The machine may have or the historian of technology the been modified during the production questions have varied over the years. run, almost certainly changed to some At first the questions were basic: who degree during its life, and perhaps is invented what, and how did each now showing some losses. Each invention ‘evolve.’ Typology and lists machine, piece of equipment, or of significant features were a big engine has developed a unique concern. 5 Building on this, other character which is not preserved in historians became interested in ‘original’ drawings. Drawings showing systems of processing and the current state are the goal here. manufacturing. Recently, a few historians have looked in detail at A second level of machine individual machines to assess their documentation by historians of capabilities and the sophistication of technology is that of a detailed their makers. measurement and analysis of particular machines with the end of If the concern is interchangeabillity of determining their operational parts, then a close look is needed at characteristics and of the such details as the marks left by craftsmanship of their makers. One milling or hand filing. 6 example is an analysis of a metal planing machine from the 1845-51 For the last twenty years or so, the period by Robert Gordon. 8 Here he main concern of historians of measured critical surfaces to as technology has been ‘context.’ 7 They precise as a ten thousandth of an inch. might be interested in the role of the He went on to discuss his machine in the factory system in interpretation of the measurements in relation to, for example, the hierarchy determining how the machine was of skills, or technology transfer from built, the adequacy of the design to do one industry to another as experienced the job it was intended for, and an workers move around. assessment of the skills of the mechanics who designed and built it.

Documentation of machines

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An analysis at this level requires precision than will show up in the measuring tools capable of much finished drawing. 10 greater precision than those used in making the machine. ‘A general rule Field notes, however, can preserve a of thumb is that any instrument used record of greater precision than can for checking a part should be ten times show up in the drawing: as accurate as the requirements of the part.’ 9 ‘Accuracy is a matter of definition, tape graduations, purpose of your drawings Drawing Types and the precision to which the structure or object was built. As a If one is lucky, there may be period matter of definition, ‘accuracy’ really drawings available. Typically, refers to the error tolerance permitted especially as the 19th century or realistically achievable in the field. progresses, each project would use There is a point beyond which narrow several kinds of drawings, for example, error tolerances become for design, construction and counterproductive in terms of time and presentation. Since the different types information content. Common sense often were kept in different locations, indicates that you would not try to chances are that at least part of one measure a fifty-foot high pumping set survives. engine to the nearest millionth of an inch, or the length of a rough stone However, even if original drawings wall to the nearest sixteenth of an inch. exist, remeasurement is called for. But neither should you settle for simply Things change, wear, and are the nearest inch or foot when replaced. conditions permit and demand finer work, especially where precision has In addition to the usual measured some bearing on the significance of drawings other types of drawings, the object or structure being some with minimal or no dimensioning, recorded...... as for the could prove useful to the historian. For instruments used for measuring-- example, complex process flows are tapes, stick rules, machinists’ scales, much easier to grasp with a clear transit verniers, etc.--the accuracy can schematic drawing. Involved gear and be no better than ½ of the smallest lever constructions may appear graduation on the instrument.’ 11 confusing in photos, but may be made comprehensible in a good illustrative The manual, Recording Historic 3-D drawing. Structures, has guidelines for the documentation of buildings, engineering structures, and machines for two US government programs: The Historic American Buildings Survey, Measurements and the Historic American Engineering Record. 12 Conservators of industrial Taking measurements for as-is material will find much of interest in drawings need not be done to the these standards and recommendations degree of precision as for for the production of both photographs measurements done for part and drawings. Some helpful tips: replication. In fact, measurements need not be done to any greater

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‘When measuring to shafts, gears, on whether you want to store it (the wheels, or levers, for example, object), draw it, preserve it, replicate it measurements are conventionally or study it: taken to their centers of rotation ...... it is of great importance to record the i) to store an object requires only sectional dimensions of rolled and overall dimensions of the object or its built-up shapes in bridges to within at parts, perhaps total weight, and such least 1//16 of a inch. Such accuracy is variables as the status of fuel and vital in determining the proper size, lubrication tanks. Collection managers weight and other physical properties of are the primary consumers of this the members necessary for structural general level of documentation. analysis that may be conducted by future users of the drawings.’ ii) to draw an object may require measurements only to the resolution of They recommend that the rotational the final drawing, though notes can direction of moving parts, as well as preserve more precise observations. speed, be indicated. For gears, we Some kinds of drawings can be made should note the diameter and number from good photographs. Historians of of teeth. For pressure cylinders, note technology, in particular, will find good bore, stroke, and psi. For crankpins, drawings helpful for their work. note relative phases. Conservators should have no trouble in being involved at this level if they All this seems to me to be well within choose. the scope of conservator abilities, if it is desired to help the historian, and iii) for preserving objects, the AIC time and funds allow. Guidelines/Commentaries provide a good set of features for the Photographs documentation of examination and treatment. More photographs of It may seem that conservators take a features and details are better. lot of photographs, but in practice it Physical or chemical analyses are often turns out that there are too few usually only required for industrial views of each individual object to really objects if there is a very specific record all the important visible details. question and are not usually done on If conservators have the first and best speculation. access to all sides, including the insides, of an object they should take iv) replication will usually require as many pictures as possible. With precise measurements and the craft not much extra effort, conservators knowledge of machinists, among other can take photos that can provide trades. In most situations I believe useful information to historians, as well that this level of involvement is beyond as document their own treatment. what can normally be expected from conservator’s normal practice. Even Conclusion very good conservation documentation is likely to be inadequate for this How much more conservators might purpose. A great deal of extra effort document, beyond the minimum would be required. required for treatment, depends on the end use of the documentation. We v) to study the ways a machine is can summarize by saying, it depends built and designed will need the above

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noted documentation levels to start 4. Anderson, R K, Field work and with, but will require special precision measured drawings, Industrial techniques practiced to a much finer Archaeology: Techniques (ed) resolution than needed even by the Kemp, E L, Malabar : Krieger craft workers. Comparisons with 19th Publishing Company (1996) p 147. century techniques may require 5. Woodbury, R S, Studies in the application of good present day History of Machine Tools, The M.I.T. practice. Comparisons with 20th Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts century techniques may require use of (1972). the best present day practices to yield 6. See, for example; useful information. Battison, E A, Eli Whitney and the milling machine, The Smithsonian In summary, I believe that with a little Journal of History, Vol 1 No 2 extra effort, conservators can produce Summer 1966 (1966) pp 9-34. documentation useful to historians of Gordon, R B, Material evidence of the technology, but which is unlikely to be manufacturing methods used in precise enough to satisfy the needs of ‘Armory Practice’, The Journal of the the restorer. Restorers, for their part, Society for Industrial Archaeology, need to pay more attention to Vol 14 No 1 (1988) pp 23-36. documenting their actions. Hounshell, D A, Singer sewing Conservators could be less rigid about machine artefactual analysis, From the machine-as-document in some the American System to Mass cases, and allow restorers to make Production 1800-1932, The Johns some changes, as long as the Hopkins University Press, Baltimore documentation is sufficiently detailed. (1984) pp 337-344. In this way each may move closer 7. Post and Sutcliffe (1989) op cit. together, and we can have a well 8. Gordon, R B, Machine archaeology: documented artefact that also works the John Gage Planer, The Journal of and moves. the Society for Industrial Archaeology, Vol 17 No 2 (1991) pp References 3-14. 9. Campbell, P, An Introduction to 1. Stone, S, Documenting collections Measuration and Calibration Manual of Curatorship (ed) Thomson Industrial Press, New York City M A, London, Butterworths (1992) (1995). p 215. 10. Burns, J A (ed), Recording 2. Post, R C and Sutcliffe, S H (eds) In Historic Structures, The American context: history and the history of Institute of Architects Press, technology, Research in Technology Washington DC (1989) p 138. Studies Vol 1, Bethlehem: Lehigh 11. Anderson (1996) op cit. University Press (1989). 12. Burns (1989) op cit. 3. AIC News, November 1996 (1996) pp 13-20.

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IDENTIFYING FACTORS CAUSING DAMAGE TO WELSH COAL MINING COLLECTIONS

J Henderson and C Thompson A Burning Issue, the Council of Abstract Museums in Wales survey of the coal mining collections held in Welsh A Burning Issue, is the Council of Museums in museums, is the latest in a small group Wales’ survey of coal mining collections held in Welsh museums. The research undertaken of such reports which have been offered a unique opportunity to research responses to the rapid UK colliery historical and technical details of the closure programme of the 1980s and collections. It was also possible to investigate early 1990s. 2,3,4, the condition of the objects and the factors which may have contributed to this. The need for a survey of Welsh coal The paper outlines the survey method. This mining collections was raised by some includes an assessment of the validity of the members of the museum community in data collected and a discussion about the early 1980s. 5 The Welsh coal identifying the critical factors from the survey industry had contracted during the affecting the decay of the collections. 1960s and further closures seemed Analysis of the results allowed comparisons of inevitable during the 1980s. A object condition with a number of criteria. This comprehensive handlisting of items comparison leads to a demonstrable held by various organisations would be correlation between physical protection and needed so that gaps in collections environmental conditions and the level of damage to mining collections in Wales. could be identified and, hopefully, filled from closing collieries.

Introduction In the event the pit closure programme

was more rapid than anyone had I saw the riches of the earth crumbled predicted. Most museums had before picks and taken away by the financial problems; lack of staff meant shovel. It came to me presently, as that even simple handlisting was often with all other things, those riches out of the question. There was little would have an end. The money would discussion between museums about not be paid, for there would be none collecting policies. Museum staff, for master or man. The pick and realising that this was the last shovel would rust. The collieries opportunity to collect mining would be left to flood water and rats. equipment, accepted almost The men would go. The houses would everything offered to them. empty. The chapel would be dark.

The grass would try to cover all, out of It was not until the early 1990s, when pity. only two deep mines remained in

Wales, that a small working group was And I was afraid. set up, under the auspices of CMW, to

explore the feasibility of undertaking How Green Was My Valley an in-depth survey of coal mining 1939 1 collections.

The Researcher

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a viewing of all storage and display From the start it was agreed that any areas. Because of the ‘hands on’ survey should not be desk-bound but nature of the project permission was ‘hands on’, with the researcher visiting sought to inspect all coal related as many organisations, and viewing as artefacts in the institution’s collection - many objects as possible. With this in this had two aims: mind it was decided to appoint a person with a good knowledge of the i) To ensure that the mining industry as research assistant. documentation had correctly identified the object. The Survey ii) To determine the condition of Aims and structure the object. The main aims of the survey were as follows:- The database covers all items directly connected to the coal mining industry, 1. To research, create and make except buildings, photographs, archive available a comprehensive and published material. computerised data base of museum coal mining collections. The data base now contains details of 2. To assess the nature of individual four thousand five hundred and thirty collections. six items held at twenty-six institutions 3. To identify gaps and advise on an - major collections being located at integrated collecting policy. Bersham Ironworks & Heritage Centre, 4. To evaluate collection management. Big Pit Blaenafon, Cefn Coed Colliery 5. To examine financial and marketing Museum, South Wales Miners’ strategy. Museum, Rhondda Heritage Park and 6. To review the future. 6 the Welsh Industrial & Maritime Museum. The Welsh survey differs from its companions, in that its primary aim was the creation of a computerised database. 7,8 The research undertaken for the database offered a Constructing the conservation unique opportunity to ask as many survey questions as possible. As well as researching historical and technical Scale and scope details of an artefact it was possible to It must be stressed that conservation investigate its condition and where it was not the primary objective of the was stored. survey and that the researcher had a background in coal mining and Welsh Collections were located by sending history rather than in conservation. out a simple questionnaire asking Therefore, in order to fulfil aim 4, ‘To various institutions if they held coal evaluate collection management’ a mining related material. simple guide to asking questions and recording information was required. The visits comprised an informal Areas of study were considered which interview with the person responsible could provide indicators on the for the collection, examination of the condition of collections and on the accession registers (if applicable), and range of factors which may have

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contributed to that condition. This may scale which allows a general also help to identify measures which comparison of the condition of items; could be implemented in the future and and so allow an insight into the factors contribute in a small way to aim 6, ‘To which affect their condition. As review the future’. condition was assessed by a single researcher (following discussions with Two areas which we thought could be conservators) the relative values of the surveyed relatively easily, and would categories were assumed to be valid. provide useful information, were the The condition of an item was object condition and quality of the categorised as simply as possible;-1= storage environment. * good, 2= fair, 3= poor, 4= bad.

Condition It is usual for some mining museums A number of condition surveys have to retain original dirt and refrain from been developed by museum staff, and repairing any damage associated with a common factor is the use of a 1-4 the original function of the object and condition grade. 9,10,11 These overall this policy was taken into consideration grades are normally based on an in the condition assessment. The aggregate score from a number of sub condition grade was based on damage categories of damage. Inconsistency that had been caused within the in ascribing a value may be reduced museum rather than on the coalface. by this breakdown of damage An extreme example of this is a lamp categories but this technique was not which survived the Abercarn explosion employed for a number of reasons, of 1878 and was recovered when old two of which are worth elaborating on. workings were explored during the 1920s. The gauze and pillars were The first is that most published work missing, the base of the oil vessel was on the results of collection surveys burnt away and the glass showed the concentrates on the interpretation of effects of great heat. However, this the condition grade alone rather than a object was given a ‘1’ on the database. detailed discussion of the sub On the other hand a perfectly useable categories. Neither the resources nor NCB issue rubber kneepad which had the inclination were available to collect suffered the effects of a leak of data which would not be used corrosive battery acid in the museum subsequently. store was given a ‘4’.

The second reason was that a single It may be impossible for this process to person was to assess all items over a be entirely accurate, but the relatively short period of time, so there researcher’s comprehensive was no need to collate results of understanding of the original functions researchers with different perceptions. and history of the artefacts should 12 Descriptions of collection condition ensure a high level of reliability. By are not intended to be absolute but in discounting as much intrinsic damage these circumstances are made on a as possible, the results should be a subjective but reliable basis. These better indicator of current threats to definitions should therefore create a museum mining collections.

The existing documentation of the * For the purpose of the survey store collections was often very basic and describes conditions both in store and did not always contain enough on display.

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information to adjust the assessment level of care as objects which had based on the age of the artefacts or been stored more thoughtfully. their condition as they arrived at the museum. Neither of these factors During research the amount of objects were therefore taken into in the open air under shelters was consideration. discovered to be negligible and these results have been merged with open Storage air. Also only three items were In describing the quality of the storage categorised as bad so the categories of an item, two questions were used as of poor and bad were merged. indicators. One addressed the environmental and the other the Results physical protection of the item. Working with the database it is The first question looked at the possible to compare the condition of building, or lack of it, in which the the objects with any of the other collections were held. Conditions criteria. Several relationships were could range from open air, and investigated and rejected as the therefore uncontrolled light, humidity results were not considered relevant or and pollution etc. to a closed building meaningful. where the humidity changes would be buffered, and light and pollution levels Comparison by museum was not reduced. The two intermediate options considered to be useful for two main were artefacts in the open air but reasons. The first is that different sheltered (OC), and artefacts held in museums had acquired collections what was described as an open from different periods of mining history. building (OB). An open building, one Therefore, some museums have with permanent or daily openings in archaeological items whilst others had the building fabric, whilst sheltering an collections which had only recently artefact, would closely replicate passed out of use. The second reason outdoor conditions. is that most of the items assessed were ones which had been The second question looked at the accessioned into the museum quality of storage of an item. The collection. Where not all items in the indicator of the quality of physical museum are accessioned the process protection was whether objects were had often begun with the best material. stored individually or were piled up on In contrast museums with no top of each other. Items which were accessioning backlog were more likely piled on top of each other without to have accessioned the poorer items enough space were described as ‘yes’ of the collections. Consequently, a piled up. Where an item was free well managed museum could appear standing or had a distinct space on a to have a collection in worse condition shelf it was entered as ‘no’, not piled than a museum with documentation up. Objects which were correctly backlogs. packed and supported in boxes were recorded as a ‘no’. Although not an Comparisons of object condition by absolute guide it is reasonable to date of manufacture could have been assume that objects which are piled up a useful exercise. Unfortunately within are not being handled with the same the scope of the research, and working

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with the existing museum piled up? Yes or No). Table 1 documentation this was not possible. separates out the figures to look at this point in more detail. Comparison of In contrast other correlations were the percentage of objects in good or investigated and found to produce fair condition with the different types of meaningful and useful results. storage conditions demonstrates fairly similar results for both open air and The effect of storage on condition open buildings. This indicates that The correlation of condition against when the environment is poor the storage, attempts to quantify what physical protection is the more critical must be a common sense assumption factor. that the quality of the storage environment will affect the condition of Items categorised as Good or Fair the collections held there. Piled up Not piled up Open Air 21% 80% Results are summarised in Figure 1 Open Building 25% 93% which compares object condition with Table 1 storage environment for all of the collections surveyed (by August 1996). Moving to the closed building where Along the horizontal axis the six environmental factors would be different storage conditions are listed expected to be more favourable to the (open air/piled up, closed building/not artefacts they are in much better piled up etc.). The vertical axis condition. Physical protection, represents the amount of objects in although still important, is a less each condition category (good, fair, decisive factor. poor) as a percentage of the total in that storage environment. Total Items categorised as Good or Fair numbers in the categories are included Piled up Not piled up as data labels on top of each bar. Closed Building 95% 98% Table 2 An initial review of the results demonstrates quite clearly a In the poorer storage environments, continuous improvement in the (OA OB.), the percentage of the items condition of the collections as the classified as good did not exceed 18%. quality of their environment is In the closed building 65% of the items improved. In the best environment, a which were piled up were classified as closed building with enough space for good, and 88% of the items not piled each item, nearly 90% of items are up were classified as good. This is a described as being in good condition. clear indicator of the relationship In the worst environment, of objects between the environment in which the piled up with no shelter, less than 10% collection is held and its condition. of items are in good condition. It is worth noting that the closed There are however other, more subtle, building described in the survey does trends which can be identified. not necessarily provide ideal Comparing the poorer environments environmental standards. 13 To be (open air, OA, and open building, OB, ) described in this way a building merely it is the quality of the physical had to provide continuous shelter. protection which is the crucial factor in Better standards such as stable RH collection condition (Are the objects and low U/V and light levels should

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also be an objective when housing are strikingly similar for each group. important or vulnerable collections. 14 The results of this comparison would Nonetheless, a closed building where suggest that the most valued objects objects are stored with moderate receive no significantly better care physical protection, can be seen to than other parts of the collection. This provide significant levels of protection. would indicate that there is no initial This could be a realistic benchmark for sorting of items as they arrive at the minimum standards of care for all but museums to allocate different levels of the largest objects. care. Even those items which may have been assumed to have been When survey results agree with valued on arrival at a museum are previously held assumptions it is degrading at a comparable rate to the tempting to view them uncritically. We rest of the collection. Damage to the wanted to avoid this and challenge collections that is not attributable to the these results. In particular we asked items previous use can then be whether the results prove that damage attributed to the care, or lack of it, in is the direct result of poor storage, or if the museums. items which arrive at the museum in poor condition (damaged) are put into Summary of results poor storage.  Failing to provide basic storage is a Working with the existing database an significant cause of damage, attempt was been made to check this.  Items of perceived high value are There were no reliable records of likely to degrade at similar rates to object condition prior to acquisition so the rest of the collections, a more imaginative solution had to be  Where a good building is not found. We attempted to identify possible, physical protection may be objects which may have been in good a better investment than minimal condition on arrival, which would then environmental protection such as have been allocated the best storage canopies or shelters, environment. This was done by  All items, regardless of perceived identifying a group of ‘emotive objects’. value, held in good buildings and These artefacts are ones which are with adequate physical support, are easy to sympathise with; for example, likely to be preserved in good symbols of the mining industry, condition. valuable items or artefacts likely to be used in displays and interpretation. A selection was made from the database Conclusions categories. Categories chosen are fully listed in Appendix 1 but included We can conclude that the survey flame safety lamps, items associated shows that the failure to provide with pit ponies, trade union activities adequate storage provision is the (for example banners) and personal cause of damage to all sections of the items (such as tobacco tins and watch collections. Basic preventive cases). conservation measures can have an enormous impact on the rate of The condition of the group of emotive damage to collections. Physical items was then compared with the support should be a basic minimum collection as a whole. As can be seen standard for any item collected by an from Figure 2, the patterns of condition industrial, or indeed any, museum,

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even if the future use of the object is not clear. The combination of physical Those with responsibility for collections protection and a building which buffers cannot afford to see conservation the weather should be a realistic target simply as a debate about levels of for all but the largest of objects which restoration between conservators and the museum intends to preserve for engineers but as an issue of the future. collections management and resource allocation. Policy makers should Mining museums face the challenge of consider ‘not damaging’ items as their caring for large collections of complex first priority in providing conservation items of varying sizes with limited for their collections and invest in basic resources. In this context there are preventive conservation. Resources still realistic and practical measures found to restore damaged objects which this paper demonstrates will should be re-directed for this purpose. make a measurable difference to Collections should be considered as a collection condition, even over a short whole and the scope of industrial period of time. It does not require conservation extended far beyond enormous technical expertise to individual restoration projects. implement basic preventive conservation strategies. Appendix 1

Guidelines on basic care are available Emotive items from a number of sources including the MGC and the Area Museum Councils. Mine Lighting 15,16 The fact that even items which  mobile (naked flame) may be perceived as being important  mobile (flame safety) are not receiving any better level of care may suggest that many of those Production and Development responsible for the collections are do  hand tools not feel that strategies to implement  transport basic preventive conservation  horse measures are pertinent to their field. This may indicate the need for training First Aid / Rescue / Recovery / in the core functions of museum work Disasters in particular, collections care.  first aid and medical  rescue and recovery Mining collections have, by and large,  fire fighting been collected over decades, yet  disasters museums must now try to care for them for centuries. Even during the Signs and Notices relatively short time that some collections have been exposed to Clothing / Personal Items ‘curatorial neglect’ the statistics show the damage is already being done. 17  work ware Poor storage as a short term problem,  protective clothing initiated by limited resources, will  food / drink containers ultimately manifest itself in damage to  tobacco and watch containers the collections, generating conservation and access problems for Trade Union the long term.  banners

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 tokens / badges 10. Walker, K and Bacon, L, A  strikes and lockouts condition survey of the Horniman: a progress report, Recent Advances in Fine Art the Conservation and Analysis of  paintings Artefacts, Summer Schools Press  sculpture (1987) pp 337-340. 11. Dollery, D, A methodology of References preventive conservation for a large, expanding and mixed archaeological 1. Llewellyn, R, How green was my collection, Preventive Conservation valley, London (1991) p 213. Practice Theory and Research, IIC 2. Davies, G and Davies, K, A (1994) pp 69-73. Burning Issue, CMW (1996). 12. Taylor, J, An Assessment of 3. Gale, A, Fuel For Thought, The Condition Surveys as a Objective Status & Future of Coal Mining Tool of Analysis, University of Wales Collections in North East Museums, College Cardiff, (1996) (unpublished North of England Museums Service dissertation). (1994). 13. Paine, C (ed), Standards in the 4. Shorland-Ball, R, Museums and Museum Care of Larger and Coal Mining, Museums and Galleries Working Objects, MGC (1994). Commission (1996). 14. Ball, S, Larger and Working 5. Jones, W D, The Coal Mining Objects. A Guide to their Industry in Wales, Its Conservation, Preservation and Care, MGC (1997). Preservation and Interpretation, 15. ibid. National Museum of Wales (1983) 16. Preventive Conservation, East (unpublished paper). Midlands Museums Service (1994). 6. Davies and Davies (1996) op cit. 17. Waller, R, Conservation risk 7. Gale (1994) op cit. assessment: a strategy for managing 8. Shorland-Ball (1996) op cit. resources for preventive conservation, 9. Keene, S, Audits of care: a Preventive Conservation Practice framework for collections condition Theory and Research, IIC (1994) pp surveys, Storage, UKIC (1991) pp 6- 12-17. 16.

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Object Condition by Storage Figure 1 50 38 26 12 20 35 100% 193 198 150 90% 2010

132 80%

70% 436

60%

50%

40%

30% 6 7 20% 37

21 10% 6 3

0% 1 2 3 4 5 6 G o o d F a ir P o o r

1=Open Air / Piled up 2=Open Air / Not piled up 3=Open Building / Piled up 4=Open Building / Not piled up 5=Closed Building / Piled up 6=Closed Building / Not piled up Figure 2

Condition by Status

100

80

60

40

20

0

A ll it ems Emotive items

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MAINTENANCE OF WORKING OBJECTS AT BIG PIT MINING MUSEUM

P Walker case of coal, even the final product of Abstract this barbaric activity is burned to provide transient heat and light or to Museums have long recognised the fact that allow ‘nerds’ to surf the internet. demonstrating an object in motion can add immeasurably to the understanding of its purpose and significance. At Big Pit the daily It might therefore be seen as operation of historic mining machinery is not ludicrously arrogant for a mining only desirable but is in fact essential to the engineer to talk about good practice in continued operation of the museum. As Big conservation. But, ironically, the Pit is still classed as a working mine by the Health and Safety Executive, however, the mining industry’s enforced concern for requirements of mining and other health and the health and safety of its workforce safety legislation must take priority over the in an inherently dangerous and hostile normal curatorial concerns of operating environment has led to the adoption of historically significant objects. maintenance systems which have a This short paper seeks to demonstrate how rigour and thoroughness which will the standard of care of working objects at Big appeal to the professional conservator. Pit is nevertheless comparable with, if not In particular, the concern for better than, the current best practice used in meticulous documentation and a many traditional museums. The system of complete maintenance audit path for maintenance at Big Pit will be explained and it will be shown that the requirements for each item of equipment from ensuring the continued safe operation of an acquisition to disposal means that item of mining equipment are similar to those MODES or Spectrum might well have for ensuring its continued preservation as a been copied from the record-keeping museum object. system that the mining industry has been working to for decades. 1,2 Introduction This paper sets out to give a brief Mining is an ephemeral activity. overview of some of these systems Geological strata are ripped out in their and to illustrate how well they have entirety, often with scant regard for the served in the transition of a working surface environment. Machinery, tools colliery to a ‘working’ museum of the and, at one time, even the lives of men coal industry. were treated as expendable in the quest for valuable minerals. Once The Big Pit Mining Museum reserves have been exhausted, mines are closed, expensive equipment is When the National Coal Board colliery often abandoned underground, shafts at Big Pit closed in 1980, there were are filled and capped, tips reclaimed still some forty collieries working in the and surface areas, workshops, offices South Wales Area, employing around and headgear demolished for twenty five thousand men. Not even redevelopment. Cassandra would have seriously predicted the virtual extinction of this There is not much room for industry with in the next quarter sentimentality in a miner’s working life. century. Although called a ‘museum’ The dangers and hardships of the job from the outset, Big Pit’s primary and the constant pressure for high purpose was to be a job-creating output at low cost see to that. In the tourist attraction based on the unique

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appeal of an underground tour of a visited museums in Wales throughout ‘working’ colliery. Ostensibly, at least, its fourteen year life. for that reason the mine was leased to an independent charitable trust and The transition of the South Wales coal never provided with public revenue industry from major employer and funding, forcing it to exist by its own mainstay of the economy to a slice of capacity to generate income. In doing our national heritage has placed great this, Big Pit has become the most pressure on Big Pit to respond by visited mining museum in Britain. becoming a ‘proper’ museum with Since it opened to the public in 1983, resources and professionalism some one and a half million people commensurate with the importance of have travelled down the shaft, around what it preserves of the history of 30% of whom have been overseas Wales. visitors. That process has begun but is still in In addition to the two miles or so of its early stages. In the meantime we underground roadways, the curtilage are very aware of our shortcomings as at Big Pit includes a surface area of a museum, not least as regards our approximately 54.7 acres containing a inability to care adequately for the unique range of buildings. In 1995, large amount of material that we have Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments acquired in the wake of closure of listed twelve buildings and structures other British Coal collieries. Whereas on the Big Pit site and yet none of we are able to provide reasonable these is of exceptional architectural curation for small objects, the merit! considerable scale of the large object acquisition has been well beyond our Most are described on the schedules current resources to manage as ‘included for group value with other adequately. Fortunately, they are all listed items at this exceptionally quite robust and we had no option complete colliery site’. 3 Cadw have other than to take them when offered taken the view that the site’s value to or they would be lost. the nation’s heritage lies in the fact that ‘Big Pit is regarded as being the I shall therefore move rapidly on from most functionally complete colliery the non-working objects with the complex remaining in South Wales consoling thought that they help to add and its underground accessibility and to the realism of a colliery presentation is of outstanding environment! The treatment of our importance’. 4 working machinery and the ‘live’ parts of the mine is a different matter Cadw’s view of the importance of the entirely. underground sections of the mine appears to accord with public Maintenance procedures at coal perception of the site for some 95% of mines visitors take the underground tour and cite this as the main reason for their A great deal of Big Pit’s appeal as a visit. The underground tour is also the visitor destination derives from the fact reason why, despite its relative that it is an authentic ‘deep’ mine, with inaccessibility, high admission prices genuine underground workings which and underdevelopment, Big Pit has are reached by means of a shaft rather consistently been among the most than an adit. It is therefore classed as

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a working mine by the Health & Safety acceptable where no reduction in Executive and is required to meet the safety occurs as a result of the stringent standards set by mining breakdown. At Big Pit maintenance is legislation and health and safety of the PPM type. Acceptable PPM regulations just like any other coal arrangements may be either ‘time- mine. based’, in which equipment is examined, checked and maintained at Under the Management and intervals based on work done or Administration of Safety and Health at calendar time, or ‘condition-based’, in Mines Regulations, 1993, which which the equipment is maintained replaced previous long-standing only when its condition deteriorates to legislation, the manager of every mine a pre-determined level which is must ensure that underground indicative of impending failure. Like workings are regularly inspected for most mines, Big Pit’s PPM scheme adequate ventilation, support, etc., and includes a combination of both time- that all plant and equipment is safely and condition-based maintenance. installed, commissioned and operated. 5 Furthermore, the manager is The manager’s PPM scheme identifies required to prepare and maintain a every item of plant and equipment and suitable written scheme for the specifies the nature and frequency of systematic inspection, examination, the inspection, examination, test or testing, maintenance and, where action required. Like every colliery necessary, repair, renewal or PPM scheme, Big Pit’s scheme is decommissioning of the said plant and tailored to the individual needs of the equipment. All this must be done mine and ensures that the plant is kept under the direction and management in safe condition and that it is serviced of suitably qualified, competent and to maintain its operating performance authorised persons. This is called the and continued compliance with Manager’s Scheme of Maintenance relevant safety standards. The and it must take account of numerous scheme includes: requirements which are imposed by law as well as of practices designed to  those examinations, checks and ensure compliance with proper necessary tests or renewals which standards of engineering. are specified in relevant legislation - winding equipment examination and The Maintenance Scheme testing, suspension gear changing, Maintenance falls into two broad  those examinations which can be categories: identified as necessary for safety - to identify wear or deterioration on i) curative or breakdown critical safety components, maintenance,  examinations and tests which are ii) planned preventative necessary to demonstrate that the maintenance (PPM). system is and continues to be safe - braking systems, insulation levels Because of the additional hazards on electrical equipment, associated with the mining  examinations and tests on environment it is normal for protective devices to ensure reliable maintenance arrangements to be of operation - overload protection, the PPM type, although curative or thermal protection, overspeed or breakdown maintenance may be

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overtravel protection, signalling  twelve monthly - four week’s systems and emergency stops, tolerance is allowed for non-  examinations and tests which statutory maintenance, experience has shown are  three yearly, necessary for safe operation or are  five yearly, recommended by manufacturers or  seven yearly, industry codes and rules,  ten yearly,  specialist inspections and tests by  twenty yearly. outside personnel - insurance tests on boilers and pressure vessels, Renewal and replacement  regular external examination by a It is not only the frequency of statutory competent person for abnormal tests, examinations, etc., which are conditions, laid down in mining legislation but also  taking and analysing samples of the frequency at which specific items fluid or other material which may must be renewed or replaced. indicate the internal condition of Examples of such items would be critical plant, winding ropes and guide ropes, which,  a system for reporting and dealing regardless of their conditions of with defects found in plant and service, must by law be replaced every equipment. three and twenty years respectively. Replacement of such critical The frequencies of certain components at such periods was examinations specified in statutory rightfully deemed appropriate for instruments (for example Pressure operational mines where the Vessels and the Shafts and Winding conditions in which these ropes Regulations) cannot be varied by the operated could be extremely harsh. manager’s PPM scheme and must be The conditions at Big Pit are mild by carried out as specified in those comparison and it could be argued that regulations. 6,7 The frequencies of the in practice the working life of the ropes non-statutory examinations are left to could be significantly extended. the discretion of the manager of the However, the legislation governing the mine who generally follows established life of critical items makes no industry norms and best practice. The exceptions for mining museums and frequencies laid down in the must therefore be complied with in full. manager’s scheme are usually as follows: Manager’s PPM scheme

 weekly (W), The following is a simplified description  monthly (M) - one week’s tolerance of those documents used in the is allowed for non statutory manager’s PPM scheme at Big Pit maintenance, which can also be seen to have a  three monthly - two week’s significance in a curatorial context. tolerance is allowed for non- statutory maintenance, Form M.E. 1 - Maintenance  six monthly - three week’s tolerance Schedule is allowed for non-statutory Without this primary document there is maintenance, no maintenance scheme. It identifies every type of plant at the mine and details the type and frequency of the examinations to be carried out.

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examinations and tests become more An understanding of the importance of comprehensive, until we get to an F this document can be gained by using type examination, which is carried out the mechanical maintenance of the on a ten yearly basis. It involves winder brake callipers as an example. exactly the same maintenance as called for in A,B,C,D,& E type For the purposes of maintenance the examinations plus non-destructive winder is not considered as a single testing, with ultra sonics, of every machine. It is divided up into dozens component part of the callipers. of sub-sections or systems each of which is individually dealt with on the Form M.E. 2 - Plant Specification M.E.1. The brake gear is identified The specification of each item of plant with a mine number (101/82) and a will be individually recorded on this Check List Number: MF001. More or form. Together with the plant history less every type of item in the system card (M.E.3) it forms the basic plant requires its own maintenance checklist record. The technical specification, and all the check lists are kept manufacturer, purchase price and together in the form of books which are maker’s plant number will be recorded referred to as and when required. along with any other relevant information. The M.E.1 then calls for an A type examination to be carried out on a Form M.E. 3 - Plant History Card daily basis: a visual examination of the This card lists all relevant events in the various parts and for the performance plant’s history including any repairs, of the brakes to be checked by modifications etc. carried out during carrying out a brake hold test. the life of the plant. Both the M.E.2 and M.E.3 cards are kept for the life of Then as the frequency of the the plant. examinations decrease from daily to weekly, monthly, six monthly etc., the Table 1

FORM. M E.1 MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE

MINES AND QUARRIES ACT 1954 The Management and Administration of Safety and Health at Mines Regulations 1993

Manager’s Scheme for the Mine for Big Pit Mining Museum

Department: Mechanical Location: Winder Sheet No.1 of 5 Sheets

CHEC Indicate type of examination by code REMARKS K Mine TYPE OF PLANT LIST FREQUENCY OF EXAMINATION Non- Destructive Number Number D W M 3M 6M A 3y ET Testing 101/82 Brake Gear Callipers MF001 A B C D E F 10 yearly 101/83 Blacks Hydraulic System MF002 A B C D E

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101/84 Emergency Generator MF016 A B B 101/86 Blacks Pony Brake MF001 A B C D 10 yearly

Form M.E. 4/5E and M.E. 4/5M - without the manager’s approval and Routine Work Instructions and only non-statutory maintenance can be Reports delayed. As a general rule, These essentially consist of: written amendments to the scheme are not work instructions for one week’s daily used at Big Pit and if the examination and weekly examinations for one is scheduled for an inconvenient date it craftsman; and the craftsman’s is more likely that the examination date subsequent report on that work. If the will be brought forward rather than man is absent the form must be issued delayed. to his replacement and must be completed as a record that the work Forms M.E. 10 - Record of Tests has been carried out. A variety of forms is used to give a continuous record of the results of Form M.E. 4 (E)P and M.E.4 (M)P - tests on various items of equipment. Major Notifications Records of examinations and tests are These are for periodic (major) stored for a period of at least three electrical and mechanical years. Reports on the commissioning examinations of a more of major plant are kept for the life of comprehensive nature than either daily the system as are the Plant or weekly examinations. The form has Specification (M.E.2) and Plant History room for a written report from the Cards (M.E.3). craftsman on each examination. Summary of M.E. records Form M.E. 6 - Defect Action Sheet The documentation is designed to This is used when action is required ensure that the key requirements for because a report is received any effective maintenance system are identifying a defect which could not be met. There must be a primary corrected at the time. These defects document that says what will be are also recorded in Statutory Defect maintained and how and when it will Books M&Q 267 and 268. be done. There must be a record of the detailed technical specification of Form M.E.7 - Application for every item in the system. There must Temporary Amendment of be a means of recording the technical Manager’s Scheme history of every item. There must be a The use of tolerance periods gives the means of issuing instructions, engineers a certain flexibility by recording defects and recording that allowing them to schedule their the specified maintenance has been maintenance for the most convenient carried out. There must be a means of time. If circumstances are such that monitoring the performance of the they believe that they will be unable to scheme itself. Finally both the scheme carry out the maintenance within the and the maintenance must be tolerance period, they must apply to managed and carried out by suitably the manager for an amendment to the competent and authorised people. scheme so that they can delay the maintenance for a short period. No amendment to the scheme is allowed

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Planned Improvements to the scheme match the standards for the Scheme operation, maintenance and repair of working objects laid down in the The scheme of maintenance described Museums & Galleries Commission above has been used in coal mines for publication, ‘Standards in the Museum many years and, although it has since Care of Larger & Working Objects’. 8 been adapted for use in many other Chapters five and twenty four of the industries, those who conceived it can above publication are of particular have had little idea that it would one relevance to Big Pit and most of the day be used in a museum. Naturally guidelines set out in these chapters the scheme makes no allowance for are more than adequately met in the Big Pit’s Museum function but there museum’s existing procedures. are nevertheless simple ways in which this can be remedied. The rationale for operating the collection For example, as the scheme is primarily designed for health and The museum world has long safety reasons, it monitors operational recognised the fact that demonstrating equipment but not spares, be they an object in motion can add either complete items of equipment or immeasurably to the understanding of parts thereof. Big Pit has salvaged a its purpose and significance but none large amount of material from closing of the equipment at Big Pit is operated collieries over recent years, which simply for display purposes. Every would have been duly accessed into item that is operated is essential to the the collections of many museums. museum’s continuing function as a We, by contrast, have acquired these mine. The principal function and value items in order to provide essential of the museum’s working machines is spares for Big Pit’s operational to provide visitor access to the equipment. So, having been checked underground areas of the mine and and cleaned, most of this equipment allow the continued maintenance of presently sits on shelves awaiting the these areas by the museum’s day when it will be needed. It is our workforce. The fact that they exist as intention to extend the scheme to objects and can be viewed in operation include these and similar items that will by the public is incidental to their be acquired in future. primary purpose.

Naturally at production mines the In operating historic mining machinery scheme no longer monitors items once on a daily basis Big Pit faces a similar they cease to be operational as they dilemma to that of a number of other are then normally consigned to the museums. Although our equipment is scrap bin. At Big Pit, however, once capable of incremental repair and an item’s operational life has ended, it refurbishment, its continued operation can begin a new life as a traditional will almost inevitably lead to its museum object. Thus the scheme will deterioration in the long term as be modified to reflect this. various parts wear out and need replacing. We take the view, however, Despite the need to modify the that the maintenance of visitor access scheme to take Big Pit’s museum to the underground workings must take function into account, it can be seen priority over the normal curatorial how closely the requirements of the

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concerns of operating historically of mining equipment are therefore significant objects. compatible with those for ensuring its continued preservation as a museum Conserving the conservators? object.

High engineering standards and The interesting debate about how best comprehensive documentation are to preserve historic machinery is likely essential parts of any effective to continue for some time. The maintenance scheme but the standard experience gained from fourteen years of care of a working object is ultimately of operating Big Pit as a museum determined by the quality of those staff inevitably leads us to support those charged with its maintenance. museum professionals who contend that operating an historic object is very The standards of engineering currently often the best way of preserving it. in place at Big Pit reflect the quality of That experience also leads us to the personnel that the museum has been view that whatever the object is and for able to recruit from amongst those whatever reason it is to be operated it leaving the mining industry during the must be maintained and operated in a past decade. Having gained the basic professional manner and to a standard technical qualifications and experience at least as high as that to be currently required, during their careers with found in industry. British Coal, the museum staff receive additional training as and when References required in order to augment their existing skills and update them in line 1. Museums Documentation with current best practice. The Association, Modes Plus, MDA, technical competence of its staff is Cambridge (1993). now vital to the museum because its 2. Museums Documentation increased isolation from the rest of the Association, SPECTRUM: The UK mining industry means that it needs to Museum Documentation Standard, be self-contained in terms of all MDA, Cambridge (1997). appropriate skills. 3. Schedule of Listings under the Planning (Listed Buildings and The museum is thus not only Conservation Areas) Act, Cadw ref. preserving historic machinery but is 35/A/20(10). also preserving the skills and expertise 4. ibid. necessary to keep them functioning. 5. Management and Administration of Safety and Health at Mines Conclusion Regulations ACOP, HSE L44 (1993). 6. Simple Pressure Vessels (Safety) In describing the maintenance system Regulations, HSE (1991). used at Big Pit this short paper has 7. Shafts and Winding in Mines sought to demonstrate that the ACOP, HSE L42 (1993). standard of care that it demands is at 8. Paine, C (ed), Standards in the least comparable with current best Museum Care of Larger and practice in more traditional museums Working Objects, MGC (1994). and that the requirements for ensuring the continued safe operation of an item

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ONTARIO HYDRO’S CORPORATE HERITAGE

D Cuming, J Simonton and S Maltby elements of its operations that Abstract constitute heritage resources it either owns or affects in the course of its day- Ontario Hydro is the major producer and to-day and longer range operations. supplier of electricity to the people of Ontario, Canada. Since its founding in the early 1900s This recognition had been spurred by the corporation has amassed a rich cultural studies undertaken in the early 1980s.3, heritage, including a wealth of large and small 4 industrial artefacts. As part of its many mandates and management practices the To further its heritage conservation corporation, has recognised that it has a responsibility to conserve those heritage mandate, the Corporation retained a resources it either owns, or affects, in the multi-disciplinary consulting team course of its day-to-day and longer range (1992-1997) of heritage conservation operations. To further its heritage planning consultants, a conservator, conservation mandate, the corporation corporate historian and archaeologists retained a multi-disciplinary consulting team of heritage conservation professionals to to undertake a review and assessment undertake a review and assessment of Ontario of its corporate heritage. The study Hydro’s corporate heritage resources. The process was determined in large part by consultant team’s approach to the study the terms of reference for the project process and the resulting conservation established by the client. The management strategies included: devising a comprehensive typology of heritage features; consultants undertook a number of establishing themes of corporate history; discrete activities: providing a system of evaluation criteria; and recommending a number of management  devised a typology of heritage strategies to manage and plan for the conservation of heritage features. features including non-movable heritage such as cultural landscapes and built heritage (dams, spillways Introduction and surge tanks), movable heritage (turbines, dynamos, gantry cranes Ontario Hydro, one of the largest and vehicles,) and intangible publicly owned corporate utilities in heritage (reminiscences, stories and North America, is the major producer other forms of oral histories), and supplier of electricity to the people  reviewed existing data bases and of Ontario, Canada. The Corporation then carried out representative produces over 30,000 MW of electricity sampling of all identified types of supplied through a system of five corporate heritage resources to nuclear generating stations, eight fossil determine the quality of the cultural fuel generating stations and sixty-nine heritage, as well as its condition, hydro-electric generating stations with care and maintenance, two hundred and eighty eight  established themes of corporate associated dams and structures. activity that placed the development Electricity is supplied through 29,000 of buildings, structures, artefacts, km of transmission lines, 105,000 km of and documents in a broad historical distribution lines and two hundred and context understandable to the lay forty five transmission stations. 1,2 The person or non-specialist manager Corporation has recognized that it has a responsible for heritage in their responsibility to conserve those management activities,

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 derived a system of evaluation Falls, and the commencement of criteria that could be used to construction on the giant and innovative determine the heritage value of generating station at Queenston which identified resources both in the short came into production in 1921. In the term and long-term activities of same year HEPCO also acquired the Ontario Hydro, Toronto Power Company, a major  proposed a number of management supplier of electricity from Niagara Falls strategies to integrate and and, until then, one of the most vocal incorporate preservation of heritage opponents of public power expansion in features, including movable Northern Ontario. Throughout the heritage, into Ontario Hydro’s long 1920’s successful campaigns were term planning activities. mounted to promote rural electrification and the greater use of electricity in the Ontario Hydro: a summary history home and by industry.

A brief overview of Ontario Hydro’s The Second World War placed a strain operations and its historical on Ontario Hydro’s ability to supply development is useful in understanding power, with approximately a quarter of the scope and scale of some of the its production needed to support the heritage management issues. war effort. Due to materials and labour shortages, new generating facilities Ontario Hydro’s birth in 1906 as the could not be built until 1945. Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Meanwhile, there were power shortages Ontario (HEPCO) was the result of that reached a peak in 1947-48, about considerable lobbying by Adam Beck, a the same time that Ontario Hydro successful manufacturer and mayor in began building the first of two fossil- South Western Ontario. As minister fueled generating plants in Windsor and responsible for the power issue, he Toronto. introduced legislation to create HEPCO as a Crown corporation to distribute After 1960 when the last big power generated by existing companies hydroelectric sites were developed, it at Niagara Falls. By the end of the first became clear that the province’s year of operation (1910), HEPCO was requirements for electricity would have supplying power from Niagara Falls to to be met through additional large- twenty-one communities in Ontario as scale, fossil-fuelled generating stations well as to Ottawa and Port Arthur, with in some combination with the less electricity bought from local private proven alternative of nuclear suppliers. technology. Ontario Hydro, with the government’s blessing, opted for both. HEPCO remained a distributor of power Construction of five more coal and oil- until 1914 when it bought its first fired plants commenced during the generating station and later that year 1960s and early 1970s. Concurrent completed construction of the first development of major nuclear Commission-built station. Under the generating stations occurred, based pressure of demands for electricity to upon the heavy water technology sustain World War I production, a series pioneered at Rolphton and Douglas of other stations were built or Point, in partnership with Atomic Energy purchased. This culminated in 1917 of Canada Limited. with the acquisition of the large Ontario Power Company station at Niagara

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The total hydroelectric generation heritage field in the early 1990s, namely capacity of Ontario Hydro now accounts a review of the Ontario Heritage Act, the for just under 25% of the utility’s energy prime piece of provincial heritage production. Yet the corporation’s legislation. Literature at that time collection of mostly older and smaller suggested that ‘heritage’ could be hydroelectric generating stations are a divide into four major categories: wealth of heritage resources. movable, immovable, tangible and intangible. These subdivisions were Ontario Hydro’s heritage: a typology used in reviewing the corporate of heritage features holdings of Ontario Hydro and are summarized in Table 1: Typology of The legacy of nearly ninety years of Heritage Features below. human activity in the production of electrical energy has resulted, not In the management study a profile surprisingly, in a diverse and rich variety sheet was compiled for each feature of heritage features including: describing:

 entire landscapes,  whether the feature is movable or  individual buildings and structures, immovable,  work areas,  the category of the feature, for  specialised places and furnishings example cultural landscape, built within buildings, heritage,  machinery and mobile equipment,  the subclass of the category.  technological devices,  tools and miscellaneous equipment, Further to these subdivisions information was  archaeological remains, collected on the following:  documentary materials,  people and their reminiscences.  a general description of the fundamental form of the feature, The consultants organised these  its constituent material elements diverse heritage assets into what they describing the component parts of termed a ‘typology’ of heritage features. the feature,  inherent conservation issues This reflected not only the expertise of including corrosion, deterioration and the consultants but also developments adverse alterations. that were occurring in the Ontario Table 1 TYPOLOGY OF HERITAGE FEATURES Category Class Type Sub-type Tangible: Immovable Cultural Landscape Units Settlement and construction camps Generating stations: hydraulic, fossil fuel and nuclear Transmission routes Electrical facilities

Tangible: Immovable Built heritage Features Power Houses Dams and appurtenant features Intake works and water conductors Transmission lines Transformer, distribution and switching stations Administrative and maintenance facilities

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Dwellings, schools, community halls and stores Access routes

Tangible: Immovable Archaeological resources Sites

Tangible: Immovable Large artefacts Turbines Generators Governors Exciters Transformers Mobile equipment and vehicles Cranes

Tangible: Movable Small artefacts Tools Furniture Scientific equipment Assorted objects

Tangible: Movable Documentary collections Textual records Architectural and engineering records Cartographic records and surveys Photographic records Moving images Sound recordings Art work

Tangible: Movable Archaeological resources Artefacts

Intangible: People Reminiscences Skills and crafts

Themes of corporate historical The division of Ontario Hydro’s activity corporate history into themes and sub- themes relates directly to the process of One of the keystones in identifying, evaluating heritage resources. There evaluating, planning and conserving was no attempt to rank the theme any kind of heritage feature is the segments. It is assumed that by virtue placement of the feature in its historical of its identification, the theme is context. Typically, detailed research is deemed of some significance to the often undertaken on a case-by-case corporation’s development. Of greater basis to determine the historical context importance in the assessment of and to identify particular associations heritage resources is consideration of with people, events or activities. To the capability of a resource to illustrate assist all those staff who come into a particular theme rather than ranking contact with, and who have to make the importance of the theme itself. decisions affecting Ontario Hydro’s corporate heritage, the consultants The history of Ontario Hydro from 1900 developed a thematic scheme for to 1965 is outlined through a set of Ontario Hydro’s historical development. inter-connected themes. When taken This enabled the establishment of a together they portray a spectrum of the comprehensive, systematic and cogent corporation’s activities that has resulted overview. in the creation of an important array of

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heritage resources. An index of the themes and theme segments of Ontario This latter component of the thematic Hydro’s corporate history is described in overview was particularly key. It Table 2 below. More recent activities enables a non-heritage specialist or are not included as only with the non-historian, to place an identified passage of time can an objective heritage resource within a historical assessment be made of them. Some context. This in turn provides the basis activities that will perhaps be worthy of for further evaluation. future consideration are the conservation of electricity, Evaluation criteria environmental impact assessment and nuclear generating stations. The determination of appropriate care, conservation, planning and For each sub-theme presented the management for Ontario Hydro’s consultants described the following: cultural heritage required use of a conservation decision-making process  a time span for the activity, a that evaluated the significance of general description of the theme cultural heritage. segment including important personnel and technical The primary purpose of evaluation is to contributions, clarify where significance (or value) lies  the Ontario Hydro regions affected in cultural heritage and how that by the activity (based on five regions significance is expressed. Evaluation of the province: Central, Eastern, should not be used, however, to screen Western, Northeastern and out or otherwise dismiss cultural Northwestern), heritage of ‘lesser’ value from  associated theme segments, conservation care.  a range of the types of heritage features produced or associated with each of the activities. Table 2 THEMES AND SUB-THEMES OF HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

Corporate Development

Building a mandate for public power (1902-1914) Expansion and consolidation (1914-1929) Retrenchment (1930-1935) Power crisis (1939-1960)

Distribution of Power

First transmission lines (1908-1911) Development of power systems (1920-1930) Standardization (1945-1960)

Generation of Power

Hydraulic: pioneering (1880-1900) Hydraulic: experimentation and innovation (1900-1920) Hydraulic: expansion and standardization (1920-1940) Hydraulic: large-scale (1940-1976) Thermal: large-scale (1948-1977) Nuclear: prototypes (1952-1968)

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Promoting the Use of Electricity

Electric railways (1912-1920) Rural electrification (1912-1939) Domestic use (1912-1930) Industrial growth (1915-1960) and assessed for the different types Effective conservation provides within the classes and categories. Each comprehensive treatment appropriate to criterion was further divided into the significance of cultural heritage in all individual indicators. circumstances. Any evaluation process requires Accordingly, the consultants supporting documentation. The criteria recommended that for effective indicators are presented in a way that evaluation of cultural heritage the use of each poses a specific question. Each specific criteria should be adopted. indicator was assigned three grades: A, Several criteria were eventually derived B or C, each representing how well or based upon four general areas of poorly the feature fared in response to evaluation: the question posed. Accordingly, for each indicator there must be supporting  the associative, essentially research, including historical related to strength of documentation, field survey and/or contributions to significant personal interviews. It is envisaged that historic themes, written documentation would be  the intrinsic, attached to the prepared so that responses could be quality, uniqueness, developed for each of the relevant representativeness, or influence criteria and indicators. The written of the physical forms and documentation would serve as a record substance of the type of cultural as to the process followed, sources heritage, consulted and the conclusions reached.  the contextual, essentially related to the contribution of a The evaluation framework for Ontario resource to the larger corporate Hydro’s resources focuses primarily on entity of Ontario Hydro, identifying resources that are of value in  the perceptual, related to the illustrating the important aspects of perceived and intangible value of Ontario Hydro’s corporate history. The a resource to the larger evaluation criteria were anticipated to corporate entity of Ontario be used either on a long term basis as Hydro. part of a continuing programme of survey and assessment work or on a The categories and types of features case-by-case basis. In order for it to be described previously (Table 1) also applied in a consistent and systematic contributed to the development of manner across the corporation, the evaluation criteria (Appendix 1). consultants advised that evaluation Specific and unique criteria were should be undertaken as a centralized developed for each type of feature in function so that an expertise in applying order to recognize the inherent physical the criteria could be developed. differences amongst the resources. This grouping also recognized the variations in the information collected Industrial artefact evaluation

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The consultants were aware that most  social value. of the large artefacts within Ontario Hydro relate to the generation and It was recommended that the evaluation transmission of electricity. They include criteria be used by those involved in the machinery such as turbines, generators, planning for change to machinery that transformers, governors, overhead could be of heritage interest. It was cranes and motors. This type of advised that any large artefact greater machinery is usually contained in some than forty years old be considered of type of enclosure or housing. Large potential heritage interest. mobile equipment and vehicles used in the construction, operation, As with other criteria the consultants maintenance and repair of facilities emphasized that the proposed criteria were also included in the typology should only be used to compare like or (Table 1) as large artefacts. similar large artefacts. In using and applying the criteria it is important that Large artefacts have often been the particular types of large artefacts assessed as part of a broader are valued each for their inherent evaluation of a built heritage feature in character and consistently evaluated which the machinery or equipment is and compared with similar or the same housed. However, evaluation type of feature. processes and procedures for built heritage features are not always Large and small artefact transferable and applicable to large conservation and management: artefacts. Accordingly, the consultants issues identified large artefacts as a group of heritage resources that required Following the development of criteria individual evaluation in their own right, the consultant team identified a number with a corresponding development of of pressing conservation issues and a management strategies. resulting management strategy. As part of these activities the conservator Little work has been done in Canada to focused on those industrial artefacts develop criteria to determine related to hydroelectric generation of approaches to documentation, power. The following issues were cataloguing and preservation of readily apparent: industrial artefacts (although some work has been undertaken in the United  corrosion of metal components, States). 5 The criteria developed for  degradation of plastic and rubber Ontario Hydro are considered components, provisional and are open for  disposal of equipment once it is modification as experience is gained in retired or decommissioned, their application. The proposed criteria  selective vandalism and or were grouped into five general areas of cannibalism that affects the integrity interest for prospective evaluation, of the object, namely:  improper storage if retained.

During its working life all equipment is  historical associations, subject to a maintenance schedule that  technology, includes regular inspections,  environment, maintenance and replacement of worn  integrity, parts. A detailed maintenance record,

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documenting work carried out, usually structure and the equipment stored accompanies these objects. within. Unfortunately, once decommissioned, regular inspection and maintenance Large and small artefact stops. In addition, the inherent conservation and management: instability and sensitivity of plastic and opportunities rubber components make long-term preservation challenging and call for It is important to remember that Ontario special care and storage conditions. Hydro is a corporation whose main mandate is the production and delivery In addition to the finite life span of electrical power to their domestic and associated with most equipment, corporate customers. Throughout its technological advances and upgrades lifetime, it has taken steps to have resulted in entire groups of commemorate its history and educate artefacts being discarded. For the public through the establishment of example, exciters are now considered visitors’ centres and a now defunct an obsolete technology and an museum (the collections are newly unnecessary adjunct to a generator; the housed in the National Museum of conversion from 25 to 60 cycle service Science and Technology in Ottawa). at several hydroelectric facilities Their sponsorship of a corporation-wide resulted in a number of obsolete heritage assessment is in itself generators and turbines. Most of this precedent setting and signifies a equipment was discarded and sold as corporate recognition of Ontario Hydro’s scrap (a ‘cost recovery’ mechanism). rich cultural heritage.

Selective vandalism whereby brass Of the conservation issues identified, nameplates and other attractive disposal (or retention) of industrial components are removed from artefacts was found to be the most equipment as souvenirs or retirement pressing. We found that although gifts, is common. Cannibalising individuals within Ontario Hydro were components from retired machinery to very aware of the significance of these repair operating equipment is objects and the need for their considered expedient and cost- preservation, the collective corporate effective. In many cases it is also a consciousness was less so. necessity as parts for old equipment are no longer available. As part of the management strategy the consultants identified those assets of Equipment that is not discarded (either Ontario Hydro that are considered to be by accident or design) is more often of heritage value and that have been than not stored in an inhospitable identified as being ‘endangered’, ‘at risk’ environment. The artefacts left behind or ‘sensitive’. In the absence of in the Toronto Power Plant (a ongoing inventory work or a hydroelectric generating station sitting comprehensive corporate heritage at the head of Niagara Falls) are a good resource database the consultants example of this. Toronto Power was sought to flag certain features in order abandoned but not ‘mothballed’. No to highlight the potential for critical care steps were taken to prepare the building and management by Ontario Hydro. and its contents for closure. As a result, The consultants advised that all the inherent high ambient humidity artefacts identified as having potential caused irreparable damage to the significance be subjected to a heritage

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assessment prior to their disposal. It heritage conservation principles, was recommended that the assessment practice and other measures useful in be carried out by a team that included a managing Ontario Hydro’s corporate curator specialising in industrial heritage in a responsible and diligent collections, an industrial historian and a manner. An overriding principle was to conservator. The consultants also ensure that where evaluation and the urged that Ontario Hydro employees resulting significance is linked to the should be included in this team material substance of cultural heritage, wherever possible. Long-time appropriate conservation and planning employees are a valuable resource will be guided by respect for the offering an insight into the corporate principles of caution. Caution is history and culture which cannot be necessary in order to reduce risk, obtained from an outside consultant. damage or harm to the fabric of cultural heritage including component parts and In order for this to be an effective and settings. viable conservation management strategy, heritage assessments need to References become a ‘budgetable’ item within the corporation. They need to be treated in 1. Biggar, G, Ontario Hydro’s History the same manner as environmental and Description of Hydro-Electric assessments (carried out when Ontario Generating Stations, Ontario Hydro, Hydro activities have potential impact Toronto (1991). on the environment). The consultants 2. MacNeill, J and Runnalls, D, A recommended that heritage Strategy for Sustainable Energy assessment of industrial artefacts be Development and Use for Ontario incorporated into long-range plans and Hydro; Report of the Task Force on costing. This would identify the need Sustainable Energy Development, for an assessment and ensure that Ontario Hydro, Toronto (1993). monies would be available and 3. Fram, M, Ontario Hydro; Ontario earmarked for this activity. Heritage; A Study of Strategies for the Conservation of the Heritage of Conservation management statements Ontario Hydro, Historical Planning and were provided for each type of industrial Research Branch, Ontario Ministry of artefact. These statements defined the Culture and Recreation, Toronto (1980). conservation issues affecting the object 4. Simonton, J, Planning for and recommended specific Hydroelectric Generating Stations as conservation management strategies a Cultural Resource, Ontario Ministry for dealing with these issues. In of Citizenship and Culture, Toronto addition, detailed guidelines were (1983). provided for the documentation, 5. United States Department of the collections management, storage and Interior/National Park Service, long-term preservation of these Recommendations of the Large collections. Industrial Artifact Panel, America’s Industrial Heritage Project, The consultant team also provided Pennsylvania (1991). extensive guidance and information on

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Appendix 1 An Assessment of Ontario Hydro’s Corporate Heritage Resources Evaluation Criteria DRAFT

2.3.3 Evaluation Criteria for Cultural Landscapes

Historical Associations

Thematic: How well does the cultural landscape illustrate one or more historical themes representing cultural processes in the development and/or use of land in the context of Ontario Hydro?

This criterion evaluates the cultural landscape in the context of the broad themes of Ontario Hydro’s corporate history developed in the previous section of this report. In assessing the landscape, the evaluator should relate the landscape specifically to those themes, sub-themes and material heritage features identified previously, e.g. transmission corridors, generating stations or office complexes.

Rating: A Very good example. B Typical example. C Obscure example.

Person/Group: Is the cultural landscape associated with the life or activities of a person, group, organisation or institutions that has made a significant contribution to the community, province or nation?

This criterion evaluates the cultural landscape respecting its direct association with a person or group i.e. ownership, use or development of the cultural landscape. The significance of the person/group must be considered in the context of impact, scale and duration of activities.

Rating: A Person/group of outstanding significance directly associated with the landscape. B Person/group of moderate significance directly associated with the landscape. C No associations.

Scenic Amenity

Sense of Place: Does the cultural landscape provide the observer(s) with a sense of position or place?

This criterion attempts to evaluate the sensory impact to an observer either viewing the cultural landscape from within or viewing from an exterior viewpoint. Such landscapes are generally recognisable as having some common, identifying character derived from buildings, structures, spaces and/or natural landscape elements and that relay to the observer(s) the sense of “hereness” or “thereness”.

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Rating: A Strong and definite sense of place by easily definable cultural landscape features. B Moderate sense of place provided by definable cultural landscape. C Poor or absent of place.

Serial Vision: Does the cultural landscape provide the observer(s) with opportunities for serial vision along paths of pedestrian or vehicular movement?

This criterion attempts to evaluate the visual impact to an observer travelling through the cultural landscape(s). Roads or water routes often provide an observer with a series of views of the landscape beyond or anticipated to arrive within view.

Rating: A Particularly interesting and attention-catching series of views. B Moderately interesting and attention-catching series of views marred by interruptions along path travelled. C Poor or absence of interesting and attention- catching views.

Material Content: Is the cultural landscape visually satisfying or pleasing to the observer(s) in terms of colour, texture, style and scale ?

This criterion attempts to evaluate the visual impact to an observer of the content of the cultural landscape in terms of its overall design and appearance, however formally or informally, consciously or unconsciously planned. Unlike integrity which asks: ‘is it all there?’, material content assesses whether the landscape is pleasing to look at irrespective of historical completeness.

Rating: A Very well executed. B Well executed. C Poorly executed or absence of visual interest.

Environmental Integrity

Integrity: How well has the cultural landscape retained its character over time from its origins to the present day?

This criterion evaluates the cultural landscape in the context of the degree of change accruing to the landscape as it has developed since its origin. Those landscapes that have undergone little change may be considered to be of greater merit than those that have been radically altered.

Rating: A Little altered with majority of character defining heritage features intact.

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B Altered with some character defining heritage features intact, with some intrusion of recent or contemporary features. C Radically altered, either abandoned or redeveloped, with few or no heritage features surviving.

Social Value

Public Perception: Is the landscape regarded as having importance within the area?

This criterion measures the importance of the landscape as a cultural symbol. Examination of popular tourism literature and artefacts, public interviews and local contacts may well reveal potential landscapes of value.

Rating: A Importance generally recognised. B Importance occasionally recognised. C No importance attached.

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Plate 1. The DeCew generating station was put into service in 1898 by the Cataract Power Company to supply electricity to the industrial city of Hamilton (the original buildings appear to the right); it was acquired by Ontario Hydro in 1930. Water to the plant is supplied by a feeder from the Welland Canal to penstocks that carry water over the Niagara Escarpment to the powerhouse 79m below.

Plate 2. At Nipissing, a 700m wood stave pipe feeds a 38m long steel penstock that enters the powerhouse to supply the turbines of two generating units, manufactured respectively by the Canadian Westinghouse Co. and the: General Electric Company of Sweden. The plant was established in 1909 and acquired by Ontario Hydro in 1916. Plate 3. Hound Chute was brought into service in 1910 by the Cobalt Power Company Ltd. to serve the

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northern Ontario silver mining centre of Cobalt. It was acquired by Ontario Hydro in 1994. The plant and all hydraulic machinery were designed and engineered by the Ontario firm of William Kennedy & Sons Limited of Owen Sound, with four generators furnished by the General Electric Company of Sweden.

Plate 4. The Cameron Falls generating station is a grandiose, imposing structure on the Nipigon River and was built by Ontario Hydro and put into service in 1921. The powerhouse incorporates the gate, screenhouse, penstocks and transformer station all in one structure. There are seven units that were brought into service at various times between 1920 and 1958.

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Plate 5. The machine shop at High Falls attests to the remote location of the generating station and the continuing need to provide traditional, ‘low-tech’, on-site, repairs to machinery. The shop and its collections of tools and equipment are an interesting assemblage of industrial heritage features and artefacts.

Plate 6. Governors control the power system and automatically control the speed of generators if they become separated from the main power system. Many of these governors, together with older devices such as exciters, are now redundant. These examples of obsolete technology should be evaluated and conserved as part of Ontario Hydro’s management practices.

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THE TEXTILE FACTORY MÜLLER AS AN EXAMPLE OF CONSERVATOR CONSULTANCY

K Götz spanners to objects left behind by the Abstract workforce such as coffee pots, lottery The textile factory, Müller, in Euskirchen- tickets, work clothes.... Kuchenheim is a branch of the Rhineland Museum of Industry. It is of outstanding The restoring of the textile factory historical significance, both technically and Müller will safeguard the complete socially, and is, regarded as particularly picture in all its glory, from the small important from a contemporary point of view. The last owner maintained the factory, which artefacts to the large production was closed in 1961, until it was taken over by machinery. As the entire life in the the Rhineland Museum of Industry in 1988. textile factory is documented, the machines are not simply the centre of In contrast to the large and unusual scope of attraction as technical and historical the collection - sixty large-scale machines and rarities. The concept includes the an inventory of approximately five thousand artefacts or groups of artefacts - only one and proposal to operate some of the a half years was available to the complete the machines. necessary conservation work. Since the Rhineland Museum of Industry does not have The aim in restoring the historical enough staff at its disposal for such an inventory of the textile factory Müller is extensive project, it was decided to contract the work to external specialist firms. For the to return the factory to its condition at planning and supervision of this project, the the time of its closure in 1961. The Rhineland Museum of Industry engaged the aims of the project are listed below: services of a consultant conservator whose function can be compared to that of an architect during the renovation of a building.  all of the renovations, repairs, alterations etc. which took place

before the factory closure, will be Introduction retained and preserved as they are

considered to be an integral part of The textile factory Müller in the history of the collection, Euskirchen-Kuchenheim is a branch of  typical traces of usage in the the Rhineland Museum of Industry. It collection are similarly preserved, is of outstanding historical significance, both technically and socially, and is  irreversible damage (for example, regarded as particularly important from corrosion or infestation) is controlled at its cause and the rate of the a contemporary point of view. The last owner maintained the factory, which damage is slowed down. was closed in 1961, until it was taken over by the Rhineland Museum of The collection is to be transformed into Industry in 1988; he hoped to be able a state which can be described as a to go back into production by getting ‘maintained state of usage’; i.e. as far more orders. as it is possible, all of the alterations which have taken place since 1961 are The factory survives as an ‘integral to be carefully identified and reversed. factory cosmos with many facets’. 1 It The aim is to achieve the conditions comprises the complete textile plant, which were prevalent in the factory just the technical infrastructure, the office, before the weekend break. tools, and smaller equipment from weaving shuttles, oil cans and

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The parameters which affect the In the authors experience this is management of the project include: different to the usual organisation of the conservators role in projects in  the majority of the work on the sixty that: or so machines must be carried out at the factory itself,  converting the restoration objectives  the diversity and quantity of the into a feasible plan is separate from collection - sixty large-scale the actual concrete task of carrying machines and approximately five out the restoration and conservation thousand artefacts or groups of work, artefacts,  a conservator is to be empowered  the short working period of only one as director of the project. and a half years is available to complete the necessary work, From the authors experience of this  the Rhineland Museum of Industry project there are distinct advantages to does not have enough staff at its this approach. The advantage for the disposal for such an extensive conservator is that: project.  self-employed conservators are Considering these factors it was supervised by specialist colleagues decided to assign the work to with the relevant knowledge, who specialist outside firms. The make precise demands, Rhineland Museum of Industry  the work described in the engaged the services of a consultant specification corresponds to conservator for the planning and professionally recognised specialist supervision of this work. The standards which can be quantified consultants function can be compared and enforced, to that of an architect during the  more work is allocated to self- renovation of a building. employed conservators,  a new professional field as a Consultant conservator consultant conservator is developed in the medium term. Until now this In this case, the following tasks were role has traditionally undertaken by the consultant been undertaken by people foreign conservator : to the subject for example, engineers, architects, art historians  converting the clients’ objectives for etc. the restoration into a feasible plan for conservation and restoration The advantage for the client is that: work,  investigating and selecting suitable  they have specialist knowledge from (conservation) firms, the experts at hand, irrespective of  the drawing up of specifications and the interests of those firms carrying schedules, as well as the checking out the work, and evaluation of offers,  they can get different costings for  ascertaining costs, individual tasks, in contrast to  specialist supervision of the objects allocating the work to a single firm; during treatment; quality audit and this may prove be more economic, documentation.  any conservation work arising from a short term project can be carried

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out without having to employ and treatment. In such situations the train personnel on a long term model of the all inclusive conservation basis, practice is certainly more applicable.  self-employed conservators can be Furthermore conservator consultants more flexible in their employment. should not be used for routine and They may be able to obtain regular work; employing conservators equipment and materials more as regular members of staff is an effectively than public authorities appropriate solution here. and can therefore work faster and more efficiently. This is a If, however, the current trend of considerable advantage especially privatising public services continues, for the ‘mass problems’ in restoring an increasing need for self-employed technical cultural assets. conservators, and the conservator consultancy can be envisaged.

References Conclusion 1. Krause, M and Stender, D, Die Only a certain type of project is Tuchfabrik Mueller in Euskirchen- appropriate to the conservator Kuchenheim. Von der consultancy. For example for the Verwandlung...... , Rheinische restoration of a single object it is not Heimatpflege vol 4 No 32 (1995) usually viable to differentiate between p 274. the planning and carrying out of the

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CONSERVING SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE: A PRAGMATIC APPROACH.

H Newey materials associated with the Abstract manufacture of such objects. Late nineteenth and early twentieth century Conservation of industrial artefacts has been traditionally carried out by engineers, archaeologists and scientists working toolmakers or craftsmen, many of whom with artefacts from excavations realised worked in the industry that originally made the that many of these techniques were not objects. They have the necessary practical preventing further deterioration but in skills and experience to know the method of some cases were actually causing it. construction or the use to which the object was put during its lifetime. Their approach to From this experience it evolved that preservation, however, may be very different only materials and techniques which from that of the conservator whose brief is to were reversible should be used in preserve as much of the object as possible. conservation. Conservators began to When dealing with collections of this type it is think about the long term effect of the essential to adopt a pragmatic approach using a series of criteria which this paper will seek to materials and techniques used on the identify. If conservation and restoration are original objects. They started to test seen as the two ends of a scale then the their materials for stability to light and methods chosen will lie somewhere along the heat. line that joins them. When approaching the preservation of such Conservators also looked more closely collections, the basic treatment of the at repair and restoration. The latter individual materials of which the objects are often involved removing damaged, made is the same as in other conservation irreparable areas, replacing them with disciplines. The difference is due to factors new materials and then touching in or such as size, weight, complexity and the final ‘role’ or function of the object. Is it to be part overpainting to conceal the repair. of a study collection, a working exhibit, a Conservation is concerned with the demonstration model, an outdoor exhibit or a preservation of the original object and stationary iconic display in the entrance hall of its physical and historical integrity. a museum? The requirements of the curator Excessive restoration can result in loss may be different from those of an archaeology or ethnography collection. The examination of scientific information, the introduction and conservation of every single piece of the of misleading materials, or loss of original artefact may not be necessary for a evidence of manufacture, provenance 1950’s computer which is acquired with its and use. Each branch of conservation circuit diagrams, manuals and software. has tried to resolve their approach to However an analytical approach will be essential for a nineteenth century engineer’s restoration. The publication model, if no other documentary evidence ‘Restoration, is it acceptable?’ from a exists. conference held in 1994, shows how the difference in approach can vary Finally the paper will consider the conservation from discipline to discipline. 1 aspects of collections management as it relates to scientific and industrial collections. It is obvious that documentation of

treatments is essential, to record what Introduction chemicals or techniques have been

applied to the objects, so that this Conservation as a discipline developed information can be added to the objects from the repair and restoration of history. Conservation is a partnership antiquities and art objects by skilled with curators, archaeologist, and craftsmen using techniques and

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scientists who discuss and agree the environment pending future decisions outcome of any treatment and record about its fate. information found on the objects during the conservation process. An artefact is not solely defined by the materials of which it is made and the The environment in which the object is shape or form it takes. It has a displayed or stored can affect its historical or cultural context which must preservation. Certain levels of heat, be preserved. In deciding how to care moisture, light and pollutants can all for an artefact these factors must also cause accelerated deterioration of the be taken into consideration: materials of which objects are made. Physical damage can arise from poor Artefact = materials of manufacture storage or display methods, clumsy + shape/form handling or moving of objects and + provenance biological damage from pests and + historical/cultural mould. The increase in importance of significance preventive conservation to all conservators is demonstrated by the Materials of manufacture increase in conferences and meetings Individual materials that the object is devoted to the subject. Preventive made from: wood, metal, plastic, glass conservation is an important part of the etc. These may be coated or wider discipline of collections embellished in some way, for decorative management. and protective effect - inscribing, etching, painting, lacquering, chemically The purpose of this brief and very basic patinating and heat treating. introduction to the history of conservation has been to try and Shape or form establish why conservators think as Methods of construction of individual they do. Like any other discipline, components and their assembly to form conservation is constantly evolving and the whole object. The form can further changing to meet the requirements of be defined by its dimensions of size or the times. Conservators find weight and its complexity of themselves part of a strategy based construction. approach to collections care - attempting to raise the condition of the Function total collections rather than focusing on What was the object used for originally? interventive treatments on smaller Was it modified during its working life? number of objects. Were there modifications after the end of its working life? Conservation of artefacts Provenance The conservation of any historic artefact Where was it found? Was this its must take into consideration a number original location? Are there any of factors before any decision is taken associated materials/documentation on interventive treatment. It may even /artefacts? be that at the end of the planning or discussion phase no interventive Context treatment is selected at all. Instead the What is the object’s significance within artefact may be stored in a suitable cultural/industrial/technological history?

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Is it the only one of its type in deterioration to which all materials are existence? subject. A minimalist approach to interventive treatments involving These all relate to the object as it cleaning, stabilisation and little or no stands now, but there are further factors restoration can lead to an object that is which will affect the choice of difficult to interpret and display. It may conservation treatment. These address be visually unappealing and, to a non- the question of why it is being conservator’s eye, look untreated and conserved rather than how. uncared for. Archaeological conservators and curators have had to The future of the object deal with the problem for years of making rusty ironwork look interesting The object can be conserved for a and exciting. There has been a great number of reasons: deal of time and effort expended on educating people about conservation of  Preservation, archaeological artefacts and what  Exhibition, conservators achieve in preserving  Research/publication, heritage. Interventive conservation,  Storage/public access, especially on large objects, is very time  Education/interpretation. consuming and therefore the expectation is that the artefact will be It is at this stage that other interested preserved for ever and be pleasing to parties, apart from the conservator and the eye. Lastly people expect types of curator/owner, begin to get involved in objects that are familiar to them to look the decision - making process. These well cared for and in good condition. can be designers, interpreters, This is especially true of vehicles, education staff, marketing staff and machinery and other technological sponsors. In the majority of cases objects where the visitors may have first decisions are being made on behalf of a hand experience of owning or using group of people who have not been them. mentioned before. These are not only the visitors who come to see the Restoration preserved heritage, but everyone for whom it is being preserved! The majority of all conservation treatments will involve a degree of The final criterion to be mentioned are restoration, usually in terms of adding to the resources available: time, money the original material in some way to staff numbers and expertise. However, stabilise the structure of the object. these will probably not be last on the list Sometimes it may be possible to do this for consideration when planning a piece by adding a support mount made of a of work. suitable material. On some occasions the mount can be visibly obtrusive and Expectations of conservation detract from the object as a whole. treatments Consequently the object itself has to be reinforced or gapfilled and the repairs The people mentioned above may all masked by paint. Sometimes areas of have different expectations of the original material are so badly damaged conservation treatment of any artefact. that they have to be cut away and It has been recognised that replaced with new. The question arises conservation can only slow down the then at what point does the conservator,

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in consultation with the curator, make to improve a faulty or poor piece of this decision? How much of the original work: a matter of professional pride material must remain before the object rather than deliberately faking a piece. is called a replica? Restoration has become an emotive issue because of Another reason for the extent of repair the dangers of altering the original or restoration is to aid the interpretation object and making it appear to be and display of the objects. This is something it is not. certainly true of many of the large scale objects which, once they had fallen into The question of ‘originality’ is one that disuse, were stored outside and left constantly occurs in discussions untouched to corrode or deteriorate. between curator and conservator. The amount of work required to return What is meant by the word ‘original’, them to an exhibitable condition was especially if the object has been considerable and frequently modified structurally or decoratively undocumented. Many objects were during its lifetime? Material present totally repainted as part of the may not be ‘original’ but may be preservation process, stripping off the evidence of use or modification. remains of old paint, preparing and Careful thought should be given to what priming the surface first and then is removed and what is left during the applying traditional paint finishes or conservation/restoration process and all modern equivalents where applicable. actions thoroughly documented. It should be said that for objects that will spend most of their lives out of doors Scientific and Industrial and not under cover repainting may be Conservation the only practical way of protecting the metal or wood underneath. The colours Industrial artefact conservation is a or livery may be changed from that comparatively recent addition to the removed because the final appearance group of conservation specialisms such selected is that of a different period in as ethnography, archaeology and the object’s history. applied arts. This is not to say that industrial or scientific artefacts or The final issue raised in this section is remains were not preserved in the past. that of the skills required to work on Much of the work was carried out by mechanical or engineering items. The engineers or other craftsmen who practical expertise to repair or restore worked in the industry where the such objects is not taught as part of a objects were originally made. The brief standard conservation course, which from the industrial curator was to repair usually focus on the deterioration and or to restore the objects to a condition treatment of the materials from which which reflected some period in the artefacts are made. Many people have object’s working life. This may, or may commented upon the loss of not, have included getting the object to engineering and craft based skills run again. The work carried out would because of changes in manufacturing probably be to a very high technical industries. One could also view it as standard. In some cases it was even part of the role of conservation to try higher than when the object was made, and retain traditional engineering and carefully correcting faults in the other skills so that industrial history may structure or mechanism. This was, and continue to be maintained. is still, not necessarily done from a wish to change historical evidence but rather Working exhibits and replicas

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The car was conserved as a static The interpretation of artefacts that were exhibit to reveal the original paintwork originally intended to perform a task can and the condition of the engine, both be made easier by seeing them in concealed beneath layers of linseed oil operation. The obvious way to do this applied in 1950’s. Following the is by restoring the original object to completion of the project, some World working condition and then operating it. Wide Web pages were compiled as part This produces inherent problems of of the process of publicising the repairing or replacing damaged or conservation and to bringing it to the missing components in order to get the attention of world of vintage and historic object running again and maintaining it vehicle collections. 2 in that condition. Gradually all the parts wear out and the object ceases to be Preventive conservation the original and effectively becomes a replica. An alternative to this is to build The care and maintenance of any a replica in the first place and operate artefact is vital to its preservation. that instead. Thus the original is There is no point in expending time and preserved and a reasonable impression effort conserving or restoring artefacts if can be gained of how such a machine they are then stored or exhibited in such operated. In many cases, however, it is a way that deterioration is allowed to not just the appearance of operation continue. This can be caused in many that is important, but also the visual ways, not just by poor environment but impressions, sounds and sensations also by poor maintenance, neglect and that make up the experience. Again careless handling. There is an there may be an argument for operating assumption that many scientific and the original on a limited basis for industrial artefacts are physically robust experimental reasons, bearing in mind and endlessly replaceable because that this will depend on the amount of they are relatively modern. They do not intervention required to make the object need the care and attention that, say, run. antiquities merit where the historical, cultural and financial value are If a historic object has been returned to accepted. The resource implications of working condition it must be operated caring for industrial collections becomes and maintained correctly. This includes higher than anticipated because of the the choice of suitable lubricants and cost of storage, maintenance and maintenance schedules as well as display. The importance of maintaining observing all the necessary modern machinery still in commercial use is health and safety criteria. recognised but it is often difficult to extend that care to items stored in a Finally it should be said that there will museum and no longer used. Many always be objects that will never be industrial museums rely heavily on the made to run again because of their skills, expertise and enthusiasm of historic, iconic value. This assessment volunteers to assist with the restoration must be made jointly by curator and of exhibits. If some of this willing help conservator, using the criteria could be diverted into the storage areas discussed earlier. The conservation of the overall standard of the collections the first petrol-engined motor car to run could be raised. on British roads, the 1895 Panhard et Levassor, is an example of this from Collections management The Science Museum’s own collections.

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At the Science Museum the employed by museums have also to conservation section is part of the respect the objectives of the institution Collections Management Group, which that they work for and may be expected includes; storage and public access, to carry out work which appears on first documentation including the registry, sight to be unethical. Consequently, it handling and moving of objects, is vital to try to educate non- collections systems, and the conservators not to expect to see all management of the site at Wroughton, objects in pristine, ‘as-new’, operating the museum’s large object store. This conditions and to involve all staff in means we operate as a team to cover caring for the collections. Conservators all aspects of collections care and may find themselves, alongside their information management. Proposed collections management colleagues, acquisitions are notified to us by the making routine but essential tasks like curators so that, in theory, we can documentation look glamorous. By assess the conservation and storage getting others to recognise good needs before the objects actually enter storage as a necessity, not a luxury, the the museum collections. If the storage preservation and understanding of the space for objects or collections is not scientific and industrial heritage will be available then in theory we do not ensured. acquire them. It is all part of a strategic approach to collections care which also References includes condition surveys and audits. These all ensure that in a time of limited 1. Oddy, A (ed) Restoration, is it resources, money and staff can be acceptable? British Museum used to best effect. Occasional Paper No 99 (1994). 2. Science Museum’s WWW site: Conclusions http://nmsi.ac.uk/on-line/panhard

The conservation of industrial artefacts Additional Reading can be approached in the same way as any other type of heritage objects. 1. Conole, L, Hallett, M and Grant, A, Using a checklist compiled from the ‘Hands on hands off?’ Activating factors listed earlier it should be Heritage Artefact - the Conservation possible to select a treatment or set of and Safety Issues, Scienceworks, treatments for each artefact taking into Museum of Victoria (1993) Australia. account its preservation, interpretation 2. Big Collections, Big Challenges, needs and conservation ethics. The Abstracts from the meeting held at the treatment may be a combination of Science Museum Wroughton, 23-25 conservation and restoration, using September 1996 (unpublished; copies science-based theory together with available from the Conservation engineering knowledge or craft-based Manager, Science Museum Wroughton, practical skills. It is important to realise Wroughton Airfield, nr Swindon, that everyone should understand the Wiltshire SN4 9NS). viewpoint of others; there has to be an 3. MacLeod, I D, Pennec, S and element of compromise; so the Robbiola, L, Metal 95 - ICOM-CC appearance of the final product may not Metals Working Party proceedings be as highly finished as when the object 25-28 September 1995, James and was first made. Conservators James, London (1997).

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