Advice Needed Please

[Rosie29]

I live in a Conservation area - a feature of which is alleyways either side of which are very beautiful but very old, high stone walls. One of these walls separates my garden from a public alleyway.
Last February part of the wall collapsed on the house side. The alley had to be closed and remains so because of lengthy delays dealing with insurers, Councils, etc. etc. I own the wall and unfortunately , this damage is not covered by my insurance because the collapse was a result of a long term build up of moisture in the soil (part of the wall is a retaining wall) and was not due to a single isolated event.
The cost is going to be £10.000. I am on a limited income and have asked the Council for a grant and they will let me have £500 but that is all. I have asked The Heritage Lottery Fund and also English Heritage. But because I own the wall and because it is not a Listed structure they cannot help.
Are there any other avenues I might explore does anyone know? The wall is quite a feature of the environment that I did expect more from the Heritage Dept. of my Council but of course they have little money. Thanks for any thoughts.

[campbellking]

I used to go on holidays with the British Trust for Conservation volunteers (I think they're now renamed the Conservation Volunteers), and do things like dry stone walling. There may be a local group in your area who might be able to offer you a cheaper quote.

[The Builder]

Rosie, that's a terrible situation to be in. Because it's not listed, I'm afraid I can't think of any other avenues. Perhaps someone else can. I do hope so.

What I can do , if it's any help, is to point out a few practicalities that might bring the cost down.

First, I would suggest a small builder, one who is not VAT registered. The job is largely labour, so the VAT addition is substantial.

I'm guessing at the type of wall, but mostly they're built in a way that does not need a "Stonemason" of the monumental variety. These days, trades are taught in brick/block laying only. They're not what you need either, unless they have had some experience - many have.

See if you can find what used to be called simply a "Mason". I guess they'll all be in their 60s or 70s now, but they're still around. Mason's apprenticeships included brick, block, and stone.

One of the old-school Masons, could happily plod along and do this on his own, even I could, and I know of one or two who do this kind of thing easily.
I'd like to know how much square metreage you have, as I could do a hell of a lot of walling for £10k.

One other thing. It's not listed, so no restrictions on how it's done. I guess you'd like to keep the face showing in the alley, but what about your side? I'm sure you'd prefer it to be stone facework, but rendered blockwork can easily be made to blend in with the old in the right hands. It's not uncommon.
Much reduced labour cost. The wall would only need to be faced up on one side - plus some sort of capping.

None of this may be relevant, but good luck anyway.

[Tuvok]

What about your local College - they may know of someone - don't know if they could do it for you as a real life situation for their students.

[Rosie29]

I really appreciate those replies - I'm afraid the Conservation and Heritage Dept. at the Council has had to have quite a say in how I have it done - the right sort of pointing and so on. but they have directed me to a local stonemason who i think is pretty good and as I was originally quoted £20,000 I think the price is probably fair. And i will follow up those suggestions. Thanks all.

[vulcan42]

I find it amazing that the council and conservationists can dictate how it must be repaired but offer little financial assistance, the best of both worlds comes to mind.How about a little publicity, local newspapers, your MP etc?

[TheWinner]

Tuvok has the best idea so far. We were once in a similar situation and we got in touch with our local college who used to offer "dry stone walling" as a subject. We offered to let them use our stone and wall, for the students to practice, to learn how to do it, (obviously under instruction from their tutor).

If you could get a grant, you could offer to donate it to the college in return.

[Canary42]

If the Conservation and Heritage Dept want it done, then they should pay, otherwise just leave it as it is on the grounds you cannot afford to do anything else.

Vulcan's suggestion is very good too.

[Canary42]

You could also try setting Which? (or similar body, eg Ombudsman) on your insurers who sound as if they've ducked their responsibilities with an invalid cop-out.