The SPAB’s Old House Project site is a Grade II* ‘building at risk’ near Maidstone, Kent. St Andrews (former) chapel that has stood empty for around 50 years until we bought it in late 2018. We aim to bring it back into use as a home, repairing the building using local materials and the best conservation techniques.

2020 provided us with some unique challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic but over the summer we were able to safely bring a few volunteers to site so they could learn how to build a lime-stabilised soil field kiln and burn lime. This video follows the process from quarry to mortar. Grey chalk from a local quarry was burned in a hand-built kiln, the resulting quicklime was mixed with soil, water and straw to make our own mortar on site in the exact quantities we needed - no waste!

With special thanks to the Architectural Heritage Fund and the Pilgrim Trust and everyone who ensured the roof was repaired by sponsoring a tile.
More information on the project: www.spab.org.uk/old-house-project