Union Jack flag from HMS Nottingham, St Mary’s Church, Nottingham

Union Jack flags are flown by British naval warships at the bow (front) of the vessel.  This flag is from HMS Nottingham, a Royal Navy light cruiser built in 1914.  The ship participated in several notable fleet actions in World War 1, before being sunk by a German submarine in 1916.  The flag, which was flown at the Battle of Jutland hangs in St Mary’s Church, Nottingham.  It was removed from display and brought to the studio to prepare it for display in an exhibition. The large amount of dust on the wool fabrics was removed with vacuuming and then the flag was washed by a hand in a shallow bath using a conservation grade detergent.  Support for hanging display was achieved by encasing the flag in two layers of colour matched conservation net using stitching along the seams.  The net layers were extended at the fly edge to indicate the flag’s original dimensions before damage.