Does anyone know what these are?

[SammiJo]

This is my first (of probably many!) post as we moved into our 1850s converted pub last year and are now uncovering all the issues Does anyone know what these might be? They’re in the inner hallway and are glass with fake leather behind? They’re not so much causing an issue, but we’d like to remove or cover over them but don’t want to cause an issue! If anyone has any ideas on what they are or how best we are to erase them, we’d be very grateful

 

[Cubist]

Are they recessed into the wall and is the leather fixed to a backer board or embedded in the plaster of the wall? Would it be possible to remove them without damage and then keep them in the frames?

They may be old parchment which was made from tanned leather. If so they may have been documents or even diagrams of some kind but perhaps much faded.

 

[SammiJo]

Thanks for your speedy reply. Yes they’re recessed into the wall and go through to the other side of the wall (painted white). The wall is a partition wall/not solid and we can’t see what the fake leather is fixed to. It definitely looks fake leather though - some close up pics attached.

 

[IHateDamp]

Interior windows or hatches boarded up ?

 

[Cubist]

Before you do anything else perform a google search on 'Leather Wall Art'. Some pieces fetch significant prices but their value is based on their quality and history and how well any images or wording has survived.

Regardless of how poor the images/wording may be someone went to great lengths to preserve these and I think you are honour bound to try to save and find out more about them. I would therefore recommend that you very carefully remove the outer frames and glass covering to see if the leather is mounted to a board behind that can be lifted out - or, in the worst case and its been glued to the walling material. cut that to allow removal. The resulting holes would be easy to patched and the rooms redecorated as you wish. The re-assembled frames and leather - whatever it is - could then be sold if they are of interest to a collector. You may also want to share some photos with the curators of a museum or two to get an opinion on them.

 

[Flyfisher]

Interior windows or hatches boarded up ?

I dimly remember visiting an isolated pub while camping in deepest darkest Wales a gazillion years ago, the sort of place that suddenly becomes deathly quiet when a couple of strangers walk in. Anyway, it was basically just one bare room with assorted tables and chairs and no bar as such, just a 'serving hatch' in the far wall through which orders would be served, which was quite intimidating as I recall, having to walk across the room while being eyed-up by assorted locals in total silence. But I digress.

Anyway, the mention of these walls being part of an old converted pub reminded me of this and if this could be something similar?

 

[Cubist]

I have had some very similar experiences of suddenly quiet pubs around the world but the most ominous was a bar in Belfast shortly after the troubles calmed down where I found myself rubbing shoulders with a giant of a man who was necking a Guiness with a whisky chaser... I didn't stay long.

 

[a twig]

Just as someone who spent too long working behind bars - when referring to a whisky or whiskey chaser, the chaser is the other drink that isn’t the whisk(e)y (in this case the Guinness) with the theory being the whisk(e)y is drunk first then the pint enjoyed afterwards

 

[Cubist]

Just as someone who spent too long working behind bars - when referring to a whisky or whiskey chaser, the chaser is the other drink that isn’t the whisk(e)y (in this case the Guinness) with the theory being the whisk(e)y is drunk first then the pint enjoyed afterwards

The guys I was with at the time were rather amused by my discomfiture, which was apparently quite obvious, and explained afterwards the bruiser concerned was an off-duty RUC Riot Officer. Law, I'm showing my age again.

BTW - @a twig , despite my attempts over the years to consume ample volumes of that amber nectar - from both the Highlands and Irish collections - I always thought it was the whiskey that followed so that it could be better savoured, but then I'm a heathen, ho hum.

P.S. Which of Her Majesties Gaols did you serve in?

 

[SammiJo]

Thanks for your messages. Yes we thought they were some sort of windows but they’re in a strange position so close to each other and high up the wall. We’ll remove them carefully before blocking them up though and will let you know if we have some treasures

 

[SammiJo]

I dimly remember visiting an isolated pub while camping in deepest darkest Wales a gazillion years ago, the sort of place that suddenly becomes deathly quiet when a couple of strangers walk in. Anyway, it was basically just one bare room with assorted tables and chairs and no bar as such, just a 'serving hatch' in the far wall through which orders would be served, which was quite intimidating as I recall, having to walk across the room while being eyed-up by assorted locals in total silence. But I digress.

Anyway, the mention of these walls being part of an old converted pub reminded me of this and if this could be something similar?

I went to a very similar pub in Wales - it wasn’t the Dyffryn Arms was it? https://maps.app.goo.gl/fHJwoCkbtNYhpXVA7?g_st=ipc our windows/hatches are a bit high up the wall for serving out of.

 

[Kearn]

Thanks for your messages. Yes we thought they were some sort of windows but they’re in a strange position so close to each other and high up the wall. We’ll remove them carefully before blocking them up though and will let you know if we have some treasures

Do you have more info/pics of the other side? You say they go through the wall? Sounds more involved than some decorative parchment attached to the wall and framed…