Craft and restoration

Read, watch and listen as we share our varied and ongoing maintenance projects across the country

Reviving Calverley Old Hall: a reflection

From joiners and building services engineers to site managers and architects, the project at Calverley Old Hall would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of a huge range of people. Hear from some of those who worked on our revival of Calverley Old Hall as they reflect on their memories of the project, and the things that working on this challenging repair project has taught them.

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Support the Landmark Craft Skills Fund

Landmark depends on the expertise of master stonemasons, glaziers, cabinetmakers and plasterers in each repair and rescue we undertake. But these skills, passed down in an unbroken chain of apprenticeships and mentoring, are fragile and scarce. Help provide unique training opportunities for craftspeople by supporting the Landmark Craft Skills Fund. Your donation will allow us to build crafts training into Landmark’s work in the years to come.

Support the appeal

In the Landmark workshop

The Landmark Trust is proud to use traditional skills to sensitively restore historic buildings. And our investment into the perpetuation of these traditional trades and techniques can be seen first-hand at our workshop in the Cotswolds.

See what we do

Craft skills training videos

At the heart of Calverley Old Hall’s transformation has been a series of workshops, events, activities and training opportunities, including the sharing of traditional craft skills with volunteers, trainees, and apprentices. Thanks to funding from National Lottery Players, we have been able to produce some short videos to share some of the traditional craft skills being used on site - including historic window restoration, wall painting conservation, furniture making and more.

Watch the videos

A printed history

The curtains which hang in the Community Space at Calverley Old Hall are unique to the building. They were designed in 2023 by a small group of local community members, in collaboration with textile artist and printer, Duncan Tattersall. Read more about the process and discover some of the inspirations behind the designs.

Bringing Tudor art back to life at Calverley Old Hall

The discovery of rare 16^th century wall paintings preserved under lath and plaster at Calverley Old Hall was one of the most remarkable moments of this dramatic conversion. Here, Dr Lizzie Woolley ACR, Director of Opus Conservation, looks back on her ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience of restoring this rare survival.

Into the future with Wortham Manor

Wortham Manor is a medieval and Tudor house sitting in its own large grounds, surrounded by rolling Devon countryside. This year the house has been closed for major improvement works to improve its sustainability and futureproof it for generations to come. Landmark's Surveyor, Graham Watts, fills us in on what to expect when the building reopens in December.

Seven remarkable things about Calverley Old Hall

The momentous repair and conversion of Calverley Old Hall is now complete, and this Grade-I listed medieval manor house is back to its best, ready to welcome overnight guests into its inspiring spaces and rich past. Here are just a few reasons why Calverley Old Hall should be your next Landmark stay.

Saving buildings at risk in 2024

Landmark Historian, Caroline Stanford, reflects on the last few years at Landmark, the conservation projects currently in the pipeline and the at-risk buildings in our sights.

Furnishing the Station Agent's House

The interiors of the Station Agent’s House faced us with a puzzle. How to present the rooms of a 200-year old house – one of Manchester’s oldest – that had seen so many changes, in a way that was at once evocative, distinctive and timeless? Landmark Historian Caroline Stanford shares the careful design process behind the interior furnishings of this hugely important building in Manchester city centre.

Five special things about the Station Agent's House

Bookings for breaks at the Station Agent’s House are now open and there’s lots to love about this Grade-I listed building. From its position in history to its architectural features and surroundings, here are five of our favourite things.

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Rejuvenating Saddell Castle

We are embarking on a major project to undertake extensive repair and improvement works to conserve and maintain this Category A listed building and enhance the guest experience. The project includes external masonry repairs and complete reharling in a gauged hot lime mortar, timber repair and roofing works.

We’ll be sharing insights into the project across the coming months and reopening for holidays in late summer 2025. Keep an eye on this page as the project unfolds.

Follow the maintenance journey

Progress update: The Station Agent's House

As a Landmark for eight, The Station Agent’s House will soon be ready to welcome its first guests, in late spring 2024. Until then, after a recent site visit, here's an update on the progress so far by Landmark Historian, Caroline Stanford.

Read Caroline's blog

Danescombe Mine renovated

Danescombe Mine is one of Landmark’s most iconic and courageous early restorations. Standing by a stream in a steep wooded valley, the engine house of a former mine was first converted in 1972-3. As part of our extensive programme of maintenance across our portfolio, last year we closed Danescombe and began a major upgrade. Landmark's surveyor for the southwest Graham Watts shares highlights from the complex project.

Read Graham's blog

A kitchen with orange cupboards, a small wooden table and a large window

The Mayor’s Parlour lock, Maison Dieu, Dover: a new Landmark for 2025

In a new blog, Project Development Manager Alastair Dick-Cleland offers a glimpse of work currently underway in the Mayor’s Parlour at Maison Dieu in Dover. We’re delighted to be playing our part in a much larger project led by Dover District Council, with the Mayor’s Parlour to become a Landmark for six opening in 2025.

Read Alastair's blog

Re-imagining a painted ceiling from Renaissance Scotland

Paul Mowbray, the talented artist behind Fairburn Tower’s painted ceiling, shares his process.

Tending to Luttrell's Tower

Standing guard over the mouth of The Solent is Luttrell’s Tower, a substantial 18th-century folly, offering guests magnificent views of the sea towards the Isle of Wight and of the ships entering and leaving Southampton. Following recent maintenance works, the large bay windows and and living room received fresh update.

Saving Fairburn Tower

As Fairburn Tower's magnificent restoration is complete, Landmark's Director, Dr Anna Keay, looks back at the very first visit to a crumbling Fairburn in ruin.

Read Anna's blog

Culture Recovery Fund unlocks vital repairs

After the months of uncertainty following closures due to Covid, we were delighted to receive support thanks to the Culture Recovery Fund designed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Two major grants administered by Historic England enabled critical work at Landmarks across England.

The projects that benefitted

Repairs and alterations at Sackville House

In this blog, Architect Nicola Westbury takes us through the extensive project over at Sackville House.