Click on image to enlarge

Hailes Abbey - Gloucestershire

Conservation of archaeological remains of medieval abbey

Hailes Abbey, now in the care of English Heritage, was extensively revealed in excavations carried out in the middle of the 20th century. Although most of the standing remains are of the core of the original walls, some of the facing stone, arcading and arches remained. The large site is set in a dip in the landscape that attracts frost and so the masonry has been at risk ever since being excavated.

Initially, the walls were capped by the Ministry of Works with recovered stones set in cementitious mortar. This had failed over the years and the frost was causing significant damage to the original fabric. Nimbus have been involved over a number of years in the conservation and re-capping of the walls.

Use of lime mortar in the capping proved unsatisfactory in that the frequent frosts led to the decay of the mortar. During the most recent phase of the works, NHL 3.5 and
5 hydraulic lime has been used and trials are to be carried out using turf capping now adopted on a number of other English Heritage sites.

Client: English Heritage