Restoration of 1930s church mosaics completed

4 hours ago

Tania SanghaDroitwich Spa

News image — Vella said the mosaics look "even better" following the restoration

BBC Vella is pictured inside the church with mosaic walls behind him. He wears a dark quilted jacket. — Vella said the mosaics look "even better" following the restoration

The restoration of a set of church mosaics has been completed following a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The Sacred Heart & St Catherine of Alexandria in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, received £190,000 last summer to restore its Venetian glass artwork, created in the 1930s.

Inspired by the big basilicas and churches in Ravenna, the mosaics were painstakingly applied over 12 years.

Parishioner and volunteer Peter Vella said: "It already looked pretty good but now it looks even better. The gold is shining a lot more brightly."

A predominately gold, detailed religious mosaic fills the image. Rows of winged angels surround a circular blue stained-glass window at the centre. A line of haloed saints stand below, all facing forward. — The original mosaic took 12 years to complete, according to parishioner Peter Vella

Of the lottery grant, he said: "That's enabled us to bring in a team of top conservators to clean it all up and replace the mosaics that had fallen out."

The church now has plans to hold new tours and school workshops to show off the restored artwork.

Vella said there was already a plan in place for the next restoration in about 50 years' time.

A detailed religious mosaic shows a priest giving communion to a dying, haloed man lying on the floor while another man supports him. Several robed figures stand nearby holding candles and a cross. — Plans for the next restoration have already been compiled

The original artwork was created by artist Gabriel Pippet and the mosaicist Maurice Josey, who designed the church around what they had seen in Italy.

Asked how important it was for the artwork to be maintained, Vella said: "It's exquisite art by brilliant artists, painstakingly applied over 12 years by a man up a ladder. It's got to be preserved.

"We have people who've been looking at churches in other parts of the world and coming here and saying they've never seen anything like it.

"So it is pretty unique and pretty special."

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