Editor Rob Cowan Editorial Coordinator Michael Taylor, ihbceditorialboard@gmail.com Editorial Board Matthew Crook, Nigel Crowe, Peter de Figueiredo (book reviews), Deborah Mays, Duncan McCallum, Alison McCandlish (vice chair), Fiona Newton, John Pendlebury, Sheila Stones, Jonathan Taylor, Michael Taylor (chair) Cartoons and illustrations by Rob Cowan Context is distributed to all members of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. © Institute of Historic Building Conservation 2026 ISSN 0958-2746 Publisher Cathedral Communications (part of Euromedia Associates Limited), 10 Ashfield Road, Chorley, Lancashire PR7 1LJ. Tel: 01747 871717 context@cathcomm.co.uk www.buildingconservation.com Non-member subscriptions to Context Context is available to corporate bodies at an annual subscription rate, including postage, of: United Kingdom £65.00 Elsewhere £100.00 Context on-line archive Past issues of Context can be viewed on the IHBC website. The archive provides a searchable database and reference for key articles. See www.ihbc.org.uk/page55/context_archive. The views expressed in Context are not necessarily held by the IHBC or the publisher. Neither the publisher nor the IHBC shall be under any liability whatsoever in respect of contributed articles. We gratefully acknowledge the support of firms whose advertisements appear throughout this publication. While every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this issue of Context is current and correct, neither the IHBC nor the publisher can be held responsible for any errors or omissions which may occur. Context themes and copy deadlines Context is published four times a year in March, June, September and December. The next three themes and copy deadlines are: Threatened materials and crafts, September, issue 189 (10 July) Non-themed issue, December, issue 190 (9 October) Regional: North Wales, March 2027, issue 191 (14 January) Please contact Michael Taylor at ihbceditorialboard@gmail.com to discuss any editorial submissions or for information about the Context editorial board. 2 CONTEXT 188 : JUNE 2026 Briefing Cover: The pilot Canal & River Trust draft national listed building consent order covers a variety of types of infrastructure. This cast-iron milepost is on the Trent and Mersey Canal (see page 25). Demeter, Triptolemus and Persephone back at Olympia London It was Demeter, not Britannia The plinth and three lost figures at Olympia London’s Grand Hall entrance have been reinstated. The project has returned the entrance to its original Victorian grandeur, recreating statuary removed in the mid-20th century. DBR was the specialist conservation contractor. The project began with a challenge: identifying the figures that once stood above the Grand Hall. Historic England’s records referred to a ‘seated figure of Britannia’ removed in the 1950s, yet archive photographs revealed a standing central figure flanked by two seated companions. The building’s origins as the National Agricultural Hall were examined. The original 1886 statuary had been executed in Portland stone by a Mr Seale, with modelling directed by William Cave Thomas. The investigation identified the figures as Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture and harvest, standing proudly between Triptolemus, God of sowing and milling, and Persephone, goddess of growth and spring. This trio, often portrayed together in classical mythology, suited a building originally dedicated to agricultural innovation. Master carver Simon Smith and his team carved each figure based on historical photographs and classical references.
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