Major structural work is under way at the Spalding Gentlemen’s Society museum, where contractors have rebuilt part of the building after discovering that the steel lintel above the Lecture Room window was failing.
The museum’s external repairs began after scaffolding was erected in June 2026. The gable had shifted out of alignment over the years and was leaning slightly backwards. Once the failing lintel was identified, the brick and stonework was carefully removed so the gable could be rebuilt.
Concrete foundations and internal changes
The repair project has involved substantial work beneath and inside the building. Piling has been completed throughout the museum to an average depth of about 10 metres. Steel reinforcing bars were then installed before 10 cement mixers delivered 60 cubic metres of concrete in one operation in mid-June.
The concrete weighed about 120 tonnes. The museum now stands on a concrete slab supported by the piles, forming a new structural base for the historic building.
Demolition rubble was removed through the Business Centre and placed in skips in a roadside compound. The Cadas and Strong Rooms were dismantled and taken out during the work. The Strong Room door was raised by several centimetres so it no longer scrapes across the floor. The door remains part of the Society’s collection and will stay in place, although the Strong Room itself may not be reinstated in the same position for some time.
Historic weathervane removed for refurbishment
The museum’s weathervane was taken down as one of the first tasks. It originally stood on the Ship Granary in Double Street, Spalding, a building dating from around 1810. The weathervane was saved when the granary was demolished in 1964 by Bob Whiston, who was then the Society’s curator.
It was installed on the museum roof in July 1996 with the help of local builder and Society member Geoff Sharman, who also refurbished it. The weathervane has now been repaired and refurbished again under the supervision of Robert Frost, another Society member who owns a local engineering company.
Next stage of the museum project
The work faced a setback in July when a water leak in the road forced the scaffolding to be reconfigured so Anglian Water could safely repair the supply. The leak was caused by a split in the original galvanised pipe installed when the museum was first connected to the water supply.
After the repair, contractors extended the scaffolding, dismantled the gable and installed a new steel lintel above the Lecture Room window. Leaded windows have also started to be removed and refurbished.
Electrical wiring has been fixed throughout the building and re-plastering has begun in most ground-floor rooms, where much of the original plaster had come away from the walls.
Most external work is expected to be completed by the end of October 2026, with the scaffolding due to be removed afterwards. The weathervane will then be refitted. The project is the first phase of the Spalding Gentlemen’s Society’s multi-year “SGS: New Beginnings” scheme, which aims to repair, refurbish and fully redisplay the Society’s 1911 museum on Broad Street for the first time in more than a century.