Harewood Training Day

Skills Training at All Saints Church, Harewood

The Trust takes great pride in its conservation work and the skills demonstrated by the contractors and specialists who work on our churches. We’ve also been looking at ways to introduce and share these skills with others, so in August 2008 held our first ever craft skills training week at All Saints Church, Harewood in Yorkshire in partnership with the Harewood House Trust.

So on 11 August 50 delegates fully kitted out in high visibility vests and sturdy boots gathered in the churchyard to learn about lime mortars, repointing and masonry repair from our course leaders Alan Gardner and Nigel Copsey. Both Alan and Nigel are very experienced in their respective fields; Alan is conservation accredited building surveyor and SPAB scholar who also looks after some of our churches including Harewood; and Nigel is a stonemason and conservator currently based in Malton, North Yorkshire, he is also an accredited member of the Institute of Conservation.

We wanted the course to be a real mix of theory, practical demonstrations and hands on work. It always helps to be able to actually try out what you have learnt; and as the churchyard walls needed repair this gave the delegates the perfect opportunity to have a go at repointing and stone replacement under the expert guidance of the course leaders.

The first two days were the most intensive and covered a lot of theory, but done in a very clear and accessible way. There were also plenty of demonstrations, lots of materials to examine and some hands on work to help people absorb all the information more easily. This worked perfectly especially as delegates came from a range of backgrounds from conservation professionals to students, contractors and homeowners so had different levels of knowledge.

By the start of Wednesday morning delegates were raring to ‘have a proper go’ at the churchyard walls and managed to get quite a large section started, with the joints prepared and mortar in place undergoing its initial set ready for finishing off the next day. Unfortunately thanks to the typical British summer weather it was not to be, at least not straight away and we had to rejig the timetable to fit in - lectures indoors when it was wet; then when it dried up, straight back to the churchyard walls.

Overall the course gave a great introduction in the use of lime: the different types and strengths, which to choose, how to slake it, the different aggregates available and mixing mortars. It also covered the other additives and materials used in lime work such as pozzolans, animal hair, limewash and pigments. Lime is absolutely critical in historic building repair so by including demonstrations and as much practical work as possible delegates left feeling more confident about specifying and using it themselves and in encouraging others to do so as well.

To add extra interest during the week other activities included a private tour of Harewood House and lectures on conservation philosophy, monument conservation and also on the alabaster monuments in the church. Towards the end of the week an extra 25 delegates arrived for our free homeowners introductory lime afternoon, where as well as some basic theory in its properties and use they saw a limeslaking demonstration, had the chance to see and handle different materials and had a demonstration and talk on lime plastering.

Of the feedback forms we received the responses have been hugely positive so the Trust is absolutely delighted especially as this is the first such event we’ve organised. So as a pilot it’s been a great success and an idea we’d like to try and develop in the future.

NR