Two Lincolnshire Stately Homes

Having been a volunteer Heritage Steward for around a year now I feel more confident in my ability to complete basic building surveys. Along with several other volunteers it seems, I have tended to avoid surveying parks and gardens. I think this is because of the potential “vastness” and relative uncertainty of the task. When surveying historic buildings their features and general condition are there to be seen whereas in the case of parks and gardens, more interpretation and often imagination, has to be used. Because of this avoidance I took advantage of the further Parks and Gardens training recently offered by the LHAR team.

Around 30 volunteers arrived at Little Ponton Hall on a foggy and cold November morning, where two knowledgeable guides drew our attention to features of the landscape that many of us would otherwise have no doubt, passed by, unaware. An example of this was the use made of various species of trees and shrubs in the original planning of the gardens and grounds. At Little Ponton Hall, a magnificent cedar was planted as an eye-catching feature that could be enjoyed by those viewing it from both the inside and outside of the building. Significance and virtue was apparently attached to certain trees and our guides informed us of times past when it was fashionable to plant particular species (for example, Scots Pine was popular in the mid C18.) Yews were evidently chosen to provide dense screens, often used deliberately to “delay” the view of the house until a break in the planting revealed it to its best advantage.

Walking towards the hall’s boundary to reach one of the better vantage points, our guides  invited us to look for hidden features including earlier garden plans and areas where walls and lakes were once situated. With their help in interpretation, previously “invisible” humps and bumps in the landscape suddenly took on new meaning!

Wandering into the hall’s kitchen garden I soon found myself in conversation with the head gardener who told me that the owners of the hall still liked to be presented with a daily list of fresh garden produce that was available for their table. Even at this late stage in the year, the garden was immaculately tended and obviously still producing vegetables; all of this with just three gardeners! A feature that took my attention was a huge mistletoe plant, thriving on an old apple tree cordon as its host. I was told that the plant had been there as long as anyone could recall and despite their best efforts to propagate, it refused to grow anywhere else!

After a couple of hours our party travelled the few miles to Stoke Rochford Hall. Our guides told us to expect a quite different environment to that we had found at Little Ponton. This was immediately apparent when we arrived. The hall and its grounds are on a far grander scale. The approach to the hall employs the natural features of the surrounding landscape and strategic tree planting heightens the visitors’ anticipation of seeing the hall for the first time. With the guides’ insightful commentary, the garden’s former features once again became clear. They took us to a secluded part of the grounds where much debate took place as to its former function. An extensive concreted area was thought to be what remained of a WW2 billet and supplies depot and a sunken grassed area was possibly a croquet lawn or a former parterre.


During our visit, the hall was receiving a visit from a team of window cleaners. Because of the hundreds of windows in the building, I imagined that here we might have an example of the “Forth Road Bridge” story; that once the task of washing the windows is completed, the whole process has to be repeated! A lucrative proposition for the window cleaners, I’m sure!

The training day then, was enjoyable and informative. It served to make the surveying of parks and gardens less daunting, setting in context the current landscape features with those that are less obvious, but visible to the observant. A worthwhile training event and another opportunity to meet fellow Heritage Stewards.

Colin, Heritage Steward

The Difference Between Seeing and Observing

Since my last blog in which I focussed upon theft from churches, I’ve noticed that the subject has rarely been out of the news. In a recent television report, a Lincolnshire church featured, the roof of which had been stripped of its lead. After much deliberation the decision had been made not to replace it like-for-like with lead, as this would invite further thefts. Instead, stainless steel had been used. A comment was made by one of the clergy that lead would have been preferable due to its well known ability to weather well and to accommodate the natural movement of a timber roof structure. How appropriate the new material will prove to be remains to be seen. Within days of this news item, a friend told me of the theft of lead from his village’s church, together with a small quantity of lead flashing taken from the village hall. He commented that the cost of repairing the damage to the hall would far outweigh the price the thieves would have received for the metal’s scrap value. For church committees desperately trying to make meagre funds go further in these difficult times, major expenditure such as this is bad news indeed. I have noticed that whereas at one time, doors of most churches were left open to welcome visitors and worshippers, it is becoming more usual now for them to be firmly locked. Perhaps the time has come where the adage “prevention is better than cure” is being adopted by those who are trying to take best care of their churches and contents?

As a volunteer Heritage Steward I’ve concentrated over the last few months, like many of my volunteering colleagues, upon surveying places of worship. Now that the Trust’s objective of completing all of these properties has been achieved, I have returned to surveying other buildings considered to be “at risk”. Last week I spent half a day looking at buildings in the town where I live as it occurred to me that despite driving or walking past these on many occasions, I had not really taken much notice of them as interesting structures in their own right; the difference I suppose, between “seeing” and “observing”.

The exercise of surveying (as is usual for me) resulted in coming into contact with new people: those working in the various buildings as well as members of the public curious to discover what I was doing in taking photos and writing notes! Initially I found the experience of surveying buildings in a busy town centre a little intimidating –being more used to wandering at leisure, surveying churches in quiet villages. I found myself being a little self-conscious about pointing a camera at an occupied shop, with staff and customers going about their business! I soon decided to first call in to explain my activity. Reassuringly and without exception, people were quite accepting of this! An unforeseen problem of surveying in a busy town centre location was the need to return to photograph buildings later in the day due to the view being blocked by a waiting bus or huge delivery van! Such are the obstacles faced by the volunteer Steward!

Apart from the positive experience of believing I now knowing the town centre buildings a little better, after taking a more detailed look, I realise the aesthetics of the town could be easily improved in a number of respects. Most obvious (and this could be said to be a problem in so many town centres nowadays) was the proliferation of ugly shop- front signage, often garishly over illuminated. The original, attractive frontages are either hidden or completely replaced by these modern additions. Someone, somewhere, in planning meetings has evidently approved these signs with little serious consideration of preserving local identity of the town. Being a frequent visitor to towns such as Stamford and further afield, York, I know that modernisation and commercial need can be combined and regulated to good effect. Another observation that was glaringly obvious to me through taking a closer look at the town was just how scruffy many of the off-street areas are. This includes the ubiquitous and brightly coloured, trade-size refuse bins that line many of the passages and access areas, often overflowing with shop waste. The general litter, mainly empty drinks cans, bottles and plastics are joined by literally hundreds of cigarette ends, discarded and accumulated in drain openings and gullies. Over all, there appeared to be little evidence of genuine “civic pride” from either the local authority or individual business owners, in terms of keeping some of the less obvious, but still visible local areas, in a tidy state.

As these appear to be common national problems as well as existing at a local level, I’m not quite sure what the solutions might be. If preserving our sense of heritage is to be more than mere rhetoric, however, solutions have to be found before the problem of “anonymous” and litter strewn town centres becomes irreversible.

Colin, Heritage Steward

Remaining Vigilant: Heritage sites

I wonder if it’s usual that as a blogger, one sometimes experiences the equivalent to writer's block? In the last few days I’ve had something resembling it! I put this down to that of late I haven’t been able to complete as many surveys as I would have liked. The surveys often provide the "raw material" on which I base my monthly blog, as regular readers will have noticed. Looking to the media for some inspiration, thank goodness, it didn’t take long for a heritage-linked topic to emerge!

No one can have missed the recent reporting of the theft of copper and other valuable metals in the newspapers and on TV. This week, the local BBC news featured a story in Lincolnshire where thieves had gone to a secluded area near the A57 road and stolen a substantial amount of copper insulation cabling from the overhead power lines, leaving a nearby marina complex without power for several hours. The obvious danger to life (a reported 11,000 volts runs through these lines!) was clearly regarded as an acceptable risk to those responsible, to say nothing of the lesser, yet significant risk to the livelihoods of the businesses affected. The story reminded me of one of the last surveys I did. In recent months the Lincolnshire Heritage at Risk team have been keen to complete the “Places of Worship” surveys by the end of September. I had just 3 churches left to survey on my list and set out to finish them one afternoon.

Arriving at the last of these churches, I followed my now established routine of walking 360° around the building. I have found that by doing this, the more obvious structural problems are revealed at a glance. I then go around once more, looking more closely before going if possible, to take a look at the church’s interior. I have found that good first impressions of a site are often an accurate indication of how well a property is managed and maintained and this particular church showed several of those signs (for example, the churchyard was neatly kept, the churchyard gate and fencing had recently been given a coat of preservative, and a welcoming message was pinned to the notice-board in the porch!) A separate message invited visitors who wished to view the church’s interior to call at an address in the village to collect a key. This I did and had the pleasure of meeting the church warden who was very informative about the church’s history and was interested to hear about the LHAR project. During our stroll back to the church, the warden asked, quite unexpectedly, "Of course, you’ll have seen the damage to the roof?" Incidentally, to those of you reading this who are Volunteer Heritage Stewards, have you ever seriously doubted your own credibility to properly survey a building? I have to confess, I did on that day! How could I have missed something so obvious as missing lead-work on a roof? Reassuringly, when the damage was pointed out to me I realised that the oversight was an easy one to have made as the stone work and parapets etc largely concealed the damage when viewed from ground level.

Apparently the thefts had taken place over a period of several months, a small section at a time. Firstly, the whole of the lead roofing and guttering from the south porch had been taken. On a second visit, the thieves had shown more effrontery by stripping a large section of the north aisle roof which is less than 10 feet from a well used village road. Not content with two raids, the thieves returned once more to take the lead from the south aisle roof.

Several issues presented themselves when I considered this lamentable situation. The small group of people who obviously take a pride in their village church are now faced with much unnecessary work and expense in repairing the damage done, together with the uncertainty of repeated thefts once the repairs are completed. Short of stationing individuals on a night-watch, with the real risk to personal safety that would pose, the church remains vulnerable to further damage and loss. It is disheartening to say the least to consider the craftsmanship in the lead-work having lain undisturbed for hundreds of years only to be ransacked in just 3 nights. To ensure that the building remains watertight, this particular church committee acted quickly by having emergency repairs done. This included the erection inside, of a temporary plastic “roof” covering the magnificent church organ – a precautionary step for the expected further removal of lead from the roof above (which at the time of my visit, still remained.) The cost of these temporary repairs must have amounted already to several hundred pounds. To someone with an interest in the preservation of our county’s heritage it is both irritating and upsetting to witness such wanton damage, and all for such short-term (if lucrative) gain. Where the thieves are taking their lead is an obvious question as it is clear that someone is buying it from them. 

In Lincolnshire and beyond, the theft of roof lead is I understand, widespread. It follows then that a similar level of damage, distress and unnecessary expense as described here, is being repeated up and down the country. (A recent radio article gave a shocking statistic that over half of Lincolnshire’s churches had suffered from theft of one form or another in the past 3 years.)

One cannot help feeling powerless in preventing such problems. We rely heavily of course, upon the police to deal with the incidents in the usual manner and are advised to report suspicious activity promptly. Perhaps as Volunteer Heritage Stewards we are in the advantageous position of being able to report any damage or irregular behaviour we see whilst out surveying? Ultimately if we are concerned in preserving our county’s heritage, we all have a duty to remain mindful of such crimes and to prevent further problems where we can.

Colin, Heritage Steward

Getting young people onboard

An important aspect of the Heritage at Risk project (aside from the small matter of attempting to survey over 9,000 heritage assets around the county) is to promote a sense of understanding and appreciation for Lincolnshire’s heritage amongst young people.

Throughout the project we have offered a number of different types of event specifically designed for young people. These have involved a wide range of activities such as surveying historic buildings in Heckington, exploring Tattershall Castle, recording archaeology at Tupholme Abbey and reconstructing a dry stone wall at Caenby.

We have often found ourselves taking part in some more unexpected activities too, such as building rockets, hosting a barbeque and flying down a zip wire at the high ropes centre (the most unexpected of all given that I am not good with heights)…its all part of the job!

Our next young person’s event will involve working with students from St Francis Community Special School in Lincoln. The young people will be undertaking a project about heritage sites in the city and will be helping us to record their condition. By volunteering with us they will also be working towards their Duke of Edinburgh Awards and their Bishop’s Awards with the Diocese of Lincoln.

We visited the school this week to meet some of the pupils who we will be working with. We were very impressed with their enthusiasm for the subject and can’t wait to get started on the project!

Natalie, Heritage at Risk Project Officer

The things you learn!

On the most basic level people enjoy historic buildings because of the way they look. They can be works of art but they can also be striking in their obedience to utilitarianism; "form follows function". There is a fascination with the way these assets were built and the architectural styles that were employed especially when gazing at our wonderful collection of medieval ecclesiastical creations. Historic buildings can be, at the same time, both similar and yet extraordinarily different.

Yet, for many, it is the quiet untold stories that can, sometimes by chance, be heard on a visit to even the most innocuous 'building'. Today I carried out a Lincolnshire Heritage at Risk survey on the south gates and screen of Belton Park. Despite their aesthetic qualities I expected very little in the way of 'learning' from these 18th century structures. After taking a few photographs I entered the park to take some photos of the northern side of the gates. The first thing I noticed was that the heraldic beasts faced into the park rather than to the outside as most modern 'heraldic' features do (such as kitsch concrete lions). Then there was the latin motto: "esse quam videri". Unfortunately I failed my Latin exams at university (although I knew it was something to do with looking) so a quick web-search gave me the translation - "to be, rather than to seem" a Ciceronian quote adopted by the Brownlow family who built and lived in Belton House for nigh on 300 years.

On leaving the park a turned to photograph a monument on the easterly pier, a monument to the Machine Gun Corps. The monument featured no names and so I wondered why this monument was found here. A little bit of Googling later and I discovered that the Machine Gun Corps, founded in 1915, had its first depot and training base at Belton Park. Most of this base was located on the site of what is now Belton Park Golf Club.

After Belton I, by chance, travelled the short distance to Londonthorpe to photograph the church of St John the Baptist. Making my way to the west end of the churchyard I was struck by a number of neatly aligned grave stones. On closer inspection I realised that these were war graves from WWI, 31 in total and 12 honouring men from the Machine Gun Corps. All died at the Cherry Orchard Military Hospital in Grantham that is now occupied by the Uplands Drive estate off Harrowby Lane.

It just goes to show how much can be learnt from our historic buildings.

Michael, Heritage at Risk Project Officer

Looking beyond the obvious

Judging by a recent e-mail sent to me by the team at LHaR, it seems that the Volunteer Heritage Stewards have done a great job in completing the Places of Worship surveys in the time allocated. At the time of writing there appears to be just 50 or so remaining. The power of volunteers, indeed!

As the surveying of these assets draws to a close I have found myself thinking about some of the experiences I have had and particular features I have noticed whilst out and about in the county. As in previous blogs it is often the human stories that hold my fascination.

The quality of the craftsmanship seen in churches never fails to amaze me and the pride that the various trades obviously had in their work. Walking into a large church on the border with Nottinghamshire, I could have been forgiven for thinking I had entered a cathedral, such was its size and grandeur. Gold leaf and elaborate woodwork was everywhere to be seen! In direct contrast to this was a redundant church at the southern end of the Lincoln Edge. Here the church was more modestly appointed, serving for many years, the small hamlet in which it is situated. Despite its size, the internal woodwork was obviously made with great pride and attention to detail. The box pews were ingenious in their use of space within the confines of the church. Their design reflected very clearly the relative social importance of the local congregation; commodious family pews nearest the altar and the more basic, smaller pews towards the rear.

I have learned that the churchyard itself can also yield fascinating historical detail for the interested visitor. At a church in the Sleaford area C17 raised “boxed” tombstones immediately attracted my attention. In various stages of deterioration, these slabs of stone must have been incredibly heavy to both fashion and install. It was easy for me to imagine a team of stonemasons struggling to manhandle the stones into their correct positions. As interesting to me was how well the tombstones have retained their shape, overall appearance and legible inscriptions, some for almost 300 years. As well as the more predictable passages from the Scriptures seen commonly on tombstones, the more unusual ones are of interest. Much can be understood of the social and moral conditions prevalent at the time they were crafted, not least the style of language used and the decidedly chaste tones of the inscriptions!

I have sometimes sheltered in the porches of churches to write up my survey notes and looking around have noticed unusual and unexpected features in the architecture (for example, a line of frogs carved around the stone door frame of a church in the Sleaford area and a gargoyle, half way up a church tower in the Gainsborough area, blowing a raspberry, and appearing to stare down on the passers-by!) Of all these quirky features, my enduring favourites are the informal pieces of C18 and C19 graffiti that appear to have lasted so long because of the painstaking manner in which they were carved. I have included a photo of such an example. I imagined the name might have been carved in an idle few moments, perhaps by a member of the choir or by a grave-digger during his lunch-break! Who knows? What is clear however, is how enjoyable I have found the past few months spent surveying churches. These experiences have reminded me to always try to look beyond the obvious when visiting these remarkable buildings.

Colin, Heritage Steward

Boston’s Heritage

It was great to see such a good turn out yesterday at our local heritage day event in Boston.

The event, based at Fydell House, featured a number of different activities and tours including a guided tour of ‘the grandest house in town’, a tour of Boston Guildhall and a visit to Hussey tower where attendees were able to climb to the top of the tower and witness the repair works which are currently underway.

Some of our regular volunteers called in to show their support but numbers were mostly made up of local people simply dropping in.

The majority of attendees were not aware that there are approximately 250 buildings of special architectural or historic interest in the town. Many thought the reason for some of these being at risk was lack of interest or awareness and they suggested more local heritage day events to raise awareness and promote what Boston has to offer.

Our thanks to the volunteers at Fydell house who helped to make the event a success.

Natalie, Heritage at Risk Project Officer

Heritage vs Nature

While completing surveys recently, I started to think about why heritage is at risk and in what ways.

The heritage at Risk website suggests ‘gradual erosion’ is the main risk to Lincolnshire’s built heritage.

At a now disused Victorian chapel, I looked up at the gothic style tower. Amongst the gargoyles looking back, I also noticed a small tree growing through the brickwork. In fact, around the building, several trees had taken root, moss was growing on the walls and ferns were settled in the guttering.

I thought, perhaps, this tree illustrated gradual erosion. When a man made building is no longer used, nature slowly starts to move in and take over….quietly and unnoticed.

The Heritage At Risk project aims to document and record these buildings so they are noticed and, hopefully, a plan can be developed for their future.

Karen, Heritage Steward

Freshening up the Heritage site

We're now about half way through the project and have decided to freshen things up a bit by redeveloping the website. Apart from the general appearance of the website we will also be adding a few extra features that will hopefully make things a little easier for our volunteers (and us).

New features will include improved searchability on the Heritage Asset Map, easier editing of photo descriptions on the surveys, a new youth page and a new section on conservation areas. I think everybody will notice the change in appearance of the website - lots of bright colours to match the new leaflets that came out a few months ago.

Luckily, when we arrived, the current website was already up and running (thanks to Liz Bates and Denise Drury). Website development is something that is new to all the current members of staff. It's come as a bit of a shock over how much work goes into something that on paper seems so simple. But, we're getting there and hopefully in a few weeks we will have something that is better to look at and much easier to use. We'll let you know when it's all ready. Watch this space.

Michael, Heritage at Risk Project Officer

Back to the Classroom!

As a volunteer heritage steward I continue to find new and stimulating ways to learn about our county’s heritage.

One such way was made possible recently simply by enrolling upon one of the “GROW” courses offered by Lincolnshire County Council through Heritage Lincolnshire. The course was entitled “Lost Medieval Villages and Abbeys and Priories in Lincolnshire” and was run over two separate evenings at the headquarters of Heritage Lincolnshire in Heckington.

The Trust’s building is a lovely example of Victorian heritage in itself, being a former Church of England village school. Developing a Steward’s keen eye for such things, I could see that many of the school’s original architectural features had been retained! The wooden folding classroom divider with glass panes and the large classroom spaces,(so difficult to heat in winter) reminded me of time spent at a similar school as a child! Also, despite not being used as a school for several years, the playground still bears a clearly visible hop-scotch grid!

However, back to the GROW course! The first part of the course concerned the lost Medieval villages. I had only a vague knowledge of these villages prior to attending the course. I was aware of the village at Brauncewell, beside the A15 north of Sleaford. (Incidentally, I recall that my first awareness of Heritage Lincolnshire’s existence was several years ago when an invitation appeared in the local press for interested parties to meet at the site for a morning’s interpretive visit with a member of the Trust.) The first slide shown on the course was an aerial photograph of Brauncewell and showed the village in astonishing detail – far better than by merely passing by the site on the road would have allowed! The helpful explanations of what we were seeing on the slide effectively “brought the village to life” as details including road and pathways, cottages together with their associated agricultural small-holdings, became clear. The illustrations contained within the Luttrell Psalter- a unique and local Medieval manuscript, were used by the tutor to identify the everyday activities of villagers of the period. To aid this understanding, we were shown a short video, produced by a local history society, in which the various activities were authentically re- enacted. The village remains that we viewed were then transformed through us gaining an understanding of the activities of the individuals who once populated it.

The second part of the course introduced us to the remains of Medieval abbeys and priories in Lincolnshire. The evening’s study was illustrated with photographs and aerial photographs of abbey site which made it easier to identify the plan of typical monastery buildings. Considering the age of the buildings, I was impressed by how intact at least some of these abbeys are. Particularly memorable is the 14th century abbey at Thornton, near Grimsby, whose brick gatehouse appears to be very sturdy indeed.

Overall the course had the effect of firing me with enthusiasm to visit sites of both lost villages and abbeys. This particular course was made available free of charge which was an added bonus.

As I have stated in earlier blogs, becoming a volunteer Heritage Steward has proved to be a very rewarding experience for me – so much more than I had initially imagined.

The Trust is to be commended for their dynamic approach in making learning such an accessible element of their business.

Colin, Heritage Steward

Watch this space

Having just recovered from the excitement of the Hands on Heritage residential, plans are now underway for our next young person’s event.

We have been working with the Diocese of Lincoln to plan another ‘hands on’ type of event. As the Hands on Heritage expedition proved, this type of event can be both extremely rewarding and enjoyable. As one young person put it: “It was really informative without being overwhelming or dull.” Watch this space…

In other news we have recently recruited our 253rd Heritage Steward, and our next Heritage Steward training day is also fully booked. It is wonderful to see such support for the project and it really illustrates the level of interest that local people have in protecting Lincolnshire’s heritage.

Our dedicated Heritage Stewards are making great progress with 4,500 surveys now complete. Already, the data collected by our volunteers is being used by English Heritage for inclusion in their places of worship at risk survey. Keep up the good work!

For more information on places of worship at risk visit http://goo.gl/EGqV8

Natalie, Heritage at Risk Project Officer

Roman heritage in Lincoln

For a recent survey, I came across a Roman tombstone in central Lincoln. It was set into the exterior wall of a church about 2 metres above ground height. With Latin and Anglo-Saxon inscriptions, the tombstone is thought to be from a large cemetery which was once south of Lincoln.

It appears that re-use has preserved this monument and it is now an integral part of the building. Having its own record on the heritage database ensures it is not overlooked. As I took photographs, I wondered if, perhaps, this was a contender for one of the smallest features on the survey database (measuring about 1 metre by 0.5 metre).

I will definitely look out for some more unusual fragments of heritage as I continue with the surveys.

Karen, Heritage Steward

Hands on Heritage

The 26th-28th August witnessed the Lincolnshire Heritage at Risk project embark on our first young persons' residential trip - 'Hands on Heritage'.

The three day trip attempted to introduce a collection of 16 to 25 year olds to certain aspects of heritage that they might not usually get access to.

We collected the first group from Sleaford at about 9:30 on the Tuesday morning. I'm still not sure who was more nervous, us or them. The bus was, not surprisingly, unnervingly quiet. By the time we collected the second group from Lincoln there was a little bit of chat and by the time we picked up David, one of our younger Heritage Stewards, from Market Rasen quite a few conversations had developed. We arrived at Caenby on time and met David Rodger from BTCV who introduced us to the site and the principals of drystone walling. Lunch-time quickly followed alongside a short debriefing from staff (introductions, ice-breakers and, most importantly, rules for the week). It was then straight into it; a couple making hearting stones, some applying the capping stones, a few helping form the foundations and several of us organising the stones into nice neat rows for the wallers. Out of all the tasks it seemed that they were most enthusiastic about making the hearting stones. This involved smashing large lumps of rock with a hammer; quite similar to hard-labour or slaves working in an ancient quarry. Anyway, a young persons' appetite for destruction made sure the hearting kept flowing.

The evening at our youth hostel in Claxby involved an indoor barbecue (otherwise called cooking in the oven) and a walk through the woods, rounded off with a quiz and a video. By this time everybody had started to get to know each other quite well which meant some lengthy chats going on well into the night.

A quick breakfast then it was off to Tupholme Abbey (a site managed by the Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire.) The group was split into 3 so that they could experience building recording, finds processing and earthwork surveying - lots of new skills for all. Despite the all the sheep poo it was a fantastic day enjoyed by all. The only problem was with my newly shaven head and the resultant sun-burn; I'm still peeling! Back at Claxby it was pizza making (well, just adding toppings, no dough tossing) quickly followed, before it got dark, by rocket making. The rockets all carried eggs and were to be launched via the power of water and compressed air. Unfortunately I think I might have added too much water to the rockets which resulted in a failure to launch.

The last day involved a trip to the local high ropes centre; a bit of a 'treat' for the kids and the staff. The first course was about 8 feet off the ground, a way of getting use to the equipment. This was a bit too much for some as they declined the option to go for the 12 feet high section (it felt much higher than 12 feet - if you add my own height I guess my eyes were nearly 18 feet off the ground so it looked a long way down.) A few of the more nerveless ones took up the challenge of the tower and the trapeze, I declined both as I didn't want to show-off in front of the youngsters. After all the excitement we conducted a feedback session where we were told what had been learnt, what they enjoyed, what they didn't enjoy (very little fortunately) and if they would recommend the trip to their friends. All the feedback was very positive so it looks like we will be doing another one next year. Watch this space.

A selection of photos can be viewed at the Lincolnshire Heritage at Risk Facebook page. More will be appearing soon on our new website www.lincshar.org

Michael, Heritage at Risk Project Officer

Echoes from the past

I have found that in the 10 months since becoming a volunteer steward, my appreciation of human history associated with heritage sites in the county has developed. Returning from a day out in the Lincolnshire Wolds with a friend, we approached a church, conspicuous by its elevated position on the brow of a hill. We decided to take a closer look.

Having a keen eye for details in the landscape, my friend drew to my attention the route of a former pathway through the churchyard which would have lead to the church, still distinguishable even after many years of disuse. The route had been replaced by a newer side entry to the churchyard, more convenient for people arriving at the church by car. Standing at the church door and looking back to the old pathway, it became clear that the path joined a track over fields (still a public right of way) down the escarpment to a nearby hamlet of less than 20 homes. I suddenly became aware of how central church life would have been to communities such as this in times gone by.

I further reflected that for hundreds of years, twice every Sunday and on other Holy days, in good weather and bad, whole families would have used this route to the church. I imagined the scene when families would have processed excitedly up the hill to attend a marriage and after the service, made their way back to a wedding feast in the village, perhaps celebrating late into the night!

In contrast, I could imagine families, sombrely dressed, arriving at the church, having followed the cortege and paying their last respects to a friend or family member at a funeral service. I thought of other human activities that would have centred upon the church: the children who would have been required to dress in their “Sunday” clothes for their visit to church and to be on their best behaviour throughout the service, which would presumably have included a lengthy sermon!

The lack of heating in the church during winter must have made attendance at a service even more of a challenge for children and adults alike. Surveying churches with box and family – designated pews has reminded me of the strict hierarchy that would have been an accepted part of church life in times past. Benefactors of the church would have been seated at the front of the church with the poorer congregation occupying the rear pews or even standing throughout the service. The old church suddenly became for me a living testament to times gone by, symbolising as it did, the faith and hopes of families of the area.

In systematically surveying old buildings and churches as a Heritage Steward I believe it is important from time to time to remind myself that these fascinating old buildings, with their impressive architecture and skilful craftsmanship are more than mere structures.

Through my volunteer work for the Trust I feel I am developing a keener appreciation and respect for the human past that these noble buildings represent. A chance observation by my friend that day brought to our attention an old route to the church, forgotten by most. Its uphill route graphically demonstrated the effort that would have been involved in attending church and the commitment that this community once had in maintaining its faith throughout all seasons of the year.

Colin, Heritage Steward

An architectural gem

My first year as a Heritage Steward is coming to an end and I want to share with everyone my discovery of the jewel in our Lincolnshire heritage crown. Ellys Manor House, Great Ponton, near Grantham.

Between 1500 and 1520 the Ellys family of rich Hanseatic wool merchants built an imposing new home of Ancaster limestone. They chose to have the inside walls of the upper rooms covered with paintings of trees, animals, birds and foliage. Pevsner has described these as “the most complete, extensive and important domestic decoration of this date in the country."

500 years later it is still possible to stand and marvel at these glorious scenes painted by those medieval artists. There have been some changes over the centuries, including the use of the house as a rectory, but it is still owned by a family dedicated to preserving this wonderful unique part of our Lincolnshire heritage. Ellys Manor House is a treasure whose paintings are at risk and need our support.

Celia, Heritage Steward

To find out more about Ellys Manor House visit http://www.ellysmanorhouse.com

Conservation Areas

Much of this week has been taken up with preparing information on all of Lincolnshire's 163 Conservation Areas. This information is needed for our updated website so that our Heritage Stewards will have some information to help them complete their Conservation Area surveys. It is hoped that our Heritage Stewards will download the information, and a map, from our website that they will then be able to take out into the field.

Lincolnshire contains a plethora of Conservation Areas, all of which are unique. Many cover historic cores of rural villages but the County also contains Conservation Areas covering a a variety of interesting sites including: a former lunatic asylum (Rauceby Hospital), a glimpse of Victorian rural industry (Heckington Station) and “the English country market town par excellence" (Stamford). Stamford is of great interest not just because it contains over 430 Listed Buildings but also because it is England's very first Conservation Area - designated in 1967. The project has a fantastic group of volunteers in Stamford and it is likely that they will have to continue to tackle the town together to complete the Conservation Area survey.

There is no such thing as a 'typical' Conservation Area (which will make surveying them very challenging). 'Lincoln -The Dell' is less than a hectare (i.e. smaller than a football field) while Louth is over 140 times as large! Some contain hundreds of listed buildings such as Stamford (433), Boston (226) and Lincoln Cathedral (312) while others contain none - Stamford Northfields, Dawsmere and Fleet Fen.

We, alongside Lincoln City Council, have provided specialist Conservation Area for our Heritage Stewards and we will be planning more in the future (keep an eye on http://www.lincshar.org/events-training). These types of survey will involve additional research and reading and, of course, they will take much longer to complete than a normal building survey. I'm looking forward to doing a few of my own when time allows as it will be a great way of gaining a much more in-depth knowledge of certain site around the county.

Michael, Heritage at Risk Project Officer

Completing my first Heritage at Risk survey

To complete my first building survey as a Heritage Steward, I first needed to select my building. To start a survey, the Heritage Steward can use the map on the Heritage at Risk website to select a building of their choice.

Zooming in on Lincoln, I ‘clicked’ on a few buildings with which I was already familiar. It was clear there were several other stewards working in Lincoln and a good number of surveys had been completed. However, there were still plenty left to do. Clearly, the city is rich in heritage.

As the Cathedral had already been surveyed, I decided a slightly smaller building would be a good place to start my Heritage Steward career. I chose a Victorian railway building I had walked past many times and not really noticed before.

The survey is intended to be a rapid assessment of the building’s condition. It took about ten minutes to look round, makes a few notes and take some photos.

Back at the computer, I filled in the online form using the guidelines from the induction training course, selecting five of my photos to include. Although I was unfamiliar with the process, the system was easy to use and, in another 40 minutes, I had submitted the form. My first Heritage and Risk building survey was complete.

Karen, Heritage Steward

An enlightening experience

Even in the short time I have been a Heritage volunteer steward I have had many positive experiences, not least of these being the people I’ve met whilst surveying properties.

As a new volunteer in 2010 my very first survey involved calling at a private property which I had often admired from a distance as it was situated on a regular route I once took to work.

As I approached it I could see several people working. I recall feeling rather unsure about proceeding; anxious about what reception I’d receive and the small, but important considerations as a representative of the Trust, as to whether I had chosen the right way to access the property. I need not have worried!

The workmen were interested in the Lincolnshire Heritage at Risk project and encouraged me to wait a short time until the owner returned. When he did, he was more than helpful with the information he gave, making my task of surveying the property quite effortless!

As an unexpected bonus, he gave me a conducted tour of his home which provided more fascinating details about its history and the recent renovation work.

Walking away from the property I reflected that should most of my surveys prove to be as pleasant a task as this one, my work as a volunteer would be very rewarding!

On a separate occasion, on a warm and sunny April afternoon, I arrived to survey a small village church. Two men were mowing the grass in the churchyard and silenced their machinery to talk to me. They were keen to learn about the Lincolnshire Heritage At Risk project and soon introduced me to the church warden who lived a short distance away.

Again, due to the wealth of information this person was able to give, my task of surveying the church was made much easier! She explained that the size of the church’s congregation was slowly, but surely, dwindling - a comment which unfortunately has been repeated by individuals at other churches I have surveyed since. The church warden informed me that funds were invariably in short supply and that attempts to improve the situation through social functions were poorly supported. This account reflected the content of a TV programme I recently saw about the less than encouraging future of church attendance in the UK. 

I reflected that the survival of valued church buildings was largely dependent upon the congregations and communities that supported them. Here then, was first-hand knowledge of someone actively involved in the business of her church who gave not only a frank and pessimistic account of the ultimate survival of the church’s fabric, but also that of the future of active worship in her local community - and of course, the wider negative social connotations that such a decline would mean.

So, on just two survey visits, I had the pleasure of meeting two individuals with completely different stories. One who was obviously proud of his efforts to preserve the heritage of his home and the other, who despite her best efforts to encourage the continuity of her own church and a sense of community, feared the worse for its future.

Whether their stories are positive or, unfortunately, less so, as a volunteer steward I gain much personal satisfaction from the new people I meet and their interesting and varied views of local heritage.

Colin, Heritage Steward

Latest developments

It’s been a busy few weeks since my last entry…

We have been working on developing the Heritage at Risk website (www.lincshar.org), its going to include lots of new features such as a young persons’ page displaying photos and video clips from their events and examples of their work. It’ll also include some features that will help to make using the website and uploading surveys even easier. Look out for changes over the coming weeks!

Our Feedback Co-ordinator has begun carrying out feedback sessions around the county, kicking things off in Stamford. We look forward to receiving the results of these to find out how our volunteers have been getting on, what has worked well and what can be improved. The feedback will help us to improve the project as it progresses, which is especially important given that this is a national pilot project.

The volunteer social event last week was a success. We had a very interesting and in-depth tour of Doddington Hall, followed by tea and scones in the newly opened coach house. It was lovely to chat with our volunteers and also to meet some of our new recruits who I had only ever communicated with on the phone or via email. 

More photos from the event can be seen on our Facebook page at:http://is.gd/nSAqld

Hopefully we will have another social event towards the end of the year as it’s a great chance for our volunteers to get together and meet each other, as well as an opportunity for us to thank them for their dedication and commitment to the project.

Natalie, Heritage at Risk Project Officer

Being a Project Officer

Last week was very typical of a week working on the 'Lincolnshire Heritage at Risk' project. Everyday is different.

Monday was mainly preparing for a talk. Getting the Power-point ready, sourcing suitable photographs and, of course, writing what I was going to say. It took much longer than I thought, especially the Power-point which contained some very dodgy animation. I'm sure my nieces and nephews could have done better.

Tuesday involved a staff meeting with fellow Project Officer Natalie and Senior Project Officer Matthew. The bulk of this meeting was concerned with our 'Hands on Heritage' expedition for young people. Still lots to sort out but making good progress.

Much of Wednesday was spent dealing with volunteer queries. Our volunteers are essential to the success of the project so we aim to deal with them as quickly as possible. Queries might involve: booking events, problems with the website, locating assets, questions about particular buildings etc. Answering questions can take quite a while especially when we have over 240 volunteers. I also posted out ID cards to our newest recruits who were trained at Alford by myself and our Director David Start. Hopefully these new 'Heritage Stewards' will be able to start surveying to add to the nearly 4000 completed surveys so far.

Thursday and Friday both involved more planning for my talk. printing off forms, the register and, most importantly of all, making sure we had enough tea, coffee and biscuits. These two days also involved a number of hours validating completed surveys. The project team check every single survey that gets completed by our volunteers. Sometimes its difficult to keep up with the amounts being completed!

Saturday was my talk at Benington. In the morning I talked about common building defects and after lunch we visited All Saints, a grade I listed church. The church is currently vacant but there are plans for its future. After a (very) short architectural tour by me members of the Community Trust explained what they have been doing and their plans for its future.

Overall, as always, a very interesting and varied week.

Michael, Heritage at Risk Project Officer

Volunteering as a Heritage Steward

I first heard about the Heritage at Risk project through a volunteering event at the University of Lincoln. I signed up for the introductory course which I attended with a few friends from my course.

The informal training included a presentation on background to the project. The aim was to record the condition and current use of historic buildings in Lincolnshire and contribute to a county-wide survey. After lunch, there was a guided walk around Stamford’s conservation area. We were shown what to look for when surveying a building and given guidance on completing the forms.

I was interested in taking part to find out more about my local area and have experience to include on my CV, as I am hoping to find work in the heritage field.

Unfortunately, due to work commitments, I haven’t done any surveys yet but volunteering with the project doesn’t mean committing to set hours. The surveys can be conducted when you have free time.

I’m now hoping to get out and make use of the good weather to begin surveying. Through my blog, I’m aiming to share my experience of being a ‘beginner’ Heritage Steward volunteer.

Karen, Heritage Steward