AIM Pilgrim Trust remedial conservation grant – York Army Museum

York Army Museum – AIM Pilgrim Trust Remedial Conservation Grant 
£540  
Preservation of WWI objects 

The project’s aim was to preserve three WW1 objects that are on display in the York Army Museum permanent exhibition: a Brodie helmet, a water bottle and part of a rifle (part of muzzle and firing mechanism). These items are part of a group of artefacts that were exhumed with the remains of two unidentified soldiers of the 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment at Villers-Bretonneux (France) in December 2007. The remains were interred at Adelaide Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, in September 2011. The artefacts were not reburied but repatriated to York Army Museum.

The objects have been on display in the permanent exhibition of the York Army Museum since 2015 and were showing signs of severe active corrosion. The objective of this project was to stabilize and preserve them rather than attempting restoration. Thanks to an AIM remedial conservation grant, York Archaeological Trust removed the active corrosion, stabilized and consolidated the objects. The artefacts are now back on display in the permanent exhibition at York Army Museum.

Aline Staes, Collections Manager 

Pictured: York Army Museum WWI items