Case Study: Haigh Hall, Wigan
In 2024, three trainees on Historic England’s Heritage Building Skills programme worked at Haigh Hall, a Grade II* building on the Heritage at Risk register. The trainees contributed to essential repair works commissioned by the Council to eventually bring the building back into use.
A future for Haigh Hall
In 2024, the ‘Heritage at Risk’ register had 1442 entries, including Haigh Hall. Historic England has identified buildings and structures on the register that are most at risk of loss and need the most safeguarding for the future.
The Hall is currently vacant, and the Council is in the process of developing plans to make this site a cultural destination with an art gallery, event space, hospitality, and educational facilities. Ahead of this, the Council commissioned the contractor HH Smith to conduct some essential repair and maintenance works to windows, roofs, and gutters. Undertaking these repairs will prevent further damage to occur while the Council further develops the plans.
Haigh Hall is a Grade II* 19th-century house built for the 24th Earl of Crawford. There are about 370,000 listed buildings, and only about 5.8% of all listed buildings are Grade II*. Haigh Hall is therefore a particularly important building of ‘more than special interest’.
Trainees applying their skills to preserve historic buildings for generations to come
In 2024, two trainees and one apprentice on the Historic England’s Heritage Building Skills programme, who had met at the Summer School in Lancaster, found themselves working at Haigh Hall. Ellen Hunt, a stained-glass trainee, Gareth Kirton, a plastering apprentice, and William Wilkes, a trainee joiner all contributed to the repairs at Haigh Hall.
Will worked with Robinsons Preservation at Haigh Hall for three months. He carried out repairs to the dome ceiling that had suffered from water ingress and dry rot. This involved cutting back damaged rafters and ribs and doing a timber scarf repair. This is a traditional form of repair that seeks to retain as much as possible of the sound timber. Will also worked on other roofs and bay windows at Haigh Hall including repairs to beams, ceiling joists and to a very ornate ceiling with huge cornice that requires large timber brackets to support the plaster decoration.
Ellen worked with Recclesia, a historic building conservation specialist firm. Recclesia was appointed to undertake repair and maintenance work to two glass domes at the Hall. First, Recclesia conducted a survey which identified which conservation cleaning methodology was required and that two panels - representing a tiny portion of the overall stained glass - needed replacing.
Ellen, under the traineeship of Carlotta Cammelli of Recclesia, assisted in cleaning the outside of the Penthouse glass dome with deionised water and wool to remove years of deposit that dulled the stained glass. This phase was necessary before the installation of one of the replacement glass panels. Ellen later went back on-site to help with the actual installation of the newly painted replacement glass.
This project enabled Ellen to see a whole project through, understanding the different processes and skills required. She recalls
It was a great learning experience for me as it was my first time being on site and working with stained glass in-situ.
Gareth worked with Excel Bespoke Plaster. He first worked on a bay window ceiling with another operative, where they laminated over laths and joists and used mechanical fixings. They also worked on the Dome, where they provided some wooden support underneath, and ‘penny-washed’ it before laminating the back of the dome over the joists and laths. Again, mechanical fixings were used to make sure there would be any movement on the dome in the future.
Before becoming a trainee in 2023, Gareth had previously worked as a labourer with around 20 years of construction-site experience.
Will had worked with a joinery firm in Edinburgh mostly doing attic conversions and modern extensions involving high-end modern joinery work. Working at Haigh Hall, Will really appreciates the role he can play in safeguarding such a special building for future generations.
Ellen Hunt entered stained glass conservation after completing a master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Glasgow. At Haigh Hall, Ellen worked under the traineeship of Carlotta who did an MA in Stained Glass Conservation in York. Since joining Recclesia, Ellen has also been able to apply her former training in chemistry to her current craft, undertaking scientific testing to inform conservation methods.
It is critical to attract new entrants into these traditional construction crafts. In 2023, Heritage Crafts added ‘historic stained-glass window making’ to their list of Endangered Crafts. A report published by Historic England in 2024, examined the workforce required to maintain traditional buildings. It identified plasterers as a core trade that is in demand in many projects, and that is ‘difficult to find’, particularly those with the special skills necessary to work on traditional buildings.
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