​Project:  Great Hall, Charing Palace

 

The Great Hall at Charing Palace, one of the most historically significant secular medieval buildings in Kent, was the subject of a major conservation and repair programme delivered by

 

Astral Ltd as principal contractor for the Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust. A Scheduled Monument carrying greater legal protection than even a Grade I Listed Building, the Great Hall had been in a state of active deterioration for decades — with a partially collapsed corner, failing emergency scaffold, chronic water ingress, asbestos contamination, and invasive vegetation holding sections of flint walling in position.

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Works included asbestos removal, demolition of a former outbuilding, new engineered temporary shoring, and guano clearance — all carried out under strict Scheduled Monument protocols with an archaeologist in attendance throughout. The repair of severely decayed medieval roof timbers across five bays was executed using traditional jointing techniques including scarf joints, slip tenons, and mortice-and-tenon connections, preserving the original medieval fabric rather than substituting modern alternatives. A new lead-lined valley gutter arrested the chronic water ingress that had caused the structural decay, whilst conservation masonry works across all elevations — with lime mortars laboratory-tested from site samples — consolidated the historic flintwork and stabilised the structure for the long term.

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The project demonstrates Astral's capability at the most demanding end of heritage conservation — requiring craft skill, archaeological sensitivity, and rigorous compliance with Scheduled Monument legislation at every stage, leaving the Great Hall stable, weathertight, and ready for its next phase of conservation.

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