SPAB Working Party

9th - 11th July 2015

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) host a 'working party' every summer to enable a host of volunteers to assist in the conservation, repair and restoration of listed structures. They educate the volunteers throughout the weeks building activities about how to care for historic sturctures, giving practical demonstrations and allowing everybody to take part in all aspects of the work on site.

This year, the working party was at Sullington Manor Farm in Sussex, and ran from 5th-11th July. Sullington Manor Farm is a working farm, and a site within its 500 acres contains a 17th century tithe barn, several Victorian cottages, and other historic barns and features. Extensive repairs were required throughout the site. The complex also features a 11th century church with churchyard, and we were given an informative talk about the investigation into its wall paintings.

It was a fantastic opportunity to gain hands on experience of historic building care. I was involved with the repair of stone and brick walls on the listed church and barn walls - the images show some parts of the restoration work I was actively working on. This involved mixing lime mortar, lime repointing and lime washing. I also tried my hand at a traditional craft technique for timber lathing and carving. I was able to observe many more activities on site, such as timber frame repair with metal bracing and re-borading of a small barn. I attended a visit, led by professional craftsmen, to the village of Amberley.