Heritage items return to school for the new term

As the new academic year began, pupils and staff were not the only ones to return to school. Also returning from a well-deserved rest was the Victorian landscape that hangs in the stairwell to the Library. Thoughtfully acquired for the school in 2006 by Hugh Phllips (SHB 1952-59), the oil painting by Walter W Goddard (1858–1933) shows the school site in its familair landscape. Painted in 1892, the old bridge over the Usk with its passing places and the smoking chimneys of the houses on Bridge Street, evoke a period we often only think about in terms of sporting caps and Masters gowns. In the expert hands of local picture restorer, Paul Millis, its canvas and frame were repaired and cleaned during the summer. Renewed and refreshed, it returned to its usual place overlooking the stairwell just in time for the start of the new term. 

Similarly looking enlivened and refreshed from a holiday with local craftsman, Noel Gaskell, all six medieval stalls are back in their place in the Antechapel. We have already posted that they have been structurally secured and restored in Noel's capable hands. His work means that inquisitive pupils and staff can now confidently search beneath our unique misericords for the owl or the lion or the angel without fear of damage to seats and limbs.

But the holidays aren't over yet for our heritage treasures. Lord Atkin has left the Dining Hall temporarily to take a well-earned break in the workshop of Paul Millis. Our most distinguished Old Breconian will return cleaned and reglazed with non-reflective glass in time for the annual Lord Atkin lecture. In the meantime, J R Cobb waits patiently on the Dining Hall walls for similar treatment.

All these projects – just some of a wider programme of planned heritage projects – have been made possible by the Chapel and Heritage Fund. Sincere thanks to all of you who have contributed to this important fund: you really are making a difference.  

Thank you.