Award-winning stone carver hosts free Wisbech High Street Project skills training talk

An award-winning stone carver who has worked on some of the world’s most prestigious buildings will talk about his work and the use of architectural stone carving within the heritage sector at a free online talk next month.

Alex Wenham, who has provided carved stone detail for buildings including the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s Cathedral in the UK and the Château de Versailles, Chartres Cathedral, and the Louvre museum in France, has been invited to give the talk by Fenland District Council’s Wisbech High Street Project and Lincoln Conservation.

The project, which is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Townscape Heritage scheme, has commissioned Lincoln Conservation to deliver a series of free, traditional construction and heritage skills training sessions as part of its community activity plan.

The talk with Alex is the second in the series, and is being held via Microsoft Teams on Tuesday, 8 June, at 7pm (Teams is free to download for desktop and mobile). A recording of the talk will also be made available afterwards on the project’s YouTube channel.

During the session, Alex will discuss his experience with architectural stone carving, looking at some case studies of projects he has worked on.  He will also look at some general problems in conservation ethics and the treatment of damage to historic carvings, and host a discussion of some of these issues, as well as answering any other questions.

To book your free place on the talk, email the Council’s Townscape Heritage Officer Taleyna Fletcher on tfletcher@fenland.gov.uk. You will then be added to the list of participants.

All the sessions are aimed at beginner level and are free of charge, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund through the Wisbech High Street Project. They will be held around once a month up to July 2022 and available to everyone, although people living in and around Wisbech will be given priority for places where booking is required. They will be delivered online initially and later in person in Wisbech once Covid restrictions allow.

They are aimed at anyone interested in developing their construction career, local property owners keen to learn about the techniques employed in the repair and maintenance of their own buildings or anyone just interested in learning about a new subject.

Cllr Chris Seaton, Fenland District Council’s Portfolio Holder responsible for Heritage, said: “It’s great to see so many heritage skills specialists coming together to provide these sessions. They’re a fantastic opportunity for people to learn about a range of built heritage topics so would urge anyone interested in these subjects to get involved!”

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