restoration. Process of carrying on alterations and repairs to a building with the intention of restoring it to its original form, often involving reinstatement of missing or badly damaged parts, so it usually includes replication, that is new work in an old style. While often necessary after a disaster, it is generally regarded as more drastic than conservation, which suggests retention, repair, and maintenance. Wyatt's interventions at Hereford (1788–96), Salisbury (1789–92), and Durham (from 1794) Cathedrals were so ruthless that they provoked antiquarian outrage (mostly Carter's) and were later to enrage A. W. N. Pugin. Wyatville's work (1824–37) at Windsor Castle recased almost the whole ensemble, so that what we see now is virtually a creation of the Regency and William IV periods. The revival of interest in medieval ecclesiastical architecture in C19, and researches into liturgy, had a darker side, for often medieval fabric was destroyed to make the building conform to an architect-approved style (e.g. ‘Great’ Scott's ‘restoration’ of the north nave-arcade at the Church of St Mary de Castro, Leicester). Many churches were stripped of C17 and C18 furnishings, often with unfortunate results. In France, Viollet-le-Duc attempted to give several medieval buildings a stylistic unity they never had, and his work at Pierrefonds, Oise (1858–70), and Carcassonne (1844 on-wards—where he rebuilt the walls and fortifications), owed more to his own creative powers than to an archaeological approach. Another drastic (though less successful) French example was Abadie's work at St-Front, Périgeux. Ruskin, Morris, Webb, and others deplored such activities, and, prompted by Scott's proposals for Tewkesbury Abbey, Glos., and drastic Italian notions of ‘restoring’ the Church of San Marco, Venice, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) was founded in order to promote a greater sensitivity to the retention of ancient fabric. Although architects such as Boito urged that ‘restoration’ should be less comprehensive and destructive, many churches were altered to make them conform to what was regarded as their ‘original’ state: this often involved the removal of Baroque and other accretions (even whole façades) and their replacement with conjectural designs. See also reconstruction.

Bibliography

Casiello (ed.) (1996);
Chamberlin (1979);
Crook (1995);
J. Fawcett (ed.) (1976a);
Morris (1966);
Pevsner (1972);
Pugin (1841, 1843, 1973);
Ruskin (1903–12)