CONCRETE & STONEWORK
Just off the city’ s high street is Nasons Courtyard, a site of archaeological importance, containing the Royal East Kent Yeomanry War Memorial and associated Grade II listed horse trough. Here, Blakedown is lifting and re-laying the existing Yorkstone paving, enhancing planting beds, repositioning the horse trough and realigning historic gravestones to Liturgical East. All hard landscaping is site-won as part of a sustainable construction approach.
At Greyfriars Gardens, works have focused on paving, surfacing and ground preparation, alongside the introduction of new paths, seating and a reclaimed Yorkstone entrance, with returfing and wildflower planting helping to restore the character of the space.
Works have also recently commenced at St Radigunds, with early stages of construction now underway.
Connected Canterbury is not a single intervention, but a coordinated programme of works across the city’ s historic landscape. By working with existing structures, materials and archaeology, the scheme reinforces the identity of each space while improving how they connect and function as part of the wider city.
WWII Shell Shelters, Dane John Gardens
Beneath Dane John Gardens, the works have had to respond to the presence of two WWII shell shelters constructed within the banks of the city wall. Originally formed from corrugated steel as temporary ammunition stores following the Dunkirk evacuation, the structures have since deteriorated and are no longer considered stable.
Following consultation with Historic England, the approach has been to retain the form of the shelters within the landscape while removing the risk of collapse. This has been achieved by infilling the structures with lightweight expanded clay aggregate( LECA), installed using pneumatic blowing equipment to minimise disturbance to the surrounding ground and historic fabric.
The works required Scheduled Monument Consent and careful coordination to ensure that the integrity of the city wall and its associated earthworks was protected, while allowing the landscape above to remain accessible and safe. www. blakedown. co. uk
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