Palace is looking for craftsmen who made their mark on the ceiling

Restorers at Blenheim Palace are attempting to locate craftsmen or their descendants who inscribed their names on the ceilings decades ago. During the restoration of the palaces paintings, conservators have uncovered around 11 names written high above the Great Hall in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.

The team, initially believing they were the first in centuries to reach these heights, expressed astonishment upon discovering signatures and dates etched into the ceiling approximately 67ft (20m) above the floor.

Some of the inscriptions date back to 1843, made by a plasterer named T. Harwood, while others are from 1968, likely left by workers who worked on the coving. The palace hopes to connect these historic markings with families whose ancestors may have contributed to previous restoration or maintenance work.

Lizzie Woolley, director of Opus Conservation, remarked: "We were astonished to uncover these graffiti. We had assumed no one had accessed the ceilings in the Great Hall and Saloon for centuries. Solving the identities of these individuals and understanding their work here would be fantastic."

The inscriptions include:

• F. R. Rambone, 292 Abingdon Rd, Oxford, 10 February 1931
• G. T. Higgs, 1921, Oxford, believed to have varnished windows
• T. Riley, 2011
• J. F. Brennan, 1968
• J. Henfry, 1968
• H. J. Brennan, 1968
• W. A. Hunt, 1968
• W. Smith, 1888
• T. Harwood, plasterer, 1843
• E. Tuffrey, Valentines Day, 1939
• Rewired LH, 1935

The restoration focuses on the Great Hall ceiling painted by Sir James Thornhill in 1716, along with Louis Laguerres Battle of Blenheim paintings in the Saloon. This project is part of a larger 12 million roof restoration, scheduled for completion in 2026.

Author: Chloe Ramirez