Thirlwall Castle: The Use of Soft Capping in Conserving Ruined Ancient Monuments

The use of ‘soft’ or turf cappings on wall heads has gained in popularity in recent years as a conservation technique for ruined monuments. It is still, however, regarded as experimental by many conservationists and is a developing field with few notable published examples and a number of questions which still need answering. Soft cappings were pioneered at Thirlwall Castle in Northumberland, UK, twelve years ago. Recent repairs to the high wall heads have enabled an assessment of their performance which has helped to answer some of the questions and given increased confidence in the use of soft cappings in the conservation of ruined monuments.