The Regimental Museum, Bodmin, 2014

In 2014, this was awarded for the conservation and display of Sir John Moore’s Order of the Knights of Bath Mantle.

Lt. General Sir John Moore died in the Battle of Corunna during the Peninsular War in 1809, repulsing an attack by Napoleon’s Marshall Soult and protecting the British Retreat.  He was acclaimed in death as a hero at home.

The crimson silk satin mantle on display in this room came into the museum's collection with major damage. It has since undergone extensive conservation and repair; the garment you see today is the result of many weeks of painstaking and highly skilled work by a professional textile conservator. Without this work, it would not have been possible to display it.

There were large splits, tears and holes caused by weakening of the silk due to light exposure over many years which had made the silk fibres extremely brittle. There were also many small holes in the lining, some caused by insect infestation and others by drawing pins used to pin the mantle for display. The appliquéd Order of the Bath star was partially detached and the sequins and metal embroidery threads were tarnished.

The conservator has made a new calico base to support the mantle. Lumps of crusty corrosion around old pin holes have been removed, and the parts most vulnerable to handling during the mounting and de-mounting have been given an overlay of specially dyed fine nylon net, secured with hand stitching.