Conservation Advice and Guidance | English Heritage
Visit
Menu • Visit
Places To Visit
Visit • Places To Visit
PLACES TO VISIT
Stonehenge
1066 Battle of Hastings, Abbey and Battlefield
Dover Castle
Overseas visitors pass
Group visits
Find a place to visit
What's On
Visit • What's On
WHAT'S ON
Family events
Members' events
Events near you
May Half Term
Family Days out
Visit • Family Days out
FAMILY DAYS OUT
Top 10 family days out
Family property guides
Rainy days out
Inspire Me
Visit • Inspire Me
INSPIRE ME
1066 and the Norman Conquest
Podcast
Travel guides
Dog friendly places
Historic Gardens
Blue Plaques
Visit • Blue Plaques
BLUE PLAQUES
About the scheme
Find a blue plaque
Propose a blue plaque
Support the scheme
Weddings & Venue Hire
Visit • Weddings & Venue Hire
WEDDINGS & VENUE HIRE
Wedding venues
Corporate venues
Filming locations
Holiday Cottages
Visit • Holiday Cottages
HOLIDAY COTTAGES
Find a holiday cottage
Cottages by the sea
Late availability
Menu • About us
About us • About Us
Our people
Our policies and reports
Annual reports
About us • Contact Us
General enquiries
Visit FAQs
Group visits
Information for Suppliers
Careers with us
About us • Careers with us
CAREERS WITH US
Search jobs
Our benefits
Modern slavery statement
News
About us • News
NEWS
Press office
Support us
Menu • Support us
Support Us
Support us • Support Us
SUPPORT US
Donate now
Guardians
Gifts in wills
Grants
How your support helps
Our Appeals
Support us • Our Appeals
OUR APPEALS
Your Places Appeal
Blue plaques
Volunteer
Support us • Volunteer
VOLUNTEER
Find a volunteer opportunity
Meet our volunteers
Why volunteer?
Volunteer focus magazine
Partnership and sponsorship
Support us • Partnership and sponsorship
PARTNERSHIP AND SPONSORSHIP
Corporate partnerships
Marketing partnerships
Licensing
Learn
Menu • Learn
Learn
Learn • Learn
LEARN
1066 and the Norman Conquest
School visits
Teaching resources
Histories
Learn • Histories
HISTORIES
History of Stonehenge
History of Hadrian's Wall
Women in history
LGBTQ history
Find more...
Conservation
Learn • Conservation
CONSERVATION
Caring for our collections
Collections advice & guidance
Gardens & landscapes
Paintings conservation
Clothes moth research
Story of England
Learn • Story of England
STORY OF ENGLAND
Prehistory
Romans
Tudors
Victorians
Find more...
Shop
Join
Members' Area
Menu • Members' Area
Members' Area
LOGIN TO MEMBERS' AREA
Please login or register for the Members' area. The new Members' area allows you view details of your membership and your payments as well as requesting amendments.
Conservation
COLLECTIONS CONSERVATION ADVICE AND GUIDANCE
Our collections conservation guidance notes and technical papers are informed by science-based evidence and our practical experience. They are freely available to download below. Technical papers can be found beneath the guidance notes, which are listed by subject.
Guidance Notes:
Pests
Insect Pests Found in Historic Houses
: A poster illustrating a selection of insect pests most commonly found in historic houses and museums in the UK.
To best identify the insect pests it is recommended that you order a hard copy of the poster from English Heritage Customer Services. If the poster is downloaded and printed in A4 or A3 size, the insect actual size icons will be incorrect. Free copies of the poster are available from English Heritage Customer Services Tel: 0370 333 1181, quoting product number 506506 or email
customers@english-heritage.org.uk.
Please note that as we are a charity we request that customers ordering copies pay for postage/carriage costs. Any orders sent overseas will also incur postage costs.
You can also purchase
Pests in Houses Great and Small
, a concise but comprehensive illustrated guide to the key pest species that commonly cause damage when they infest houses and collections.
Insectes ravageurs trouvés demeures historiques et musées
: French version of the poster
English Heritage Guideline for Insect Pest Management in English Heritage Historic Properties
Freezing Guidelines for Controlling Insect Pest Infestation
Top Tips for Preventing Clothes Moth Infestations
Clothes Moth Prevention & Control Guidelines
The Exosex Clothes Moth System and English Heritage
House mice and rodents in historic buildings and museums
Varied carpet beetle - fact sheet 1
Furniture beetle - fact sheet 2
Death watch beetle - fact sheet 3
Webbing clothes moth - fact sheet 4
Case-bearing clothes moth - fact sheet 5
Cluster flies - fact sheet 6
Biscuit beetle - fact sheet 7 (2017)
Silverfish - fact file 8
Booklice - fact file 9
Spider beetles - fact sheet 10
Two spot carpet beetle and vodka beetle - fact sheet 11
Guernsey carpet beetle - fact sheet 12
Feral pigeons - fact sheet 13
Indian meal moth - fact sheet 14
Rodents - fact sheet 15
MONITORING TOOLS
English Heritage Insect ID Monitoring Sheet
Manual for using the Insect Pest Monitoring sheet
English Heritage Guideline for Recording Insect Pest Data onto Floor Plans
Hospitality Events in Historic Houses
Practical Conservation Guidelines for Successful Hospitality Events in Historic Houses
RISK ASSESSMENT TOOLS
Risk Assessment Spreadsheet for Hospitality Events in Historic Houses
Instructions for Using the Hospitality Risk Assessment Spreadsheet
Care of Archaeological Metalwork
Guidelines for the Storage and Display of Archaeological Metalwork
Instruction for Using Low Relative Humidity Showcase Silica Gel Lifetime Spreadsheet
Calculating Lifetime of Silica Gel in Low RH Showcases (15 minute data intervals)
Calculating Lifetime of Silica Gel in Low RH Showcases (30 minute data intervals)
Calculating Lifetime of Silica Gel in Low RH Showcases (60 minute data intervals)
Management of Showcases
AD acetic calculator
Updated MEMORI decision support tool
Collections Management Planning
Historic House Collections: Drawing up a Collections Management Plan
Hard copies can be obtained from
Historic England.
Loan Conditions
Loan requirements
Loan requirements appendix
Technical Papers:
These publications cover aspects of preventive conservation and science research which have been carried out in association with English Heritage artefact collections and interiors. Additional project work by external heritage science researchers can also be found here.
Preventive Conservation and Risk Management
Heritage Collections at Risk: English Heritage Collections Risk and Condition Audit
Conserving and Presenting Brodsworth Hall: New Approaches for a Sustainable Future
Glitter and Gunge: Preserving the Future of JW Evans
Environmental Management Performance Standards
Environmental Management Strategies and Challenges in Historic Houses
Frontiers of Preventive Conservation
Effect of Particulate Matter on Paper Degradation
Piezo-Electric Quartz Crystal-Based Dosimetry and Damage Assessment of Parchment and Artists' Varnish
Critical Knowledge Gaps in Environmental Risk Assessment
Using Non-Invasive Non-Destructive Techniques to Monitor Cultural Heritage Objects
Life After a Collections Risk and Condition Survey
Sustainability
Sustainable Collections Environments
Better Use of Showcases for Preservation and Sustainability
Comparison of Environmental Control Strategies for Historic Buildings
Managing Silver Tarnish
Silver Maintenance Sustainability spreadsheet
- for estimating carbon footprints and other sustainability indices for maintaining silver collections
Copper Maintenance Sustainability spreadsheet
- for estimating carbon footprints and other sustainability indices for maintaining copper collections
How to Calculate the Carbon footprint of a Painting Conservation Treatment at English Heritage
Climate Change
Managing The Impact of Climate Change on Historic Interiors
The Impact of Climate Change on Historic Interiors: Final Appendices
Dust
Dust in Historic Libraries
Managing Dust in Historic Houses – A Visitor/Conservator Interface
Insect Pests
Long-term Changes in Climate and Insect Damage in Historic Houses
Ten Years of Integrated Pest Management at English Heritage
2013 Update on the IPM Programme at English Heritage
Operation Clothes Moth - Where Preventive Conservation and Public Engagement Meet
Light
Managing Natural Light in Historic Properties
Metals
Preventing Silver Tarnish – Lifetime Determination of Cellulose Nitrate Lacquer
Post Excavation Changes and Preventive Conservation of Archaeological Iron
Reactivity Monitoring of Atmospheres
Development of Damage Functions for Copper
Effects of Light on Silver Tarnishing
Corrosion Protection for Complex Large Equipment
Silver and Copper Corrosion Rate Sheets
Instructions for use: silver and copper corrosion rate sheets.
Using Epidemiology to Validate Scientific Results for Complex Situations
Mould
The Interactions between Fungi and British Heritage Buildings
Testing Damage Functions for Mould Growth
Paintings
Measurement of Organic and Inorganic Pollutants in Picture Frames
Conservation and Investigation of a Painting by Jan Baptist Weenix
Paper and Parchment
Libraries and Archives in Historic Buildings
Damage Function for Historic Paper - Part I: Fitness for Use
Damage Function for Historic Paper - Part II: Wear and Tear
Damage Function for Historic Paper - Part III: Isochrones and Demography of Collections
Plastics
Preventive Conservation Research for Plastics on Open Display
Showcases
Presentation in Original Contexts via Microclimates
Retrofitting Old Display Cases
Development of Showcases for Archaeological Metals in Aggressive Environments
The Effect of Air Tightness on RH Buffering and Control
Air Exchange Rate – the Dominant Parameter for Preventive Conservation?
Simple Methods to Measure Air Exchange Rates and Detect Leaks in Display and Storage Enclosures
Reduction of Acidic Pollutant Gases inside Showcases
Stone
Assessing the Performance of Protective Winter Covers for Outdoor Marble Statuary: Pilot Investigation
Management of Sodium Sulphate Damage to Polychrome Stone
Stores
A New Beginning for English Heritage's Archaeological and Architectural Stored Collections
Test for Compatibility with Organic Heritage Materials - A Proposed Full Paper Procedure
Principles for developing low-cost, sustainable stores
Textiles
Designing Accelerated Ageing Experiments to Study Silk Deterioration in Historic Houses
Non-destructive Testing of Silk: Problems and Possibilities
Applying Preventive Conservation Recommendations for Silk in Historic Houses
Preserving Silk: Reassessing Deterioration Factors for Historic Silk Artefacts
Determining the Stability and Durability of Archaeological Materials
Reducing the Risk of Open Display: Optimising the Preventive Conservation of Historic Silks
Vibration
Vibration Damage Levels for Museum Objects
Wood
Determination of Response Rates of Wooden Objects to Fluctuating Relative Humidity in Historic Properties
CEN Standards
The European Committee for Standardisation Technical Committee 346 (CEN TC 346) is developing European Standards (ENs) for conservation. Four working groups are developing standards that impact on preventive conservation:
WG4: Protection of collections
WG6: Exhibition lighting of cultural heritage – Joint working group between TC 346 and TC 169
WG7: Specifying and measuring indoor/outdoor climate
WG8: Energy efficiency of historic buildings
Published Standards
EN 15757: Specifications for temperature and relative humidity to limit climate- induced mechanical damage in organic hygroscopic materials.
EN 15758: Procedures and instruments for measuring temperatures of the air and the surfaces of objects.
EN 15759-1: Indoor climate, Part 1: Guidelines for heating churches, chapels and other places of worship.
EN 16242: Procedures and instruments for measuring humidity in the air and moisture exchanges between air and cultural property.
Full list of published standards
The standards can be purchased from any member organisation of the British Standards Institute (BSI) in the UK.
Standards under preparation
prEN 15999-1 Conservation of cultural heritage: Guidelines for management of environmental conditions – Recommendations for showcases used for exhibition and preservation of cultural property, Part 1: General requirements
Full list of Standards in progress
Find out more
Conservation Science
Find out how our conservation scientists protect collections from harmful environmental factors.
Caring for our Gardens
Learn more about the important work that our gardens team are doing to care for and protect our historic gardens and landscapes.
Paintings Conservation
Discover how dedicated fine art conservators protect the many paintings, frames and decorative schemes in our collection.