A Nottinghamshire earth building at risk has been repaired with the assistance conservation experts, volunteers and the SPAB, to secure the future of one of the last earth buildings in the county.
Nottinghamshire County Council writes:
A group of local volunteers and conservation experts from Nottinghamshire County Council have been getting their hands dirty this week in a bid to protect and rebuild one of the county’s last few remaining ‘mud’ buildings. The group has been using ancient craft techniques to repair the ‘monolithic earth wall’ adjacent to the old Church site farm in Thoroton, Rushcliffe. They have been joined by members of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings to complete the project this week.
The wall was identified as being at risk by Building Conservation Officers from the County Council, who have been working with Thoroton Parish Council, mud conservation experts and other local volunteers on a project to restore the wall since March this year.
Ivy and other vegetation, which previously covered the wall and threatened its stability, has been stripped away and the wall repaired using mud and straw – mixed by foot and applied by hand. The project has been completed in readiness for the annual Heritage Open Days event, taking place this weekend (12-13 September).
Materials for the project were kindly donated by local farmer, Richard Ogden who provided the earth to make the mud and Anthony Goode who donated roofing materials from his builders yard and gave his time as a volunteer. Ted Glossop, a volunteer on the project from Thoroton said: ‘Mending a mud wall is hard work but fun and rewarding too! It’s been fantastic to learn about the ancient craft of mud walling and to get actively involved in the repair of an important part of the village’s heritage.’
Jason Mordan, Senior Practitioner, Historic Buildings at Nottinghamshire County Council said: ‘Not many folk realise that people have been living in buildings made out of earth for thousands of years. Although earth buildings are known to have been a familiar type of vernacular building in the Vale of Belvoir area around a hundred years ago, there are now only a handful of examples left of ‘mud buildings’, as they are known in Nottinghamshire, to the north-east of Bingham.’
