The town of Milford Haven is renowned for its rich history and the buildings around the marina and docks are a constant reminder of that.
The Old Sail Loft and Milford Museum have been recognisable for many years for their exterior masonry, but time has taken its toll on the buildings so back in 2020 the decision was made to lime render them to prevent further decay to the stonework and improve the buildings’ longevity.
Having been used in construction as far back as 12,000 BC, lime offers
permeability and flexibility that is required specifically in historic buildings and effectively allows buildings to breathe. It works through carbonation which is the natural process that allows lime mortar to set. Attention to detail after the render has been laid on is critical as it is highly temperature dependent. Carbonation is affected by the cold and wet slowing down the process, or heat and wind drying out the surface too quickly. Wrapping the building in hessian is one of the best ways to prevent frost from stopping carbonation although cold, wet conditions will still be able to slow the process down considerably, and in hot spells the hessian can be wetted down to create a humid micro-climate preventing the lime render from drying out too quickly.
Local Built Heritage lime mortar plastering specialists Tree & Sons Ltd were appointed who are experienced in this type of plastering. The Port worked closely with Pembrokeshire County Council’s historic officer, Milford Museum and used photographs from the past to ensure the work was carried out to complement their listed building status.
Claire Lawrence, the Port’s Assistant Project Manager, oversaw the lime-rendering project. She said “The museum and the Old Sail Loft have always been iconic buildings and ones that we want to ensure last long into the future. Lime-rendering is an excellent way of ensuring they are preserved and protected, therefore we are looking into replicating this work on other structures in the future.”
