Conservation in action at medieval church

Our Norfolk Group carry out conservation in action at St Martin’s Church in Shotesham. Volunteer Domenico d’Alessandro reports on a weekend Working Party. 

Credit: Domenico d’Alessandro

In the past few years, the SPAB Norfolk Group has been working closely with several partners to deliver a series of Heritage Skills Training Workshops at the site. The first workshop, 'Measured and Condition Surveys', took place at the beginning of March 2020, followed by the 'Analysis and Specification' workshop and installation of soft capping samples in Autumn 2020.  

During the pandemic, the project team have been able to finalise the project proposal and secure funding from South Norfolk Council, the Mercers Company and the Heritage Lottery Fund. The project involves the conservation of the low-level walls of the ruin, interpretation and heritage skills training. 

The first summer workshop of 2022 was completed successfully on 15 and 16 July. We welcomed a good range of participants, including recently graduated students, enthusiasts and experts. 

We carried out two main tasks over the two days. First, we constructed a small clay lime kiln in which we were able to fire our own chalk and cockles and oyster shells to make quicklime. All the materials were sourced locally. Secondly, we used that lime together with sharp sand to make our mortar. Two main groups then tackled the repointing and rebuilding of fallen flints in the remains of the Chancel walls.  

There will be a further two-week period of repairs during September. A couple of students will be able to work alongside the contractor Will Tyrrell during w/c 19 September. We will also be hosting another two-day working party on 21-22 October when we will be tackling the soft wall capping. 

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