Today we were undertaking a measured plaster survey of a ceiling and stair window below a rotten floor at The George Hotel, Huddersfield, to record the makeup of the haired lime and gypsum gauged plaster, run in situ to define the decorative details.

The flat ceiling area is comprised of riven lath carrying haired lime rich plaster, gauged with gypsum. The undercoats and finish coat extend between 15 and 20 mm below the lath. This ceiling has been extensively patched with modern gypsum plasters and rises up in its centre, with the cornices to this sunken panel now defined by modern metal corner skim beads.  This sunken ceiling is terminated by cornices and a casing above a semi-circular arch. The cornice has been run in situ. The hand formed plaster keystone above the window overlaps and cuts through the first element of the cornice, terminating at the top of this element. This is shown in the plan and cross sections below.

The plaster surrounding the stair window, consisting predominantly of lath carrying gauged lime plaster, except for the inside of the brick arch which has been plastered directly onto the bricks, is shown on the illustrations contained in diagrams below. The picture rail and mouldings below the arch’s springing point are timber.