PEMBROKE Town Walls Trust’s project ‘Pembroke Town Walls and Beyond’ has received a grant of £208,983 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. 

Working with the Tywi Centre from Carmarthenshire, the funding will enable Pembroke Town Walls Trust to develop and improve the training programme it has begun with Level 2 learners in Construction at Pembrokeshire College and to offer some of them structured work experience with the trainer, Master Stonemason Oliver Coe of Coe Stone Ltd in Haverfordwest. 

Short courses to Level 3 will be offered to construction professionals with a local builder being offered stonemasonry training and assessment for NVQ3 through the Specialist Applied Skills Programme. 

The Trust will now be able to begin the restoration of part of the curtain walls along the north side of the town facing the Mill Pond Walk, working with local stone masons. 

Pembrokeshire Built Heritage CIC, the linked social enterprise established by Pembroke Town Walls Trust to deliver training and offer work experience and local employment in heritage building skills, will employ a consultant to develop the business. 

A programme of community engagement will cover short training courses for wall owners and the local community in repairing and maintaining heritage buildings. Attendance at local events and providing guided tours and talks will be designed to encourage the active participation of the local community and improve wellbeing, working with local groups and partners and providing opportunities for volunteering. 

Pembroke Town Walls Trust chair Elizabeth Gossage said: “We are delighted to have had approval of this grant from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to be able to begin the development of our long-term Management Plan. 

“We are very ready to develop and improve the levels of training we can offer while beginning the restoration of the walls and involving the community to take an active role in preserving their very special heritage.”