Colsterworth

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Comments:

The memorial is generally in reasonable condition with the exception of the repaired areas where the stones are fracturing. The main shaft of the memorial appears stable and the stone is free from vegetation growth and relatively clean. The inscriptions are bright and readable. The main issues appear to be the failing stonework within the plinth and in addition a continued deterioration of the carved stonework of the cross and crucifixion carving.
he easternmost face of the memorial was dismantled in order to establish the construction of the memorial. The stone in the poorest condition on this face was removed and then surrounding stones carefully removed, finally the coping stone was removed from the structure. This allowed the makeup of the War memorial to be revealed.
As the surrounding green drains onto the area around the War Memorial a flagstone was lifted to examine the bedding beneath.
The structure seemed to be composed of an octagonal stone wall backfilled with a rough rubble mix, with a cementitious binder. The rubble binding material provides support for the copings and the next step of stonework. It is assumed that this infill also provides support for the central column although this was not verified.
It was clear from the opening up, that the War Memorial has been re-built at least once before. The existence of the damp proof membrane and hard cementitious mortar suggests that previous invasive works have previously taken place. This damp proof course and grey cementitious mortar pre-date the 2010 works, however, given the type of materials used it would be reasonable to suggest that this work was carried out within the last 40 years.
The original stone is not the Ancaster hard white used in previous repairs, but, is a coarse-grained stone containing quartz grains.

Bound infill
Lifted flagstone
 This appears to be original and is very rough. The rubble elements appear to be brick and crushed stone, of which some elements are quite large. The binder appears to be cementitious in nature, although probably an early 20th-century mix. Although there is a cementitious nature to this infill, it would seem likely that its rough and porous nature makes it unlikely to hold water in a way which would be damaging to the stone.
Cementitious Mortar
It is clear that at some point the memorial has undergone a significant rebuild which included the insertion of the damp proof course. At this time the coping stones have were re-bedded using a cementitious mortar. We know that in the 2010 repairs cementitious mortar was removed from the bed joints and the structure was re-pointed in Naturally Hydraulic Lime Mortar. It was perhaps not clear in 2010 that the past rebuilding had meant that this cementitious mortar was used throughout the structure as a bedding material and not just in a past phase of re-pointing. Unfortunately, cementitious mortar does not allow for the passage of moisture through stonework to evaporate in the atmosphere and can cause the deterioration of stone through trapped moisture and freeze-thaw action.

Damp Proof Couse
The damp proof course may be the source of some of the current issues. It will certainly be holding moisture against the stone in places, and that coupled with the cementitious mortar may well mean that moisture is unable to escape from the structure. Only the lower ‘step’ of the memorial was dismantled, but it seems reasonable to conclude the plastic damp proof course may have been installed throughout the rest of the structure.

Stone
There are at least two types of stone present within the structure. Recent repairs have been carried out in Ancaster Weatherbed. The original structure is described in the Historic Environment Record as having been constructed from Clipsham stone.

The investigation there was some doubt that the stone was indeed Clipsham as modern samples of Clipsham Stone are much lighter in colour and are finer grained. However,  the current Clipsham quarry is producing stone from beds that are much closer to the surrounding Lincolnshire Limestone beds and there is a significant variation in colour and grain of stone. Petrographic analysis could still be undertaken, but given written sources and current discussion it would seem that the stone is a buff coloured large grained Clipsham Stone.
Although there has been some failure of the Clipsham stone, the main areas of failure are those which have been replaced in Ancaster Weatherbed. Ancaster is a hard stone, however it does not appear to have weathered as well as the Clipsham.

Paving
The flagstones are faring well and appear to have been simply bedded on the earth and pointed in a cementitious mortar. Given their lack of firm bedding they may drain reasonably effectively, which is important given the sloping nature of the site. However, they do abut the stone of the Memorial and therefore, it would be useful to consider providing some separation to ensure that there is adequate drainage of the structure and ensure that water is not being held against stone.
The Cross and Crucifixion
This has clearly deteriorated and some of the detail of the crucifixion has been lost. The works in 2010 which included some repairs and shelter coating of the crucifixion carving. At the time it was recommended that the lime shelter coat was renewed every 10 years. It would appear that this sheltercoat has completely weathered away
The shelter coating seems to been very effective as there has only been a small amount of further stone loss (above Christ) and this may be as a result of the mortar repair failure. There has also been some moss growth on the cross weathering. The Shelter coat has now completely weathered away and the cross is at risk of accelerated stone loss and weathering.

Survey date:

Is the memorial accessible to the public?

Has the memorial been subject to any accidental or malicious damage in the last five years?

Do you think the site is at significant risk of accidental or malicious damage in the next 2 years?

Are there any known planning applications or issues related to this memorial?