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Restoring Heysham Heritage Centre and Cottage
Heritage Trust for the North West is restoring Heysham’s Heritage Centre and the adjoining Cottage. The Centre now has a new floor which will house a newly created Heysham archive collection. The Cottage is being sympathetically restored in keeping with it’s age, and when complete the Cottage will be a holiday let for part of the year. When the Cottage is not being let, it will be open to the public, and this will generate income to maintain the property while ensuring that the building remains accessible to all.
Work started in October 2010 and the Heritage Centre has re-opened, following completion of the work. You can keep up to date with what’s happening in the Cottage as work progresses by re-visiting this page or by signing up to our free email newsletter.
May 2011
The interior walls of the Heritage Centre have been painted and the ground floor has been re-carpeted. New storage units have been fitted in the archive area and exhibition display panels have been fitted in the Heritage Centre.
The render on the exterior front wall of the barn (Heritage Centre) has been removed to reveal the stone underneath, and following the discovery of an earlier doorway, we have recreated the appearance of this so that the front wall of the barn now has a more traditional appearance.
New paving slabs have been laid at the front of the cottage and the new ‘doorway’ on the barn (heritage centre) section of the front wall.
Inside the Cottage, the plastering has been completed and painting work has started. New garden steps are to be built and this will be followed by the rear garden being tidied.
April 2011
New doors have been fitted and the interior walls of the Heritage Centre are being painted. The exhibition display panels have been returned to the Heritage Centre for re-hanging as soon as painting is complete.
The render on the exterior front wall of the barn (Heritage Centre) is being removed to reveal the stone underneath. Our exploratory work on the front wall of the barn has revealed that a doorway had been modified in more recent years to create a window (see image below). We will return the front of the barn to its traditional appearance.
Inside the Cottage, kitchen and bathroom units have been fitted. New lighting units have been fitted and new skirting boards to match the existing skirting will be fitted on the ground floor.
The exterior finish at the front of the Cottage will remain unchanged for the time being, in contrast to the exposed stone front wall of the barn, and our forthcoming seminar will form part of an open discussion on suitable exterior finishes for old buildings. Flagstones will be layed at the front of the Cottage.
March 2011
Plastering work took place during February and the beginning of March. The Heritage Centre is now ready for painting and has already been measured for new carpets. Skirting boards to match the age and existing decor of the building are being fitted this week, together with architrave around the door frames. New doors are due to be fitted soon.
In the Cottage, the interior walls have been plastered and radiators have been fitted. New or replacement roof windows have been fitted at the front and rear to ensure that the bedroom and shower room are well lit. Tongue and groove cladding is in place on the lower half of the kitchen walls and work has started on fitting the new kitchen units.