Conservation Studies, specialising in Furniture and Related Objects

Study at a specialist college with the assurance of a university qualification. Develop your passions and reach your potential in a small, welcoming environment within a community of like-minded people.

Why choose West Dean?
An international reputation for excellence in conservation and arts education
94% of students studying at the College felt the programme had enhanced their skills and abilities (2019 student survey)
A rich arts environment and a focus on craft skills with vocational application
Be inspired by the unique historic character and beautiful South Downs setting
Located close to Chichester and the South Coast, with easy access to London

The Course

There is significant emphasis placed on developing hand skills through practical work. Your application of treatments to historic objects will be underpinned through understanding both structural and decorative materials, their properties, identification, degradation and stabilisation. Learn about interventive treatment, structural and surface stabilisation, cleaning, consolidation, restoration of losses, materials and techniques, theory and practice.

Develop an understanding and appreciation of the history and cultural context of furniture and related objects and the architectural interiors they were created to be part of. Study wood and other decorative art materials associated with furniture including surface coatings: transparent, gilded, painted or lacquered.

You can expect

To develop excellent practical skills
To learn historic making techniques
To study preventative conservation

Learning environment

Well-equipped workshop with access 8.30am-9pm, 7 days a week
Individual work benches for each student
Dedicated finishing area and separate machine shop
Low student : tutor ratio
Interdisciplinary environment
Teaches students to understand and apply Icon's Professional Standards in Conservation
Visits from specialists from the heritage and private sectors
Visits to museums and active links with heritage bodies
Work placement in a professional studio

Exceptional facilities

The specialist furniture workshop is equipped with a full range of power and hand tools and individual work spaces for each student. There is a dedicated finishing area, and a separate machine shop. You will also have access to facilities shared with other departments, including:

Analytical laboratory
Photography space
IT suite with specialist databases
On-site Art and Conservation Library with thousands of specialist books and journals

Teaching

On the Graduate Diploma you typically have around 24 contact hours per week.

Independent learning

When not attending lectures, seminars and workshop or other timetabled sessions you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study for approximately 13-14 hours per week. Typically, this will involve:

Reading journal articles and books
Working on individual and group projects
Undertaking research in the library
Preparing coursework assignments and presentations

Overall workload

Graduate Diploma: 60% of your time is spent in scheduled teaching and learning activity
Scheduled teaching and learning: 720 hours
Independent learning: 480 hours