Divinity Hall
The 15th century gothic vaulted ceiling in the famous Divinity Hall at Oxford University was suffering from many years dust, dirt and cobwebs. An assessment of its stability was also needed.
Project location: |
Oxford University. Bodleian Library. Divinity Hall CeilingEura used carefully chosen lifts to ensure no damage was done to the historic floor and cast iron gratings whilst brushing away and vacuuming years of cobwebs and dust in every intricate nook and cranny in the oldest lecture room in Europe. Every effort was made to be as unobtrusive as possible to the hordes of Harry Potter fans, the architectural and history fans, the foreign students on study tours and the potential new undergraduates being interviewed. The Historic Venues team are delighted with the result. We enable over 300 visitors a day to see this spectacular hall, seven days a week. The Eura team helped us to maintain our busy schedule of up to thirteen guided tours every day (yes, that’s on top of the 300 viewings!) by working quietly within contained areas. Our united enthusiasm for this glorious building made for a harmonious working environment, despite the challenges of balancing needs of readers, visitors and staff. In the same time frame we also hosted our usual evening functions and two University Open Days, so we are grateful to Eura for being so flexible. Naomi Hillman, Historic Venues, University of Oxford Eura were able to identify several loose pendants for the university’s stone mason to research further and transform a grey dusty cobwebbed room into one of pale gold stone. Always beautiful, (the) ceiling now really does make visitors gasp. |