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Rector becomes brickie for historic redevelopment of Cleveland’s ironstone mining museum

Date:
Fri 4th February 2022

On the 28th January, Rector of Loftus, Carlin How & Skinningrove and Chairman of the Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum’s board of trustees, Fr Adam Gaunt, joined colleagues in laying a brick as the construction of the museum’s exciting new extension gains pace.

On site Fr Adam received a brief training course from Luke Rayner and Simon Haley of L&S Brickworks, and under the watchful eye of Tolent Site Manager Graham Wood, the rector laid his first ever brick!

Fr Adam said,

“It was wonderful to fulfil the ambition of laying a brick on such a historic construction project such as this! The museum’s trustees are delighted with the progress being made on site and we are looking forward to seeing the fruit of our labours when the museum reopens later this year. The trustees’ vision is to share and celebrate the unique industrial heritage of Cleveland with the widest possible audience and our new facilities will enable the visiting public to engage with the fascinating and unique ironstone heritage of our region.”

The Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum, in the village of Skinningrove, is part way through a major redevelopment after gaining investment funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Coastal Community Fund, and the Tees Valley Combined Authority. The project is also being actively supported through an official partnership with Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council.

In August 2021 construction company Tolent were awarded the £1.3m project to refurbish the old museum building and to construct the iconic new three-storey extension. The new building will link to the historic buildings and make the museum more accessible and inclusive for the visiting public.

The redevelopment of the museum is also being supported by British Steel, whose nearby Skinningrove plant provides employment for the community. British Steel have donated the materials for the heavy steel sections of the new build, and with the steel frame in place L&S Brickworks North East have made great progress with the facing brickwork.

The museum is expected to open later this year and regular updates on the project can be found on the museum’s excellent website landofiron.org.uk and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cimmuseum