PRESS RELEASE
27 November 2013
200 YEARS OF PAINTING AND DECORATING TAKES ITS TOLL ON THE
NATION’S CANAL COTTAGES
Top ten dos and don’ts for looking after historic properties
The Canal & River Trust – the charity that cares for 2,000 miles of the nation’s inland waterways –
has announced £1.5m of funding to refurbish a number of its most historic canalside cottages.
The properties include many humble lock keeper’s cottages and toll houses, which date back 200
years to when Britain was in the grip of canal mania. Most are listed, including a number which are
Grade II*. In order to conserve the cottages the Trust is having to peel back years of 20th Century
home décor, and sometimes damaging fads, that were once considered essential to any des res.
The Trust is focusing on properties which are among the significant and best examples of their kind
on the inland waterways. The programme has seen £750,000 invested in works to 13 cottages
since 2011 and today the Trust has announced a further £750,000 over the next three years as it
plans to refurbish and sensitively improve a further 12.
Peter Chowns, conservation architect at the Canal & River Trust, comments: “The Trust owns and
cares for some of the finest examples of historic canalside cottages. Dating back to the 18th and
19th century, we want to conserve them because each helps tell the story of Britain’s former
industrial waterways and of the people who helped play a crucial role in the world’s first Industrial
Revolution.
“The work to restore these homes is revealing decades of well-intentioned but sometimes
misguided decorating mistakes and 20th century maintenance oversights, ranging from use of
impermeable modern paints and renders, to plastic gutters and upvc windows. I’m proud that the
Trust is able to commit the money required to give them the care and attention they deserve and
I’m eager to share the lessons learned with the many thousands of people who are the loving
owners and current custodians of most of the nation’s historic properties.”
Canal & River Trust, Toll House, Delamere Terrace, London, W2 6ND
T: 0203 3204 4514 E: press.office@canalrivertrust.org.uk W: www.canalrivertrust.org.uk Twitter: @CanalRiverTrust
Patron: H.R.H. The Prince of Wales. Canal & River Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales
with company number 7807276 and registered charity number 1146792, registered office address: First Floor North, Station House, 500
Elder Gate, Milton Keynes MK9 1BB
Page 2 of 4
The first properties amongst the 12 to be refurbished (list follows in notes to editors) includes five
Grade II* properties on the Buildings at Risk Register on the Llangollen Canal in Shropshire, the
listed tunnel keeper's cottage at the end of Harecastle Tunnel on the Trent & Mersey Canal and a
semi-detached listed stone cottage on the River Weaver which was actually taken down stone by
stone and moved a couple of hundred yards in the late 19th century.
With the third largest estate of listed buildings in the UK, the Canal & River Trust employs a team
of specialist heritage advisors and a conservation architect to ensure that its historic buildings are
well protected and sympathetically restored. Here are their top ten dos and don’ts for the Trust’s
properties, as well as the thousands of historic homes up and down the country owned by private
individuals:
1. Don’t remove suspended timber floors and replace them with solid concrete. Old
walls can become damp as they no longer benefit from the under floor air circulation that
dried them as intended. This can cause deterioration of plaster and paintwork finishes
2. Don’t cover historic walls with modern impermeable cement-based renders, plasters
or masonry paint. Old houses usually have solid walls and were built using breathable
materials. Modern impermeable alternatives will trap moisture causing damp and
condensation
3. Don’t repoint old walls with modern cement-based mortars. The pointing of old solid
walls is generally made of lime mortar which is softer and wicks away moisture. Making
repairs with modern cement mortars will impede this, ultimately causing damage to brick or
stonework
4. Don’t replace historic features unless you have to, and then use matching
materials. Modern plastic gutters and windows can perform just as well, but they don’t
have the historic integrity or appearance of the originals. Modern breathable paints reduce
the need for regular repainting of timber, and traditional materials are more flexible and less
prone to failure. Original features such as cornices, internal doors and fireplaces will also
add value
5. Do consider removing the polystyrene tiles and hard textured surfacing such as
Artex applied to internal walls and ceilings in the 70s*. It may have been the fashion
then, but these finishes are not doing your historic property any good whatsoever, and may
be masking further problems
6. Do allow the odd draught. Excessive draught-proofing by blocking chimneys, and
replacing old windows and doors with UPVC alternatives leads to condensation and damp
7. Do give your historic house the care and attention it deserves. Old houses need
looking after. For example, failure to clear blocked gutters, replace slipped or broken tiles or
repair defective chimney flashings is a sure-fire way to rack and ruin
8. Do use natural insulation materials such as sheep’s wool or wood fibre. These
natural products are breathable, unlike most modern alternatives such as expanded
polystyrene or glass mineral wool
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9. Don’t worry if your house isn’t a Georgian masterpiece. The millions of homes built
before the Second World War will benefit from the use of traditional, breathable materials –
it doesn’t have to be a listed lock keepers cottage or a mediaeval timber-framed hall
10. Do employ specialist advice*. Historic properties do need specialist conservation advice,
it doesn’t necessarily cost much and is well worth it
*Some historic materials, as well as those installed more recently, can contain hazardous
substances such as lead and asbestos, which require specialist knowledge.
Ends
For media enquiries please contact Jonathan Ludford on 0203 2044420 or email
Jonathan.ludford@canalrivertrust.org.uk
Notes to editors
The 12 properties amongst those scheduled for refurbishment:
 Two canalside cottages (one Grade II listed and including a toll house) at the junction of the
Peak Forest and Macclesfield canals within the Marple conservation area, Greater
Manchester
 The tunnel keeper's cottage (Grade II listed) built above the southern portal of Harecastle
Tunnel on the Trent & Mersey Canal, Staffordshire
 One (of a pair) of semi-detached Grade II listed stone cottages at Vale Royal Locks on the
River Weaver (taken down stone by stone and moved a couple of hundred yards from their
original location in late 19th Century)
 Five Grade II* listed terraced cottages and one Grade II listed cottage currently on the
Buildings at Risk Register on the Llangollen Canal at Ellesmere, Shropshire
 The lock keeper’s house (Grade II listed) beside Lock 25 at the top of the Bratch lock flight
on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal at Wombourne, Staffordshire
 Junction House (Grade II listed) at the junction of the Worcester & Birmingham and North
Stratford canals at Kings Norton, West Midlands – a substantial ‘navigation office’ where
tolls records were kept
Ten properties recently refurbished:
 Two lock keeper’s cottages (both Grade II listed) at locks 93 & 95 on the Grand Union
Canal’s Hanwell Lock Flight (itself a Scheduled Ancient Monument) in London
 St Pancras Lock House (Grade II listed) on the Regent's Canal in London – a Victorian
pump house by Sir John Wolfe Barry (who designed Tower Bridge) and converted into a
dwelling in the 1920s
 The Grade II listed lock house at Stockers Lock (also Grade II listed) on the Grand Union
Canal in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire – a modest looking lock keeper’s cottage to a typical
Thomas Telford design
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Lock keeper’s cottage on the Oxford Canal adjacent to the Grade II listed Lock 25 at
Cropredy, Oxfordshire
Two semi-detached former lock keeper’s cottages (both Grade II listed) at Lock 1 on the
Old Main Line canal in Wolverhampton
The stone built Salterhebble Lock House (Grade II listed) at the junction of the Calder &
Hebble Navigation and Halifax Branch nr. Halifax, West Yorkshire
The bridge house and lock house (both Grade II listed) at Lock 1 on the Selby Canal in
Selby, North Yorkshire
Three properties still under refurbishment:
 Junction House (Grade II listed) at the junction of the Grand Union and Regent's canals in
the heart of London's Little Venice. A Georgian toll house designed by the noted engineer
and architect James Morgan (supervised by John Nash, the architect of Buckingham
Palace and the Brighton pavilion) with the attached stables converted to provide additional
accommodation
 Former canal engineer's/toll keeper’s house (Grade II listed) on the Trent & Mersey Canal
in Middlewich, Cheshire. An impressive Georgian residence forming part of a larger canal
complex, including stables and a sawpit
 One (of a pair) of semi-detached Grade II listed stone cottages at Vale Royal Locks on the
River Weaver (taken down stone by stone and moved a couple of hundred yards from their
original location in late 19th Century)