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Oct 2023

Last Updated: 30/09/2023

Community

Masham community scheme pioneers wool insulation

by John Grainger

| 01 Oct, 2023

An architect's drawing of how Peacock & Verity in Masham will look.

Sheep’s wool has always been at the heart of Masham’s economy, and now it looks set to be at the heart of a new development in the town and a new initiative aimed at the construction industry.

Number 15 Silver Street is currently undergoing extensive redevelopments to be transformed into a new community and heritage centre called Peacock & Verity.

It will include a Victorian grocer’s, an Edwardian-style tearoom, a Post Office main counter, and a new heritage centre celebrating the story of Masham. Four apartments will also be created as part of the redevelopment, managed by Karbon Homes and kept exclusively for local people at affordable rents.

The 300-year-old building's refurbishment will also go back to the town’s roots, using sheep’s wool for insulation.

They will also be leading on a new initiative called Sheepish, which aims to get sheep’s wool insulation used in the building of new homes across the country.

Peacock & Verity will be the first test site where contractors and builders can learn how to install sheep’s wool insulation. They will also build a supply chain of farmers, insulation producers and social housing providers, creating a green circle economy based in Yorkshire.

The project is backed by £38,722 from the North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub and £16,000 from North Yorkshire Council, as part of a larger grant of £273,000 towards the wider conversion of the Silver Street site.

Jan Reed, project manager at Peacock & Verity, said she was excited about the Sheepish project:

“We didn’t just want to refurbish our own building; we also wanted to do everything we can to share the knowledge and skills to make other buildings more sustainable.

“Sheep’s wool is the perfect insulator for traditional stone buildings – not only is it a warm blanket, but the wool’s structure helps to wick moisture away and is a natural fire-retardant. And most importantly, it’s environmentally friendly. It lasts for decades and can be composted at the end of its life, unlike man-made insulation which is often full of plastic.”

The links between Masham and sheep farming go back over a thousand years. Sheep farming is thought to have been introduced to the area by Viking settlers, and Masham is still well known for its annual Sheep Fair which takes place this weekend. There’s even a breed of sheep named after the town.

Karen Oliver-Spry, hub manager for the North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub, said:

“The North East and Yorkshire Net Zero Hub is all about using local assets to create clean energy and to make buildings across the region easier and cheaper to heat – what better way to utilise an often overlooked by-product from the region’s plentiful sheep population!

“Bringing local people and organisations together to reuse, recycle and repurpose materials which otherwise may end up as waste is a huge part of that work and this project could have very interesting implications for improving the energy efficiency of buildings across the North East and Yorkshire and beyond – and we are delighted to be able to support it through our Energy Project Enabling Fund.”

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Masham community scheme pioneers wool insulation

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