Historic Interiors Research & Conservation (HIRC) offers a fresh way of examining period properties, listed buildings, churches, country houses and various historic structures. This also includes bridges, bandstands, railings and lamp-posts which form such an important part of our rural and urban landscape.

Paint analysis and architectural paint research combines detailed on-site detective work with documentary investigation and the scientific examination of applied paint layers. Pigment identification and material analysis can help date specific decorations and reveal the original bright colours of faded historic schemes. It is possible to establish in great detail how rooms were originally decorated and fitted out. This investigative approach provides a record of the changing tastes in interior decoration and provides insights into the aspirations of the creators of these rooms, and reveals the fine grain of their lifestyles. Historic interiors research helps explain how and why rooms were transformed by later occupants. Modern paint research demonstrates the limitations of basic paint scrapes, and is now recognised as an important building conservation tool. Historic interiors are silent witnesses – an untapped source of primary archaeological evidence. Buildings hold fascinating hidden stories which can to inform their future conservation management.