Summer 2008 preservation work


This article was uploaded by Nicholas Cleak at 19:19 26 October 2008

Summer 2008 preservation work June 2008

First signs of some work going on.

There was some orange plastic netting going around the front boundary of the Mansion itself and shortly afterwards in the middle of June some new gates appeared in the fencing to allow access. It looked good news that at last some kind of work was going on at Piercefield House.

It turned out that the trees growing in , around and against the building were being cut down . This took most of June and July and the buildings looked a lot better for it . These trees had been growing there since the late 1950’s I would guess by the size of them .

August 2008

There were some storage containers and other equipment being brought in including many temporary metal barriers which were erected around the front and sides of the mansion, The heavy tractor really churned up the ground there, ruts were 18 inches deep caused by this heavy tractor in soft wet earth . A temporary access road was cut from the main pathway to the mansion for the frequent visit of workers cars and vans, this seemed to have cured the problem of damaged land and they flattened out the heavy ruts , already grass is growing again in these areas..

In Mid August scaffolding started to arrive by the lorry load and the southern pavilion was covered inside and outside by scaffolding three walkways high . Towards the end of august both pavilions were fully covered ready for work . The scaffolders had already erected three layers of walkway in the main building’s north section by the end of August The pavilions were being cleared of vegetation and trees growing in their structure . All through August loads of scaffolding were arriving for this huge task .

September 2008

By the end of the first week of September there were 3 layers of walkway around the front and north side of the mansion and the inside scaffolding was getting higher and higher. They seemed to be concentrating on this end of the building first.

By mid September the inside scaffolding had reached the top of the building and the outside was up to the top of the first floor windows. Work was going on with the pavilions, remedial repair work to remove loose stones and blocks and trees and bushes growing in the structure, cement the loose stones on the top of the walls, but generally NOT a restoration by any means, this is just an exercise to make the buildings safe and prevent further deterioration.

October 2008

With a lot of scaffolding up it gave access for repairs in the building, much the same process as the two pavilions, removing bushes, making good any loose bricks (of which there are many), some pointing of the top stone blocks around the edge of the building and tidying up the window ledges and fireplaces which hadn’t had human contact for about 80 years... The scaffold was now 8 layers high and around the northern chimneys and at last the tilted chimney pot was put straight by a worker! That chimney must be about 65 feet from the ground.

By Mid October the pavilions were more or less finished the doorways and windows had been propped up with thick wood beams to prevent collapse and the ornamental carvings covered by plywood sheets to preserve them. Also the scaffolding was taken from the pavilions and used to fully cover the front of the building and sides right to the top and some more around the rear of the building. It is interesting to see there is a lot of extra scaffold added further out to support the centre section, presumably to support the front face of the mansion if it decided to collapse.

As October comes to an end the scaffolding is being removed from the North side of the mansion inside and out. The pavilions are finished, the North side of the mansion is finished, work is progressing on the south side. With a very leaning and tottering west chimney stack being attended to, the second west chimney collapsed long ago together with the chimneys in the centre of the building. It is interesting that they havent decided to look for the chimney stack debris below and re-buuld it.

The doors and windows of the mansion are all propped up with wooden beams. The centre section with the grand hall and staircase remains untouched. Presumably this will be covered with scaffolding and similar work carried out in here. Mainly the Huge cast iron Balcony supports will need supporting as they are now leaning at an angle presenting terrific force on the crumbling arched wall they are bolted to. These supports must weigh many tons each...

To Be continued ….
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Observations with the aid of Binoculars:

The outside shell and top walls of the mansion are in reasonable condition.

The inside walls of brick and stone are in a bad way especially at the top. The mortar and cement is crumbling and the wood beams built into the brickwork are rotten. The bricks themselves are turning to dust due to the weather.

There seems to be an electrical switch on a wall on the first floor. Which indicates the house had electric lighting, but no sign anywhere else of electricity having been installed, this must have been one of the first houses to have electricity, but where did it come from? It may have come in on telegraph poles removed a long time ago.

The pavilions are in need of a lot of work externally and internally partial-rebuilding or major repair is necessary. These Pavilions are a lot larger than they look, you could accommodate 2 floors and an attic level with modern ceiling heights.

There seem to be sawn off beams at the top of the mansion’s inner walls in the roof area, could the wood beams, roof and floors have been removed at some point soon after it was left vacant? There is not enough debris on the ground floor to account for two floors and a roof to have collapsed.

The Mansion will never look the same after this work, But someone spending this considerable amount of money on making the building safe and preserve it ensures Piercefield House’s future. The photographs on this site will become historic...