There’s a crack in the lintel of the fireplace in the old kitchen.   If you stand back far enough there’s also a slight bow.

It’s been like this for years but since we took the bricks out I’m a bit concerned it might be getting worse.   As we had a builder round today to look at some pointing on the east wall we got him to take a look.  He took unnervingly swift action (see below, you can see the crack above the left brick column) and suggested calling an engineer, which I did!

Whether the wall needs supporting or not the stone lintel still needs replacing, so excavation of the fire place is now on hold.   Next job is to find a stonemason who can source the right piece of stone for us and get it in – and until this is done the rest of the work is going to have to wait.  One step forward…