A woman in a jumpsuit points at paintings on a domed ceiling, painted with blue and orange winged women. She has a laptop in one hand and is tied to scaffolding just visible in the corner.

Courtauld Institute students conserving the Lady Chapel at St. Jude-on-the-Hill

24 Mar 2026

Students on the MA Conservation of Wall Paintings course at the Courtauld Institute are working to conserve the First World War memorial, the Lady Chapel at St Jude-on-the-Hill in London. St Jude-on-the-Hill is a church designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens that contains a vast scheme of wall paintings by Walter Starmer. Painted between 1919-1930, it is thought to be one of the most complete and extensive painted schemes of the early 20th century, extending throughout the nave, aisles, chancel and within two chapels.

A woman in a jumpsuit points at paintings on a domed ceiling, painted with blue and orange winged women. She has a laptop in one hand and is tied to scaffolding just visible in the corner.

The Lady Chapel to the north-east was the first area to be completed in 1921, and the scheme celebrates women’s contribution to the Church and nation, with female figures and saints from Christian history and notable women from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Almost a century after their completion, the paintings are now at serious risk of material deterioration due to flaking, salt activity, and structural damage. Their surfaces are further compromised by blanching and accumulated dirt which obscure details and reduce aesthetic legibility and value.

Two students face a tiled war memorial on a wall, beside which is a mural of a woman turning towards a round window. The students have a tablet which displays the mural in green; one of them points at it.

The project commenced in January 2026 and will continue over several years in phases of approximately six weeks at a time. Phase one took place between January to March with a wide range of investigations and treatments trials on the domes. This provides invaluable information about the paintings, their history, technology, condition, deterioration mechanisms and the potential for remedial interventions.

A student in a hard hat and jumpsuit holds a laptop. She stands beside a bright arched window. She is placing a monitor on the window.
Two women crouch beside a wall painting. One holds a small torch to the surface. The painting is of a figure with arms spread.

Students taking the Courtauld Institute’s MA Conservation of Wall Paintings work directly on conservation projects throughout the course. Previous fieldwork projects include Longthorpe Tower in Peterborough, Tamzhing Monastery, Bumthang, in Bhutan and Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China.

Two women crouch on bare planks, with monitoring equipment facing the camera. Above their heads, a dome of wall paintings.

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