STONEMASONRY REPAIRS AND HERITAGE SKILLS TRAINING 

The Town Pound in Swaffham, a historic animal enclosure dating back to around 1520, had fallen into disrepair and become structurally unsound. Breckland Council, with support from Swaffham Town Council Historic England and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, commissioned a community-led project to restore the structure and deliver a heritage training programme as part of the Swaffham – A Historic Market Town Project.

Breckland Council appointed Cliveden Conservation to undertake a programme of works to repair the Town Pound structure and provide practical hands-on training to young people. The heritage training programme was delivered in partnership with Volunteer It Yourself (VIY) – who challenge young people to learn trade and employability skills by helping to fix local community spaces and BOOST – who support 16-30-year-olds across West Norfolk by providing skills and improved job opportunities.

Conservation Work Undertaken 

Cliveden Conservation mentored and worked alongside young volunteers to clear vegetation that had displaced brickwork, piers and copings. Sections of the flint walls were nearing collapse and required rebuilding, while inappropriate cementitious repairs and failed pointing had allowed water ingress which was then unable to escape, resulting in significant failures to the original lime mortar.

Volunteers learnt to mix, apply and look after lime mortars, and to repoint and re-bed flintwork under the guidance of Cliveden Conservation’s architectural conservators and stonemasons. Inappropriate failed cementitious repairs were removed, and the flint walls were rebuilt by Cliveden Conservation with the help of young volunteers using traditional methods and ‘like-for-like’ lime mortar made from air lime mortars and local sands.

Cliveden Conservation replaced bricks beyond repair with handmade soft reds, relaid the coping bricks and replaced the flaunching to ensure water runs off effectively. Helical wall ties were used to secure displaced piers and laterally reinforce and stabilise sections of facing flintwork that had separated from the core – a result of woody roots and water ingress.

The Cliveden Conservation team also built a gate and new gateposts and installed new interpretation panels for the historic site.

Results

Cliveden Conservation has stabilised and consolidated the Town Pound structure using traditional heritage techniques and materials. This important historic site is now accessible to the public, with its future secured.

The heritage training programme, run in close collaboration with Breckland Council, VIY and BOOST, was a resounding success and has served as an inspiring example of how young people can contribute to protecting local heritage.

Heritage Training Outcome

22 local young people took part in the project, referred through a mix of educational and youth services. 17 gained an Entry Level 3 City & Guilds accreditation, mostly in Introducing Brickwork Skills. The training programme had a measurable impact on participants:

• 77% said they would now consider a career in construction
• 85% commented they felt more confident about future employment prospects
• 92% reported that their overall happiness and wellbeing had improved through volunteering