Moira Conservation Works Depot

Team members

Team members based here are stonemasons, blacksmiths and conservation joiners who maintain and conserve the Heritage assets under the Department's control across Northern Ireland. For example, our stonemasons have recently completed some consolidation works on walls at Dunluce Castle on the County Antrim coast whilst our conservation joiners have been repairing and conserving the roof on Old St Lurach’s Church, Maghera.

The team's blacksmiths have also been working at Carrickfergus Castle to produce railings and instal prop figures to enhance the visitor experience.

The depot is also home to the Heritage Skills Centre were we train new and upskill existing craftspeople in heritage skills to benefit both items within the Department's care and the wider Heritage sector in general. 

CWT Stonemasons (Banker and Walling Masons)

Banker Masons

A banker mason, sometimes referred to as a bank mason, is workshop-based, and specialist in carving stones into the required shapes of technical drawings or templates. They use various hand tools to cut, carve, and shape stone. A banker mason can produce anything from stones with simple chamfers to tracery windows, detailed mouldings and the more classical architectural building masonry.

When working a stone from a sawn block, the banker mason ensures that the stone is bedded in the right way, so the finished work sits in the building in the same orientation as it was formed on the ground. Occasionally though some stones need to be oriented correctly for the application; this includes voussoirs, jambs, copings, and cornices.

The stone's size and shape are usually predetermined by masons involved in a project, and the banker mason works according to a brief, or a set of designs provided for that project. Once the stone has been crafted to the required specifications, it is transported to the construction site or another location for use in a building or other structure.

Walling Masons

A walling mason carries on site work to fit and lay pre-prepared stone for historical buildings. They also repair, replace and restore existing stonework. Specialising in fixing often heavy stone permanently onto building structures with lime mortar or specialist fittings requiring highly skilled work.

Using stone and lime mortar is at the basis of stone masonry techniques. The selection of the stone is in itself a very important part of the process and the common stones used are sandstone, limestone, basalt, marble and granite. The stone needs to be hard, free from cracks and cavities. Mortar is the binding material, created from mixing lime with sand and water. The proportions and ingredients in the mixture depend on the mortar specified, and the type and colour of the structure being built. The most basic classification of stone masonry divides the constructions between rubble and ashlar masonry with each split into multiple subcategories.

The basic tools, methods and skills of the stonemason have existed as a trade for thousands of years. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history.

CWT Blacksmiths

A blacksmith uses multi-disciplinary skills to heat metalwork in the forge until it becomes malleable and can hammer it into shape. There are six processes a blacksmith uses which include drawing down, bending, upsetting, hot cutting/ punching, drifting, and fire welding.

These processes are used for bespoke production and conservation repair of heritage ironwork, from flamboyant displays adorning stately homes to the commonplace simplicity of wrought iron railings and traditional riveted gates. Before conservation work can start, they have to understanding of how the project was made in the first place and produce the same unique tools required to carry out the work. 

Blacksmiths requires a variety of specialised tools and materials, such as a forge, an anvil, hammers, tongs, and metal stocks. Supporting skills for the modern blacksmith include designing, welding, fabrication, site fitting, machining and finishing.

Blacksmiths played a crucial role in ancient societies, creating tools, weapons, and decorative items that were essential for everyday life. Our ironwork heritage represents exceptional mastery of design and craftsmanship

CWT Conservation Joiners

Conservation joiners use their specialist skills to produce repairs and replacements to help conserve historic monuments in all manner of structures, fixtures and fittings. Repair to our rich and varied historic monuments, might include repairing 100 year old sash windows using the same techniques as the craftsperson who originally made them. Alternatively, it could be producing new window frames or doors for tower houses, or replacement timber lintels for Church ruins. This valuable work helps to ensure that our monuments can be preserved for us, and our future generations to appreciate and enjoy.