A Week on the Estate: Expert Repairs, Tree Creeping & Easter Gin
It’s cool and cloudy out there but spring has very much arrived. Undaunted by the odd bit of sleet, the bees are buzzing, the flowers are blossoming, the trees are budding and our Lincoln Reds are relishing the lush grass of our biodiverse pasture. At the time of writing, we have daily highs of 8C and lows of 0C, but the temperatures seem set to rise towards Easter Weekend.
The east-front of South Ormsby Hall has received a lot of TLC over the winter and some skilled trades are helping us finish off, dust down and get things spick and span for spring. The floor above the dining room has been re-laid and the skirting boards re-fitted. That leaves a long list of finishing touches – cleaning, filling small cracks, painting, hanging wallpaper, general touch-ups, re-laying carpet and moving the furniture back into place.
The east-facing frontage of South Ormsby Hall dates to the 1750s and was designed in the Palladian style by influential 18th-century architect James Paine. Over time, rainwater seeped in through defects in flat areas of the roof, and the fine rococo plasterwork on the drawing room ceiling became detached from the laths.