Forres Heritage Trust unveils renovated Victorian paintings of local events
Two historic paintings of local scenes have been unveiled at the end of a two-year restoration project.
‘The Tournament’ and ‘The Riding of the Marches,’ painted in 1839/40 by Thomas Cranmer, are on display in the Tolbooth Courtroom where they have hung for 185 years since just after the building first opened.
Forres Heritage Trust volunteer, Alex Ross, led on the project and helped to raise the £25,000 needed to restore both landscapes.
Speaking at the unveiling event attended by 45 people, he said: “Two years ago, the team of volunteers known as The Friday Gang were renovating the courtroom. Lots of work had been done to spruce up the room but when we turned our attention to the paintings, we realised how grubby they were so decided to get them restored.
“The Friday Gang got the paintings safely down off the wall and packaged for transporting to the restorers. They then had the even more crucial job of getting them rehung with extreme care and attention!”
The Riding of the Marches shows Forres Town Council on October 1 1840, ceremonially checking the town’s boundaries on Califer Hill.
The Tournament depicts a scene in Sir Thomas Dick Lauder’s book ‘The Wolf of Badenoch’ during the reign of Robert II (1371-1390). King Robert’s son-in-law, the Earl of Moray, held a tourney at St John’s Mead on the banks of the River Findhorn close to Darnaway Castle.
Alex is “absolutely thrilled” with the renovations.
He said: “It was a great moment to unveil them and see the reaction - the results are outstanding! There are so many more subtle details that are visible now including facial expressions that were lost behind layers of varnish and nicotine.”
The Tournament was restored by Sylvia Krauss ACR at Templeton Studios, Glasgow. Riding of the Marches was revived by Egan, Matthes & Rose ACR, Douglas Court, Dundee.
Nine months of painstaking work involved cleaning every inch of the paintings with cotton swabs and cleaning solution, repairing surface cracks, retouching paintwork and refurbishing the frame.
A replacement stretcher was fitted to the rear of one to tighten up a sagging front canvas. The old stretcher was riddled with woodworm.
“The paintings are of immense historic value and local interest,” said Alex. “I thank everyone who had input in the restoration.”
Major funding donors were Pilgrim Trust, the Forres Ward Fund, the residents of Moravia Court and generous townspeople.
The Tolbooth was community asset transferred from Moray Council to FHT in 2014.
