Film Collection Restoration

Initial emergency restoration

Following its return from Plymouth, the collection was assessed and it was found that its condition was poor and that immediate conservation work was required. Damage to the film included mould on the outer surfaces of the film, probably due to the film being in a damp environment, and colour fade on some of the more recent colour film stock that was a result of poor storage conditions.

An initial emergency project was set up to undertake emergency conservation work on the most damaged film in order to preserve it and ensure that no further damage was done. This was essential in order to increase the film’s life expectancy and ensure that the damage did not become irreversible. The films are fairly easy to restore and repair to ensure that their life expectancy is increased. It was clear that, in their current condition, some of the reels would start to lose emulsion from the picture area making the films useless and a tragic loss to Dartington Estate. A plea went out for emergency funding which was answered by the Elmgrant Trust and the Friends of Dartington who both gave £1,000 towards the project. Work was therefore able to begin immediately to save the most fragile pieces of film in the Collection.

Between Moor and Sea

Between Moor and Sea is a project that will take 20 hours of key footage and take it through each of the stages outlined below. A fundamental principle of the Restoration Project as a whole is to maximise public access to the film collections and create resources that can be used and can interact with contemporary activities both at Dartington and the wider community. An application of £50,000 has been submitted to the Digital Film Archive Fund administered by South West Screen in order to assist with this pilot project.

Conservation and restoration

Conservation and restoration work continues. All of this work is carried out on-site by Trust staff in the Barn Theatre. Once cleaned, a proportion of the film will be shown in the Barn Theatre in order to increase people’s awareness of the collection and to showcase our heritage.

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