The SPAB Magazine: summer 2022

THE SPAB MAGAZINE SUMMER 2022

The Lost Buildings of Ardudwy Uncovering the secrets of the Snowdonia landscape

LONDON STOCKBRICK A love letter to an urban vernacular material

HMS UNICORN

A house upside down: the repair of a roofed boat

CHASTLETON HOUSE

A Jacobean survivor full of history and intrigue

Specialist advice for existing buildings Offices in Bath and Bristol 01225 442424

mail@nashpartnership.com

nashpartnership.com

Rodney Melville + Partners CHARTERED ARCHITECTS HISTORIC BUILDING CONSULTANTS

SIR JOHN SOANE’S MUSEUM

MODEL ROOM School of Architecture and the Built Environment,Wolverhampton

Building Conservation | New Design | Conservation Planning Contract Administration | Feasibility Studies | Disaster Management Materials Science | Sustainability | Funding Advice | Strategic Planning

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No 95 KINGSLAND ROAD LONDON E2 8AG TEL + 44 (0) 20 7729 5111 WWW.JULIANHARRAPARCHITECTS.CO.UK

Summer Summer2022 2022||SPAB SPAB|| www.spab.org.uk www.spab.org.uk

Leamington Spa | Bristol | Belfast | Dublin T 01926 881 311 www.rmpuk.com

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Contents

THE SPAB MAGAZINE

FEATURES

REGULARS 5 Welcome SPAB Director, Matthew Slocombe reflects on the survival of built and cultural heritage during times of conflict

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The Lost Buildings of Ardudwy Uncovering the secrets of the Snowdonia landscape

7 News and views The latest from the SPAB and the sector 24 Member repair project SPAB member, Amanda Billingsley, writes about the idiosyncrasies of her repair project at a 16th century house in Warwickshire 28 Events Booking online now

Pick of the Property List The very best from The List, this year’s printed companion to the property list online

62 Book reviews The latest reads reviewed 67 Technical notes Information and advice

Casework Casework from Cambridge, Caernarfon and Yorkshire

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HMS Unicorn HMS Unicorn A house upside down: the repair of a roofed boat

72 Building in Focus SPAB’s volunteer gardener, Julie Charlesworth takes us behind the scenes at Chastleton House

THE PROPERTY LIST Visit the members’ area of the SPAB website to view our online property list. Remember, you have to be a member to access the list. spab.org.uk

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London’s Sad and Beautiful Browns A love letter to the urban vernacular material, stockbrick

www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

VISIT OUR WEBS ITE

Specialist Conservators Architectural Stonework Statuary and Monuments Architectural Ceramics Decorative Plasterwork Mosaics

The newly restored Shrine of St Amphibalus at St Albans Cathedral.

Reconstructed from sections of the original 14th century one with new carving to fill the gaps,

by Skillingtons team 2019-21.

SKILLINGTON WORK SHOP LTD • TEL: +4 4 (0)14 76 56567 1 • WWW.SKILLINGTONS.CO.UK • ON FACEBOOK

SKILLINGTONS Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

5

Welcome

M

y predecessor and one of our former Chairs were invited to the beautiful city of Odesa some years ago. They felt it should apply for World Heritage Site status and tried to encourage better maintenance of its buildings. Apart from this, the SPAB’s involvement with Ukraine has been limited. Even so, all SPAB’s members must sympathise deeply with the Ukrainian people whose lives, culture and built environment have been so brutally attacked. SPAB has been a signatory to a letter of protest sent to the Russian Culture Ministry and we have been surprised to receive a reply (see our letter on page p20). Importantly, the reply acknowledges that information about the location of historic sites in Ukraine had been passed to the Russian defence ministry before invasion.

SPAB has had slightly more to do with Russian heritage. A delegation went informally to look at conservation issues facing Russia’s churches in 2008.

Then, in 2013, our former Chair, David Heath was invited to speak at a Staterun International Conference of Restorers, held in Moscow. He was treated with great courtesy, but sadly the days when a positive cultural exchange of this kind might occur now seem long gone.

The damage in Mariupol and other Ukrainian cities should increase the extent to which we cherish our historic sites in the UK and elsewhere. Despite this, many ruins in public care currently face an uncertain future. Scotland is the country where this is so far most noticeable, with Historic Environment Scotland (HES) closing a significant number of its sites while surveying work occurs. This is of huge concern, but a product of HES’s genuine fears about loose masonry and the threat to visitors. The underlying problem is a lack of state funding for the monuments in guardianship.

In the inter-war period, many monuments across the UK were taken into state care. Much work was done at the time – not all of it well-advised by modern standards – but we are now at the point where this major investment must be renewed. Without comparable state support, long-term closures seem inevitable. As Dr Simon Thurley, Chair of the Heritage Fund, said at The Heritage Alliance’s Heritage Day in March, perhaps it is time to put aside arguments about economics and regeneration and make a more emotional plea to government about the value of heritage to culture and wellbeing?

We live in difficult times, but these major upheavals in society can make the small things all the more important. Seeing a new intake of Scholars and Fellows (see page 9) – all thoughtful, skilled and ready to absorb all the experience the Society can offer – has been a good antidote to the world’s difficulties this Spring.

THE SPAB MAGAZINE SPAB STAFF Matthew Slocombe Director Douglas Kent Technical and research director Elaine Byrne Education & training manager Christina Emerson Head of casework Kate Streeter Development and marketing manager Ali McClary Communications manager Margaret Daly Office manager Shahina Begum IT manager Jonathan Garlick Special Operations (projects & working parties) Felicity Martin Communications officer Saira Holmes Development officer (maternity cover) Lucy Jacob Membership officer Pip Soodeen Fellowship officer Catharine Bull Scholarship officer Skye Stevenson Education officer Mary Henn Technical officer David John Technical advisor Catherine Peacock Technical & research administrator Joanne Needham Casework officer Elgan Jones Casework officer Rachel Broomfield Casework officer Victoria West Archive officer Lucy Stewart SPAB Scotland officer Deirdre Keeley SPAB Ireland officer Louise Simson Properties list officer Neil Faulks IT advisor Alexandra Banister Officer to the board Silvia McMenamin Mills Section administrator EDITORIAL Ali McClary (editor), Felicity Martin (assistant editor), Douglas Kent, Matthew Slocombe SPAB The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, 37 Spital Square, London, E1 6DY T. 020 7377 1644 E. info@spab.org.uk W. spab.org.uk @SPAB 1877 ISSN 2051-4239 A charitable company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales.

Company no: 5743962 Charity no: 1113753 Scottish charity no: SC039244 Registered in Ireland: 20158736 Letters: letters@spab.org.uk

ADVERTISING Hall-McCartney Ltd, Heritage House, PO Box 21, Baldock, Hertfordshire, SG7 5AH 01462 896688 admin@hall-mccartney.co.uk Published and printed on behalf of SPAB by CABBELLS Alban Row, 27-31 Verulam Road, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL3 4DG T. 01727 893 894 E. info@cabbells.co.uk W. www.cabbells.co.uk

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Peter Davies E. peter@centuryone.uk SENIOR DESIGNER Sean McNamara E. creative@centuryone.uk

Matthew Slocombe, Director

www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

Reproduction of content of this magazine in whole or in part is prohibited without prior written permission of the SPAB. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the SPAB. Products and services advertised in this magazine are not necessarily endorsed by the SPAB. You should make your own enquiries into products and services and seek professional advice where appropriate. © SPAB 2021 When you have finished with this magazine please recycle it.

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NEWS

SPAB GUARDIANS

Could you be a SPAB Guardian in 2023?

All committee members and regional group chairs are awarded Guardian status, reflecting their commitment to the SPAB and its work. Guardians can serve for a maximum of two 3-year terms, followed by a one-year gap after which re-election is possible.

Not all committees will have vacancies each year. Voting occurs each autumn with results announced at the end of the calendar year.

Vacancies for 2022 will arise on the following committees: Casework (2 TBC); Education and Training (2); Technical & Research (0 or 3 TBC); Ireland (0 TBC); Scotland (0 TBC); Mills (1 or 4 TBC) Interested candidates should put themselves forward now.

Applications must be from a SPAB member and supported by two seconders from the membership.

If you need help with nominations, please contact us for assistance.

For further information or to apply, please visit the governance section of the members’ area on the SPAB website. For questions about the election process, contact director@spab.org.uk or call 0207 377 1644. If you have trouble accessing the members’ area or would like to request accessibility accommodations for the application process, please contact the membership team membership@spab.org.uk.

The deadline for applications is Monday, 8 August 20222. Voting papers will be issued in the autumn 2022 SPAB Magazine.

Above SPAB volunteers at Boxley Abbey, 2020 Below llustration by James Oses

Lynn Matthias, brick and flint mason and SPAB Guardian on the Education and Training Committee says: As a SPAB Guardian I am able to add a craftsperson’s perspective, alongside the academic view, on the committee which I think gives it some balance. I am very pleased to be making good use of my 35 years’ experience and knowledge in the conservation sector.

I want to help SPAB improve the skills shortage and promote

Summer 2022| SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

traditional building skills and materials. I’m part of a group of people that are really passionate about conservation.

The search is on for the next chair of the SPAB This is an exciting time to be involved at the top level of the SPAB, with the Old House Project coming to completion in 2023 and key decisions to be made about our strategy and outreach.

The voluntary Chair position involves attendance at five Board meetings per year (January, May, July, September, and December), plus convening of the Guardians’ Summer Gathering and Winter Annual General Meeting.

To apply for the role of Chair you must be a member of the SPAB and have existing knowledge of its governance and structure. Please apply with a cover letter and CV to director@ spab.org.uk by Monday 4 July 2022. Interviews will be held in early August 2022, with the announcement of the new Chair coinciding with the Winter AGM. The Chair will begin in post in January 2023.

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NEWS

HERITAGE AWARDS

The SPAB Heritage Awards are now closed We were delighted with the overwhelming response we had for the 2022 SPAB Heritage Awards, especially in our new categories of Sustainable Heritage, Best Loved, and Building Craftsperson of the Year. We received over 100 entries and it’s now over to our expert judging panels to select the winners over the summer period. Entrants can expect their projects to be judged by a panel that includes Ruth Knight, Head of Sustainability at English Heritage; Phineas Harper the architecture critic and CEO of Open City; and Dr Neal Shasore, CEO and Head of School at the London School of Architecture.

In November 2022, SPAB Heritage Award winners will receive their award from designer, writer and TV presenter Kevin McCloud at an event at Conway Hall in London, the beautiful 1920s home of the Ethical Society.

Kevin says: “These awards celebrate excellence in everything I hold dear: conservation, intelligent design, sustainability and craftsmanship. The appeal of ancient buildings and places is a strong and undeniable force. It connects us to our past, points us to our future and helps us understand the value of our built and natural environments. In turn, these are powerful tools in helping us tackle the big new societal challenges of climate change, sustainability and energy efficiency. Now more than ever we need wisdom, clarity and the long view, qualities abounding within the SPAB.”

Philip Webb student design competition We still have one more award, running from 18 July – 12 September, the Philip Webb student design competition, sponsored by Terra Measurement.

The competition calls for students and architects in the early stages of their career to design a scheme that champions the sympathetic reuse of existing buildings and sensitive new design in a historic context. The scheme should incorporate both careful repair of existing fabric and a significant element of new construction in a contemporary design. Find more information on the Awards pages of the SPAB website.

With special thanks to our headline sponsors Storm Windows. If you are interested in sponsoring the awards please get in touch with Kate Streeter kate.streeter@spab.org.uk

SPAB is pleased to welcome Keymer Tiles as the Sustainable Heritage Award sponsor.

Christine Leadbeater, Sales Manager at Keymer Tiles says, ‘We are delighted to announce we are sponsoring the SPAB Sustainable Heritage Category at this years SPAB Awards in London.

This award category speaks directly to what we are all about at Keymer Tiles, the oldest clay tile manufacturer in the UK, having been handmaking clay roof tiles in the South of England using the same traditional methods and the same Weald Clay since 1588!’

www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

A PASSION FOR HERITAGE Sally Strachey Historic Conservation Ltd Award-winning, Icon-accredited specialists in the conservation of historic buildings, monuments, sculpture and decorative surfaces.

We provide a full range of services – from survey and consultancy to the delivery of complete projects as a specialist main contractor.

Detail from The Colquhoun Chapel, Brookwood Cemetery: During 2019 SSHC undertook a full programme of conservation cleaning, repairs, replacement masonry, re-plastering and fabrications – internal and external.

Winter Spring 2021 2020 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

T+44 (0)1458 832441

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NEWS PROJECT UPDATE

Introducing our 2022 Scholars and Fellows Our renowned training schemes nurture talented conservation professionals and craftspeople.

Meet this year’s cohort…

Katie Hood is a structural engineer from Edinburgh. She started work in the scientific sector, involved in material analysis in the nuclear industry specialising in concrete and steel. Working at David Narro Associates she has been involved with a variety of historic buildings projects including surviving parts of the Glasgow School of Art after the 2018 fire; reassembling a medieval window at the Burrell Collection; a replica of a 17th century creel house using traditional materials and techniques. She likes to work from first principles, learning from traditional techniques and then making use of modern technology in the form of point cloud surveys and digital imaging; balancing safety, with aesthetics and the protection of the historic fabric.

Jacob Long is an architect based in Bristol. His studies at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth highlighted the

Photos Ralph Hodgson/The SPAB. Serena Gildea pictured separately

Serena Gildea is a structural engineer from Belfast. She spent three years in New Zealand surveying homes damaged by the 2010 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence, where she also met 2017 Scholar, Aoife Murphy. She enjoys the process of trying to read a building and understanding the structure after many years of maintenance and repairs. Her recent work has involved surveying culverts passing under railway lines in Northern Ireland and providing repair strategies. Her ambition is now to join the two structural engineers in Northern Ireland on the CARE register. When she attended the 2021 SPAB working party in County Armagh, she realised for the first time ever she was surrounded by like-minded people. importance of critically evaluating differing approaches towards sustainability. When his design for a rammed earth tower was selected for the summer build project, he gained exposure to the simplicity and complexities of building with unstabilised earth. It was also here, in Scholar Elinor Gray-Williams’ lectures, he was opened to working in the context of historic buildings.

The idea of bringing together craft, history and sustainability was appealing. Returning to practice, Jacob has spent the past two years working on projects in the context of historic buildings.

Above SPAB Scholars and Fellows, from left to right: Owen Bushell, Jacob Long, David McFerran, Sinead Scullion, Katie Hood, Steve Hogarth, Daahir Mohamed.

Right SPAB Scholar Serena Gildea

Sinéad Scullion, an architect from Dublin, heard about the Scholarship during SPAB Ireland’s working party in Derry in 2017. Recently she has been working at Shaffery Architects on the adaptive re-use of 10 protected Georgian town houses in Dublin’s South Georgian Core. She is a member of ICOMOS, organises

www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

walking tours and is currently the Ireland Emerging Professional Working Group International Liaison representative. Sinéad is interested in the link between built heritage conservation and mitigating the impact of climate change, particularly at the vernacular level.

She is looking forward to spreading the word in Ireland to shape the approach to the repair and care of its historic buildings.

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NEWS Photos Ralph Hodgson/The SPAB

Daahir Mohamed is a selfemployed lime plasterer from Bristol. Originally from Somalia, he left for Switzerland at the age of nine. In Switzerland he trained as an apprentice in metal fabrication and tool making. This gave him a good grounding in precision, a passion for quality craftmanship and served as a steppingstone, once he moved to Bristol, first to general building work and onto specialising in plastering. Daahir has held roles on the boards of the Bristol Hospitality Network, Bristol Refugee Rights and has volunteered with the Bristol Bike Project and the Red Cross. He has also worked for the Asylum Seekers’ Allotment Project, teaching vegetable gardening and beekeeping skills.

Steve Hogarth is a rope access conservator and furniture maker from Derbyshire. After an early career in outdoor and adventure education, Steve worked as a machinist with his grandfather at his small cello and double bass spike manufacturing business, working to fine tolerances machining new spikes to fit old instruments. Combining this precision with his green woodworking and bushcraft skills, he began a bespoke furniture and interiors business. As a conservator Steve specialises in high-level inspections and repairs, and is eager for more sensitive repair specification to be available to rope access technicians. A member of the Kinder Mountain Rescue Team, Steve finds a strong synergy in the ethics of climbing and his repair work.

David McFerran is a carpenter/ joiner from Moira, County Down.

With 20 years experience, David recently progressed into more sustainable conservation work via the Prince’s Foundation. During a bursary placement within Northern Ireland’s Historic Environment Division under SPAB Fellow Kenny Shilliday, David has worked on buildings such as Newtownards

Priory and Strangford Castle. David applied for the Fellowship to learn a philosophy of conservation and refine his craft skills via a range of disciplines. With a genuine interest in local history and architecture he feels saddenend to see historic buildings declining to dereliction rather than being repaired and protected. He aims to transfer wholly into conservation work, where he sees a skilled workforce in decline.

Owen Bushell is a signwriter and shingle maker based in Aberdeenshire and is this year’s millwright Fellow. When he was at school Owen volunteered at The North Norfolk Railway and was mentored by a master signwriter. He worked for a decade on the railways, alongside signwriting commissions, roles in graphic design, managing a bar and building projects. After qualifying as a steam locomotive driver, his voluntary work shifted to market gardens and community agriculture projects. When he was living in Austria, Owen baked bread and pizza for the local co-operative, which was in the process of buying a former flour mill. He also secured an apprenticeship as a shingle maker, learning Alpine traditions and worked as a carpenter/builder at a leather tannery. Owen is now set up as a multi-discipline craftsman near Alford in Aberdeenshire, specialising in traditional signwriting, ecological and conservation construction, and shingle making.

Top SPAB Scholars and Fellows sketching in Spitalfields

Summer 2022| SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

COULD YOU BE A SCHOLAR OR FELLOW IN 2023?

We’re recruiting! The Scholarship is a nine-month hands-on training scheme for conservation professionals, usually architects, surveyors and engineers (though other disciplines in the repair of old buildings may be considered). The Fellowship is a six-month hands-on training scheme for craftspeople.

Both courses are undertaken on site through visits guided by experts.

There are no essay submissions or formal assessments. The deadline for Fellowship applications is Tuesday 14 September and Scholarship applications close on Tuesday 12 October.

Find full details on our website or email education@ spab.org.uk to contact the programme organisers.

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NEWS

www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

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NEWS PROPERTY LIST

ARCHAEOLOGY

Find your next project

Rare Pictish symbol stone discovered

Photos Winkworth Estate Agents

Below River House Maltings

Below Holly House Interior

former pharmacy is in the heart of the village and would make a wonderful repair project and business. The double depth plan suggests it has a mid-18th century core that was refaced in the 19th century in an Italianate style. We were particularly taken with the wonderfully ornate cresting on the cast iron gutters and the fine Edwardian cast iron shop front of unusual but restrained design.

The List also has features from Jude Edgell who is rescuing a semi-derlist castle in south Wales and documenting the process on Instagram, and Sophie Sellu, a London-based woodworker who shares her passion for working in traditional ways in the modern world.

We hope that you will find The List helpful and interesting. Access to the online property list is a benefit of SPAB membership. You can find it in the members’ area of the SPAB website.

Summer 2022| SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

Digging a small test pit in a field, archaeologists from Aberdeen University made a remarkable discovery. The large stone they unearthed at Aberlemno, Angus, was carved with classic Pictish symbols including triple ovals, a crescent, a comb and mirror. The carvings are thought to date to the 5th or 6th centuries, and it is one of only 200 symbol stones known.

Aberlemno is an area rich in Pictish heritage, with intricately carved standing stones by the roadside. The village is a few miles from what is thought to be the site of Battle of Nechtansmere, which took place in the 7th century. This victory for the Picts halted the northern expansion of the Anglo-Saxons and is thought to be a crucial moment in the formation of Scotland.

The symbol stone was later built into the paving of a large 11th or 12th century building. It has been carefully excavated for further analysis.

Photos Aberdeen University

Above River House Exterior

Above Holly House Exterior

Photos Rickett Partnership

Our online property list is a curated selection of the most interesting houses on the market in need of a sympathetic new owner. Inserted into this edition of the magazine is The List, our printed version. Inside you’ll find some special buildings. There’s River House, in Kersey, Suffolk dating from 1490 with its own Elizabethan tower, five bedrooms and original panelling, brick ovens, fireplaces and beams. It’s in serious need of repair. One of the oldest parts of the house, the near derelict former maltings, set over two storeys, has planning permission for conversion into further accommodation. There is also a collapsed 16th century barn, a 19th century barn, and brick built stabling, more recently used as a pottery.

Another more modest building featured is the charming Holly House in Malpas, Cheshire. A Grade II*-listed

St Augustine’s Church, Broxbourne

and repair of historic buildings, period

CONSERVING TRADITIONAL BUILDINGS ­

www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Winter 2020

3D SURVEY, MEASUREMENT & SPATIAL DATA CONSULTANTS We provide all of the survey and spatial data required to help breathe life into Listed Buildings, Historic Buildings and Retro-Fit Projects. Our Digital Twins of buildings not only provide the information for any 2D drawings or 3D models, but are also an ongoing asset that can be used for future planning and Preventative Maintenance • High Accuracy and Best Practice Expertise • 3D Reality Capture • 3D Digital Twins • 3D Artefact Capture • UAV (Drone) Inspection and Surveys • 3D and 360 Photo Virtual Tours • Virtual Reality Visualisations and Video • Next Generation 3D Site Capture • Retrofit and Design Verification • Movement Monitoring and Remote Sensing • Cloud Based Data and Collaboration Platforms • 3D Data Analysis and Structural Deviation Reports • Spatial Data Strategy and Management • Orthometric Image Elevations • 3D Modelling • 2D Drawings • 3D Terrain Models and Topographical Surveys

COVERAGE: UK AND BEYOND T: 01773 790080 E: info@terrameasurement.com W: www.terrameasurement.com Terra Measurement Limited

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Spring 2021 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

Terra Measurement

15

NEWS SPAB IRELAND

Grant funding for SPAB Ireland means an ambitious plan for 2022

OPEN CITY

Open House Festival turns 30 Chief Curator of Open House Festival, Zoë Cave, reflects on three decades of making London more open, accessible and equitable. And asks, what comes next?

What started as a handful of bijou buildings opening for small tours one weekend in the early 1990s, has grown to become Open House Festival, one of the largest and most inclusive celebrations of buildings, neighbourhoods and the communities behind them.

For three decades Open City has asked Londoners to open the doors of architecture and landscapes and welcome people of all backgrounds for free visits.

Persuading hundreds of Londoners to open up their homes and spaces to others, not for private gain but for the public good, is both our proudest accomplishment and our most enduring challenge.

So why do it? Why do so many people put so much effort into the Open House Festival every year and why should you get involved for our 30th anniversary celebrations? The festival pivots on the idea that when Londoners of all backgrounds are offered genuine opportunities to explore, experience, celebrate and critique their urban landscape, we can create a better city – one in which all citizens have the power, the platforms and the knowledge to take part in meaningful discussions about its future.

Open House Festival is created year on year because through learning about places, communities and histories outside

our usual experience we grow in empathy and understanding of others and the world. Open House Festival is created because by doing so, London will become a more open, equitable and accessible city.

This year our plans are bigger, bolder and more ambitious. For the Open House Festival’s 30th birthday, the mission is to have the most diverse range of buildings and places open. We believe that if there is a story to be told about the building or neighbourhood then it should be opened and celebrated in the festival. If it is special and interesting to you, it will be to others too.

Beyond individual buildings, this year the festival is opening up whole neighbourhoods. Spotlighting compelling areas beyond the city centre such as Shepherd’s Bush, Chelsea, South Norwood, Golders Green and offering a unique chance to explore and discover all the different things that make up London – the landscapes, the streets, the estates, the hidden infrastructure. Open City is taking this approach because we know the festival is at its best when a whole street or neighbourhood opens for the weekend and you can see all these parts working together.

These dense clusters of open buildings and spaces within a few streets from each other – prompting people and activity spilling out into a neighbourhood’s squares and streets – also maximise our feelings of openness and celebration, creating a truly transformative experience that will last for generations.

www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

Here at SPAB Ireland we are delighted to announce that we have received a grant of €34,655 from the Heritage Council under the Heritage Capacity Funding 2022.

The grant funding will support a number of initiatives for our 2022 campaign of works, which is entitled Sustainability and Vernacular Built Heritage. This includes the return of our summer lecture series, with four lectures planned from our panel of speakers and a second series of our popular podcast, Heart to Hearth – Chats about Irish Vernacular Heritage.

We also welcome a return to in-person events, with two SPAB Ireland working parties planned, and we will also be collaborating with the Building Limes Forum Ireland on a training event later this year, details of which will be announced in the coming months.

We have a record number of Irish participants in the 2022 SPAB Scholars and Fellows programme, with Scholars Serena Guildea and Sinéad Scullion, and Fellow David McFerran. We look forward to welcoming the 2022 Scholars and Fellows to Ireland as part of their training programme, and for the first time their visit will coincide with a number of SPAB Ireland events, culminating with the Building Limes Forum Annual Conference, to be held in Belfast from 2-4 September 2022. Our 2022 grant funding will also benefit the development of our casework campaign in Ireland, and we continue to grow other initiatives across our social media channels with our Building of the Month and maintenance campaigns throughout the year. We also hope to announce some exciting new filming collaborations later in 2022, which are currently at a preliminary planning stage.

This opportunity for growth gives us an excellent platform to build on the successes of the Vernacular Buildings Campaign 2021, which was sponsored by the Heritage Council under the Heritage Sector Support Fund, and we eagerly look forward to presenting our full 2022 programme of events in the coming months.

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NEWS

PROJECT UPDATE

Old House Project The Spring ushers in the next phase of works at the medieval chapel in Kent With generous support from Historic England, the Old House Project (OHP) has moved into its next phase during the spring of 2022. This work seeks to remedy the building’s most significant repair problem: the structural stability of its west wall. St Andrews is a Grade II*-listed ‘building at risk’ on Historic England’s national register. This ‘at risk’ status is partly the result of half a century’s disuse and resulting decay, but also a product of the

significant structural problem affecting the building’s west end.

The west end has structural problems for a complex set of reasons. The late 15th century chapel, from which the present building was created, was extended at the west end at some point after the Dissolution of Boxley Abbey in 1538. This extension was constructed from high quality materials, probably sourced from demolished parts of the Abbey. But unlike the 1484 chapel with its substantial walls and deep footing, the extension is of relatively poor constructional quality. Its addition, and the removal of the chapel’s original gable end, has led to a series of structural issues, including roof spread with dislodgement of an outer wall plate, the dipping of the ridge over the addition, and a pronounced bow at mid point in the

Above OHP soil excavation Jan 2022

Summer 2022| SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

new west end gable wall. At some point in the distant past, a metal tie and pattress plate were introduced in an attempt to restrain the bow in the wall, but without worthwhile effect because the tie failed to anchor adequately into the substantial stone wall of the chapel.

The shallow footings to the extended west wall may also have been affected by the movement of surface water across the site.

Work to understand the range of structural issues involved has been occurring since the Society acquired the site in late 2018. We have been helped enormously by the assistance of expert members and by organisations which have given their time voluntarily.

Particular thanks are due to engineers Peter Egan of Chathambased Royal School of Military Engineering and Justin McAteer

17

Left West Elevation Terra Measurement scan

formerly of Hockley and Dawson and to firms SOCOTEC Monitoring UK and Terra Measurement Ltd. To help move things forward, last autumn Historic England agreed to provide funding for further investigation and the design of a detailed repair scheme. This allowed our architect, Malcolm Fryer, to work with a team, including engineer Ed Morton of The Morton Partnership, contractors Owlsworth IJP, archaeologist Graham Keevill of Keevill Heritage as well as ground works and building regulations specialists, in order to understand conditions above and below ground. The resulting repair solution involves lots of small interventions to stabilise and sympathetically tie-back the west wall, in order to avoiding disruptive rebuilding work or underpinning.

It is expected that the west wall repair work will proceed later in 2022. The proposed approach still needs local authority approval in detail, but we hope that in having Historic England’s grant support this should not be difficult to obtain. The intended approach will involve a sensitive, light touch repair of the kind the SPAB would always advocate. Any structural intervention will inevitably involve some invasive change, but we hope this one will resolve problems while minimising the effect on the building’s character.

Ultimately, we have to satisfy a buyer that the building has been repaired properly and the structural problems remedied, but we believe this can be achieved in a way that is entirely compatible with the Society’s Approach and conservation aims.

We have welcomed the opportunity to explore these issues and our aims with students from conservation courses and other professional groups.

Below OHP drilling Feb 2022

For further information, see the Old House Project pages of the SPAB website, including a new Project Book chapter on scaffolding

www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

19

NEWS PROJECT UPDATE

Kibworth Repairs: from top to bottom SPAB Mills Section chair, Mildred Cookson, writes up the repairs to our Grade II*-listed windmill in Leicestershire from trestle to sails Perhaps the heading should be the other way round as the millwrights from Dorothea Restoration started work at the bottom in the roundhouse with work to the trestle, then worked up to the roof and then finally down again to repair the brickwork covering the ends of the crosstrees in the four places round the roundhouse. The brickwork repair will be held over until better weather conditions in June to allow for the lime mortar.

The work began with a steel structure being specially made by the millwrights to be fitted to allow the body of the mill to be raised up. Once in place the mill body was raised up to allow access for inspection of the top of the post.

Work to the trestle then commenced and it was evident that some major repairs were needed to all the cross trees and quarter bars. Some more than others needed more attention, particularly bad were the ends of the cross trees that were embedded in the wall of the roundhouse. To fully inspect these the four brick piers on the outside of the roundhouse were carefully dismantled to reveal the extent of work needed.

Major timbers such as the weatherbeam had to be replaced, whilst work to the crown tree, shears were all repaired. Exterior weatherboarding was stripped off to leave the original wider boards exposed. This highlighted any repairs necessary to the timbers.

Gradually new weatherboarding was put on the mill, this was painted white on the sides and back, as it was originally, with black at the front of the mill. A new zinc roof was installed on the mill and roundhouse along with a new wooden petticoat.

New common and spring sails have now gone on the mill, the spring sails will have some of the shutters in place so as to allow the spring system to be demonstrated.

The sailcloths will go on the common sails. These when fully spread should be striking in WilliamMorris red. A new tail ladder, made by the SPAB Millwright Fellow last year, Toby Slater, is now in place.

Finally the new tail pole, following the shape of the original one, will be fitted at the back of the mill.

It is hoped that after all the work has been done that the mill will be able to turn again a full 360 degrees. An initial 45 degree

Right Kibworth 1930s Below left Kibworth in the Snow Below right Kibworth Sails going on

www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

turning of the mill will be take place in the first instance.

Monitoring equipment was installed on the post and crown tree to detect any movement of the body once lowered back onto the post. It will also monitor movement caused by strong winds. It also showed when the sails went on that the mill tipped very slightly forward, but this will be compensated once the tail pole is in position.

It is hoped the mill will be open in the afternoon for visitors on Sunday 8 May, during National Mills Weekend, when the mill will be looking as she should and as she was when last working.

A more detailed report of the work will be forthcoming. Other work done included a graffiti report, 3D laser survey, dendrochronology and micro drilling of the post. All reports will be available on online in due course.

The millwrights also took many detailed photographs and videos of the ongoing work. This also included a time lapse video of the raising and lowering of the body of the mill.

This could not have happened without the input and hard work on the part of the whole SPAB team and with the generous legacy from Enid Lamb which fully funded the project.

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NEWS PROTECTING HERITAGE

Photo CC-SA 4.0 / Rbrechko

The Threat to Ukraine’s Cultural Heritage

On 18 March, 22 signatories from the UK heritage sector, including Matthew Slocombe at the SPAB, sent an open letter to the minister of culture of the Russian Federation, Olga Borisovna Lyubimova, about the devastation in Ukrainian cities and the threat to Ukraine’s cultural heritage: As shelling continues to major Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and now in the west of the country, Lviv, we are deeply concerned for the loss of life and the loss of tangible and intangible culture, architectural heritage, art, monuments, archaeology, and collections of art and antiquities.

William Morris, founder of Britain’s most ancient conservation group, whose ideas have had a huge influence on the conservation movement worldwide, including in Russia and Ukraine, believed that historic buildings are valuable for

what they tell us about people, and therefore we contend they are inextricably linked to human suffering at a time of war.

Moreover, Russia is a signatory of the Unesco 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, that sets out legal obligations to protect culture and heritage in the event of armed conflict. This international agreement must be upheld.

Russia is only too aware of the great losses incurred to its own historic palaces and churches during fighting in the Second World War. We urge Russia to halt the shelling of Ukrainian cities, and to end the inevitable loss of human life and architectural heritage that it is incurring.

Kyiv is home to UNESCO World Heritage Sites - the Saint zSophia Cathedral and the Church of St Cyril along with related monastic

Above Kyiv Saint Sophia’s Cathedral, Ukraine

Summer 2022| SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

buildings, and the complex of KyivPechersk Lavra with the Church of the Saviour at Berestovo – which were inscribed as heritage of humanity under the 1972 World Heritage Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

Kharkiv is world famous for its constructivist and Art Nouveau legacy, while Lviv is one of the great Renaissance and Baroque cities of the world. Odessan culture, including architectural heritage, is utterly unique. Chernihiv has outstanding ecclesiastical heritage that was lovingly restored after the Second World War, by both Ukrainians and Russians. We deeply lament the loss of any important buildings in these cities and others not listed here, the significance they hold for their inhabitants and for the world. We note in particular the vulnerability of historic wooden structures for which Ukraine is so famous.

We urge you to do your utmost to end the war which creates an increasing threat to both life and cultural heritage, and to plead the case with your own government for the avoidance of further destruction of cultural heritage in any form during this war. While bombing continues, loss of life and the damage and loss of such historic buildings, collections and sites is inevitable.

We are a group of UK conservationists, architectural historians, archaeologists, cultural commentators, authors and campaigners for built heritage and wider cultural heritage, who have united this week to monitor threats and losses to architectural and cultural heritage in Ukraine, during this war.

Read the complete list of signatories online: www.spab.org.uk/news

Gain the practical NEWS skills to maintain traditional properties

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Whether you want to carry out repairs to your own property, or work in the Heritage Building Industry, gain hands on experience at one of our year round practical courses.

Lime Plastering - Level 1

Lime Plastering - Level 2

Lime pointing

No experience required for this two day practical course.

Students will look at the theory of why lime is used in older properties, the different types of lime available and their uses, sands and aggregates and will have plenty of hands on experience of mixing and laying on.

This two day practical course is for those looking to expand their existing lime plastering knowledge. Students will practice different finishes, shaping and edging, will get to work with different substrates /mixes and leave with a sound understanding of how to resolve issues surrounding the use of lime.

This practical one day course will give you a solid introduction as to why lime is used in solid walled properties.

In the practical session you will get to point a wall in lime and experiment with different colours and finishes.

hot lime mortars

insulating period homes

understanding damp

In this one day introductory course, students will learn how to recognise a traditional hot lime mortar, learn when it should be specified and how to make and prepare hot lime.

In this half day workshop students will look at how a solid walled property can be insulated whilst maintaining vapour permeability.

Would you like to work in the Heritage Industry?

September 2022

professional heritage plastering programme 4 month part-time course LEVEL: Beginner

In this half day workshop, students will learn why damp often occurs in solid walled properties and most important look at how damp can be resolved.

Funding available

Our part-time professional heritage plastering course is open to everyone with a passion for our built heritage - No prior experience is required.

This 4 month part-time course will include both theory and practical lessons as well as business skills and onsite experience.

Students will leave the programme with the practical experience, confidence and business skills to start working in the heritage industry.

To find out more visit: carringtonlime.co.uk/heritage-plasteringprogramme. The closing date for applications is the 24th June.

carringtonlime.co.uk | info@carringtonlime.co.uk | 01452 762 029 carringtonlime

@carringtonlime

Courses are held monthly from our dedicated training centre in The Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire

www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

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NEWS SPAB CONNECTIONS

Visitors to Eastbury Manor House in Barking are in for a treat this Spring as staff and volunteers reopen one of London’s few remaining Elizabethan houses.

This house from 1573 will be open every Sunday from 10am to 4pm from 3 April to 11 December 2022.

Saved from demolition by William Morris’s Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) in 1918, this distinct National Trust house, managed by Barking and Dagenham Council, is a stunning architectural jewel near to the centre of Barking.

Fondly referred to as the ‘Hampton Court of the East’ visitors are welcome to explore the house and gardens and relax with a cup of tea and a slice of cake in our Kitchen Garden Tearoom.

Come and marvel at the unusual 17th century wall paintings recently conserved by specialists, beautiful timber roof, and original prospect tower with a view. As well as guided tours for adults; children can enjoy dressing up, an eye-spy tour as well as exploring the nooks and crannies of this ancient place.

You can also visit Eastbury Makers, our new display of costumes, inspired by new research, which explore the lives of the people who used to live and work at the house at the turn of the 20th century.

Designed and made by BA Costume Construction students from the University Centre at South Essex College, these historically accurate costumes, have been creatively reimagined with clues to each character woven into the fabric of each garment. Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, through the Land of the Fanns Landscape Partnership Scheme, this new interpretation alongside our other exhibitions provides a fascinating day out for all the family.

Photos National Trust

New costume display brings past to life at Eastbury Manor House

Summer 2022| SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

For further information visit: www.nationaltrust.org. uk/eastbury-manor-house

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NEWS

the Conservation Rooflight

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24 WISSON HILL

Unravelling the mysteries of a 16th century farmhouse

Photo Amanda Billingsley

SPAB member, Amanda Billingsley, writes about the idiosyncrasies of her repair project at Wisson Hill, Warwickshire

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO, WHEN WE thought about buying Wisson Hill, it was because of location, in relation to schools, and the garden that could accommodate small boys with footballs. When the structural survey described the attic as ‘of great antiquity’ a small flame of interest was ignited. We were aware of some timber frame rot, but when a starling poked its head round the side of a kitchen cupboard, we knew it was time to make a start on repairs (until then I had

been stuffing holes with rags).

The starting point was conversion of a small stone building – then fitted out as an office – into a temporary kitchen so we could repair the kitchen timber frame. Delight, as the flagstones, dual coppers and fireplace, a blocked window and limewashed stone interior emerged, was balanced by the fact that a flue fire had caused the chimney stack to partially collapse, forcing the ridge tiles to shuffle along the ridge. A blue-painted, rotten window turned out Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

to be an oak frame with leading witness marks, which was a joy to see returned to its original glory by specialists who carefully replaced the foot of the frame and complemented the original opening casement with handmade leaded glazing.

Inevitably the rot in the kitchen side wall extended around the front of the house – not helped by 1960s cement render and a raised front garden – and before we knew it, we had exposed an astonishing timber frame two-bay

25 WISSON HILL Left Wisson Hill after the astonishing timber frame two-bay frontage was revealed

After a few years to recover from dust and financial exhaustion, we tackled the cross-wing, peeling back cement render outside and layers of internal lathing to carry out essential repairs

frontage. Historic England were called in to approve the ogee-carved crosspassage entrance, based on remaining carving, and I sit writing now in the position of the passage, with mortices, stave holes, one-sided smoke-blackening and later ‘hacking’ above my head. As one end of this substantial timber rested on a bowing Victorian window frame, the local conservation officer approved reinstatement of the original post and insertion of small oak, leaded windows to fit around the repaired

structure. Although I had originally struggled to find tradespeople who were supportive of traditional materials and techniques, I was lucky enough to come across Castle Brothers who calmly carried out the most alarming lookingoperations on the building.

Close inspection of the exposed frontage shows that windows have moved around over the years, but we were particularly delighted to uncover a lathed-over window frame, complete with one original timber mullion and leading bar witness marks. Whilst the lower part of the timber frame did require some significant repairs, including the sole plate, much of the original, including basic carpenters’ marks, remains, as well as original wattle and daub plastered panels.

After a few years to recover from dust and financial exhaustion, we tackled the cross-wing, peeling back cement render outside and various layers of internal lathing (and plasterboard), to carry out essential repairs. At some stage the structure had developed a significant lean and various attempts had clearly been made to support the purlins over the centuries. They were currently just about resting on two dodgy-looking cantilevered stacks of bricks in the attic. By the end of the repairs we had a striking bedroom, purlins supported by a new substantial oak beam, with wind braces exposed, two weak trusses repaired and supported, and a fireplace revealed.

The fireplace bressumer is decorated www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

with a reddish pigment and zigzag impressions – interesting but not that attractive to a modern eye – so they are covered by a tapestry. We are also carefully preserving signatures – Henry Hurst, the name of a tenant farmer from 1797 – and what looks like a tally, cut into a plaster panel. A man of the same name died locally some years later, described as a lunatic – a story we have not yet traced.

More recently, investigation into minor water damage to plaster above the sitting room window exposed yet another example of cavalier frame damage. As a tenanted farmhouse between when it was built (in 1530, based on dendrochronology) until 1960, the occupants appear to have been more interested in fashion and comfort than the building’s longevity. It seems that the window was originally inserted, perhaps not long after it was built, when that face of the house was converted from timber to stone and it appears, from the severed joint on the internal face, that part of the discarded frame was used as a lintel.

Chamfering, just-visible limewash and obvious alterations to the current window frame show that the window was extended at some point. However, the lintel was not extended. The lintel end – and the supporting stone wall resting on it – was held up by a small metal bracket. Not wanting to lose any of this story by replacing the lintel, Richard Castle skillfully cut a substantial oak support, jammed between the lintel and broad window sill. It is in effect a temporary solution, but one which allows us to sleep more comfortably, whilst leaving options open.

In the same room we discovered that the deep fireplace bressumer had been hacked back to a third of its original depth. Whilst there had not been any recent movement, the noticeable sag and dislodged brickwork of the substantial chimney breast it supported made it impossible to ignore. The Castle Brothers came to the the rescue again. We now have to duck a little lower into the inglenook but are reassured by the solid green oak replacement. The original bressumer is still waiting to find a home, probably to be built into a window seat in the 1960s extension to the house.

I have passed over many other repairs, particularly the corners of

26 WISSON HILL

Above Supported purlins and repaired truss in the bedroom

Photos Beverly Husbands

Far left and left: Post to supplement the small metal bracket supporting the lintel

trusses, where imaginative jointing has allowed the original structure to be retained. We have also applied bracing to the roof structure in the attic to try to secure against any further spreading caused by previous damage. My attempts to trace the house history were put in the professional hands of Nat Alcock, whose investigations revealed, amongst many other touching points, that the house was once had a connection with Robert Winter, the ‘gunpowder’ plotter.

Sadly, the one remaining renovation

project is to deal with a staircase alteration carried out around 2000, which bizarrely had listed building consent. The sitting room ceiling is supported by a massive, decorated cross-shaped structure, now believed to be original to the house and not inserted later. One section of this beam was cut away, with many of the wide elm boards of the floor above replaced with MDF to make way for a wide, modern staircase. The stump of the ceiling beam is now supported by an orange-stained post. We cannot, of course, reverse this Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

damage but will be discussing with local conservation officers how we can make the best of the situation.

Whilst I take satisfaction from the sensitive repairs visible, I feel quite comfortable living with the mysteries: structures and marks that make no sense right now. As so many owners of old houses feel, I am just looking after it for now, and there will hopefully be future owners and visitors who can appreciate – and maybe understand – the mysteries, as they care for it over another 500 years.

27 WISSON HILL

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www.spab.org.uk Summer 2022 2022 www.spab.org.uk || SPAB SPAB || Summer

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COURSES & EVENTS We’re adding new courses and events all the time so visit the What’s On section of our website for more information. To receive regular updates about our new courses and events direct to your inbox, sign up: www.spab.org.uk/whatson.

Understanding Your Old House: an introductory course on maintenance and care ONLINE WORKSHOP

Date: October - November 2022 Price: £90 per person – ‘Early Bird’ discount until 31 August 2022 (thereafter £110 per person)

Photos Ralph Hodgson

This modular, self-paced online course is designed to help you understand the construction and performance of traditional buildings and how to tackle common problems. Topics also covered include: lime and its uses in the construction and repair of traditional build-

The Repair of Old Buildings Course ONLINE WORKSHOP

Date: 17 - 21 October 2022 Venue: Museum of the Home, London Price: £885 per person (£385 deposit)

hotographing Old Buildings: P an appreciation of textures, details, space and light ONLINE WORKSHOP Date: April-June 2022 (see website for course structure) Price: £95 Our popular old building photography online course returns for a second workshop this year. Whether you photograph old buildings for work projects or leisure, this four-step workshop is an opportunity to receive professional guidance on techniques and composition to develop your appreciation of the space and light within old buildings and to boost your confidence in photographing their textures, details and features.

Spaces on this workshop are limited to allow for small group discussion. The workshop assumes familiarity with a digital SLR or mirrorless camera and photography basics. Certificates of attendance for CPD purposes are available on request.

“The workshop was very beneficial and surpassed my expectations. Interestingly, I know feel more confident in approaching the historical buildings that I intend to photograph for my PhD research” workshop delegate (2021).

The SPAB’s flagship course, run since the 1950s, will be taking place online this autumn. We are delighted that the online Repair Course was shortlisted earlier this year for a Museums + Heritage Award in Best Use of Digital (UK).

Run over five days, the course offers a combination of recorded and live presentations, virtual site visits, live speaker Q&As and downloadable resources.

Presented by leading building conservation professionals, this popular course considers British and international approaches to the conservation of old buildings. The SPAB philosophy of repair and maintenance - established by William Morris in 1877 underpins the course programme of case studies, presentations and site visits. The course welcomes students and professionals interested in deepening their understanding of old buildings, and who may be interested in developing work in this area.

“I do like that the Q&A sessions and lectures are recorded so I can grasp and learn more in my own pace. I can enjoy and absorb them all without the worry of slowness in taking notes. There’s so much interesting stuff to take in and learn and I really appreciate that I can go back to them again...Thank You SPAB for a great course in conservation and well done for this online platform” - online Repair Course delegate (2021).

Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

ings; the legal framework surrounding works to property; advice on working with professionals and local authorities. There is a choice of two dates for a live online group Q&A session with the course tutor – please see our website for more information.

This introductory-level course is relevant to owners and managers of period properties, but also for professionals who may need to brief their clients on understanding their old house.

CPD certificates will be available on request.

“An excellent course, thank you so much for putting it together, I learnt so much” - course delegate; property manager (2021).

An Introduction to Plain Lime Plastering Date: 7 - 8 October 2022 Venue: Heritage Skills Centre (National Trust), Coleshill Home Farm, near Swindon Price: £495 per person Bursary places available at £100 per person This popular, practical course covers the mixing and application of lime plaster to lath, masonry and modern substrates, which includes pricking up and base coats, float coats and setting coats. It provides a brief introduction to running a cornice in-situ.

Ideally, course participants should have practical plastering skills, and experienced plasterers used to working in gypsum will particularly benefit from the course. However, we also welcome anyone interested in learning about plain lime plastering for their home or old building(s) under their care. The tutors are knowledgeable lime plasterers with decades of onsite experience. Bursary places are available through the generous support of the Worshipful Company of Plaisterers.

“The course was extremely practical, which was brilliant and exactly what we needed as working Plasterers” - course delegate (2021).

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www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

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CASEWORK CAMPAIGNING

CASEWORK CAMPAIGNING

In its casework the SPAB gives advice to planning authorities, owners and professionals. Cases arise from information received about neglected buildings or planning proposals. Councils in England and Wales are obliged to notify the SPAB of applications involving demolition work to listed buildings. We also hear from parishes, dioceses and cathedrals when certain works to listed churches are proposed. Casework is one the key ways the SPAB campaigns for the future of historic buildings.

RUSTAT MEMORIAL CAMBRIDGE

Jesus College Chapel

Many will remember the toppling of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston in June 2020 as one of the defining moments of the Covid pandemic. The death of George Floyd in May 2020, during his arrest by Minneapolis police, sparked anti-racism protests around the world as part of the Black Lives Matter movement, including the Bristol protest that saw Colston’s statue dumped into the harbour.

It has also led to much soul searching by institutions, communities, and those who work with historic buildings as to the appropriate treatment for what have become known as ‘monuments to contested heritage’.

In the case of the SPAB, the outcome of this process of reflexion was the publication of a position statement on monuments linked to the slave trade. This states that ‘The SPAB has no wish to commemorate slavery or anyone who benefitted from it and there is a long tradition of removing monuments when societies change’. It also states that ‘potentially, monuments are educational tools which, through addition, interpretation or community interaction may acquire fresh meaning.’ This is a complex and emotionally fraught issue where each case needs to be considered individually. However, depending on the case, retention in situ or relocation may both be acceptable solutions, and the SPAB’s statement sought to reflect this. The full statement can be found on our website.

The outcome of this process of reflexion in the case of Jesus College, Cambridge was the decision to remove a monument to Tobias Rustat from the College Chapel, possibly relocating it to a museum. Readers may be aware of this case as it has received extensive press coverage, but perhaps not of the SPAB’s close involvement.

The Grade I listed chapel is the oldest part of the College buildings, dating from the 12th and 13th centuries.. It was extensively restored by Pugin in 1846-9, who designed the chancel roof as well as the screen, stalls, glass and communion table. Interestingly, the monument was commissioned by Rustat himself, circa 1686, and is believed to be the work of Grinling Gibbons. Located at Rustat’s home for eight years, after his death it was installed on the west wall of the chapel. It has been relocated within the chapel twice before returning to the west wall in 1922.

Tobias Rustat (1608-1694) was one of the College’s largest benefactors before the 20th century. Rustat was also an

Photo Francis Helminski

Christina Emerson

Tobias Rustat memorial

Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

CASEWORK CAMPAIGNING

Photo BY-SA 3.0 / jesusgreen

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Photo BY-SA 3.0 / Cornell University Library

investor in a series of trading companies actively engaged in the slave trade. Following a review of its historic links to slavery, the College decided to relocate the monument to either a ‘suitable exhibition space’ within the College or an external museum exhibition if a suitable home could be found.

As it concerned a significant piece of Baroque sculpture in a medieval setting, this case fell within our remit, and we were consulted at an early stage. In our response, we stressed that we understand that monuments can carry deep and painful associations if they celebrate an individual whose life involved profit from inequality or slavery. However, we also cautioned against destroying monuments that provide evidence about the past, as this may unwittingly remove the memory of those things we now oppose: we are stronger through knowledge of past wrongs and of our changed opinions.

We said that we would therefore on balance prefer to see the monument retained in situ with suitable interpretative material. However, we did note that the issues surrounding the monument were accentuated by its prominent position in a building which plays a central role in College life. As a way forward, we suggested that the College carry out a more in-depth appraisal examining what options for retention might exist within the chapel as well as elsewhere within the College. While an alternative location in a basement room formed part of the College’s proposals, we did not support it because it would be impossible for the memorial to stay as one piece on a wall. We were also somewhat concerned that one of the criteria articulated for an alternative location was that it should only be visited by arrangement. We suggested that any new location should seek to strike a balance between being less prominent and hidden away.

Having considered the advice of the statutory consultees, the College consulted on a revised proposal which would involve the relocation of the monument to a newly constructed dedicated archive centre. As we felt strongly that the memorial should remain within the College and accessible, we considered this to be an acceptable compromise.

In due course however, the case went to a Consistory Court

hearing, the outcome of which was that the College was refused permission to relocate the memorial. Some may find the judgement surprising, but it is certainly a thoughtful and well-reasoned one. The Deputy Chancellor’s arguments revolved principally around the fact that the College’s case rested on a ‘mistaken understanding of the true facts’ as Rustat did not in fact benefit financially from his interests in the slave trade, and so his support for the college did not derive from that source.

A portion of the Deputy Chancellor’s reasoning for retention in situ is worth reproducing in full ‘In this way, the Rustat memorial may be employed as an appropriate vehicle to consider the imperfection of human beings and to recognise that none of us is free from all sin; and to question our own lives, as well as Rustat’s, asking whether, by (for example) buying certain clothes or other consumer goods, or eating certain foods, or investing in the companies that produce them, we are ourselves contributing to, or supporting, conditions akin to modern slavery, or to the degradation and impoverishment of our planet. I acknowledge that this may take time, and that it may not prove easy; but it is a task that should be undertaken’.

www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

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CASEWORK CAMPAIGNING

FIRE PREVENTION STRATEGIES FOR A 13TH CENTURY TOWER BATH TOWER, CAERNARFON Elgan Jones

In the late 13th century, King Edward I led two military campaigns to bring Wales under English rule. As part of his plans to strengthen his hold on Wales, Edward built a series of castles and defensive towns across North Wales, known as the ‘iron ring’. The castle and town at Caernarfon is one of these and is described as one of the finest surviving examples of late thirteenth-century military architecture in Europe, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1986.

Bath Tower is one of eight bastions that project outwards from the fortified 13th-century town wall. It is found at the northwest corner of the town overlooking the Menai Strait.

The 19th century brought changes to the town of Caernarfon and the use of the bastion. In 1823, the Earl of Uxbridge built public baths next to the site, the bastion was altered and converted to a reading room and later became a dwelling. In 1967 the tower was acquired by the Landmark Trust, which undertook a significant programme of repairs and structural stabilising, with the tower reported to be leaning 18 inches out of true. Internal alterations to the layout were also undertaken to form the holiday accommodation which was located on the first, second and third floor of the building.

We recently reviewed a listed building consent application which sought to address recommendations raised in a Fire Risk Assessment report of the building and its use.

There has been an increased focus on fire safety recently

following the Grenfell fire, as well as that at the Glasgow School of Art, which has triggered a reform of the UK’s building safety regulations. Whilst the proposals contained within this application were relatively minor, the report highlights interesting discussion points and opportunities for managing risk.

The report concluded that the building, originally built to withstand a siege, together with the manner in which it had been furnished, presented a fairly low risk of ignition.

However, should a fire occur at the lower level of the tower, the open nature of its layout could allow smoke to rise and present a risk to the occupants of the upper floor bedroom.

Interestingly, the report highlighted that in holiday accommodation, occupants who are asleep are shown to have a slower reaction time to alarms, and are less familiar with escape routes and emergency procedures, especially where there is a need to help young children.

The report presented and assessed a series of options for managing the risk, including suppression systems, adapting management or emergency procedures, improving signage and detections systems and protecting the means of escape. It concluded that the most appropriate means for safeguarding the occupants was to introduce new partitions to provide a fire compartment around the base of the 1967 staircases. Whilst the proposals had some impact on the character and daylight within the tower, the need was considered justified, and consent was granted.

Whilst the solution for Bath Tower, a relatively small and uncomplicated structure, was arrived upon with relatively little impact on the fabric, the report highlighted challenges faced by other larger, more complex historic buildings that accommodate greater occupancy and a range of uses.

Further reading and fire related advice can be found on the Technical Guidance section of the Historic England website.

Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

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SKEFFLING, YORKSHIRE Joanne Needham, casework officer

Many of the applications that SPAB are consulted on involve significant physical interventions or are of a nature that would have a significant impact on a historic building.

Some applications however are solely for necessary works and repairs. The SPAB’s approach to historic buildings has always been one which is underpinned by understanding, respect, and restraint; and it is these principles that help to ensure that the precious qualities of our ancient buildings are protected. A recent application by the Friends of Friendless Churches for works to St Helen’s Church, Skeffling exemplifies the SPAB Approach.

The proposed works are essentially to ensure that the building envelope is in sound order and the fabric is in good health. The works are localised and include internal plaster repairs, lifting and re-laying of small areas of the brick floor, repairs to the windows, and repairs and repointing externally. In addition to the works specified in the application, monitoring of apparent structural movement continues to be undertaken to enable a better understanding of the issues before any structural interventions to the main fabric of the building are proposed.

We were pleased to support the application, which demonstrated an understanding of the building’s significance and special interest, and that careful thought and investigation had informed the proposed works. The adopted approach is one of intervention only where needed, ‘no more-but-no less than is essential’; it does not seek to add unduly to, or impose on, the building, only to ensure its care by addressing technical needs and ‘staving off decay’. The result being - maximum survival of historic fabric, and in turn, protection of the building’s precious qualities.

You can read the SPAB Manifesto and more about the SPAB Approach on the SPAB website: www.spab.org.uk/about-us/spab-manifesto www.spab.org.uk/campaigning/spab-approach

We were pleased to support the application, which demonstrated an understanding of the building’s significance and special interest, and that careful thought and investigation had informed the proposed works www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

Photo Andy Marshall/Friends of Friendless Churches

ST. HELEN’S CHURCH

CASEWORK CAMPAIGNING

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CASEWORK CAMPAIGNING

WHAT SHOULD SCOTLAND’S PLANNING FRAMEWORK LOOK LIKE BY 2045?

On 10 November 2021 the Draft Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4), which details the long-term plan for what Scotland could be in 2045, was presented to the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood. According to the Scottish Government website it, “sets out where development and infrastructure is needed to support sustainable and inclusive growth”.

In January 2020 A Call for Ideas on NPF4 was launched, including a roadshow with workshop sessions across Scotland. Stakeholders were invited to consider Scotland in 2045 and reflect on planning policy changes and national developments needed and by November 2021 the draft document was presented to Parliament.

The casework volunteers of SPAB Scotland, recently attended the Built Environment Forum Scotland (BEFS) NPF4 and Local Development Plan (LDP) workshop. As well as SPAB, the National Trust for Scotland, The Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers in the UK and The Royal Town Planning Institute (Scotland) also attended.

The session explored the key issues and themes of draft NPF4. This was followed by an interrogation of the draft LDP: Regulations and Guidance document. Some important questions were raised during these sessions: What’s missing?

What are the areas of potential conflict? What are the key opportunities for NPF4 and LDP alignment? SPAB Scotland thought this was a great example of involving stakeholders from different sectors in the process of planning.

The SPAB Scotland committee considered the discussions and sent feedback to BEFS to add to their sector review of the new documents. We shared the concerns over lack of reference to key documents and policies of Historic Environment Scotland polices and guidance, such as the Historic Environment Policy for Scotland (HEPS) in both NPF4 and LDP as argued previously by Historic Environment Scotland, BEFS and CIfA. We had concerns regarding confusion over the term quality in terms of planning - a clear definition of the term quality should be provided. We also felt that NPF4 Policy 6 should give clear reference to the six qualities of place in the LDP (as defined in Placemaking: Supplementary Guidance SG01): a distinct identity; ease of movement for people, especially on foot; paces which feel safe and pleasant; a sense of welcome for visitors; adaptability over time to changing circumstances; they make good use of resources.

We also supported the absence of cross-referencing between LDP and NPF4 in certain places with regards to decision making on planning applications for historic buildings, with a possible solution being that NPF4 and LDP become more aligned.

Finally, we encouraged principles in line with COP 26 for

the future use of old buildings in LDP, and wondered if more direct reference to the concept of ‘meanwhile use’ should be included to encourage sites and buildings to remain semiactive within their communities. Although the input of SPAB Scotland is small in these cases, we hope that by attending we are raising the profile of the Society in Scotland, and ensuring that conservation concerns are well represented.

As an attempt for engaging the variety of stakeholders in a transforming planning, this raises a series of questions; What can we learn in practice while involving different viewpoints and stakeholders? What are the challenges that we face in an open process of planning? How can we include divergent views in the planning?

Search the Scottish Government’s publications list to find some of the documents mentioned: www.gov.scot/publications

Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

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36 LOST BUILDINGS OF ARDUDWY

The Lost Buildings of Ardudwy

Photos APCE

A landscape steeped in Welsh mythology, Ardudwy is home to hundreds of abandoned farmsteads and cottages. Part of cultural heritage project officer Jess John’s work is to play detective and uncover their secrets

THE LANDSCAPE OF SNOWDONIA is a backdrop to an extensive history and heritage that spans centuries. The National Park protects over 800 square miles where the mountains, rivers, streams and lakes have names and stories passed down through generations of Welsh story tellers in an ancient language often described (by the locals at least) as the ‘language of the heavens’.

Here, the landscape reads as a palimpsest of thousands of years of cultural, social and industrial history all

told through archaeology, monuments, buildings, myths and memories.

As the Cultural Heritage Project Officer for Snowdonia National Park, knowing that all this is on my doorstep makes every day exciting, if a little overwhelming. Over the past year we’ve been playing detective and uncovering the stories of the ‘unforgotten’ bythynnod (cottages) and abandoned farmsteads of the Ardudwy landscape, the strip of land on the western side of the Rhinnogydd Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

Mountains with around 16 miles of coastline. These bythynnod were the homes of the ‘gwerin-weithwyr’, a word difficult to translate but it comes close to ‘working peasantry’. Although the word ‘gwerin’ is used in a positive way here. These were the slate boat men, tea dealers, egg dealers, married farm hands and paupers. Slightly less numerous are the abandoned farmsteads comprising of the farmhouse and outbuildings but no less illuminating with regards to

37 LOST BUILDINGS OF ARDUDWY Left Tal Rhos, Llandecwyn. Still maintained as much as possible by the farmer Below Cell Fechan, meaning small cell, is an abandoned farmstead above Barmouth

Photos Toby Driver RCAHMW

We ask ‘if walls could talk, what would they say’? And then we try to answer that question.

viewing a rural way of life in this difficult landscape.

We ask ‘if walls could talk, what would they say’? And then we try to answer that question.

A TALE OF TWO RUINS Two dwellings struck me as particularly interesting, a tiny cottage called Llam Maria and a farmhouse at Blaiddbwl.

Although similar in their abandoned state and their place within the landscape, these two ruins reveal

completely different stories about the social standing, wealth, and way of life of those that lived in them.

In December 1873, The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard published extracts from a report written about the Llam Maria cottage by a sanitary authority inspector entitled, A Sad Case: ‘I have within the last week inspected several places in the Parish of Llanenddwyn and Llanddwywe-is-graig, and among some of the worst cases that www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

came under my notice is a house called ‘Llam Maria’ in the parish of Llanenddwyn, about three miles above Llanaber, where a woman named Margaret Jones lives, with three illegitimate children, apparently of the ages of ten, seven and three respectively.

The poor children appeared to be very needy indeed, as regards food and clothing. They were in no way properly dressed, but merely had some old rags about them. The bed clothing consisted simply of old rags, with one or two old worn-out blankets. I am of opinion that the best course to be adopted is for the Guardians, together with the Sanitary Authority to cause these innocent little children to be removed to the workhouse, or some other place, where their immediate wants would be attended to, to prevent starvation.

Independently of their moral training and education, as far as I could ascertain from questioning the children, neither of them had ever seen a church, chapel or school – for, as they said themselves, ‘they had no clothes to go.’

Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

39

Photos APCE

LOST BUILDINGS OF ARDUDWY

Mr H. Ll. Roberts, the former inspector describes his visit to the place thus: ‘Cottage: external walls good and freshly built; thirty links long by thirty broad, and this divided into three rooms, of which the room where people live is the largest. In each of the chambers lay a woman, one confined of an illegitimate child, and another in the other room laid up with something worse (although I should not like to say this for a fact). The windows were all in holes, and stuffed with rags to keep the wind out. Pig, dog and hens all in the house. A family of ten live here off and on, of whom nine are illegitimate children. Manure heaps and dirty sinks, very offensive, right under the window of the kitchen, which is all in holes. Height of house to eaves ten links, ventilation bad, and the chambers and kitchen saturated with urine. No privy.

2s6d. allowed from the parish!’ It transpired that the residents of the house reported upon lived upon the entrails of pigs, and were otherwise in a most lamentable condition.’

Margaret, the mother at Llam Maria, is described as a pauper on the census in 1871, along with countless others living in bythynnod across Ardudwy, and it is very rare that we come across their individual stories or are allowed a snapshot such as this into their lives. In a few years, Llam Maria was empty and the question as to whether the family went to the workhouse is one that is, as

Above What remains of Llam Maria in Llanenddwyn Left View of Graig y Gwynt in Llandecwyn

yet, unanswered. Today, Llam Maria is a ruin, almost completely destroyed with only an outline of stones in a field and easily missed by the many walkers who are making their way to Ffynnon Enddwyn, the holy well of St Enddwyn, a few hundred yards away.

One hundred years earlier, and a mere seven miles away, lived Evan Ellis, a gentleman at a rather large farm called Blaiddbwll. For several hundred years the family had married their children into prosperous families www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

across Ardudwy and beyond, monopolising land, farms, mills and livestock. With a will inventory totalling £90, including ‘14 Head of Cattle of all sorts’, (cattle rather than cash being king in 1772). Evan and his family had a much more comfortable living than the family in Llam Maria.

Blaiddbwll was still a hive of activity in 1872, when Margaret was living in Llam Maria, where a Methodist Sunday School is regularly held in one of its smaller buildings. However, according

40 LOST BUILDINGS OF ARDUDWY to the tithe records of the early 1840s the land has already been subsumed by a different farm, Werngron. Today,the farmhouse and outbuildings at Blaiddbwll and the once rather large Tannery a few hundred yards away are ruins. Unlike Llam Maria, there are still walls, a section of roof and some of the barn pillars still standing.

ENRICHING THE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT RECORD To walk past either of these buildings, and both do happen to be on public rights of way, you could only guess at the wealth of social history they both represent. And yet, that is what many of us have been doing whilst roaming our local area, we have been guessing

at the stories of these building’s, even more so over the recent lockdowns as we walked our immediate landscape.

Llam Maria is one of five ruins along the popular Ardudwy Way trail, which runs from Barmouth to Harlech, you pass in ten minutes of walking. Three of them are on the Historic Environment Record described as Post Medieval Farmsteads, one is an unnamed outline on today’s OS map and one doesn’t seem to exist at all.

The ruin that doesn’t exist in any current official record is called Capel Ty’n Drain (the chapel under the thorns). Not only was this a home (two homes according to the 1851 census) but at the beginning of the 20th century it was a Methodist Chapel which held meetings and a Sunday School similar to the one at Blaiddbwll.

Left Capel Ty’n Drain in 1913 Below Capel Ty’n Drain today, Llanenddwyn Photos Gweneira / APCE

Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

41 LOST BUILDINGS OF ARDUDWY

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A few decades from now it is possible that the bare bones of Capel Ty’n Drain would still be there, however, there is a real possibility that the people who remember it will not be. This goes for many of the bythynnod left to ruin.

Lack of funding and capacity in the various projects to document and survey these buildings often means there is no opportunity to delve and explore their histories, and moreover, what they could add to our understanding of our past cultural, social and industrial heritage.

This wish to enrich the Historic Environment Record with social and cultural history is how the Harlech and Ardudwy Cultural Heritage Project was born. This small but complex project is led by Snowdonia National Park

Authority and is supported by Gwynedd Archaeological Trust (GAT), Cadw, The Royal Commission for the Historical Monuments of Wales (RCHMW) and the People’s Collection Wales.

Building on previous agrienvironmental projects, the farmstead mapping project for Ardudwy was completed by GAT in 2018, as a pilot project, and in 2020. Where this project felt it could contribute, without duplicating work already done, was to focus on those buildings abandoned and left to ruin. This, at the time, included agricultural buildings such as beudai (cow sheds and barns) and twlc (pigsty), however the scale and number of these meant we soon made the decision to focus on bythynnod and farmhouses.

Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

Above left Tannery at Blaiddbwll, Llanbedr Above right Blaiddbwll, Llanbedr

WHAT’S IN A NAME? Place names are a surprisingly complex and sometimes controversial subject here in Eryri (or Snowdonia) and across Wales as a country, their origins often lost.

Some spellings can be traced back to a 15th century lawyer ‘having a go’ at spelling what he could hear. Word meanings are a combination of folk tales, descriptive words and names of people.

Putting those complexities aside, place

43 LOST BUILDINGS OF ARDUDWY

names truly are the gems of cultural heritage. Let’s re-visit Llam Maria for a lovely example. Llam mean stride or step and Maria is the name of a person, or in this instance a giantess. Maria was the giantess of Moelfre, a mountain in the area, and according to one version of the tale this is where she would holiday.

As she stepped down from the Moelfre and towards Craig y Ddinas her footprint has imprinted on a rock, beside the now-named Llam Maria.

When a historic event happened long enough ago, there is often sprinkling of myth thrown in for seasoning. There is a reason for that of course, we’re referring to stories from a time where communities were reliant on word of mouth for their news. These names are not protected.

The Royal Commission for the Historic Monuments of Wales hold the place names list, and this project aims to pass on the names collected during the project. There are streams of names steeped in wonderful history that have been changed on a whim, usually but not always, for an anglicised version. Our mission, alongside societies such as the Place Names Society, is to celebrate and share these names in order to safeguard them for the future.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT The communities of Ardudwy are rural ones, farming being the predominant industry, and therefore farm buildings are a significant part of our landscape and built environment. Many www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

traditional farm buildings have become redundant through increasing mechanisation and the amalgamation of farms. This, combined with the large-scale depopulation at the end of the 19th century means we are left with a fleet of ‘murddunnod’ (homesteads or cottages gone to ruin) across the countryside. At the beginning of the project a call went out to the local communities to volunteer what they knew about the ruins in their area.. The response was overwhelming. In the parish of Llandecwyn alone (with the population of under 600 people) we received notification of more than 100 ruins. Rather than being a combination of dwellings and outbuildings, these 100 plus buildings had all been lived in

44 LOST BUILDINGS OF ARDUDWY Photos Heather Jones APCE

Right, top Byrllysg Bach, Dyffryn Ardudwy Right, middle Byrllysg Bach imagined Right, below Blaen-ddôl, Talsarnau

Photos Heather Jones APCE

and therefore steered the direction the project towards its current focus - those ruins which were once homes.

This project aims to fill in some much-needed gaps and make these stories available to anyone and everyone who wishes to read them. It would be a mistake to think that all this information, the locations of the buildings, stories and anecdotes about the wonderful characters who once lived in them are either lost or permanently confined to boxes in archives. Most of the information collected has been provided by local people who are willing to take you for a walk and talk about their memories of those who once lived there.

One character in particular is worth mentioning. Dafydd Styllan was known for making brooms and working odd jobs. He was once planting a garden for a widow when she asked him to fetch some potatoes from a farmer.

“I wasn’t given any money to pay for them” he told the farmer, who replied: “Tell her, I will await payment from those worthy of resurrection” “Well,” said Dafydd, “the question is, will you be there to receive it?”

Styllen, or correctly Castellhen is a ruin of a TŷUnnos a couple of yards away from Llam Maria and it’s believed Dafydd was one of Margaret’s brood.

The aim of the project is to act as the conduit for the community who hold these wonderful stories and to funnel them to the organisations who will safeguard the data and make it accessible to future generations.

Oral histories, historic land use and place name research are huge parts of the project. Recording the memories of older people in the community is not only a way to capture the past, we can learn a lesson in how we might change our way of life for the future: living off the land in a sustainable way, understanding our seasons and living in a closer community.

Photos APCE

Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

45 LOST BUILDINGS OF ARDUDWY

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www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

46 HMS UNICORN

HMS Unicorn: Two Centuries of Conservation Lieutenant Commander Roderick Stewart writes about the roofed warship, the most authentic of all the large ships from the Age of Sail, now a museum-ship berthed in Dundee.

SHIPS AND CONSERVATION Ever since the early days of the SPAB, the idea of ‘conserve as found’ has been very familiar to those dealing with historic buildings but the historic ship world has been traditionally dominated by seafarers who are naturally drawn to preservation by replacement in order to keep their vessel ‘seaworthy’. Our surviving historic wooden ships exist because they have been rebuilt, often many times.

HMS Unicorn is the outstanding exception and, as a result of her unlikely story – she has been under a roof her entire life – Unicorn is now recognised as the most authentic of all the large ships to have survived from the great age of sail. HMS Unicorn is now preserved and open to the public in Dundee, her home for the great majority of her working life, while the Unicorn Preservation Society also claims a significant reputation for promoting the merits of conservation rather than restoration.

BICENTENARY AND A TWIST HMS Unicorn celebrates her bicentenary this year and is the sixth oldest large ship in the world. She was built as a 46-gun sailing frigate and her building began in February 1822 in the Royal Dockyard at Chatham, Kent. She was launched two years later, on 30 March 1824, but the note on her record ‘Housed Fore and Aft’ gives a clue to the ship’s subsequent history.

Unicorn’s story has a surprising twist.

She was built just after the great sea campaign against Napoleon as part of a programme for rebuilding a battleweary Royal Navy, but this was also the start of the century of Pax Britannica so she was not needed for immediate sea-service. Rainwater rather than

Below Unicorn less than a decade after the main photograph.

Maintenance require constant vigilance

Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

47 HMS UNICORN

HMS Unicorn in 2011, safely-protected by her roof-extension, looking smart and well cared for. The canopy over her foc’s’le has since been replaced by a timber roof which does not completely cover the beakhead

www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

48 HMS UNICORN

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49 HMS UNICORN Top An atmospheric view of HMS Unicorn in her last months under the white ensign. The masts were used for signalling training and were much smaller than would have been fitted for sailing Bottom Unicorn’s roof provides a most unexpected and appealing space for a wide range of events

seawater was the great enemy of wooden ships, so instead of being rigged she was roofed over and placed into reserve, or Ordinary, from which she could have been rigged for sea in a matter of weeks. The Royal Navy ruled the seas so effectively that this never happened, but Unicorn can be thought of as the Trident submarine of her day, and like any good deterrent, was never activated. Unicorn is now the only survivor of this once common method of preserving ships in Ordinary.

Then in 1874 she was towed to Dundee to act as the harbour training ship for the newly-formed Royal Naval Reserve (RNR). The RNR was succeeded by the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and Unicorn served as the naval headquarters in Dundee through both World Wars. During WWII she was crewed by Wrens and took the surrender of a U-boat, finally completing her naval service in 1968.

Captain Rennie Stewart, Unicorn’s last naval captain, then formed the Unicorn Preservation Society.

Though never rigged for sea-service, Unicorn had served her country well: first as part of the deterrent fleet which maintained ‘pax britannica’ through the Victorian era, and then as the naval headquarters ship in Dundee through two world wars and almost a century of naval training.

THE DAWN OF MODERN NAVAL ARCHITECTURE HMS Unicorn’s hull is a classic example of unseen design. Her credentials as a sailing warship are clear but under her skin, she tells a very different story of design innovation; she is the only survivor of the very first system of shipbuilding to integrate iron and wood structurally within a ship’s hull.

Unicorn was built on the cusp of an www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

50 HMS UNICORN warship, had become almost unobtainable and the fleet which fought at Trafalgar had been repaired with compass timber salvaged from ships captured during earlier wars.

Seppings’ ingenious solution was to join shorter straight lengths of ‘small timber’ for ships’ frames and, where curved timbers would still be needed, he used wrought iron instead.

A ship of Unicorn’s size would have required the timber from some 1000 oak trees, and it was estimated that the equivalent of 200 trees could be saved using Seppings’ methods, but his most important legacy was the immense extra strength which he built into his ships.

THE HULL AS A GIRDER: HOGGING AND STIFFENING The strength of a conventional wooden ship was limited by the strength of its timber joints and a fundamental weakness was that the two ends of a wooden hull were heavy while the mid-body of the ship was buoyant. This meant that all wooden ships suffered from distortion by hogging, whereby the ends of a ship droop relative to the middle.

Seppings was the first to see a ship’s hull as a girder and his solution to hogging was threefold: A strong truss of diagonal riders stiffened the main hull

Photo © Tríona Byrne

extraordinary technological change when, in the space of only a few years, wooden sailing ships would be superseded by much larger ships built of iron and powered by steam.

This change was driven from two directions. One was a shortage of shipbuilding timber and the other was the surge in technology resulting from the industrial revolution. The effects of both are fundamental to Unicorn’s design which was supervised by Sir Robert Seppings, the highly inventive Surveyor of the Navy, and the ship encapsulates the full panoply of his inventions.

When Robert Seppings developed his system of shipbuilding, the forests in the south of England had been denuded to provide timber for shipbuilding, and those in the north had been felled to provide charcoal for iron smelting. The invention of the blast furnace provided a solution to both problems with one stroke and iron could now be smelted using coal: both coal and iron ore were plentiful in Britain so cheap, high-quality iron now became available as a replacement for timber.

Seppings came to power at the height of this timber crisis. In particular compass timber, the great curved lengths of oak needed to suit the complex shapes of a wooden

Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

structure by triangulation, timber filling pieces wedged into the spaces between frames in the lower hull resisted compression below the neutral axis and a hefty ring of beam shelves and waterways around each deck edge resisted tension above the neutral axis.

The result was an extremely rigid hull, comparable to a modern geodesic structure. Previously a wooden ship would hog by as much as 18 inches immediately on launch, and this would increase in service. Unicorn’s hog at her 1972 drydocking was a tiny one and a half inches after some 150 years afloat, illustrating the remarkable success of Seppings’ methods.

Worryingly, however, Unicorn’s hog has increased dramatically in recent years, which emphasises the urgency of delivering a long-term plan for her future. It is generally accepted that she should not remain afloat but should be preserved out of the water and under a protective cover.

DIAGONAL DECK – A MYSTERIOUS MISSING LINK The complete Seppings’ system integrated several other innovations, all acting together to improve hull strength: diagonal timber braces stiffened the hull between gunports and wrought iron forked knees

51 HMS UNICORN supported deck beams. Cylindrical coaks greatly strengthened timber joints and Seppings’ ‘circular stern’ was stronger than the earlier transom and allowed a better arc of fire for guns.

This integrated approach to ship design allowed ships to be built long and strong enough to carry the extra weight of engines, boilers and coal, and all Seppings’ innovations can be examined in Unicorn, with one mysterious exception: Seppings designed diagonal deck planking and although it is shown on Unicorn’s drawings there is no sign of it ever having been fitted.

MILLS, CAPSTANS AND RAILWAYS SPAB Scotland’s focus on mills this year gives Unicorn’s internal machinery a particular interest. Her capstan would have been used for weighing anchor and other heavy lifting work, but the newly-introduced (circa 1817) iron chain anchor cable was very much heavier than traditional hempen rope cable, and the combined weight of chain cable and anchor would have been beyond the lifting capacity of a conventional capstan.

Unicorn incorporates an ingenious solution, of Captain Phillips’ invention, with a cast-iron epicyclic gearbox built

into its base to give a 3:1 mechanical advantage. An amusing order dated 8 November 1822 directs that ships with Captain Phillips’ capstans were to be issued with “decayed salad oil” for the maintenance thereof! Presumably fresh olive oil was too expensive but it is not clear where all the old oil would be obtained; perhaps the ‘slops’ from grand dinner parties?

Although externally comparable to a conventional sailing warship such as HMS Victory, Unicorn offers glimpses of the forthcoming world revolution in engineering. Remarkably, she is a contemporary of Scotland’s first steam

Left The cast-iron epicyclic gearbox, with pawls to allow heaving in either direction Below Admiralty draught for the final batch of 46 gun Leda class frigates to be built in Chatham Dockyard, including HMS Unicorn. The drawing shows Seppings’ circular stern; his diagonal iron riders are shown in blue and the diagonal bracing between the gunports shows faintly in red.

The Leda class was one of the most successful frigate designs ever

www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

52 HMS UNICORN

railway, the Dundee & Newtyle Railway, which was surveyed in 1825 and was planned to be steam-hauled, although for its first year it was horsedrawn as the locomotives were not ready. In another unlikely naval parallel, its wagons were propelled by sail when the wind was right!

A HOUSE UPSIDE DOWN SPAB members will be familiar with the progression of formality in houses, with the gilded splendour of lower reception rooms diminishing upwards to bare timber in roof spaces.

This progression exists in Unicorn, but upside down! A visitor enters on the Gun Deck where the deck beams are edged with neat ovolo mouldings and inserted fillets. The only inhabitant of this deck would be the Captain, whose cabin in the stern reflects his importance, and the remainder of the Ship’s Company would be berthed on the Lower Deck, which is neatly but plainly finished. Oil paint was allowed for the officers’ cabins while the sailors’ accommodation had a healthy limewash.

The Orlop (‘overlap’) and Hold lie further below, used for storage of ammunition and provisions, and, as

Above HMS Unicorn as she would have appeared had she been completed for sea service, an impression by Harold Wyllie Right Part of Unicorn’s battery of replica 18pdr guns. The realistic barrels are lightweight fibreglass

amidst the roof rafters of a house, the timbers here still retain their original rough adze marks. Deck beams are very crudely chamfered to reduce head injuries – the headroom is not much over five feet – and an astonishingly rich array of Georgian shipwrights’ assembly markings still exists, considered the most complete naval set left in existence.

UNICORN’S FUTURE HMS Unicorn celebrates her bicentenary this year but her strategic future remains uncertain; as SPAB members will understand, age and importance are no guarantees of survival. Unicorn was recently rated by National Historic Ships as the United Kingdom’s main unresolved big ship project and there has been an offer Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

from the National Museum of the Royal Navy to join as a full member, which would have put Unicorn on a funding level with HMS Victory. The National Museum’s key requirement was that Unicorn should remain in Dundee, but this offer remains unresolved.

Roderick Stewart has been associated with HMS Unicorn all his life, having been christened out of the ship’s bell, as have been his daughter Lucy (of SPAB Scotland) and son Robert. His father, Captain Rennie Stewart, was HMS Unicorn’s last naval captain and formed the Unicorn Preservation Society while Roderick carried out extensive historic research which revealed that Unicorn’s roof was original and that the ship’s significance was her unique authenticity. Roderick was also the Society’s longest-serving Governor.

53 HMS UNICORN

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54 LONDON STOCKBRICK Photo Matthias Rohrberg

London’s Sad and Beautiful Browns Ulrike Wahl, stonemason, surveyor and SPAB Fellow, writes a love letter to London stockbrick, arguably an urban vernacular material THE LONDON STOCKBRICK IS the most familiar material to make up the fabric of London, yet it receives relatively little attention.

Nikolaus Pevsner likened its effect on the street architecture of the city to the use of Bath stone in Bath.

However, whilst most people recognise the beauty of the latter, the London stockbrick is too often considered common, dirty and possibly slightly miserable – if it is considered at all.

Yet it is a great brick! There is beauty in its variety of colour and texture, and it is durable and resistant to the worst of London’s

pollution. It has a rich craft tradition, spanning 200 years or more. Christopher Wren already recognised the potential of the raw material when he said that “…the earth about London, rightly managed, will yield as good brick as were the Roman bricks … and will endure, in our air, beyond any stone our island affords.”

It is often claimed that London stockbricks were made from London clay or even that the yellow colour derived from the colour of the clay. In fact, they were made from brickearth, which is found just below the soil in southeast England. The brickearth is a wind-blown loess deposit of the Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

Pleistocene Age (the last Ice Age) and consists of finely divided silica, with only a small proportion of clay minerals and an unusually high calcium carbonate content.

Unlike London clay, it could be easily dug up and worked by hand.

The high silica content of the brickearth leads to brittleness and a susceptibility to failure and therefore other ingredients had to be added to produce a sound brick.

These other ingredients were ground up chalk and sifted town ash, ‘Spanish’ or ‘soil’, in effect the swept-up debris of London’s fireplaces. The town ash was not

55 LONDON STOCKBRICK

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Brick had become more popular in London from the early 17th century onwards, with an acceleration after the Great Fire in 1666.

always sifted, of course, and everything from small bones to fragments of clay pipes can be found in the bricks.

The ground up chalk increased the plasticity of the mix, reduced contraction during drying and acted as a flux during firing.

Incidentally, it also changed the fired colour from a light pink to yellow. The inclusion of the sifted town ash made the clamp-burning more efficient, because it meant that each brick became a fireball and contained within itself the fuel required for its vitrification. The town ash additionally prevented contraction during drying and improved the colour of the brick. It also helped reduce the rubbish heaps of London and so could be considered an early form of upcycling. Or as Richard Perks puts it more humorously: “It was in this fashion that London came to be built out of the contents of its own dustbins.”

Brick had become more popular in London from the early 17th century onwards, with an acceleration after the Great Fire in 1666. Most early bricks, however, were red. The change to recognisable yellow London stockbricks, or ‘malms’ as they were originally called, cannot be dated accurately, though there are certainly

58 LONDON STOCKBRICK Brooksby’s Walk, Hackney, 1913

East London terraced houses

College of Arms building dates to 1670

Photo George Clerk

Lennox House, Hackney, 1936-37

some early ones at Hampton Court Palace from around 1718.

Isaac Ware is commonly credited with popularising the yellow brick with his 1756 book A Complete Body of Architecture. In it, he advocated the use of a brick that is as close in colour to stone as possible to create a harmonious Palladian façade.

The Georgian builders certainly

took his advice and brickyards sprang up all over central London to produce this cooler-coloured brick more or less out of the foundations of the buildings that were being erected.

As London expanded, the brickmakers moved out further with the bricklayers who were building the rapidly growing metropolis. At first, Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

the brickyards were temporary and in places like Hackney and Camden, but towards the end of the 19th century there were large permanent brickworks outside of London. The most famous of these was Smeed Dean in Sittingbourne, Kent.

The process involved in making London stocks was complex and required a highly skilled workforce.

59 LONDON STOCKBRICK Cassland Rd, Hackney, 1795

Hampton Court, circa 1718

Overburnt and melted bricks, clinker

As well as creating a successful mix of brickearth, chalk and town ash, the bricks needed to be moulded, dried and burnt. Due to the impermanent nature of the earlier brickyards and the inclusion of some of the fuel in the brick itself, London stocks were burnt in clamps and not kilns. In a clamp, the bricks were stacked close together, with

additional fuel between them, in order to create a steady uniform heat, which vitrified the bricks without melting them. The ideal temperature is around 1050 oC. However, clamp-firing is an uncontrolled process and there are great differences in temperature which results in a large number of over- and under burnt www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

bricks. So, after dismantling each clamp, the brickmakers also needed to sort the bricks into their various grades and uses.

It is worth noting that stockbricks were handmade even after machines for tempering and moulding bricks became available in the 1840s.

Mechanisation was not cost-effective for the small brickyards of London,

60 LONDON STOCKBRICK

Above London Going Out Of Town or The March of Bricks and Mortar (Cruikshank, 1829) especially as they were itinerant and moved as soon as a seam of brickearth had been exhausted. The limited plasticity of the brickearth, as well as the inclusion of the town ash, also meant it could not be extruded as a column. So even in large brickyards like Smeed Dean they were handmade until the Second World War. When production re-started after the war the bricks were made with London clay by machine and the clamps fired by gas. After the Clean Air Acts 1956 and 1968, supplies of suitable town ash for mixing with the brickearth also became scarce and breeze from coal-fired power stations used instead. It therefore seems justifiable to describe any London stocks made after the Second World War as ‘modern’ and distinctly different, both in manufacture and in materials, to the traditional brick.

Though Isaac Ware was credited with popularising a yellow brick for London, the actual material evolved from the available raw materials in response to a need. The need was to

build the infrastructure of the first modern metropolis of the world and house its rapidly growing population. This need was met with a durable, cheap and low maintenance material that was not ‘invented’ but developed and produced by generations of brickmakers. This, it can be argued, is what makes the London stockbrick a vernacular material. Vernacular is defined as ‘the local language of building, using local materials and working within local tradition’ and is generally used in a rural context rather than an urban one. Perhaps one should question this narrow definition and start to consider the possibilities of the urban vernacular.

The yellow brick was popular with Georgian architects, but Victorian architects despised London stockbricks, and G.E. Street even called them ‘a most vile material’. The small-scale builders of London, however, continued to use them even when Flettons, dense machinemade bricks, were available at half the price. This was clearly ‘using Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

local materials and working within local tradition’ in the face of other and cheaper options. But it was not just the house builders that prized this vernacular material that ‘will endure… beyond any stone our island affords…’- Joseph Bazalgette’s sewers were constructed in stockbricks, as were the railway viaducts and many of the railway stations. Even if the architects’ aesthetic sensibilities were offended, the engineers knew to choose the local material that would do the job.

Which brings me back to Nikolaus Pevsner and the effect of the London stockbrick on the street architecture being akin to the use of Bath stone in Bath. Because this is London the material is not elegant and beautiful but utilitarian and resilient. On closer inspection though there is infinite beauty and variety to be found in the colour and quality of the bricks and much greater appreciation and care should be shown for what Alec Clifton-Taylor poetically called ‘London’s sad and beautiful browns…’.

61 LONDON STOCKBRICK

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62

The Edwardians and their Houses – The New Life of Old England

By Timothy Brittain-Catlin Lund Humphries, £45

This is a very beautiful book, researched in great depth with lavish photographs, but without some background knowledge and an understanding of the politics, architects, and history of this period, you may struggle a little.

It looks in depth at how some of the most influential, wealthy people in the Liberal Party commissioned a vast number of buildings in every style imaginable across the country prior to 1914, creating a boom in house building. This book not only looks at their homes but also buildings constructed for other specific purposes such as accommodation for guests attending golfing or shooting weekends, which were becoming popular.

Many were in the countryside but plenty can be found in cities, and they had a very considerable influence on architectural styles countrywide.

What really comes across is the incredible variety of Edwardian architecture which is surprisingly beautiful in its use of materials, craftsmanship, innovative design, and the level of sophistication. Many of these houses include historical features, often using reclaimed materials, with many being in what appears to have been the preferred ‘Elizabethan’ style. A good example of this trend to muddle old and new can be found at Penshurst, Kent where George Devey remodelled and added to an old group of cottages to form Leicester Square.

Not only does this book focus on many well-known buildings, but a great deal of lesser-known ones are included. It was fascinating to see Rhinefield House (now a hotel) discussed in some detail. This is a

property in the New Forest (by RomaineWalker & Tanner, 1888-90) that I thought I knew well, but it was very interesting to note details such as the little smoking room in the Moorish style – very similar (but larger and less ornate) than the one designed by William Burges at Cardiff Castle. There are many similar instances of ideas being copied and adapted from one building to another through publications such as Country Life and picture books produced specifically for builders, which saw many ideas taken from grand country homes and introduced into more domestic settings.

This book also looks into the first ‘barn conversions’, from Lord Carrington’s conversion of farm buildings at Daws Hill, High Wycombe which utilised a considerable amount of reclaimed fabric to create a large country house, to the Prime Minister Herbert Asquith’s wife Margot turning an old barn at their property in Sutton Courtenay into a studio. With historical and new work presented side by side, it became almost impossible to differentiate between them and this gradually increased interest in the conversion and ‘restoration’ of old properties as weekend cottages, which Country Life actively promoted. They were soon advertising properties that were ripe for conversion and as the trend intensified, they started to publish before and after images to entice people – a trend that continues today. I confess to have never given Edwardian architecture much thought up to now, but having read this book, I may now be a convert.

RACHEL BROOMFIELD SPAB casework officer

What really comes across is the incredible variety of Edwardian architecture which is surprisingly beautiful in its use of materials, craftsmanship, innovative design, and the level of sophistication.

Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

63

The Alternative Guide to the London Boroughs Guest-edited by Owen Hatherley, thirty-three writers explores famous and unheralded buildings, streets, estates and neighbourhoods across the thirty-three London boroughs.

With contributions from columnist Aditya Chakrabortty to the historian Gillian Darley, via playwright Hanif Kureishi and the politician Emma Dent Coad, the Alternative Guide to the London Boroughs is a journey into the neighbourhoods, housing estates and public buildings of London’s rich urban landscape.

Encompassing everything from Brutalist Polish community centres to suburban garden cities, from pioneering modernist estates to ornate Victorian greenhouses, as seen through everything from grime videos to the films of Patrick Keiller, this book will be a refreshing journey into the city you have been missing, and a celebration of the buildings, places and landscapes which make it special. £18.99, Paperback 274 pages, 240mm x 170mm x 20mm ISBN: 978-1916016910

Public House: A Cultural and Social History of the London Pub Shaped by social, aesthetic and political movements, the extraordinary story of London’s pubs tells the story of the city itself. This book celebrates the incredible diversity, design and culture of London’s public houses from opulent Victorian Gin Palaces and homely medieval Taverns to contemporary Micropubs and community-owned breweries. Including over 120 pubs from across all 33 London boroughs, Public House traces tales of craft, architecture, music, queer activism, black history, comedy, migration, sport and heritage. Featuring a wide range of contributors including comedian Isy Suttie, musician Bob Stanley, brewer Jaega Wise and politician Rupa Huq, the book is richly illustrated with original drawings and rare archival material, with a Foreword by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. £18.99, Hardback 205 pages, 240mm x 170mm x 20mm ISBN: 978-1-9160169-2-7

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65

Painted Temples: Wallpaintings and Rood-screens in Welsh Churches 1200-1800 Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW)

Temlau Peintiedig: Murluniau a Chroglenni yn Eglwysi Cymru 1200-1800 Comisiwn Brenhinol Henebion Cymru £29.95

Over the years RCAHMW has been creating an extensive collection of authoritative studies of Welsh historic landscapes, regional buildings, social and industrial history, archaeological sites. However, this latest volume is in a different league, wholly bilingual, the size (35x25cms) allows the texts to sit side by side, integrated with the most magnificent illustrations.

The main author is Richard Suggett, whose detailed knowledge of the buildings of Wales over many years’ research with the RCAHMW, enhanced by all its past records, provides an incomparable insight into the medieval and post medieval decoration of the churches of Wales and its continual changes and developments, responding to liturgical demands, social and political movements, fashions and tastes, local circumstances, donors and availability of craftspeople.

The study begins with the ‘great rebuilding of the medieval church’ in Wales, as the author states ‘an unrecognised achievement’.

This intense activity preceding the Reformation resulted in enlarged buildings and above all extensive decoration in the form of stained glass, wallpaintings and roodlofts and screens with remarkably ebullient and accomplished carved and painted woodwork. Roods had high status and could even be addressed in Welsh poetic culture.

As for the late-medieval wall paintings, (plus some earlier and some on panels) those in the nave were unrestrained, covering a huge range of subject matter, some decorative, much figurative, some narrative.

Throughout, the multiple and detailed illustrations are underpinned by research into contemporary texts and records to interpret the context and iconography.

The central section comprises two major case studies. Jane Rutherfoord, as the conservator, with Ann Ballantyne, of the spectacular wall paintings at Llancarfan,

discovered only in 2008, knows every brushstroke and has been researching their iconography ever since. Sharing her insights, she also highlights the dramatic use of space by the artist. The wall paintings at Llandeilo Talybont were rescued in 1970s from an increasingly derelict church by detaching them from the walls. Anthony Parkinson recorded this project for RCAHMW and here describes the extensive decorative scheme. Thirty years later the church was re-erected and re-decorated at St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff, showing visitors what a riot of colour a late medieval church in Wales would have been.

The book then traces the vicissitudes of church decoration first from the Reformation to the Civil War, describing the extensive destruction – ‘Bangor cathedral a lamentable ruin’ – uncertainty, changes of taste and theological direction as they were manifested in Welsh churches.

Rood-lofts were demolished, wall paintings obliterated, replaced by black letter texts and Royal Arms in a re-ordered interior.

Then from the Restoration to the Regency a time of repair, further reordering, changed priorities, shifting focus onto monuments and the gradual bleaching of colour from church interiors until a final rediscovery of the old order in record paintings of the early 19th century.

The reference section is huge and it is through knowledge of all these sources that the author can transmit to readers a sympathetic understanding of the place of these painted temples in the lives of their creators and users. Worryingly, in a time of increasing church closures, there is anxiety about their future survival.

JUDITH LEIGH SPAB MEMBER AND FORMER CASEWORKER

The study begins with the ‘great rebuilding of the medieval church’ in Wales, as the author states ‘an unrecognised achievement’. www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

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67

NOTES The SPAB’s technical activities are at the heart of its work to protect old buildings.

These activities embrace, amongst much else, telephone advice, publications and courses of a technical nature, as well as our supporting research. Douglas Kent, SPAB Technical and Research Director, highlights our technical and related news

REPAIR OF THE TREADWHEEL CRANE AT HARWICH, ESSEX Photo The Morton Parnership

A UNIQUE SURVIVAL The Harwich Treadwheel Crane is a unique survival currently undergoing extensive grant-aided repairs that have re-introduced a lost building tradition into the country. Our Technical and Research Committee was consulted over the work and we subsequently enjoyed the opportunity to visit the project with members of our Essex Regional Group.

Originally located on the quayside for the loading and unloading of ship stores at the former naval dockyard in the town, the crane comprises a jib behind which are two 5.8 m-diameter walking wheels for power enclosed within a timber-framed, weatherboarded wheelhouse – now believed to be the only surviving example in Britain of a once common type of crane. It was dismantled and moved 400 m south to its present site in 1932 when the docks were sold for redevelopment, although it remains substantially authentic, and is both a scheduled monument and Grade II*-listed building.

The crane was previously thought to date from 1667 but after dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) and research into Admiralty documents, is now considered to have been largely rebuilt in its present form in 1745. This followed the destruction of its predecessor in a storm during the winter of 1734/35. Not unexpectedly, given the exposed location and constant use, there is much evidence

Above: The unique double treadwheel crane at Harwich, Essex prior to urgent repairs to stabilise, consolidate and protect it of later rebuilding, including renewal of the roof, wall studs and cill plates in the 19th century. The boarded roof was substituted with pantiles when the structure was moved. Both treadwheels – which had been rolled on a light gauge railway during the move – were renewed in the 1970s and the jib replaced in 2000.

CONDITION AND REPAIRS Following completion of a phase of research funded by Tendring District Council, which owns the crane, and www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

Historic England, which has revealed much more about the historic significance of the monument, a grant of over £140 000 was awarded from the Government’s Cultural Recovery Fund to finance the programme of repairs and the council is funding the remaining 25% of the project cost.

Close collaboration between the parties enabled the project to proceed quickly, despite additional challenges posed by the need to obtain scheduled monument consent (the regime for which is regarded as the strictest of

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69 TECHNICAL NOTES

all the forms of statutory protection) and measures to ensure safe working during the pandemic.

A conservative approach is being adopted for the work, maximising the retention of various earlier phases of ‘make do and mend’ repairs carried out in the old navy yard. The project encompasses: n Underpinning of the foundations to stabilise the structure and raising the treadwheels. When the crane was moved to its present site it was placed on a thin, unreinforced concrete slab.

This had broken its back, resulting in the two sides of the wheelhouse subsiding and preventing the wheels from turning. n Repairs to the timber frame. New timber is being pieced into the softwood cill plate on the north side. The cill plate on the south side, however, is seriously decayed so requires replacement.

n Repairs to roof timbers and retiling.

Where defective, pantiles are being replaced with new ones. Pantiles will be screw-fixed to provide protection from windlift. n Replacement of the weatherboarding. n Of particular note, replacement of the sarking boards on the semicircular roof above the crane mast and the application of a sailcloth and pine tar covering.

PINE TAR AND SAILCLOTH Much thought has been given to the most suitable covering for the distinctive apsidal-like roof. Lead or zinc sheet was felt to be too grand for such a workaday structure on the one hand and some form of modern membrane inappropriate on the other. A breakthrough came, however, with the discovery of historic references to the use of tarred

sailcloth at Chatham Dockyard. This seemed to offer a viable, pragmatic solution with historic precedent and trials proved successful.

The tradition of using pine (not coal) tar on buildings has largely been lost in the UK but has continued unbroken in Sweden, from where the project team sought advice.

Traditional sailcloth of cotton duck canvas is dimensionally stable and was regarded in this instance as a more suitable covering than alternatives manufactured from manmade fibres.

The new rough-sawn larch sarking boards will be primed first with Swedish pine tar heated on an electric hob to 50°C and thinned with white spirit (10 pine tar:1 white spirit). The underside of the sailcloth is to be treated likewise before being laid onto the boards with folded and stapled laps. An additional length of canvas will cover the roof apex. Two coats of unthinned warmed pine tar are then to be applied to the sailcloth. Both coatings will be dusted with charcoal.

A third coat of tar and two dust coatings of sand will be applied after six months, and further coats after two and five years.

Photo Dolmen Conservation Ltd

Project team: The Morton Partnership (lead consultants and structural engineers); Tendring District Council (owner); Historic England (statutory advisor and grant provider); Leigh Alston (architectural historian); Martin Bridge (dendrochronologist); and Dolmen Conservation Ltd (contractor).

Above: It is the double treadwheels that make the Harwich crane a unique example www.spab.org.uk | SPAB | Summer 2022

The views expressed on these pages should be seen as contributions to ongoing debates and we welcome comments. Please email any feedback on the technical issues covered to Douglas Kent at douglas.kent@spab.org.uk .

To contact us about other, unrelated technical matters, please call our dedicated free advice line. This operates between 9.30 am to 12.30 pm, Mondays to Fridays, on 020 7456 0916. The number is sometimes subject to change. We are grateful to Historic England for its generous financial assistance to help us run this service.

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71

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72

Chastleton House: full of history and intrigue CHASTLETON HOUSE AND GARDEN in Oxfordshire is atmospheric, quirky, beautiful, a little fragile and full of history and intrigue.

It is certainly not over-restored: there are peeling walls and an unusual mix of interiors and collections ranging from full-on Jacobean to the 1970s.

The National Trust acquired the property in 1991, after nearly 400 years in the same family’s ownership. This was the relatively affluent Jones family, who had made their fortune from the local wool trade. They demolished the original house on the site belonging to Robert Catesby, the Gunpowder Plot leader, and built a Cotswold stone manor house worthy of their social climbing aspirations. However, the family experienced mixed fortunes over the next few centuries and by the 20th century, the fabric of the house was in some need of repair. Luckily, the family retained many of their belongings over the years, including rare tapestries, paintings, books and furniture. The story of the property is that it is conserved as it was found, but this story is constantly revisited and interpretation tweaked in order to show the house’s fascinating history at its best and to evoke its ‘spirit of place’ (a key National Trust concept).

My first visit to Chastleton was to be interviewed as a garden volunteer in 2010 and I am still volunteering in the garden and occasionally in the house. I remember walking down the hill from the car park through a field full of sheep. That walk is actually part of the visitor experience of getting to the house and feeling like you are in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by fields (although in reality the A44 is not far away). You do not get the full impact of the property until you are nearer and reach the arch to the drive. Only then do you experience the full Jacobean glory of golden stone walls, towers, turrets and chimneys, and the next-door neighbour, the even older parish church.

The house does not really have a

typical grand entrance: the front door and porch is to the left of the steps up the front of the property. I have often found visitors confused about how to get in as you cannot see the front door when walking up the drive. However, once through the porch, with its array of trailing houseplants, you go into a grand room with a high ceiling, full of wood, flagstone floor, portraits and old armour, and a strange painted deer on one wall. This is the Great Hall, which smells of woodsmoke from the fire that is lit every day the property is open, even on a hot summer’s day. There are further rooms designed to impress, which you can tell by their names: the Great Chamber and Great Parlour, both of which have ornate ceilings.

Although I love to see the house full Summer 2022 | SPAB | www.spab.org.uk

of visitors, there is something special about walking through the rooms on my own to place flower arrangements or water houseplants and feeling that sense of history in every nook and cranny. Every room is different: some are large, dark and slightly ominous, with ornate Jacobean woodwork and fireplaces, and spectacular ceilings.

Others are plainer and intimate such as the White Parlour with its pale painted wood panelling. It is easy to imagine the former residents sitting in here, writing letters or playing card games.

There are two wide wooden staircases in towers, each side of the house: one with more elaborate carving for the house owners and their guests, and a plainer functional one for the servants.

It is worth climbing the stairs to the top of the house to find the Long Gallery, a vast space with a barrel-vaulted ceiling and unusual carvings (spandrels). This room was regularly used for recreation on rainy days, but its original purpose was to show off the family’s wealth. It also has beautiful views across the garden. Looking from the window on to the circular 19th century topiary is one of my favourite views. The garden team has recently recreated the feel of the original Arts & Crafts-style garden here with huge beds around the topiary circle. In the height of summer, the new planting is full of bees and butterflies and you can imagine yourself there in its 1920s heyday.

As with many grand houses, it is good to experience all areas of the house and understand how they were used by the owners and the servants. The east staircase leads down to the kitchen, pantries, dairy court (an eerie, open space in the middle of the building), and the extensive cellars. The cellar contains the 20m long ladder, which allegedly reached the top of the house for window cleaning. There were no risk assessment forms to worry about in those days!

JULIE CHARLESWORTH

Photos John Hackston

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