The Old King’s Head has had a great team working on site to restore the building since March 2019. We had a chat with Rowan, who was the only female to work on site and also ended up re-pointing most of the buildings! Find out what she has to say about her time working on this historic building and see it come back to life in her own hands.
How did you get involved in the project?
Moving to Kirton, I had totally fallen in love with the building and had always had an interest in historic buildings and places. My daughter and I had also attended The Old Kings Head for one of the archaeology digs due to her being interested in anything below ground level! I had been speaking to the site manager when I was in my previous job and offered to help out with the works being undertaken.
What was your role on site?
I started about 6 months after the job had begun and Shaun, the site manager, taught me how to rake out the cement mortar back to the original lime and repoint with lime to match what was there, I then ended up doing the rest of house and stable block! I have also helped work on the roof laying the tiles of the main house and outer buildings. Painting and decorating, and laying the car park.
Was this something that you had done previously?
No.. the only thing I have ever done has been to rip up my mum and stepdads carpet and underlay in the bedroom of the old house I was in at the time of living there so I could have the original floorboards as my favoured flooring.. I got stuck with this rolled up massive carpet half way down the stairs.. but it did set the seed in the family to get involved! From that we went on to cleaning up the big victorian fireplace in the living room from layers of black and white paint that had been done over many years… to find it had a painted marble effect, we took pictures so we could get someone in to re marble it with the same colours.
What has your favourite bit been about working on this project?
Re pointing… even if I did moan about how much my arms ached at the end of the day, I am more than ready to do some more!
How was it being the only female working on site?
No issues at all.. we all got along just fine! Wasn’t an issue ever, being the only female on site.
Are you proud of what you have all achieved in the transformation of The Old King’s Head?
Yes it’s amazing to see a building that was near falling down turned around and be used for a purpose that will benefit the area and the people who will work and visit here.