Our work continues investigating and monitoring extreme salt related decay to a Portland-Purbeck limestone spiral stair in an early eighteenth century church tower. The stair has seen approximately 30mm of stone loss over approximately 20 years, caused by exposure to marine salts and significant change in the internal environment within the tower. Monitoring work continues so that we can understand the point when decay has reached a new equilibrium so that conservation, repair and partial replacement can proceed. Decay on this scale is highly unusual and presents unique conservation challenges!
Conservation and Reconstruction of a Ruined Eighteenth Century Garden Building
Following recent archaeological excavation work to discover a missing 'Thatched House' in the landscaped gardens of a large eighteenth century house, Ingram Consultancy have been appointed to look at the feasibility for exposing, conserving and re-presenting the site.
Our work has included investigating the original building form and materials, and recreating the Thatched House design based on site archaeology and historical sketches. We are also preparing options for presenting the site to visitors and possibly reconstructing the building from the exposed ruins. An incredibly interesting and rewarding experience - watch this space!