Harris Park
RTC were asked to carry out a survey on eight properties within one of Preston’s prime heritage assets, the Grade II listed, Harris Park estate.
The properties had been unoccupied for some time, and various external defects were present, such as damp and dry rot.
The former orphanage site is the only one included in Historic England’s statutory list of buildings of architectural and historic interest, while the ‘key characteristics’ of the conservation area in which it sits include the layout of the buildings around a village green, as well as the design of the landscaping and the views it generates.
Dry rot and dampness treatment
Following detailed surveys on the properties by our highly experienced team of qualified surveyors, and consultations with planning and heritage departments, we were pleased to provide a detailed specification to deal with the problems evident and were then instructed to carry out these specialist works. The specification consisted of the following:
- Remove existing skirting boards and take off wall plaster in the areas of dry rot and where the existing wall plaster is visibly affected by residual salt contamination
- Remove decayed timbers including flooring timbers, casings, architraves, timber lintels etc. ensuring structural stability of adjacent brickwork/structure
- Clean off fungal strands and mycelium and brush down masonry
- Sterilise surface of exposed masonry using masonry biocide, including treatment of any surrounding in-situ timbers
- Install new air-bricks to increase the underfloor ventilation ensuring perforation through entire wall
- Remove necessary brickwork and check and clean cavities at DPC level
Harris Park listed by Historic England
The former Harris Orphanage landscape is registered at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Design interest – the site is an important early example of the ‘village homes’ orphanage pioneered by Dr Thomas Barnardo using individual domestic-scale homes set within enclosed, informal landscaped grounds; designed and laid out by the Superintendent of Preston’s Parks, George Rowbotham, who was influenced by the design principles of the element landscape designers Edward Milner and Joseph Paxton; it comprises a range of different character areas providing a range of functions, which are historically, aesthetically and functionally intertwined.
Historic interest – it illustrates a shift in attitudes to the welfare of children from the provision of shelter at the workhouse to social care; the development of the site is an example of Victorian philanthropy by national figure, Edmund Robert Harris, who bequeathed money for philanthropic purposes in memory of the Harris Family.
Survival – it is a remarkably intact purpose-built designed orphanage of the period with a complex of buildings and landscape serving a fully functioning community; its layout, historic character and principal features survive virtually intact allowing a coherent and legible understanding of a late-C19 orphanage.
Group value – it benefits from a strong group value with the Grade 11-listed orphanage buildings, including the principal building, designed by Benjamin Sykes.
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Our staff will work closely with you from survey stage, right through to the successful completion of the contract.
