‘Once upon a hill’ Blakemoorgate
- Client :
Natural England - Architect :
Philip Belchere - Position :
Principal/ building conservation contractor - Total Value :
£260K - Date :
2010-2011 - Quantity Surveyors:
John Pigeon Partnership - Structural Engineer:
Bob Johnson
History
There has been settlement in the Stiperstones area of Shropshire since prehistoric times and lead mining in the hills above Snailbeach, near Shrewsbury, since the Romans. Indeed, ‘pigs’ of lead have been discovered with ‘Hadrian’ inscribed on them. The most recent active mining was in the late 1800s, and it was around this time that small settlements began to spread up the hills and across the common land of what is now the Stiperstones National Nature Reserve. Small cottages were built by ‘squatters’, who were allowed to stay if, it’s said, they could build a house and have smoke out of the chimney by nightfall. They paid a small rent to the estate. They would often need to walk for two hours or more, across the steep bleak hills to reach the mines, the church or the school. Small whitewashed stone cottages and clearly marked cart tracks to the rows of dwellings quickly appeared as the communities developed. Each cottage was built to a similar design, with a garden, a rootstore and a byre for a cow or pig. These remote and inhospitable settlements were inhabited as recently as the 1950s, and today there are still local residents whose families came from ‘up on the hill’.
The Project
Blakemoorgate was a challenging project on numerous levels. In the first instance its location, an isolated moorland position high above the former mining community of Snailbeach made for very difficult access. Cbs bought a high capacity Landrover 130 to get operatives and equipment up the hill, with all the materials being transported by tractor and trailer. With no access for service providers there was no opportunity for the usual site Portaloo; Cbs acquired a 'Thunder Box' or composting loo, which we are pleased to report surpassed in every respect its modern day chemical counterpart.
Conservation and authenticity were at the heart of this project, with a pallet of materials and techniques consistant with the period, status and location. The project required
- Stonemasonry rebuild
- Traditional carpentry and joinery
- Tile roofing and leadwork
- Lime plaster and lime pointing
- Traditional decoration
- Soft capping, landscaping and drainage
This project encompasses the following services
