Historic Buildings and Monuments Grants

A significant element of the casework of the regional teams is devoted to providing assistance to owners and occupiers of scheduled ancient monuments. The Historic Buildings and Monuments grants programme enables financial assistance to be provided in certain cases where the condition of a monument is deteriorating, where the importance of the site is great, and where the owner does not have the necessary resources to secure its preservation. The proportion of the costs of conservation work which English Heritage contributes varies according to financial need, but often the interest of English Heritage in a monument, as expressed in the advice provided by the Inspector, acts as a catalyst to set in train a programme of remedial works.

The ancient monuments part of the programme necessarily tends to focus on standing structures. In addition to the conservation benefit to a particular building, archaeological recording provisions which are built into grant offers have a number of advantages which include:

the provision of a 'point in time' record of the structure before it is altered by repair and conservation works
the creation of an accurate record that enables the very precise specification of conservation work
the observation and recording of new data which emerge during the course of works
the provision of an `as-built' record defining the character of all operations carried out for future reference
enhancing the potential for analysis which may lead to a review or reinterpretation of the monument

The two examples of grant-aided works in the North Region summarised below are both medieval secular monuments, but the same basic principles of recording are applied, though not inflexibly, to all types of standing structure, whether a Neolithic chambered tomb or a nineteenth-century ironworks. The use of rectified photography, photogrammetry, digitised data, and CAD systems is becoming increasingly important to the effective implementation of standing building record strategies. The capacity to store different types of information including the point in time record, the architect's specification, and the archaeological interpretation on different layers in a CAD package, and to generate a variety of drawings at different scales, highlighting various aspects of the conservation and analysis programme, is of particular value.

Pendragon Castle, Cumbria

Pendragon Castle, Mallerstang view from north showing conservation works in progress

Pendragon Castle was built by Hugh de Morville in c 1160. It is situated in the part of the Eden Valley known as Mallerstang, where it acts as a focal point in an area of great scenic beauty. The keep, to which a garderobe tower was added in the fourteenth century, stands proud on a motte above the river. Although little survives above first floor level the structure still gives an impression of strength, except at the single north entrance, where the gate towers appear vulnerable. Unusually there is no curtain wall and in this sense the castle may be regarded as a forerunner of the tower house tradition which became such a characteristic feature of northern England and the borders in the late medieval period. Further interest is added by renovation works undertaken by Lady Anne Clifford in the seventeenth century, and throughout its history Pendragon had strong links with neighbouring castles such as Appleby, Brough, and Brougham.

Pendragon Castle, Mallerstang south wall interior at first floor level

The condition of the castle deteriorated from the late seventeenth century onwards, with a number of collapses recorded since 1900. Some work was undertaken by the Ministry of Works in the 1960s, and the owner also undertook repairs over the years. These, however, were unable to keep pace with the rate of decay and English Heritage therefore offered to assist archaeological recording work undertaken by the Lancaster University Archaeological Unit. This recorded not only new detail of the standing fabric of the castle, but also, in limited associated excavation, uncovered sections of intact collapsed walling which clearly demonstrated how the west side of the castle deteriorated during the eighteenth century. One section of collapsed masonry is now exposed and has been consolidated as an example of this process. Studies of masons' craftsmanship, architectural detailing, etc will also feed into a future programme of analysis.

Bradley Hall, County Durham

An impressive moated site in Weardale includes within its perimeter evidence for the buildings which formerly occupied the `island'. A variety of evidence suggests the presence of a fourteenth-century courtyard house. While little survives of the north range, the west side of the complex is represented by earthworks, the south range by four barrel vaults which formed the lower storey of the building, and the eastern part of the complex is now dominated by the eighteenth-century hall.

The barrel vaults were in poor condition, largely as a result of water penetration. In addition two of the vaults were threatened by the imminent collapse of the gable end of the hall which rises above the south range. This wall did not appear to be of great interest, the favoured interpretation being an eighteenth-century inner leaf, faced externally by a nineteenth-century rebuild. However, when the outer face was dismantled prior to rebuilding, it immediately became apparent that the remainder of the structure comprised part of the original fourteenth-century building containing an intramural stair providing the main link between the south and east ranges. Recording carried out by the Cleveland County Archaeological Service added detail to this basic picture. This type of discovery clearly demonstrates the need for archaeological provision during the course of such works.