Shrinking Coronation Chair refit for the King
Conservators race against time to have relic, which has shrunk over centuries, ready to support King
The ancient Coronation Chair has shrunk and may need reinforcing to ensure it can take the combined weight of the Stone of Scone and the King when he is crowned on May 6. The oak seat, which is also known as St Edward’s Chair, is considered one of the most precious bits of furniture in the world. The chair is said to have shrunk by several millimetres over the past 70 years. It is undergoing restoration work at Westminster Abbey ahead of the King’s Coronation.
THE ancient Coronation Chair has shrunk and may need reinforcing to ensure that it can take the combined weight of the Stone of Scone and the King when he is crowned, The Daily Telegraph understands.
The oak seat, which is also known as St Edward’s Chair, is considered one of the most precious pieces of furniture in the world and is the oldest item in the UK that is still used for its original purpose.
Made in 1300 for Edward I to enclose the Stone of Scone, which he captured from the Scots in 1296, it has featured in coronation ceremonies since 1308, with monarchs from Henry IV in 1399 to Elizabeth II in 1953 using it for the moment of their crowning.
It is said to be in surprisingly good condition, given its age. However, like all organic materials, it has been affected by its environment and is said to have shrunk by several millimetres over the past 70 years. The chair is undergoing restoration work at Westminster Abbey ahead of the King’s Coronation on May 6. The stone, which weighs around 152kg, sits in the frame of the wooden chair, its weight supported by two iron bars.
Conservators are said to be using a replica of the stone, which is not the same weight but is of the same dimensions, to aid their work. An Abbey spokesman said the current restoration work did not involve strengthening the iron bars. However, they acknowledged that the Abbey had a “duty of care” to prepare the chair and to make sure it could receive the stone.
“We are reviewing it,” they added. Much of the current restoration work is being undertaken by the Abbey’s paintings conservator, Krista Blessley, who has spent four months meticulously preserving the flaking gilding and cleaning the chair’s surface using sponges and cotton swabs.
Ms Blessley admitted that the chair had been affected by the environment. “If there’s little changes in humidity, the wood moves, and that complex layer structure moves – new areas will lift,” she said. “I might consolidate something this month, then in two months I might need to consolidate it again.”
In the course of her work, she believes she has found part of a figure not seen before, adding: “I think they are previously undiscovered toes in the punch-work gilding on the back of the chair.
“So there are areas of drapery where you can tell there would have been a figure. It might be they are figures of kings or it might be a figure of a saint, because so much is lost we can’t really tell at the moment but I’ll do some further investigation.”
Ms Blessley described her pride at helping to conserve such a historic object central to the life of the nation. “It’s a real privilege to work on the Coronation Chair,” she added.
“It’s so important to our country’s history and in the history of the monarchy.” The chair has undergone occasional work over the decades.
In 2010 there was a major project to stabilise all of the gilding and to clean it.
In 2007, it emerged that the Abbey’s central heating had caused damage to the chair, prompting the authorities to install humidity monitors.
Much of the graffiti on the inside of the chair’s backrest was carved by Westminster schoolboys and visitors to the Abbey, during the 18th and 19th centuries, who left their initials or names. One tourist carved “P. Abbott slept in this chair 5-6 July 1800” on the seat.