Bricklaying students from Telford College are helping to preserve and restore part of the historic Weston Park estate on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border.
The students have been invited to help repair and re-point the grade two listed perimeter of the walled garden, which was originally designed by famous landscape architect Capability Brown in the 18th century.
It is part of an exciting new partnership between Telford College and Weston Park, which will see more than a dozen bricklaying students on site at the estate near Shifnal for one day a week over the coming months.
Weston Park is owned by the Weston Park Foundation, an independent charity which looks after the house, the park, and the estate’s historic collections that were given to the nation by the present Earl of Bradford in 1986.
“This project with Telford College students is a really nice blending of the conservation and education objectives of the Foundation,” said curator and head of learning Gareth Williams.
“These walls are not constructed with the Portland cement you find in modern properties, but with lime water, which enables the walls to move slightly and helps us to meet our long-term conservation objectives.
“The Telford College students are assisting us by raking out the old mortar, re-pointing areas where water has eroded over time, and bringing the walls back to good condition.”
The students are working under the supervision of college tutors plus stonemason and head conservator Luke Unsworth, whose company carries out a range of restoration and maintenance projects around the 1,000-acre Weston Park estate.
He said: “We’re currently working on the external side of the walled garden which requires a large degree of re-pointing.
“The students are helping us to preserve a piece of history, and have all done incredibly well so far. The ultimate goal, working alongside the students, is for us to get the whole of the walled garden re-pointed.
“My team are guiding the students as best we can on how to use traditional materials. We are working with a lime mortar, mixed with sand and lime – natural materials, to a conservation standard.”
Jackie Bradnick, lead work placement co-ordinator at Telford College, said: “This partnership is the result of many months of meetings and discussions with the team at Weston Park. It is fantastic to see it up and running, and working so well.
“Most of a bricklaying curriculum focuses on new-build construction, so this is an incredibly valuable opportunity to expose our students to a very different side of the job – the art of traditional heritage brickwork.”
Robert Lees, director of automotive, engineering and construction at the college, added: “For our students to be able to learn these skills by working at one of the area’s most historic properties is an absolutely fantastic experience.
“There is a big gap in the market right now for skilled tradespeople with an understanding of heritage brickwork for upgrading or retrofitting buildings.
