A message from the owner:
The manor is the most exciting project we will ever under take. It has been a dream come true to own it and look after it. By working with the building, and restoring it using the correct materials, we feel that I have done something substantial with our life, that will go on long after we are gone. I hope that in some way we have helped to sustain this treasure for the world.
That may all sound very romantic, but it is honestly the way we have always looked at the manor. One can never truly own a building like this, we only get to look after them for a short time. We have given it nothing but the best. Nothing has gone into the fabric of the building which wasn’t in use 500 years ago. We have often gone to great lengths, but we can put my hand on my heart and say that we am proud of what we have accomplished, and we believe the manor is better for having known us. We are certainly better for having known it.
We have included this section of the website, because the appropriate methods of restoring these unique and irreplaceable architectural structures is something we believe passionately about, and something which we think the public need to be made more aware of. It is our hope, that by doing so, there may be another person out there who will be helped by it, and in turn, we may be able to help another building, by helping their owners.
Even with all the work previous owners had done, there was still plenty to do. We have included a few before and after photos of the restoration work.
Decades of neglect resulted in the soft sandstone being weathered beyond repair. The stones were too delicate to simply re-point. We used a lime slurry which in simple terms means we smeared lime mortar over the top of the stones in order to consolidate the structure and preserve it for the future. This was then painted with 4 coats of lime-wash to protect it from the weather.
Ivy might look pretty in its place but that place certainly is not on the outside of stone buildings. I don’t believe there is any other plant which can do as much damage to old buildings as ivy. It is incredibly strong and difficult to deter. It grows between mortar joints and pushes stones apart. Eventually it will knock down a building if left unchecked.
You can see the stones beginning to dislodge from ivy growth and the extent of repairing and re-pointing which was needed.
This was the condition of the bread oven and fireplace when I moved into Llanthony although much cosmetic work had been done to the manor in many places the structure underneath had been left and was in desperate need of attention. We reconstructed the bread oven which had been stuffed with insulation.
Buildings of this sort however, have a down side. It is unfortunate that the cost of restoring them can be astronomical, when they have not been previously cared for. This depends greatly on how much someone is able to do themselves, as it is not the materials that are expensive, but the knowledge of the workers that is hard to find. It is also a real shame that when people choose to restore old buildings properly, that they are forced to pay a premium. New builds are VAT exempt, but old buildings and listed buildings, get no relief. All of this is why you often find enthusiastic owners taking courses, and learning how to point walls with lime themselves. I am lucky that I can share the manor with others, by opening the building for holiday rentals, as I can not think of a more appropriate setting, or a warmer home in which to relax, and I hope my guests will agree. Sometimes we have to think outside the box to preserve these buildings.
As soon as you start to study old buildings and how to care for them, the first thing you are made aware of today, is the importance of using traditional materials. I would like to think that most owners of old building now understand this, but sadly, owners are not made aware of this fact until they go looking into it. If someone is unaware that information is lacking in their knowledge of older properties, unfortunately they won’t go looking for that information. I’m certain some of the people who will read this will have heard it all before, but I’m also hoping that there may be someone out there, who will benefit from the knowledge that properties built before the 20th century, were built using different materials than we use today, and those properties are incompatible with modern building materials.
Once you understand the basic principle on which old buildings function, then it becomes obvious why using the appropriate materials are so important. Old buildings were built so that the building could breath, so that moisture would be absorbed into its fabric, and moisture would naturally dry out again. These building were built with a softer material, and it was accepted that a certain amount of movement would take place within the structure, and that this movement would in no way damage that structure.
Modern buildings are meant to function in a different way. Today we seal buildings, we prevent moisture getting into them and we prevent movement. This works great in new buildings. So what happens when we take a building, which is meant to breath and move, and try and stop it from breathing and moving? We get problems. We get rising damp, plaster being blown off walls, stones chipping and flaking, slates disintegrating, and when we go to the ‘experts’ for advice, we are often still being told the wrong information, we are being told to try and further stop the building from doing what it is naturally supposed to do. That is why it is so important for the owner to have the correct information, and know how to care for their old building. It is important to understand, that we can not solve a problem in an old building, with modern methods and materials.
For a very long time, even the expert bodies such as English Heritage and Cadw, were advising that a portion of cement was added into lime mixtures. This practice went on into the 1980’s, it was only when after cement and concrete had been used on old buildings, and enough time had elapsed for us to see the damage that these materials caused, did the word slowly start to spread that these buildings were different, and needed to be treated differently.
It would be nice if anyone who ever bought a listed building was given a book of advice. It might be better still if they were forced to take a course on how to care for these properties, before being allowed to purchase one. Many well-meaning owners have made mistakes, and many more mistakes will be made. The fact is however, that these mistakes are being made on properties which are irreplaceable, and we cannot afford to continue to make mistakes.