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WORDS: NICOLA MARTIN • IMAGERY: ALAN DOVE
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STONE Lost knowledge is threatening the retention and conservation of New Zealand heritage structures built using lime and stone – but moves are afoot to help retrieve it
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24 Ngahuru • Autumn 2020
If the walls could talk in some of New Zealand’s oldest stone buildings, they would speak to changing construction practices dating back to World War II and skills lost between generations. As Australian heritage consultant David Young acknowledges, there’s no escaping the anthropomorphic nature of stone walls. They may not actually talk, but they certainly breathe. “There’s a fundamental understanding that air gets inside limestone, and bricks and lime mortar, and that walls exchange that air with the atmosphere – that walls breathe,” he says. Among the many hats he wears, David is involved in the Building Limes Forum (BLF) – an international organisation with many independent branches around the world – which encourages expertise and understanding in the appropriate use of building limes.
Heritage New Zealand
