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The Beast from the East brought some challenges to the South Office, much derided by colleagues in the North-West and North-East Offices. Nonetheless good photo opportunities were gained with sparkling snow and blue skies on projects in Cambridge and Blenheim Work in Whitehall has gathered pace and non-disclosure agreements were signed on a variety of projects. Extensive surveys at Great Scotland Yard were completed In Scotland, the major project in the month was a comprehensive condition survey of the external…

Fresh into the new year H+R combined a survey of Duff House in Aberdeenshire for Historic Environment Scotland with an inspection of Category ‘A’ listed Ramsay Gardens, a collection of villas adjacent to Edinburgh Castle on their return leg.  Heavy snowfall had caused major disruption as wintry conditions swept across the region and for a moment the surveyors anticipated spending the night stuck on Beattock Summit, Rothound and all.  Fortunately, the hard work of the gritters meant that waking up…

During the month, H+R staff have been maintaining outreach and a presence at conferences and seminars.  Lectures have been presented to Masters students at Portsmouth University and collaborative research work continues at University College London and Oxford Brookes.  Lectures have also been presented by Matt Smith at the IHBC South East Region Day School and David Watt at UCL.  Jenny Brown also contributed to the Bats in Churches conference in London Project work of interest has included the magnificent early…

The imminent re-opening of Decimus Burton’s The Temperate House at Kew Gardens after five years of painstaking refurbishment is of much satisfaction to H+R.  This huge glazed structure, the length of Selfridge’s in Oxford Street is part of only four world heritage sites in London together with the Royal Greenwich Observatory and National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, Tower of London and Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey.  H+R have now undertaken specialist investigations at all of then.  Poor original detailing…

The lead-in to Christmas revealed the latest in a long line of impressive decorated 25-foot trees in the main hall of H+R’s offices.  Every year, the staff are mobilised to make the process quite a tradition With much anticipated various First World War anniversaries in 2017, H+R have felt privileged to play a part in perpetuating the memory of those fallen.  Our work with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has developed with a full scale and detailed investigation of penetrating…

H+R North Office were delighted to undertake a detailed damp and timber decay investigation of Storeton Hall in the Wirral to support the planning application by P J Livesey Group.  The 14th century medieval hall is a designated Grade II* Scheduled Monument but incredibly currently serves as stabling!  The hall is set to be transformed into two unique homes and in so doing be removed from the ‘Heritage at Risk’ register http://www.pjlivesey-group.co.uk/storeton-hall/ Following a preliminary Rothound survey in 2016, H+R…

The past year has seen involvement in a variety of diverse projects. H+R East Office director, David Watt, has worked on a number of medieval monastic sites, with some continuing from previous years, and to provide a full range of pre- and post-contract services including analysis and recording, condition survey, preparation of specifications for consolidation and repair, project management and contract administration. Trials have been carried out using hot-mixed limes and work continues on looking at the particular issues of…

November has traditionally been a very busy mouth for H+R and no let-up was experienced this year We were pleased to see our work at Apothecaries Hall featured in the IHBC Context magazine.  Dry rot infection was a serious issue that H+R resolved where ‘traditional’ chemical treatments had been a destructive and expensive failure New projects of interest included the impressive Old Malthouse in Canterbury which is being converted into a performing arts centre for a school.  H+R have been…

October has seen the arrival of an additional staff member to join the existing surveying team of 14. Ultan Donagher is experienced in the conservation world and has a background as a registered Architect in both Ireland and the UK. A further specialist surveyor will join H+R in January Project work of interest in the month has included 33 Portland Place which was used for filming The King’s Speech. The house has a remarkable partition dividing the principal reception rooms…

A relatively workaday month was followed through from beginning to end with H+R South staff travelling to support H+R North at Stonecross Mansion in Ulverston, Cumbria for Persimmon Homes. Stonecross is a very large but dilapidated mansion in the process of conversion and refurbishment. H+R have a wide-ranging brief covering the building as a whole and particularly the eradication of dry rot. Yan, the new H+R Rothound who is based in Cumbria has been extensively deployed there H+R South staff…

H+R returned to Liverpool’s Heap’s Rice Mill to better identify the general condition of the timber structures following improved access.  The Grade II listed building which borders the Albert Dock UNESCO World Heritage Site will be transformed into 123 apartments following the £130m development of the south waterfront H+R were invited to undertake a reconnaissance survey of Manchester’s Grade II* Great Northern Warehouse and Deansgate Terraces, which is to undergo a £300m regeneration that will see an improved residential, commercial…

Some truly impressive project work came H+R’s way in August despite it being a classic holiday month. Specialist timber condition and service life investigations were undertaken at Buckingham Palace and Leeds Castle in Kent. In addition, the rare dovecote at Tendring Park in Suffolk was surveyed as part of the overall Natural England scheme for the estate which is being project managed by H+R An H+R surveyor was amused to come across a resident urban fox that had taken up…