Maulden Church Walls
Written by: Monica Hall
To restore two sandstone walls, approximately midway along the Greensand Ridge Walk, adjoining St Mary’s churchyard and the church car park which is used by church goers and visitors to graves and also dog walkers, families for ‘nature’ trips and walkers of the GRW. Two other walls were repaired previously so this project would display a length of renovated sandstone work.
Achievements
The walls were renovated to a high standard in traditional methods and now are a prime example of heritage sandstone walling. It is a pleasure to see.
Benefits to People
All villagers and visitors to the church and graveyard, walkers, families and users of the GRW have the opportunity to admire the work and understand better traditional methods of working with local sandstone.
Some volunteers and donors “came on board” as they thought the project important to the local area.
I am proud of achieving the renovation of these walls, thus completing restoration of a whole section of heritage sandstone walling for future generations to enjoy.
Benefits to Heritage & Landscape
The repaired walls are totally renovated in a traditional manner. A team of volunteers are undertaking to keep them ivy and weed free in the future. The run of sandstone walls is visible to all users of the church and church car park and also to all who travel the GRW.
Challenges & Lessons Learnt
Match funding was very difficult to obtain. We approached many other grant bodies and also two members of the congregation offered to donate.
The completion timescale was tight. It is always good to be able to progress any project without the concern of workers not being available when needed and hence deadlines being missed.
Quotes
“The wall now looks lovely. They display traditionally built sandstone walling at its best and will be enjoyed by future generations too.”
– unknown