Orange grove Obelisk 1982

This drawing of 1737 by  George Speren shows the layout of the garden In 1734. The Prince of Orange took the waters in Bath and Beau Nash erected the obelisk in honour of the occasion

I was asked to restore and conserve the carving on the plinth of the obelisk and replace some of the stones in the obelisk in 1982. As pictured below the coat of arms of the Prince of Orange had eroded completely  along with the lions heads. It was decided between David McLaughlin and my self that this project could be a mixture of restoration and conservation whilst being a test bed for some new ideas. This is why the coat of arms are completely re-carved. One lion is repaired in  Bath stone, the other in lime cast stucco. The whole is consolidated with lime and shelter coated with lime/stone dust. We wanted the finished effect to look aged and weathered and in the appropriate style. The other faces were less damaged and needed  only small repairs. The new stone replacements  in the obelisk were aged with applied  stucco.