The preservation work was paid for by the Ahmadiyya Mosque in London, which commissioned the archives service to conserve the plans.
Source/Credit: News & Star
By Chris Story | March 16, 2015
A piece of religious history has been restored by archivists in Carlisle.
The team at Cumbria County Council’s city-based archive services have returned architectural drawings for one of the first purpose-built mosques in Britain to their former glory.
They were drawn up by celebrated Cumbrian architect Thomas Mawson, who built the place of worship for the Ahmadiyya Community in south-west London at Southfields in 1925.
Officially named the Fazl mosque, it also came to be known as the London mosque.
The preservation work was paid for by the Ahmadiyya Mosque in London, which commissioned the archives service to conserve the plans.
Copies of the restored drawings were on show at a special symposium event organised by the Ahmadiyya Mosque on Saturday.
These plans form part of the Mawson archive – a vast collection of the architect’s work including thousands of plans, drawings and documents, which are held by Cumbria Archives.
Many of the tracings had tears of varying severity and, without treatment, it was only a matter of time before they would be inaccessible.
Tony King, senior conservator at Cumbria Archives in Carlisle, said: “Following a detailed survey of the 29 plans, a treatment plan was drawn up which established the conservation needs of each individual item and set out how the conservation treatment would be carried out.
“The majority of the plans had been produced on lightweight tracing paper, a common medium for architects who valued its translucency which made easy reproduction possible.
“Unfortunately, the production methods for tracing paper tend to result in very poor longevity due to factors such as the oils used to make the paper transparent quickly degrading and making the paper discoloured, extremely brittle and liable to fracture into multiple pieces unless handled with extreme care.
“Luckily, none of the tracing plans had degraded to that extent but they had been tightly rolled for a long time making them prone to springing back when efforts were made to unroll them. The edges had suffered damage and several plans had significant tears and missing areas which needed repair to stop further loss and allow safe handling.
“Each plan was placed in a chamber containing high levels of humidity and as the paper absorbed moisture from the air it relaxed and following drying between blotting paper the formerly rolled plans were now flat with no tendency to spring closed.”
Repairs were carried out using a lightweight tissue backed onto a heat-activated adhesive.
Mr King added: “Pieces of the tissue were carefully shaped using a needle to produce a feathered edge that helps adhesion and flexibility of the finished repair before being secured in place by a heated spatula. For missing areas of tracing paper a piece of tissue was applied from either side creating a double thickness of tissue over the hole, normally a repair paper would be used to fill the hole but due to the thinness of the tracing two thicknesses of tissue was sufficient.
“Following repair the plans were repackaged in archival grade materials including custom-made boxes and chemically-inert polyester sleeves that allow the plans to be viewed without removal from the protective plastic.
“Each plan was digitised allowing the option of future access via a high resolution image rather than risking wear and tear by handling the original once again.”
Mawson, who died in 1933, was from Windermere. The Mawson Archive includes an extensive collection relating to the mosque, including 29 plans. It includes a drawing of the Dome, details of the minaret and plans of the grounds. The plans are in a variety of media including blueprints, brittle tracing paper and wove paper.
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk
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