Weather protection for Hinemihi's exterior carvings

Hinemihi o te Ao Tawhito at Clandon Park, Surrey welcomed over 20 guests from Te Maru O Hinemihi and Ngati Ranana London Maori Club to the marae last weekend to see new all-weather placements erected to protect her from the sun, rain and wind.  The weather protection material, using corrugated iron sheets, scaffolding and nylon netting, is a temporary measure designed to protect our whare until such time as exterior carvings can be removed for restoration.  Te Maru O Hinemihi member Alan Gallop said that “while the weather protection measures might not look very pretty they are doing a good job to prevent sunlight, rainwater and winds from causing any further damage to these precious and valuable carvings.”  He added: “It has been nearly a year since most of us last saw Hinemihi following the fire at Clandon Park last April and serious deterioration is evident in many exterior carvings, particularly the right-hand Amo where a number of new cracks have appeared in the upper portion.  The need to restore the carvings has now never been more urgent and we hope that by the end of the year restoration work will be well underway, project-managed and conducted by Te Maru’s President, Mr. Jim Schuster of Ngati Hinemihi.”