40 CONTEXT 180 : JUNE 2024 contribute to the building’s rich significance. The most remarkable aspect of the Old Hall building is perhaps that although it is open to the elements, much of the original decorative plasterwork scheme, including a large number of highly elaborate overmantels, survives in situ. This effectively provides an open-air museum to the construction techniques and decorative schemes of the late-16th century and allows a unique insight into the likely construction of the neighbouring Hardwick Hall. Large patches of the original render, which once covered the external elevations of Old Hall, also survive. Not only is this unusual, but it also provided key evidence as to how the building was protected and presented. Donald Insall Associates was appointed in 2020 to carry out a feasibility study for the repair and, if appropriate, sensitive alteration to reduce the frequency of repeat conservation works, under the English Heritage Sustainable Conservation Strategy and Asset Management Plan (SCAMP) principles. A detailed review of the recurring and cyclical repairs identified within the previous reports and building analysis, and gathering of the available intelligence from English Heritage maintenance and site staff who had first-hand experience of the building, was carried out. The first action on site was to complete a full-building, touchingdistance condition survey. The survey found: • Accelerated stone decay caused by a soft sandstone becoming exposed to the elements after the lime render had fallen away. In many instances the stones had also been bedded in the wrong orientation. • Failed mortar caused by age and later cementitious repointing. • Concrete interventions (cast in situ replacement lintels, stair treads) with rusting metal rebar forcing fragments of concrete to fracture and fall from the mid-century repairs. • Decaying structural timbers (floor beams and window lintels) which would have originally been internal but are now exposed to the weather. • Failing decorative plaster, formerly internal but now exposed to the elements. • Failing lime-ash/gypsum floors which are suffering from movement caused by their supporting timber structure decaying. • Nesting birds have reached very high numbers, causing extensive debris from nesting materials and dislodging loose masonry. • Saturated ground within the internal groundfloor rooms due to the lack of a roof, presence of bedrock and lack of drainage from within the solid masonry perimeter walls. These discoveries were followed by specialist investigations and reports, such as mortar, plaster, render and stone analysis; micro-drilling of the timber elements; and concrete carbonisation tests. Using the costed condition survey, the team converted its survey drawings into detailed repair proposals. It prioritised works that would arrest decay mechanisms, such as the replacement of failed cornices and hoodmoulds to shed water away from the elevation A roofless ruin, exposed to the weather, where the main source of decay is wind-driven rain.
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