A team of twenty volunteers have been restoring a key wall feature at Bannockburn House.
The group has repointed more than 150 square metres of the wall within the garden and grounds at the late seventeenth century mansion which has associations with Bonnie Prince Charlie.
They have dubbed themselves ‘Wallunteers’ and have been getting the chance to learn traditional trade skills as they carry out the restoration work.
The Bannockburn House project is being showcased in the MyLand.Scot campaign, an online resource run by the Scottish Land Commission to highlight the benefits land can bring to communities across Scotland.
One of the two retired stonemasons leading the ‘Wallunteers’ project, Willie McEwan said: “By teaching these very dedicated volunteers traditional crafts, we are not only educating them on a prized set of skills but we are returning Bannockburn back to its former glory whilst using the land as a vehicle to teach others.
“The programme has been a massive success. To be able to teach the volunteers completely traditional methods of stonemasonry is very exciting for us to be a part of.
“It’s a pleasure to see such progress on the walls themselves, improving the land around Bannockburn House, but also in the skillset the volunteers are growing during the process.
“One volunteer is currently working on his garden wall at home thanks to the skills he’s developed here.”
Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area.
The house is steeped in history and architectural treasures. Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed there in 1746 at the time of the Siege of Stirling.
Elsewhere more than 200 volunteers are engaged in other projects within Bannockburn House, which has allowed them to connect to the history of the house and land learning about its architecture, horticultural and Jacobean engineering, including how to restore 18th century sash-and-case windows using 100 -year-old timber from the site.
Bannockburn House Trust chief executive Jim Bennett said: “The ‘Wallunteers’ are such a massive part of the overall project undergoing here at Bannockburn House.
Thanks to everyone involved, especially Historic Environment Scotland which has provided funding, we are seeing what is an incredibly beautiful, ancient wall being brought back to its former glory.
Jim added: “Our aim is to use the historical estate we have here at Bannockburn House as a vehicle to regenerate Bannockburn and people local to it, rather than using it solely as a heritage attraction.”
The Scottish Land Commission’s aim is for everyone to benefit from the ownership and use of the nation’s land and buildings.
Scottish Land Commission chief executive, Hamish Trench said their MyLand.scot campaign aims to highlight the potential that land can have around Scotland.
He added: “The way in which land is used can impact everything from house prices to climate change.
“The Bannockburn House Trust and its great army of volunteers have taken a piece of Scotland’s history and turned it into a present-day benefit while respecting the building and grounds itself. “They’ve well and truly built a community project from the land around them that is adding so many different strands of value to the area.”
To get involved with the ‘wallunteers’ and other Bannockburn House voluntary projects, email volunteer@bannockburnhouse.scot
