Rugeley church's wonders on view after makeover

The historic interior of a Catholic church in Staffordshire has been restored. A team led by Tony Skidmore carried out the work at St Joseph and Etheldreda Church in Lichfield Street, Rugeley. Much of the gold leafing is back on view.

The Grade 2 listed Catholic Revival church, built in 1849, had been badly redecorated during its history. The building was the work of Charles Hansom, who built it during the time of the Catholic Revival in England, when Catholics in this country were allowed to start worshipping openly again.

Like similar churches in the county, it has a vibrantly coloured interior.

Mr Skidmore, of Stafford-based Fisher Decorations, is one of the foremost church restorers in the country.

The 62-year-old, who started with Fisher Decorations in 1972, specialises in historic renovation.

As a member of the National Heritage Training Group he also teaches other craftspeople in what he says are disappearing skills.

To restore churches such as St Joseph and Etheldreda he also has to employ history research techniques.

He uses archives to discover the original appearances of the buildings.

"Many of our churches have suffered from years and years of unintentional neglect," he said.

"Walls that were once magnificent were painted over by people just wanting to keep things clean and tidy.

"People didn't realise the beauty they were covering up.

"When something had been painted over once, there was a good chance a second coat would be added in years to come, then another and another."

In Rugeley he has restored walls and ceilings as well as a statue of Mary and Jesus and other religious works of art.

Using special tools and chemicals, he peels away the layers to reveal small glimpses of what used to be.

"In some of the cases here we had to peel away 10 coats of paint before we got to the original design," he added.

Gold leafing is a dying art, but he has two men on his team who are experts.

By John Corser