Portrait of the past is restored at Attingham Park
Eagle-eyed visitors to Attingham Park may have noticed a bare square of red painted wall in the inner library of the house over the last two weeks.
It is usually the spot where a 17th century oil painting of Sir Rowland Hill can be seen, hanging among portraits of his descendants.
But for the last fortnight it has instead been standing on an easel down the corridor, where the estate's painting conservator Annabelle Monaghan has been at work painstakingly restoring it to its former glory.
The 17th century painting is a copy of an earlier original at Mercers' Hall. It is one of three copies, with the others on display at the Museum of London and Tatton Park in Cheshire.
Over the years the painting had begun to deteriorate, undergoing several restorations, the last of which Ms Monaghan believed to have been around 100 years ago.
"It has always been in the family collection, like all the family portraits are," she said.
"It had a very yellow, discoloured varnish and dirt, which I have removed and now I am re-touching old damages.
"The varnish was really dark and had a darkening effect on the painting because it had discoloured.
"I removed the varnish and in doing that I uncovered some old damages."
Ms Monaghan is now using pigment to touch up imperfections that were revealed again by the removal of the discoloured varnish, and estimates the restoration will take up to four weeks to complete.
It was deemed necessary because of the historical significance of the painting's subject.
Ms Monaghan said: "Normally it would be as a result of surveying the condition of the paintings, when we list the paintings in order of priority of when they need to be treated.
"But this one was more for curatorial reasons, to be able to tell the history of the family."
Sir Rowland was an ancestor of Noel Hill, 1st Baron Berwick, for whom Attingham was built in the 18th century.
"He is very important to the history of the Hill family, because he is the Tudor ancestor who started the family fortune," said Ms Monaghan.
"It is important to Attingham. It's not a masterpiece but it's important to the history of Attingham because they have family portraits of most of the members of the Hill family.
"He is important to the history of the house. It helps them to tell the history of the Hill family and how they acquired their fortune."
Advantage
Born circa 1495 and hailing from Hodnet in North Shropshire, Sir Rowland travelled to London as a young man and was apprenticed to the London mercer, Thomas Kitson.
He made his fortune trading textiles, becoming a prominent figure in the Mercers' Company, and money lending – including, it is believed, to King Henry VIII.
He took advantage of the Dissolution of the Monestaries to buy up land from several Abbeys, including Shrewsbury, Lilleshall and Haughmond.
Sir Rowland was elected Sheriff of the City of London in 1541, was knighted the following year, and went on to become the first Protestant Mayor of London in 1549.
He was known as a charitable man, who spent some of his fortune in establishing a school at Market Drayton, as well as churches and hospitals. He died in 1561.
Ms Monaghan said: "It is a nice story. He came from Shropshire, worked as an apprentice mercer down in London, made his fortune trading, and ended up buying land back in Shropshire.
"It is important for Attingham to have a portrait of the original Hill who started the family fortune."
